NYC dream jazz duo YAI (rhymes kalawan "sky") nyebat hiji tapestry fascinating of woodwinds, gelombang, jeung éthereal echo. Sky Time mangrupakeun pendeng pisan, pasti disarankeun pikeun fans of Jon Hassell atawa Sakamoto. ARP ogé mangrupakeun titik sentuh signifikan, sapertos David Lackner jeung John Thayer geus diputer dina rekaman ARP saprak Zebra, jeung Thayer nyokot, mixing jeung kadang-kadang co-producing. Tambihkeun, aranjeunna nyaritakeun kolaborasi dina Ezra Feinberg Soft Power, nu Thayer ogé disimpen, mixed, jeung dihasilkeun.

The cover art nyaéta ku artis tekstil Jepang incredible Shigeki Fukumoto jeung ngan teu bisa leuwih cocog vibe tina rekaman ieu.

Kedua pamaén ieu geus ngahasilkeun ton karya luar biasa. Lackner geus dirilis sapuluh album solo, scored sababaraha film, sarta dianggo jeung rupa-rupa artis kayaning Fielded, Makoto Kawabata, Lydia Lunch jeung loba séjén. karya Thayer geus muncul dina sababaraha film jeung acara televisi jeung anjeunna geus dianggo jeung Zeena Parkins, Daniel Carter, Brian Chase, jeung loba leuwih.

About THE ALBUM

YAI mangrupakeun duo anu ngawangun ku spirits tutuwuhan David Lackner jeung John Thayer.

Lackner is a composer and multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, piano, flute, E.W.I., synthesizers) specializing in jazz, minimalism, and pop music. In 2008, he founded his record label and project studio, Galtta, as a vehicle for producing, film scoring, and releasing music of various like-minded artists. Having studied under LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela, his compositions contain a myriad wonderful marks of their influence. Thayer is an audio engineer and multi-instrumentalist (chiefly drums and percussion) whose experiential compositions are inspired by a deep attention to the sounds of the natural world. His recordings, centered around a hybrid of studio techniques and improvisatory performance, range from long-form, multilayered ambience to polyrhythmic electro-acoustic collage. Having been a very active member of the New York experimental scene, his compositions and installations bear wide-ranged influences drawn from his many collaborators over the years. The duo describes the fruits of their collaboration as “laptop jazz” and are ready to offer their second full-length effort, Sky Time, to the world.

The striking cover image, created by Japanese artist Shigeki Fukumoto, was selected with care by Lackner and Thayer. Fukomoto has been quoted as saying that when he begins a project, he has no expectations of where the process will lead him, no specific hopes of what the end product will be. He says, “The absence of a plan may seem odd to people, but I believe that heightened sensitivity can lead us into a world of new aesthetic experience.” The statement resonates with the duo, who approach their endeavors in much the same way.

While YAI’s first album, Flowers From Home (NNF, 2022,) was a very “off-world” effort infused with cool, dreamlike energy reminiscent of science fiction—think Ursula K. Le Guin’s (literally) otherworldly works—Sky Time documents a return to our Earth’s atmosphere, welling up with humid winds and soft explosions of life-giving greenery.

The album is a joyful and clear-eyed exercise of stop motion in slow motion. “Silver Chord” is an aural glacier so delicate it catches on trees as it slides down the mountain, eventually half-melting into the slow slip of sap, half-evaporating into the rarified air, always reflecting the insistent and overwhelmingly golden sunset.

Altitude mangrupakeun maén di lengan Lackner jeung Thayer, sakumaha dibuktikeun dina track judul "Sky Time." pendeng anu dilempang kawas bunga di hangat, angin oceanic, ngarasakeun arus sanggeus arus dina langit badag, everclear, sights dilatih dina ngan hiji pulau mustahil ti kelahiran maranéhanana, jeung laut tanpa hésé, terus-menang.

The listener—that transformed and freedom-loving blossom being—reaches level ground just as their second wind erupts into being, meticulous and hovering like a hummingbird, vibrating with the immediate desire to find the shore once again. At the outset of “The Spiral,” the hummingbird—the blossoms, the listener—approaches the water, infused with bright determination, tracing the waterline with its undulating flight before erupting into the sky once more, lost in the ecstatic embrace of the atmosphere.

Ayeuna, dina konsekuensi anu indah tina waktos jeung eksistensi fisik nu kristalized dina album nu leuwih dekat "Tides", beunghar - pendeng, hummingbird - nyaho eta dipikahoyong ka istirahat. Éta glides balik kana pasir halus nu sapertos tanah sakumaha anu cai, ningali diri berdiri diam-diam dina bibir lautan di maot malam lamun no angin nganggur. Éta hiji-satu kamampuh nu indiscernible, ritme implacable of the sea, maénkeun dina gerak waktos, ramping maju lembut, pasti, ampun. -Jen Powers, April / Mei 2024</pfseg>

Album CREDITS

All Songs ditulis jeung dilakukeun ku YAI
YAI nyaéta David Lackner & John Thayer
DL - EWI, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog Matriarch, Lowrey Organ, Flute, Tenor Sax, Clarinet, Soprano Sax, Yamaha MOX6, monologue Korg, Juno 106
JT - Ewe, Congas, Crystal Rattle, Percussion, Programming, Elektron Digitakt, Tape Echo, Field Recordings, Moog Matriarch, Modular Synthesizer
Recorded & Mixed ku John Thayer di Friendly Gain
Mastered ku Josh Bonati
Artwork ku Shigeki Fukumoto
Design & Layout ku Francie Chang