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Yellow Ostrich - The Mistress [Album]

Self Released

by Chris J Ball, January 17th, 2011 and has been Read 1692 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin January 22nd, 2011.

The things we easily recognize but gloss over are also, many times, the things that matter the most and it’s only when what we’ve heard/seen/experienced a thousand times before is taken away, or given back to us in a new or different way, do we truly stand up and take notice. It’s this deconstruction and reassembly of the familiar, to a wonderful end, that best describes 2010 stand out album, The Mistress.

Alex Schaaf is the man behind Yellow Ostrich, and is one of the many pieces of sparkling shrapnel coming out of the recent explosion of Wisconsin acts like; Bon Iver and Zola Jesus that have been putting out solid records in the last few years. Yellow Ostrich, however, takes a more bare bones approach than the rest of his Badger State brethren, opting to let vocal harmonies and straight-ahead drum and guitar lead the way on this, his second release of 2010.

Pieced together from sessions recorded in “an empty movie theatre, a dorm room (all in Wisconsin) and an apartment in Manhattan” (as described on their Bandcamp site) The Mistress is on first listen an oddly comfortable record, easily accessible, yet also lush and new. Each song is grounded in pure musical tradition, there’s nothing opulent or overproduced and while we may have heard all of it’s constituent parts before, Schaaf’s talent of re-arranging or amplifying familiar elements makes this one something truly special.

'Hate Me Soon’s' opening coda could have appeared on any Beach Boys record, while sounding decidedly more haunted and mournful. While, 'Hold On' has an almost barbershop quality, but with a more heartfelt bounce and fuzz. At times layered, spare and haunting, each song’s melody is pulled apart and put back together in peculiar ways; as three, four, and even six-part harmonies fold in to one another or expand across channels on songs like 'Whale', or evoke a church chorus on album closer 'Slow Paddle'.

And while the vocals are the album’s true standout, Schaaf branches out at times in favor of grinding lead or crystal clear rhythm guitar on 'We’ve Got a Chance' and 'I’ll Run', or even quasi-tribal rhythms ('Libraries') when the song calls for it. This is no one-trick pony, shunning gimmickry in the service of true song-craft.

Album standout 'HAHAHAOHHOHO' could have been a cavity inducing sing-along about unrequited love, if it weren’t for the buzz and grind of its chorus, while 'Mary' should be a meditative piano ballad, but its emotional intensity is raised by glum, fuzzed-out vocal harmonies and sparse guitar.

The Mistress could have easily gone the way of the thousands of earnest, “bedroom-folk” records that have come before it, drowned in the wash of its own unreachable ambition. However, in Schaaf’s capable hands, we’re presented with 10 songs that are moved from the realm of the mundane to the truly engaging by some glorious creative destruction. The bedroom folk label is a propos here, not just as an apt sonic label, but because this record evokes the feeling of sharing your pillow-filled sanctuary for the first time with a new lover. The surroundings may be familiar, but are somehow brightened and made new with a little passion, care and attention to the little things that matter the most.

The Mistress is available as a pay-what-you-can download from the band’s Bancamp site and will be released on (appropriately Yellow) vinyl on February 15th 2011 by Afternoon Records.

Added bonus! Check out Yellow Ostrich's beautiful cover of The Dirty Projector's Cannibal Resource: