Yeasayer sound like Midnight Oil. Totally uninteresting histrionics.

If I wanted new age fusion rock, I'd listen to King Crimson.

It is blog-culture that is killing whatever scene might actually exist. Yeasayer are just another symptom.

Anonymous,
Thanks for supporting the blog culture by checking out Brooklyn Vegan and taking the time to give your 2 cents. We really appreciate it.

4:34,

if this is the only yeasayer song you have ever heard, then you are deeply misinformed about their sound. this is the obvious choice of song to play on conan (most accessible song). do some research before you rip on another new band trying to make a name for themselves. god forbid a band resemble something you heard 10 years ago. i fucking hate you. fucking hypocrite.

I do not hear any resemblance to Midnight Oil that is so strong that this band can be written off as frauds. These guys are ok.

4:49...relax...and these guys suck.

4:49....Goodness....what is your problem? Even if you disagreed with the comment from 4:34 he did not sink down to the levels you just did. Just like you think Yeasayer is god's gift to the music world, others think they are a repeat of what has been done already, ie. Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Midnight Oil, whatever. Get yourself and this whole Yeasayer stupidity already!

I enjoy Yeasayer and appreciate the substance they have brought to the music world. At the same token I do think there is a downside to blog culture that we have all seen....they contribute to the rapid rise and then demise of bands. I hope this does not happen to Yeasayer. But regardless, I am happy for them even if I acknowledge that they sound like alot of previous bands from the 80's.

So, you going to hate my fucking guts now?

4:49...
perhaps a healthy dose of prozac and bay city rollers will help to conquer that evil demon you call your soul.
geeeeeez.

good tune, good band.

as for the histrionics: it's hard to look like you're rocking proper while playing a sampler; you want him to just stand there?

i saw yeasayer at union hall before they were "big". the crowd was bored, and a few people were heckling. once the blogs went nuts, the crowd was no longer bored. this is just one anecdote and no judgment on the quality of their music.

holy crap they're annoying.

Yeasayer are amazing live. That video doesn't do them any justice.

Did anyone see Yeasayer at the BV show at Bar R during CMJ? That was my only exposure to them and didn't like it that much. Was that performance indicative of what they're normally like, better, worse?

rocking. just bought the album. thanks.

I thought the band sounded better on conan than on the album, the pace is picked up a bit
Thanks for the video

I hate all music that was influenced by previous music.

you bored kids,

live is about peace.
4:34 and 4:39, try to say yea.

"you bored kids,

live is about peace.
4:34 and 4:39, try to say yea."

mighty - what the FUCK are you talking about?

Also, the Bay City Rollers are way better than this shit, with or without selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

to all: smoke a joint and calm down

FUCKKK YOUU HIPPIE!

can't understand this aggression. it's just a band. they do well, man.

Great aggression! Excellent... my plan is working. You will all destroy each very soon.

Hippies and Hipsters are very similar...so far removed from the real world. Although Hippies might have a better shot at survival in the wilderness, which is as real as it gets.

wow...its just music.

i was the original 4:34 poster. came back to check out the fallout from that unchecked aggression. i am pleasently surprised that anyone cared enough to reply. anyway. . .my point had nothing to do with whether yeasayer is good or bad, my point was more that you can't judge anything by a single performance of a single song without having some other kind of background to base your decision on. also, music has been ripping itself off for thousands of years - there is no way you can label a band as too "insert one of thousands of band's names". music will perpetually influence new music and to expect every band to come up with some amazing unique quality that has never been explored before it ridiculous. beirut sounds pretty original in the context of the "indie" scene right? wrong. next time you put on "in the aeroplane over the sea" you might find yourself saying, "wow, i guess zach condon listened to these guys". . .but in reality he took a small sample of their sound and ran with it on his own. he made something new out of other stuff that had influenced him.

but whatever. i try not to classify myself as a hipster or hippie or whatever. i have a job and it sucks and i work so i can afford to go to concerts and get drunk and occasionally experiment with illicit substances. but i do all of that stuff because i have a shitload of fun doing it and its worth it having this job in order to afford playtime. at the yeasayer concert, some girl actually told me that i must be the preppiest guy at the concert. she actually cared more about what i was wearing than the fact that i was enjoying the same music as her. i was embarassed for her. . .esp once she admitted to having an ivy league education and i'm sure mommy and daddy were paying her rent and credit card bills. i thought this whole culture was about just enjoying music that most pepole have no idea even exists. but i guess its just like every other scene - its a damn fashion show to find out who the coolest kids are. what a joke.

lets just all appreciate this scene for what it is. . .we love music (all kinds), and without music, i'd kill myself. 2008 has been so weak compared to 2007 so far. can we please get some decent new stuff?

Hey 4:47, I actually posted the original comment referencing Midnight Oil in relation to Yeasayer. I assume you are the one who got hot under the collar about my post.

As someone who actually has played in bands centered in Brooklyn (some of which have even shared a bill w/ Yeasayer), I find your suggestion that we enjoy "music that most people have no idea even exists" a naive part of the problem. Blogs, Brooklyn-based bands that have managers before they've even played ten shows, the speed w/ which bands come, go (and appear on Conan) . . . these are factors we need to work against.

I do appreciate the idea of a scene, but worry that those bands held up as examples of it don't necessarily measure up musically or in terms of moving music in the right direction. Taste and capital have a lot to do w/ what becomes popular. But I encourage everyone who cares about the scene to be aware of the factors that shape (their own and others') taste.

Influences are one thing, but being derivative is something else altogether. . .

thoughtful and coherent post 11:07.

the whole concept of a 'scene', one in which to belong to regarding music, is something i don't think i'll ever fully understand. i sympathize with 4:47 as being singled out for looking preppy or whatever. out west here in LA i'm guessing it's maybe not quite as claustrophobic as in ny/brooklyn, but still enough to remain off-putting.

yeasayer played here last month. i wanted to go and check them out, but it was raining so i didn't. and honestly the thought of the 'scenesters' who would be there really was the deal breaker. that shouldn't effect me but unfortunately it does nowadays.

and i completely concur with you're original post... long live KC's new age fusion rock! their live recordings for the 80s are phenomenal.

Hmmm there seems to be some kind "real" communication happening here ... no more yelling and name calling? Damn. Ok then. I guess were all friends again.

You know I was watching some interenesting programming on PBS last night about chimps/apes and the like. They are so similar to us in so many ways: Emotionally (although they can't control there emotions like we do), mentally (the use of tools and congitive thinking), they even have the capacity to work together as a group.

But the one thing that separates us from them is that we have the capacity to share knowledge and build on the knowledge passed down to us. So while they are consantly re-inventing the old "take the stick and dig for ants" tool (a classic btw ... I use it daily for breakfast in Prospect Park ;) We are taking Einstien's theories and building big fat bombs are sources of fuel for our other inventions.

So in other words, the reason why we have such great music to begin with, is because we are able to build on the musical knowledge (or samples) of others. It's in our blood guys. Embrace it. Without influence and shared knowledge we're not really humans.. Our music is waaaaaaaaaay much better than monkey music, trust me. I tried jamming with these chimps from craiglist recently and it was a nightmare. They had horrible timing and wouldn't listen to anything I was trying to do.

So what's it gonna be haters of bands that are clearly influenced by other bands.... Man or Monkey?

I choose monkey. And that's why I can claim to be more original than any of the musicians that post here or any of the bands that are listed. My music is not influenced by any humans at all so I don't sound anyone you've heard. You should check out my groundbreaking monkeymusic on myspace. Yeasayer will probably copy it pretty soon but this post will verify that I created original monkey music first.

Thanks.

i thought yeasayer was awesome on conan. and i think they're great in general. ya'll look into this stuff too much. its good music, enjoy it for what it is or dont listen to it. ya know?

what the fuck are you guys talking about? Real hipsters go to the Stone and listen to mostly to experimental jazz and noise. Two genres which only very rarely get mentioned on this website.

11:07,

First, I completely sympathize with your gripes. But I must admit, I don't think blogs are negatively effecting the music industry. If anything, they make people more aware of what music is out there. Yes, I agree that sometimes these bands get shot to "super-stardom" (among us) and then they quickly become old because of crazy flame wars on the blogs. . .or their second album isn't as "good" as the first according to readers. But the fact of the matter is that opinion does matter. I might not have an amazing ear for "quality" music, but I know what I like. I happen to love Phil Elverum, but I totally understand why he isn't "mainstream". But he also continues to put out quality music. Yeah, yeasayer got big quick thanks to BV, but unless their music continues to hold up, they won't be around long. Perhaps thats holding them to high expectations, but when there is SOOOOO much music out there, the consumer can afford to be fickle. Its not like we are in the 60s and 70s where there are 10 mega-bands keeping us happy. Now there are hundreds of small bands that we can pick and choose from. Now the problem might go beyond the scope of that because most people have no idea what they actually like. They need to be told what to do. Most of the people in this scene have been told what to do as long as they can remember (do your homework, go to bed, eat 3 meals a day, go to college, get a job, etc etc) and now that they have to make their own decisions, they avoid that by listening to popular opinion. Thats not something any blog is going to help fix anytime soon. But blogs give people options, and for someone like me, that is important. Do you agree?

Second, which bands have you been in? What do you play? Any change i've heard of any of your stuff?

Your Friend, 4:49, 4:47, and now, 5:15ish.

(Can you tell when the lull in my workday usually is?)

5:11,

Couple o' things. First, blogs are not the democratic forum that you appear to believe. In fact, the pre-blog era, even the one that you depict as monolithic w/ its stable of 10 mega-bands, was more open to possibilities than the era (of Rupert Murdoch's Myspace and a few, influential blogs that can make or break a band) in which we now live. I am aware of the arguments being made about the www giving a voice to folks who wouldn't typically have one, but I feel that even before the mp3, there were forums (zines, local music scenes that built distinct sounds and work ethics, college radio, the 7", etc) where people could be heard, if there music was deserving. That isn't to say that there weren't divisive and cliquish factors that alienated some, but overall the good bands/scenes would build themselves up to such a degree that, when the time/touring opportunity was right, they would take the next step. Now, a band's natural evolution, to invoke the mighty Ohio-band Devo, has been, well, de-graded. In an instant, folks are on Conan O'Brian or, after a search of MySpace and a posting on NPR's All Songs Considered, signed to 4AD in Europe.

Finally, to avoid a potential libel suit and to keep my support (or lack thereof) of Brooklyn's finest anonymous, I'd rather not mention my band/label history or affiliation. If you want to post your info, which I don't necessarily recommend, here, I could contact you.

I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, especially in recognizing how quality doesn't always measure success. I've got too many records from bands from the 70s and 80s that are fantastic, but which never rose to the mega-level. I guess we'll just have to wait for the Nuggets series to move into Nixon-era for them to get their due, or wait for the reunion tour.

What are your favorite 10-20 albums? Either current, or of all time. Even though i've been a gigantic music fan all my life, I realize that there have been thousands of bands i've never heard of which have obviously made amazing music. I find a new band almost everyday that never got the light of day on bv or pitchfork so I can only imagine what was out there in the 70s and 80s that I never got a chance to hear.

Ok, this is by no means definitive, or that obscure, but here are some records from the 70s through to the early 90s that rarely get their reverential due. Keep in mind, this is in no particular order and would look different depending on the day and my mood. I feel a little bit like I am putting myself in a corner here, but here goes:

Pearls Before Swine s/t (ESP)
Holger Czukay/Rolf Dammers "Canaxis"
Dadamah "This is Not a Dream"
John Cale and Terry Riley "Church of Anthrax"
The Necros "Conquest for Death"
Tower Recordings "The Fraternity of Moonwalkers"
Pipe "International Cement"
The Psychedelic Sounds of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators
Swervedriver "Mezcal Head"
My Bloody Valentine "Isn't Anything"
Metabolismus "Spriebwartsdrall"
The Monks BlackMonkTime
Ellen Fullman "Change of Direction"
Townes Van Zandt "High, Low and In-between"
Kevin Ayres "Shooting at the Moon"

Of course, I am omitting folks who do get their proper due, but you get the general picture. . .

This is a f**king great band...little midnight oil resemblance....and the rest of their album sounds nothing like midnight oil...all hour cymbals is a great album....these guys simply rock...!!

does anyone know where i can download this performance ?