YACHT - I believe in you. Your magic is real.

The Best of 2007: Part Four

Simply put, Jona Bechtolt is a hitmaker. Somehow he has found the way to run the fine line between the uber-exclusive indie pop community of the Pacific Northwest and the super hip dance-punk community of places like Williamsburg or even Silverlake. He gained notoriety by putting together beats for one of (contrary to David Byrne's belief) last year's best albums, Paper Television by The Blow. Bechtolt had been added to the lineup of the band, even though he literally mailed in his beats. He quickly left the band after the tour that supported the album to go back to working on YACHT.

The album is a collection of absurd lyrics, great beats and shout outs to Calvin Johnson. Songs like "See a Penny (Pick it Up)" and "Women of the World" have a real self-aware sense of humor that's really hard to find in music. This year saw this release, as well as one of my other favorite albums, Spiderman of the Rings by Dan Deacon. Both of these albums really don't take fun for granted, which is something I really appreciate in music. People take themselves too seriously; music shouldn't be that way. It really should be an escape.

At the beginning of the year, I thought that dance-punk would be one of the big genres to watch. I knew LCD Soundsystem and !!! had put out great albums, however I didn't take into account the smaller artists in the genre, like Jona and Dan Deacon. Of course, now Dan Deacon is one of Future Shock's saints and YACHT has been opening up for Indie 103/KROQ's favorite act, LCD Soundsystem. Hopefully, Jona won't walk to the other side, leaving behind his amazing body of work in the K Records universe.

I believe in you. Your magic is real.