YACHT

YACHT, a.k.a. Jona Bechtolt, is a one man ball of creative energy. Hailing from the apparent modern mecca of alternative music - Portland, Oregon – on stage he’s a bundled mixture of contortionism and choreography, moving in perfect synchronicity with his wonderfully grungey, glitchy pop. When I saw him in Manchester earlier this year, in front of a relatively meagre crowd, he hurled himself towards us like some kind of deranged karaoke entertainer, breaking pint glasses, climbing on chairs. Indeed, the key to his, and perhaps almost all music released on Portland’s native Marriage Records, is intimacy – bridging the gaps between art and audience. Part of what makes Bechtolt’s music so appealing is its organic, friendly quality – pop without the cold sheen, or the self-aware technical virtuosity. It’s electronic, but it’s electronics you can touch, or breathe. The highlights of tonight’s set are the projected visuals; little animations and videos that toy with, among other things, Microsoft and illegal downloading. Technology, YACHT tells us, is ours to use, rather than abuse, or be abused by.

If the key to YACHT’s musical appeal is intimacy, its attempt to communicate with the crowd (exemplified by the now customary question and answer session Bechtolt conducts with the crowd), then the ICA perhaps isn't his ideal venue. The theatre’s stage is high and detached and the room itself a non-descript bare, dark box. Within it, the acoustics echo and muddy, stripping the music of its appealingly DIY cosiness. Bechtolt tries, as ever, to engage us as much as possible, jumping in the crowd, throwing himself at fans; yet, the set can’t help but feel slightly un_engaging. All the more so with the presence of Claire Evans, a new addition to the band, who exudes a slight cooler-than thou air, her presence tinged with a self-consciousness at odds with Bechtolt’s breezy charm. Older songs like _‘See A Penny' still have a lively bounce, and the newer tracks (like the forthcoming DFA release ’Summer Song’) sound promisingly uncluttered and focused. Still, I can’t help but wish we weren’t somewhere quite so rarefied; Portland’s musical message, it seems to me, is about the need to surmount distance; one best experienced – duh – in closer quarters.