cornershopstudios » Yoav @ Cabaret du Musée Juste Pour Rire

Yoav is preparing to release a follow-up album to his 2008 debut, Charmed and Strange, and he experimented with the brave new material at Cabaret du Musée Juste Pour Rire last Wednesday. The room was packed with Yoav’s newly formed and increasing fan-base who couldn’t get enough of his self-made electronic beats and Prince-style vocals. Stylishly dressed for the occasion, Yoav was commanding enough to take up the entire stage alone, standing tall and poised in front of the galaxy of effect peddles by his feet. It’s truly impressive watching him construct his beats using only his hands, acoustic guitar, and, of course, his chaos pad. And no one could possibly deny that he knows how to wield his axe in the traditional sense either; his guitar playing is simply flawless. His voice is equally striking for the way it undulates without any discernible strain or effort. In short, he’s an excellent performer. However, his songs tend to be monotone in their arrangements, which rarely deviate from a certain pattern. Also, they have a gimmicky quality to them that contrasts with Yoav’s more imaginative capacity to manipulate sounds and rhythms. Despite how impressive his one-man act is, under the veneer of endless effects Yoav employs, there is just one instrument doing all the work, and his songs might not feel so basic if there was some brass, strings, or piano in the mix. Nevertheless, the show was a success – the crowd loved the new tunes and, I imagine, are anxiously waiting for the new album to be released.

David Rozon