If Sonny and Cher had really been as hip as they pretended to be‚ they might have come across as the eerie mystics that are Arthur & Yu. Arthur (Greg Olsen) and Yu (Sonya Westcott) are unabashedly embracing the mid-'60s folk vibe‚ with Olsen sounding like Lou Reed on less heroin and Westcott sounding like Nancy Sinatra on more grass. Separately‚ the contrast in their voices only strengthens the other‚ but together their harmonies are downright bewitching. Über-reverb on the vocals is key to filling out sparse instrumentation on tracks like "Flashing the Lobby Lights" and creates an atmosphere perfect for parking your mom's car in a field to have sex with your girlfriend. Definitely mellow but never dragging‚ "Lion's Mouth" states their motto: "Calm down and leave some things unsaid because a restless heart is gonna burst before it's dead." Somewhere there's an opium den on a berry farm with a black-and-white TV playing Natural Born Killers‚ and In Camera is the only album everyone can agree on.
suggestions
Shows: New York Dolls and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Albums: Cindy Blackman - Another Lifetime
Blog: Listen: Younger Brother - "Night Lead Me Astray"
Shows: Catskill Chill Music Festival 2012
Blog: Best Songs of 2012: Cloud Nothings - "No Future/No Past"
More on: Arthur & Yu
Shows: New York Dolls and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Albums: Cindy Blackman - Another Lifetime
Blog: Listen: Younger Brother - "Night Lead Me Astray"
Shows: Catskill Chill Music Festival 2012
Blog: Best Songs of 2012: Cloud Nothings - "No Future/No Past"
More on: Arthur & Yu
new to state of mind
Shows: moe.
Shows: Yonder Mountain String Band
Shows: Grand Point North 2014
Shows: Catskill Chill 2014
Shows: moe.down 15
Shows: Gov't Mule
Shows: Umphrey's McGee
Shows: Newport Folk Festival 2014
Shows: Widespread Panic
Albums: Phish - Fuego
Shows: moe.
Shows: Yonder Mountain String Band
Shows: Grand Point North 2014
Shows: Catskill Chill 2014
Shows: moe.down 15
Shows: Gov't Mule
Shows: Umphrey's McGee
Shows: Newport Folk Festival 2014
Shows: Widespread Panic
Albums: Phish - Fuego
random awesomeness
Blog: Billy Martin's Wicked Knee
Shows: Newport Folk Festival 2009
Shows: Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Prostizos
Shows: Rose Hill Drive
Blog: McCoy Tyner to release Guitars CD/DVD featuring Scofield‚ Frisell‚ Trucks‚ Fleck‚ Ribot...
Shows: MGMT
Shows: Live From Daryl's House + Sharon Jones and Allen Stone
Albums: Carl Broemel - All Birds Say
Shows: Marco Benevento Trio w/ As Human
Shows: Furthur
Blog: Billy Martin's Wicked Knee
Shows: Newport Folk Festival 2009
Shows: Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Prostizos
Shows: Rose Hill Drive
Blog: McCoy Tyner to release Guitars CD/DVD featuring Scofield‚ Frisell‚ Trucks‚ Fleck‚ Ribot...
Shows: MGMT
Shows: Live From Daryl's House + Sharon Jones and Allen Stone
Albums: Carl Broemel - All Birds Say
Shows: Marco Benevento Trio w/ As Human
Shows: Furthur