Yoav
Charmed & Strange

THE REVIEW

I am about to write my first review... if I have to be torn apart, I will accept my sad fate. Always mindful of the fact that criticisms are always meant to improve, even those given in not-so-constructive tones... ;)

Yoav is an Israeli artist who spent his childhood in Cape Town, later moving to London, New York, and Montreal, places where he managed to let himself be influenced, musically speaking, creating a truly interesting sound blend. This sound blend is magnificently contained within the 11 tracks of this "Charmed And Strange," extraordinary work is the first adjective that comes to mind. Extraordinary in itself, with a sound meticulously crafted in every detail and a sensual and intriguing atmosphere that serves as a common thread throughout the album's duration, yet alone it wouldn't be enough to make this eclectic artist's album unique. Indeed, Yoav's peculiarity is doing everything with his guitar. Everything indeed. No band, no drums or bass to accompany him, just him and his guitar. A total symbiosis with his instrument, from which he extracts percussions, musical carpets, and riffs gently stroked on the strings, accompanied by a voice that is both delicate and firm at the same time, often making genius use of falsettos. And the beauty is that you don't feel the difference from a record of songs played by a band... miracles of the studio, you say? Then I advise you to look up some live performances on YouTube. You'll see it's really him doing everything, and even more. So it starts with a tapping on the soundboard, sampled and enriched as the beats follow, interspersed with high-class strumming subjected to arpeggios and riffs that make each song a truly valuable gem.

Truly an artist and a work that stand out and deserve significant attention. Particularly interesting among all the tracks are Adore Adore, Club Thing (perhaps the most well-known), Live, One By One, and the splendid "suite", if you'll allow me the term, Beautiful Lie.

Passed with flying colors.