Yellow Ostrich

The Mistress (Barsuk)

Following three EPs, Alex Schaaf’s one-man melding machine sustains its jagged lo-fi psych-folk across his Yellow Ostrich debut LP, contorting loops like a stripped-down Dirty Projectors. “Libraries burn fast/When there is no past,” chants Schaaf atop a mesmerizing chorus on “Libraries,” and there’s a sense of creative destruction and reassembly throughout. “Hate Me Soon” bangs as aggressively as an upturned White Stripes track, and “Hahahaohhoho” ramps playfully into a heavy fuzz crescendo, the cumulative effect hitting something akin to Tune-Yards’ discombobulating barrages. Yet Schaaf’s mellower moments, like the tenuously tender “Mary” and swooning “Slow Paddle,” are equally entrancing, even if leaning heavily on cooing background vocals. As a recently expanded threepiece, Yellow Ostrich will hopefully develop the textured interplay more fully without sacrificing the intimacy earned here. (11:45am, Google+ stage)

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This article appears in September 16 • 2011.

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Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.