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LP
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KK 144LP
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"When I first heard Yelka play I thought to myself: 'I'd like to play in that band.' In the meantime I have realized that it would not be as easy as I imagined. The fluffy easy sound that gets created is so particular that it would not be so easy to execute those exact sounds of the band. This is mostly due to the unconventional harmonies of the guitar. Daniel himself said he is content with the guitar and added an extra one on almost all of the songs. Which I, as a fan of Daniels anarchic approach to playing, love. Also Yelka's groovy smooth bass playing is in the forefront of the album once again. Her sound bounces through the guitar riffs as if it's the most common thing on earth. Once Yelka adds her vocals to the songs, that's when they almost become pop and reminiscent of Velvet Underground. Christian's drums hold these two together through the track list, with a fun Krautrock and jazz influenced style. Everything was recorded live and it sounds fantastic! The sixth track of the Yelka album Jeans is a highlight with the piano support from Federico Corazzini, who adds lush open jazz chords to the incredible intricate harmonies of the band. Arne Bergner (Studio Popschutz) who is once more responsible for the production of the album, also added a beautiful choir arrangement. The finishing touches completing Yelka´s wonderful sound as always added by Norman Nitzsches mastering (Mokik Studio). From top to bottom an amazing album: 'King of the World' (Steely Dan cover), a pop song with a fantastic keyboard solo from `the one and only Dan Ra´ alias Daniel Nentwig (The Whitest Boy Alive), 'Moon for Now,' an atmospheric jazz-ish tune, to 'Walking Whispering,' a strong nine-minute guitar heavy number. I think there are more than two guitars in this one. American indie rock/pop/jazz whatever -- school (after all, it's the third album in the band's America trilogy) and yet above all Berlin, in its most likeable and perhaps even coolest form." --Masha Qrella
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LP
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KK 135LP
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Through the folded sky to America Ten albums in three years. That's still the cosmic mission of the Berlin post-kraut trio Yelka with Daniel Meteo, Christian Obermaier, and the namesake Yelka Wehmeier. With the album For, there was a label change. After releasing three albums in 2023 with Maurice Summen, head of Fun In The Church they passed the label responsibilities to Karaoke Kalk. The trio's fourth album was also created with Arne Berger at Popschutz Studio, and the team is definitely well-rehearsed. Instead of recording the planned tracks, the band decided to improvise the session, and all tracks, except for the krauty Doors cover "The Crystal Ship," were created in five days in the studio, mostly on the first or second take, but with significantly more overdubs -- keyboards, backing vocals, second and third guitars, percussion, and piano. The sound of For has become warmer, and the album begins with a kind of '60s-Kinks feeling. Overall, the current record has become much more exuberant. In the first instrumental of the album "Is this enough?," the band reverse tracks like Jimi Hendrix in his Electric Ladyland, and listeners dive deeper and deeper into the endless sky until Yelka finally arrive on newly trodden sound paths with "MM" to their beginnings on their debut album Nowhere Jive. At the popular intersection of post-rock and jazz, where guest singer Bela Hagel also likes to linger for a moment. The guitars sound like a desert, and the reverb reminds us of the expansive space in the opening track "Skies." "Do you wanna dance?" Yelka Wehmeier finally asks, while a chorus in the best Sun Ra manner mantra-like repeats "Cold dogs, cool cats." The whole band sings. Everything sounds good.
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