'Psychic City': YACHT'S new single remixed by Hot Chip's Joe Goddard

Things have changed in the YACHT household: leader-founder Jona Bechtolt has been joined by former Angeleno Claire L. Evans, who used to play in the Smell staple band Weirdo Begeirdo, an almost-unlistenable study in chaos theory. They also released a new album, "See Mystery Lights," on July 28, and they've cooked up a host of side treats for those who think albums are so Whitney Houston circa 1985. Oops, we mean circa right now.

As a companion piece to "See Mystery Lights," YACHT has compiled a mixtape, "Anthem of the Trinity," that  packages their influences in 37 minutes (thanks, guys -- you know how to make a journalist's job easy). Named for the spooky-beautiful Terry Riley song, the mixtape also includes plenty of populist fare, with Nirvana's "Negative Creep," Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House," Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into the Fire," INXS' "New Sensation" and T-Pain's "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)."

Lest you think that's all YACHT has in store, the Portland, Ore., band has also released an instrumental-only version of "See Mystery Lights." According to their statement, the songs can be used in "karaoke performances, confessional YouTube soundtracks, student films, personal analysis, atmospheric music, cover versions, chopping and screwing, or just to listen to if you don't enjoy YACHT's vocal performances."

We're digging all of that, but better still is this remix of YACHT's single "Psychic City" from Hot Chip's Joe Goddard. This is a chilly-sweet slice of minimal futurism. If it's not playing in some airport terminal soon -- a la Brian Eno, who occasionally gets played near the neon art at Chicago's O'Hare -- somebody's not doing something right.

-- Margaret Wappler

Photo courtesy Sarah Meadows

Why is Third Eye Blind so popular again?

Most artists with an inkling that their new album might top the charts probably lie awake the night before its release like a kid expecting an air rifle on Christmas morning. But Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins practically snoozed right through it.

“We just got back from touring Indonesia, and last week we played the Fox in Oakland, which is kind of our hometown. And we played the new album and had a huge party afterwards,” said Jenkins. “I fell asleep and woke up to someone from our label calling me to say, ‘I can’t believe you’re sleeping through a No. 1 record!’ ”

 “Ursa Major,” the pop-rock band’s newest album of effervescent choruses and vinegary machine-gun lyricism, topped the iTunes album chart last week and should be a strong contender for the same slot on the Billboard album charts this week (it was released last Tuesday).

But Third Eye Blind’s late success begs a certain question -- what’s the band doing there at all? “Ursa” is its first album in six years, out on its own label and with no trendsetting winds in its sails.

Kris Kristofferson: Pop and country's semi-tough veteran

The singer-songwriter, 72, is putting the finishing touches on his newest album.

Good spirits reverberate through the control booth of the West Los Angeles recording studio where Kris Kristofferson is at work on a new album with producer Don Was. They're standing just behind engineer Krish Sharma, who is in the pilot's seat at a mixing board about 12 feet long, every square inch of which is crammed with dials, buttons and switches.

There's a seriousness of purpose, a pronounced sense of mission, beneath the convivial conversation, lighthearted quips and abundant stories of life on the road for one of the most revered songwriters of the last half century. The banter bounces around the room but doesn't distract from the power of the song they're crafting, "Closer to the Bone," a celebration of that point in life where every moment becomes precious.

Like others from his forthcoming album, "Starlight and Stone," it features a no-frills arrangement built on the lanky Texan's raspy voice, wheezy harmonica and sparse finger-picking of his acoustic guitar. The only additions are colorful mandolin fills from Kristofferson's longtime pal Steven Bruton, the primal upright bass played by Was and artful percussion from studio ace Jim Keltner that push it forward rhythmically.

They're closing in on the final mix of this track; others await whatever instrumental touches the team decides will best complement Kristofferson's economical lyrics and old-school country melodies.

Mavado's 'Special' brand of dancehall justice

Bailed-out bankers should be thankful that the Jamaican dancehall singer Mavado doesn’t run U.S. economic policy. On his latest single, “So Special,” one of the rare dancehall records to spend time on recent Billboard Hot 100 R&B/Hip-Hop charts, he paints himself as an avenging angel of the poor and dispossessed. “Fire it 'til wet pon dat / you betta help poor people” he wails over a minimalist stutter-step beat. “Every dirty work, Jah shall show dem a sign,” perhaps one where the “special” is of the .45 variety he mentions in the song.

That sort of lyrical world -- one where violence is an appealing way out of an intractable life -- has made Mavado one of the most riveting and controversial Jamaican artists today. He’s caught the ears of Jay-Z, who made his reggae debut on a remix of Mavado’s “On the Rock,” as well as the U.S., U.K. and various Caribbean governments who denied Mavado visas based on Jamaican gun charges (which were eventually tossed out).

His neighborhood and lyrical visions are dark places, but Mavado doesn’t want you to confuse them for his heart.

“Governments don’t know me as an artist,” he said. “There are people in the media (that spread rumors) but it’s just not reality.”

Prince partners with Target, sets release date for 3-disc set

Forget purple -- Prince’s favorite colors are likely to be red and white this spring.

The musician has selected Target as the sole retail outlet for his three-disc album, which is set to be released March 29 at the big box retailer's nearly 1,700 outlets nationwide, and online at target.com.

The offering will come as a three-disc bundle: two original studio albums -- "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND" -- and a third disc by Prince’s latest protégé, Bria Valente (Prince also contributed music to Valente's debut).

The entire collection will retail for just $11.98.

Prince first revealed he was in talks with a “major retailer” earlier this year during a chat with The Times’ Ann Powers. Some had speculated that he might go with Best Buy for the exclusive, but the “Purple Rain” purveyor must have seen something he liked in Target’s proposal. Both Target and Best Buy share something in common with the multi-instrumentalist: roots in Minnesota. 

Retail exclusives were major news in 2008. Best Buy gained headlines for its exclusive for Guns & Roses’ anticipated “Chinese Democracy” release, and AC/DC had one of the year's top-selling rock albums in "Black Ice," a Wal-Mart exclusive. Not to be left out, Target handled Christina Aguilera’s greatest hits package in 2008.

It’s not yet known if Target will get behind Prince’s triple threat the same way it did with Aguilera last year, when it ran an aggressive television campaign for “Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits."

Regardless, Prince may not need commercials to sell his new material: He appears to be in the mood to gig lately (the artist has played two shows in the last week or so in the Los Angeles area).  Could a tour be in the works?

Expect hints of music from all three discs to possibly leak in the coming weeks at Prince's developing website, Lotusflow3r.com.

-- Charlie Amter

Photo of Prince at Coachella last year by Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times

Eleni Mandell: A fresh spin on retro

The singer-songwriter funnels personal experience through a melange of musical eras, creating lively story sketches

On a crisp Sunday morning, singer-songwriter and Los Feliz denizen Eleni Mandell wandered the flea market at Pasadena Community College in a slouchy cardigan and vintage sunglasses. She picked through tables cluttered with copper bracelets, picture frames and dusty velvet hats, any of which could serve as a mysterious prop in one of Mandell's retro-tuned torch songs.

Vendors manned the booths, watching for shoplifters who, some said, have gotten worse since the recession hit. Scanning with her martini- olive-colored eyes -- to borrow a description from "Personal," one of her latest burners -- Mandell spied a gold-and-white '50s bathing suit, saying it'd be great for the stage. It didn't fit, but it was easy to see what attracted her: a touch of glam but with character, a  storied emblem from another era.

"It's better to come here looking for nothing," she said. "You'll have better luck that way."

Fortune has worked in complex ways for the L.A. native gifted with a voice that's as smoky and coolly moderate as a chanteuse secreting a pearl-handled revolver beneath her dress in a noir novel.

Eleni Mandell brings her 'Artificial Fire' to the Echo

There comes a time in everyone's life where they must take their personal mantra and throw it out the window. In the case of Eleni Mandell, her mantra had something to do with a scruff-voiced man fond of porkpie hats.

For her last six albums, Mandell has operated with the WWTWD? policy, as in What Would Tom Waits Do? But for her album out this week, "Artificial Fire," she had to take Waits and banish him from the studio -- metaphorically, of course.

"Tom Waits is the biggest influence on me," Mandell said in a recent stroll-interview we had at the Pasadena Community College flea market. "But I finally had to stop trying to emulate my heroes." It was an attempt to turn away from what Mandell called the "weepy, dark songs" to something that's "still dark, but danceable and fun."

Enter the title track, caught in shadowy play in the video above. Mandell, with the gently cutthroat players in her band, has concocted a sneaky brew based on the moment when a lover realizes she's been led to a treasure that's not true love but only artificial fire. Lovers and their endless follies isn't new territory for Mandell, who's mined the topic with varied combinations of quietly bleeding country reminiscent of Patsy Cline, cool jazz and singer-songwriter sketches, but she explores it on her latest album with more unflinching courage than ever before.

-- Margaret Wappler

Mandell celebrates the release of "Artificial Fire" at the Echo, 1822 W. Sunset Blvd. 8 p.m. Thursday.

Also, check for a feature on Mandell in Sunday's Calendar.

New Peaches music hits the Web; record coming May 5

A certain Peaches, only tangentially related to the music world, has been in the news lately (and for all the wrong reasons, some would say) but this Peaches hopes to reclaim her name with her anticipated follow-up to 2006’s “Impeach My Bush.”

Toronto-born Merrill Nisker, the original Peaches in our book, has announced the album title and date for her fourth XL record via her website. “I Feel Cream” drops May 5 in the U.S., and from early teasers it sounds as if the Berlin-based artist has returned to her electro roots after dalliances with a harder, guitar-based rock sound (she toured with a full live band for much of 2006 and 2007). Her new set features collaborations with Simian Mobile Disco and Scotland's Drums of Death. Other big name electronic music artists are also in the proverbial “Cream” mix (expect full details on the record soon from XL), but Peaches remains, as always, the principal songwriter on the new offering.

Big Stereo has posted an all Peaches mixtape made by Drums of Death on its website, which features snippets/remixed versions of two new Peaches tracks from the forthcoming disc (“Lose You” and “Buck You Like a Billionaire”) and the full album version of the title track. To hear “I Feel Cream,” the song, check around the 30-minute mark here. 

Is the album title a nod to Donna Summer?  I'm not sure, but I get the feeling that Giorgio Moroder would applaud both “Lose You” and “I Feel Cream” regardless.

-- Charlie Amter

Photo of Peaches at a gig in L.A. on New Year's Eve 2007 by Don Barletti/Los Angeles Times

A double-shot of Willie Nelson on a Wednesday

Hey, so we heard that there was some hullabaloo going on at the White House the other day! Well, it seems like as good a time as any to check in with a singer who allegedly brought his own breed of hope and change to the presidential manor a few decades ago. Willie Nelson's got a new collaborative album coming out, alongside a tribute record of covers from one of the better beardy-folk dudes going today, Phosporescent.

Heartless Bastards: Erika Wennerstrom moves 'The Mountain'

Erika Wennerstrom didn't have the most auspicious start to her rock 'n' roll career. When the acoustic guitar from her father showed up under the Christmas tree when she was 16, she looked at it without any particular desire to play. She finally made a go of it, but before the calluses could form she gave up, frustrated by how painful it was to press down on the strings.

It wasn't until two years later that the Dayton, Ohio, native, then a high school dropout working at a sub shop and looking for some sort of creative outlet, picked up the guitar and really started playing. She learned bar chords first and eventually forced herself to learn open chords.

"I'm still not sure I know any real chords," Wennerstrom, now 31, says in her throaty, Midwestern drawl. "I still tell people I don't really know how to play guitar." Onstage, partially hidden by a Les Paul Gold Top re-issue or a Gibson ES-125 hollow body (writers frequently mention her small stature as if amazed that a voice that big could come out of a body that small), Wennerstrom seems like a natural, simultaneously swaggering and at ease.

If her musical proficiency is in doubt -- and let it be noted that it's mostly Wennerstrom doing the doubting -- her musical instincts are not. Aside from sporting the best band name this side of Black Sabbath, the Heartless Bastards have the good fortune to ride the whirlwind that is Wennerstrom's voice. Low and husky in a range that's closer to that of a male tenor than a traditional female singer, it packs enough power that it can feel like a plague of locusts devouring a field and has enough subtlety to add ache to soft, bluesy tunes. Combined with Wennerstrom's canny ability for crafting throbbing hooks, it's lifted the Cincinnati-spawned Heartless Bastards to the level of top regional band, a label they're likely to transcend with their latest album, "The Mountain," out on Feb. 3.

Download the title track of "The Mountain" after the jump....