April 26, 2010

She's Got It.


                                                                                                          Yukimi Nagano 

Okay, so, Coachella.

You already know. Gorillaz: unbelievable. Thom Yorke: life-changing. Muse: epic (what? I know). Shreds like you wouldn’t believe. Yadda yadda yadda.

But I gotta harp on one woman, because she is rocking my world…

Yukimi Nagano, lead singer of Little Dragon.

I’ve seen Little Dragon twice now (at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 3/25/10, and then at Coachella), and both shows were un-real. With the exception of a couple songs (mostly from their first CD), the emphasis is on dance. The band creates incredible improvised dance spaces by letting each song ride out and become more fleshed out than its recorded version, never letting it get too long before morphing into another.

Now for Yukimi. 

First of all, the lady can move. You can't take your eyes off her; all you can do is just try to understand how her body gets the music like that. She’s fresh and spunky and she bugs out. She's so into it-- there was a moment during both shows where she grabbed a pair of sticks and pounded on one of the drummer's cymbals (a move that Oliver from The xx also pulls, with less effect). Here's a video of a dance break during "Looking Glass" at Coachella.



And here’s a Yukimi mixtape, which really shows off her versatility. I love how her sound changes between the Little Dragon material and the earlier jazz stuff.

9 comments:

Megan said...

Wish I could have been there. But of course, I was ....DANCING. :) Nice piece BTW.

Marina said...

Dear Emma,

I love this. But that should be no surprise to anyone because I like what you do and what you have to say. So keep doin' it.

Marina said...

and... no YOU'VE got it.

Jeff said...

This is a pretty sweet blog. It has just the right beats to keep me wanting more. Speaking of wanting more, when do I get a copy of "The" radio show?

Amber Park said...

Okay, so, Emma.

you have opened this whole new world of blogging to me and I am loving every beat and word that you share!

Molly said...

She DOES have it. And I like that you don't try and deconstruct it too much- because let's be honest, that's what makes her... HER. L. Dragon is beautiful and fresh and best left untouched to a certain extent. NOT like chocolate cake which is beautiful and fresh and best left in my stomach. xooxo - Seester

Anonymous said...

UR DA BEST

Ashwin said...

Agree. Agree. Agree. You describe her perfectly.

Little Dragon - amazing. Yukimi - out of this world. Rarely do I feel the desire to be someone else, but when I saw Yukimi on stage I was entranced. I wanted to be her. I wanted to wear that crazy reflector stripe dress she wore to both shows and dance like it was my life. I tried. And I failed more or less. But that's what's great about her. Watching her groove made me feel OK about dancing like a fool. I just had to move.

Check her out!
http://twitpic.com/1j1app

e.thaler said...

fantastic! jealous that you probably had the most fantastic amazing mind blowing life changing time ever. I can always count of you for an intro to someone new, fascinating, exciting and creative.

Also, for the record, you now have one more comment from someone other than yo mama... but, your mom is pretty awesome, soooo I can't compete.