Yalpine
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Yalpine

San Francisco, California, United States | SELF

San Francisco, California, United States | SELF
Band Alternative Pop

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Leicester Bangs Album Review November 2011"

Winner of this year's prestigious Beyond the Music Label Series Finale at San Francisco's 111 Minna Gallery, Yalpine celebrate their victory with the release of their debut EP. The five tracks on “White Horse” indicate a group with interesting influences, from post-punk electronics to Goldfrapp, early Portishead and all with the classic indie-pop instincts of Ladyhawke and Cat Power. Frontwoman Lina Hancock is in possession of a voice that perfectly suits her songs, and its wispy, dreamy tone is complimented by instrumentalists Shawn Scott and Matt Driscoll on synthesizers and guitars.

Opening with the title track, its appeal is instant. The sound is verdant and lush, and begins with waves of electronic sound around an off-kilter beat. It then evolves into jagged funk before settling again. All through Hancock adds gentle coaxing, faraway textures and ultimately emotional tension. It’s quite a performance. They seem to enjoy breaking their songs down into quite separate parts. “Nobody” features a disturbed, almost circus-like section and “In The Sand” has a chorus that could be a distant cousin of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “You Keep Me Hanging On” – Kim Wilde’s version, funnily enough.

I must say “White Horse” is a thoroughly enjoyable debut collection, though over far too quickly. I hope they get around to a full length record sooner rather than later.
www.facebook.com/Yalpine - Leicester Bangs


"Lost Happily Found"

By Todd Lavoie

Losing oneself isn't necessarily something to shy away from; in the case of the debut EP from San Francisco trio Interchangeable Hearts, such an outcome should probably be welcomed. Fronted by the coolly unhurried vocals of Lina Hancock, the three-piece arrives well-versed in matching stark atmospherics with melancholic ruminations on matters of love, at times recalling Midnight Movies at their most minimal or Sub Pop-era Saint Etienne at their most somber.

"Now That I'm Gone" is a captivating opening statement, starting off with a ghostly slink of haunted-house organ and sumptuously detached vocals before spinning itself into hi-hat- and bubble-bass-driven disco release, with Hancock achieving a curious blend of resignation and euphoria in her dancefloor declaration, "All the stars in the sky and the light in my eyes/it makes me fall apart." Fluid bass lines and weightless organ whirrs also largely inform the engrossingly floatable handclap-funk of "March," and the elegant balladry of "Be Mine" glides along with a tearful melody and stately piano worthy of Burt Bacharach - think Ivy without the French-accented vocals.

"Maze" offers the Interchangeable Hearts at their most spooked-out, thanks to the billowing puffs of organ which keep the song hovering somewhere in the ether. Top marks, however, go to "On My Knees," a coy tempo-shifter buoyed by Hancock's taunting chorus of "look me in the eyes and make me remember you." - San Francisco Bay Guardian


Discography

White Horse EP (2011)

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Bio

Yalpine's music combines lush electronic elements, synth bass, organ and guitar with unique drum rhythm's, providing a dreamy landscape for Vocalist Lina Hancock. Hancock is the emotive centerpiece with a voice and presence that invokes Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Beth Gibbons (Portishead), and Emily Haines (Metric, Broken Social Scene). Lina delivers her poignant, cryptic lyrics with a beauty and vulnerability that draws you in to her plight.

Yalpine was a featured performer at the 2011 California Music Industry Summit in Oakland. In August 2011 Yalpine's winning performance at The Beyond The Music Label Series Finale at 111 Minna earned them the title of BML Series Artist of the Year and went on to perform on August 20, 2011 at the “Planet LA Records Artists and Brands Showcase” in San Francisco at Mezzanine. On October 4, 2011 Yalpine released their debut EP "White Horse".