Ballroom Marfa presented Yeasayer at the Crowley Theater with Javelin as the opener. 

Art-rockers Yeasayer emerged from the Brooklyn music scene in 2008 with All Hour Cymbals, a record rooted in German krautrock, the dark-skies pathos of North African desert blues and the songbook of some enlightened barbershop quartet. Tours with Beck and MGMT followed, and the group shared their bohemian psychedelia with fellow traveler Natasha Khan as producers on Bat For Lashes’ critically-acclaimed 2009 album, Two Suns.

Yeasayer changed course slightly with their sophomore effort, 2010’s Odd Blood. It’s a collection of music that keeps the polyglot sounds of their previous work, while throbbing with the pulse of global techno culture, and revealing an array of saxophones, synthesizers and other New Wave flourishes. It’s a shift that brings to mind comparisons to David Bowie, Depeche Mode and perhaps most tellingly, the art-rock/world music fusion of Peter Gabriel.

In addition to their show at the Crowley Theater, Yeasayer conducted a workshop at Marfa ISD as part of Ballroom Marfa’s Outreach and Education Program. They worked directly with band director Forrest Perry and Principal Graydon Hicks on an interactive lesson. “The school band, grades 6-12, participated in the program.

Yeasayer was joined on stage by fellow Brooklynites Javelin, a duo making summery offbeat R&B and electro jams in a decidedly tropical vein. They’re also known for transmitting their live show through an array of boomboxes arranged about the stage.

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