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Album out June 27th
Free MP3 Download of 'Dystopia (The Earth is On Fire)'
Shangri-La is YACHT's second album for DFA Records, and fifth for the world. Shangri-La was produced, mixed, recorded, and performed by Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans with frequent collaborator and touring member Bobby Birdman, at the Marfa Recording Company, Jackpot! Studios, and in temporary living quarters in Los Angeles, California.
On Shangri-La, YACHT asserts that the future is a blank slate upon which anything can be imposed.
Shangri-La argues that "Paradise is kinetic potential, a latency within us that has been eaten alive by time." In line with the existing emphasis on self-empowerment in the YACHT philosophy, YACHT's idea of "Utopia" is personal. YACHT believes that the only real sustainable paradise is in our minds, and hence creative output can be a tangible piece of the Utopia within each individual. Shangri-La literally is YACHT's Utopia, a place made of songs.
The conceptual Eden featured in this image from Shangri-La was painted by iconic science fiction illustrator Jim Burns, three-time Hugo Award-winner.
Important Moments In The History Of Thinking, Writing, And Trying Utopia
Biblical History: Adam And Eve Kicked Out Of Eden, Beginning The "Fall Of Man."
2000 BCE: The Epic of Gilgamesh, the earliest recorded journey of the search for Earthly Paradise.
380 BCE: Plato writes The Republic, concerning the definition of justice and the character of a just city.
1515 CE: St. Thomas More writes Utopia, coining the word.
1627 CE: Francis Bacon pens New Atlantis, expressing the need for scientific rationalism in the creation of a perfect society.
1905 CE: H.G. Wells writes A Modern Utopia, proposing the formation of a world state.
1933 CE: James Hilton writes Lost Horizon, popularizing the myth of "Shangri-La."
1973 CE: The People's Temple establishes Jonestown in Guyana, South America.
1984 CE: After a bioterror attack, Rajneeshpuram falls and followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh leave their commune in Oregon.
1997 CE: Members of the Heaven's Gate cult ascend to the "next level" from a mansion in San Diego, California.
2004 CE: Portland, Oregon-based band YACHT experiences the paranormal "Mystery Lights" of Marfa, Texas.
2007 CE: YACHT develops its own philosophy, becoming a "Band, Business, and Belief System."
2008 CE: YACHT tours museums, festivals, and rock clubs around the world, disseminating philosophical materials in the process.
2009 CE: YACHT releases the critically-acclaimed See Mystery Lights on DFA Records.
2010 CE: YACHT begins recording in the "West Coast Utopian triangle" of Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, California, and Marfa, Texas.
2011 CE: YACHT releases Shangri-La.
2012 CE: YACHT breaks ground in the building of the Shangri-La Center in Marfa, TX.