Editor's Note: We at buffaBLOG invite artists to use the blog as a medium for their writing. Michael "Yes YES" Ersing, a Buffalo born freak folk musician, and his fiancé Janie Roberts submitted this to us after an inspiring Future Islands show.


Saturday November 9th, I (Janie) had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands to see live on this entire planet. I first experienced Sam, William, and Gerrit performing together in Art Lord & The Self Portraits back around 2003 in the Carolinas while I was in high school. What I remember is costumed ridiculousness, dancing, and particularly one weirdo belting fancifully with eyeliner running down his sweating face. Everyone was sweating--that would remain a given with these guys.

Future Islands popped into my sphere again and again, from creepy house shows in Charleston, SC to festivals in their hometown of Baltimore, Denver on a round-robin tour with Dan Deacon, to playing alongside them when my Fem-punk band decided to throw a reunion--probably more motivated by the opportunity to play with them than by any other sort of nostalgia.

Their show in Buffalo proved that their far-out synth-pop heart-gravity not only still induces altered states of elation, but that Future Islands is evolving into new realities of composition. Weaving heavier sound, even deeper lyrically complex wisdom spouting from Sam's ever chimerical persona, and adding an organic Earthling drummer to top it all off contributed to their participatory journeying and it's transformative effect. The whole crowd begins accepting the inevitable. You will dance and you will enjoy it. The classics such as "Balance" and "Tin Man" got everyone in the mood, and by in the mood I mean pumped on life and inspired to believe in oneself in the most positive sense. The newer songs crept up and out into the soul with William's baselines pumping, Gerrit's synth probing seemingly darker realms and Sam posing new questions for the listener to contemplate. Writing a song for someone you have never met--Romantic? Psychic? Revelatory? All of that and more. 

As I make the move across the globe to Korea, I can't think of a better show to send me off. My next thought--these guys have to play in Seoul because I am totally positive I don't want to wait a year to see them again, and I'm also pretty sure it's high time for Future Islands to tour Asia.



A few words between Mike & Sam

Buffalo freak-folk ex-pat, Michael Ersing (a.k.a. Yes Yes) hasn't played in town in a while, but that doesn't mean the guy hasn't been busy. About a year ago he headed to Georgia to record the gospel-infused Dogstar! Heal Your Weightlessness! in a sweaty bedroom-studio with a cluster of vocal accompanists. The record caught a bit of buzz (it was shouted-out by blogs like Verbicide and Consequence of Sound - check out our own review here), and since then, Ersing has been steadily spreading his message of love and extraterrestrial spirituality across the South, Midwest, and West Coast.

During this latest leg of touring, Yes Yes will be disseminating a new record, New Pure White Gods/Motherphucking Art Trash 5D. The EP (which you can download HERE) follows in the same minimal folk vein as Dogstar! while steadily exploring new ground. Though "ground" might not be the right word; while it's predecessor was clearly an open, social foray - with 20 or so vocalists backing Ersing with wild chants and sing-alongs - White Gods instead retreats internally. It's clearly a more personal outing for the songwriter, who's more mature and reserved and seemingly quite comfortable on his own. There are still accompanists, to be sure, but where Dogstar! at times conveyed a collective atmosphere, this EP conveys only the content of the songs and the inner-workings of their creator.

And where Dogstar! jumped, stylistically, weaving an often-jagged tapestry of sub-genres, White Gods' greatest strength comes in it's consistency. All of the artist's trademarks are present - found sounds, fast-fast-FAST poetry rattle-offs, whistling, incidental chatter, and pretty vocal melodies - but not one at a time, track by track as was the case so often before. Here, these style elements coalesce within each and every song, such that it seems Yes Yes has arrived at His Own Sound.

Reviews are inevitably going to (continue to) compare Yes Yes to the likes of Devendra Banhart, Andrew Bird, and Daniel Johnston. I do so as well because, 1) as a blogger, I have to remain marginally derivative, albeit in THIS meta way; and, 2) they are, indeed, astute comparisons. It's self-recorded, minimal, folky, and sincere. But it's also indelibly original. Yes Yes isn't scheduled to appear in Buffalo in the foreseeable future, but keep an eye on his dates. Don't miss an opportunity to cross paths, support this Buffalonian-in-exile, and pick up a copy of the stellar new EP.


July 16| San Fran**

Jul 17|8:00pm Vintage Wine Bar Redding, CA

Jul 18|7:00pm Mountaintop Concert (secret...ask around) Medford, OR

Jul 19|8:00pm Black Forest Eugene, OR

Jul 20|9:30pm Robin Hood Pub Union, WA

Jul 21|9:00pm El Norte Seattle, WA

Jul 22|6:30pm Der Hinterhof Leavenworth, WA

Jul 28|7:00pm Dawson Creek Art Gallery Dawson Creek, BC

Jul 29|8:00pm Wunderbar Edmonton, AB, Canada

Jul 30|7:00pm The Canvas Saskatoon, SK

Jul 31|8:00pm Lydia's Pub Saskatoon, SK

Aug 2|10pm Eau Claire WI /w Truman Peyote

Aug 3|8:30pm The Nest Milwaukee, WI

Aug 4|930pm Eel Factory Chicago, Illl

Aug 5|8:00pm 3 Door Gallery, Oberlin Ohio