Get your fire extinguishers ready.
Known as the founding member of the revered-but-irreverent Israeli garage band Monotonix (yes, the same guys that used to set themselves on fire on stage), and (in his second life) Village Voice’s “Best Guitarist in New York, 2013,” Yonatan Gat is about to release his sophomore solo full-length album. Preceded by single “Cockfight,” which premiered last week via Brooklyn Vegan, Universalists will be out May 4 on Joyful Noise.
Gat’s playing style has been variously described as shamanic, ritualistic, mind-melting, and restless, and his debut LP, 2015’s Director, was an impressive (and strangely not overwhelming) amalgam of styles “from Brazilian psych and Afrobeat to free jazz, surf, and 20th century avant-garde.” Universalists is set to continue Gat’s genre-bending frenzy, with self-declared influences including Genoa, Italy’s Trallaero singing, traditional Mallorcan work-songs, Balinese gamelan music, Dvořák, and IDM. Hot damn.
Universalists can be pre-ordered at the following link (bone color vinyl, everyone!). Gat is also heading on an extensive North American tour, which kicks off TODAY with his first of several showcases at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Check out all of those dates below, as well as the album’s cover, full tracklisting, and first single “Cockfight.”
Universalists tracklisting:
01. Cue the Machines
02. Post-World
03. Fading Casino
04. Cockfight
05. Medicine
06. Projections
07. Sightseer
08. Dream Sequence
09. Chronology
10. The Imaginary
Gat’s got dates:
03.13.18 - Austin, TX - SXSW Hotel Vegas Hotel Vegas Daytime Party
03.13.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Spider House Spider House Ballroom
03.14.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Hotel Vegas Desert Daze Daytime Party
03.15.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Hotel Vegas Levitation Official Showcase
03.16.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Hotel Vegas Austin Chronicle Daytime Party
03.16.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Cheer Up Charlie’s Ad Hoc Official Showcase
03.16.18 - Austin, TX- SXSW Sahara Lounge Ritual for Sun God
05.06.18 - Winooski, VT - Waking Windows Festival
05.09.18 - Montreal, QC - Distorsion Psych Fest at La Sala Rossa
05.10.18 - Toronto, ON - CMW Festival
05.11.18 - Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog West
05.13.18 - Indianapolis, IN - State Street Pub
05.14.18 - Chicago, IL - The Hideout
05.15.18 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
05.16.18 - Los Angeles, CA - Resident
05.18.18 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
05.19.18 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar
05.22.18 - Vancouver, B.C. - Astoria
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