[mpFree] Yawn’s Self-Titled EP

Coming straight out of Chi-Town, the exuberant foursome of Yawn have, through a rambunctious and sunny five-song debut EP, captured everything that I adored about Annuals’ debut Be He Me. The songs seem strategically diversified, each offering a distinct sonic experience through a manic, organic pastiche of melodies and textures, yet they are bound by an interwovenness rarely found with the EP format. The sounds of corn fields and Bulgarian wedding celebrations, tribal dances and togetherness. Ethnomusicologists call it “stratified polyphony,” where an individual melodic contribution is elaborated multiple times over through a variety of notes, timbres, tempos and presentations. I wouldn’t be lying if I said that every single song on Yawn achieves this in some way or another.

[MP3] Yawn – Toys

I’m willing to bet most of you read IGIF (and music blogs in general) because you’re of the type of music lover whose cochlear itches can only be soothed through massage by unfamiliar sounds, or the combination of familiar elements to produce something chaotic yet consonant. You’re looking to be wowed, to say “I’ve never heard anything exactly like this before.” And while true originality may impossible it is entirely possible to straddle the line, or to come damn close. At the very least, Yawn come close to coming close, and that’s what makes their music so exciting.

[MP3] Yawn – Kind of Guy

So besides having immensely entertaining songs and pretty much the coolest album artwork of the year, there’s one more thing that seems to be too good to be true but trust me friends its not too good to be true at all— this delectable five-song EP is completely free. It’s too bad that Pitchfork (and many others) already completed their “Best of 2009″ lists… Guys, I think you missed a spot!

Download the Yawn EP for free here, then head to Yawn’s myspace and tell ‘em who sent you.