Yva Las Vegass : I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/yvalasvegassiwasborn.jpg" alt="Yva Las Vegass : I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes" /><br /> Every performance sounds like it's reenacting some...
Yva Las Vegass : I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes
8.1 Moniker
2012 

Yva Las Vegass : I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes Before you spend time with I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangos, the new album from Vegass Las Vegass, you should know the story of a Venezuelan born musician who’s spent most of her life living and performing on the streets of Seattle.  For years she tested her talent on those rainy corners, battling addiction and somewhere along the way even starting a short lived project with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Sweet 75.  From the very beginning her approach to her vocal talent has been carved out of necessity and the need to create music.  But this backstory is overshadowed by Vegass’ incredible voice, the sound of sheer determination, in which every performance sounds like it’s reenacting some of that struggle and creating something beautiful along the way. 

On the album Vegass favors the cuatro, a Venezuelan oversized ukulele, which in her hands is a versatile percussive accompaniment to her dynamic vocal.  The humble instrument is transformed, somehow matching her delicate vibrato as she bitterly beats out chords.  As much as she must have been aware early on of her inherent talents, to put them to the test in public for years is another thing entirely, trading training and control for the immediate raw hook that has to catch every passerby. 

The first track, "Mariposas", shows how completely at home Vegass is in her stripped down, vocal-heavy arrangement.  Introducing herself as a "Motherfucker", she’s in her element, clearly comfortable in physically overpowering the environment with her charged delivery and unsettling lyrics.  She combines her street poetry with heavily rhythmic elements from traditional flamenco.  Almost all of these tracks are in Spanish, but rather than the meaning it’s the unique way she uses her voice that makes this a compelling record. 

"Crack Whore" is a standout not just because it’s the most accessible track to an English language audience, or because it’s a bitter indictment of a hypocritical drug policy, or because it’s about buying crack.  It’s because Vegass effortlessly sings in a variety of beautifully schizophrenic voices, a fluttering falsetto, a furious spoken word, a sympathetic croon, and a hair raising scream, "I’m terrified of black people!"  The impact of this story about buying crack for her white friends is almost overshadowed by the intensely emotional performance. 

 "La Nina" and "Pensamiento Triste", on the other hand, are rooted more in the pathetic sound of the nylon string cuatro; they’re songs that are beautiful in spite of themselves.  The thin, shallow quality of the melody lends a certain kind of welcome unpretentiousness next to this overwhelmingly gifted voice.  Vegass seems to work best when confronted with these less than perfect elements, hustling in her seducing style to spin them into gold.  There’s an undeniable authenticity to her singing and composition that has to come from living the stories she’s sharing.  Yva Las Vegass is a challenging artist who’s uncompromising in her personal and musical choices; a unique voice that stands alongside equally determined and naturally gifted artists like Jimmy Scott or Daniel Johnston (QRO live review).

MP3 Stream: "Crack Whore"

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