FLAG

Yello: Boris Blank, Dieter Meier (vocals); Chico Hablas (guitar); Leos Gerteis (clarinet); Beat Ash (percussion); Billy Mackenzie (background vocals).
Yello jumped feet-first into Latin American waters with the zippy FLAG. Much of this recording is an epileptic rush of massed congas, shakers, thumping beat boxes, chorused voices and, of course, Boris Blank's endless supply of electronics. Dieter Meier contributes the lion's share of voices--he has an incredible variety of them in store, alternating from fierce falsettos to throaty suggestiveness with ease, his abilities easily the equal of Blank's instrumental virtuosity.
Look to the cheeky guitar bits, fibrillating rhythms and massed horn samples on the single "Tied Up," and the hipster-doofus, Southwestern synth dance-pop of "Blazing Saddles," for key slices of Yello pie. But turn the tables (or flick your remote) slightly for indications of past glories on "3rd of June," which offers clacking rhythm guitars, Blank's scary, rushing wind synths, and even bursts of (semi) heavy metal. Wacky, weird, wild, and wonderful.

• Genre: Pop
• RSD Release Date: DDD
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 04/24/2012