ARTIST: Yoriyos
TITLE: Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
LABEL: Rarechords
GENRE: Folk/Rock
BITRATE: 193kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 44min total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-02-19
RIP DATE: 2006-12-11

Track List

01. Endoscopises                    5:46
02. Nomads Dream                    5:01
03. Kingdoms Fall                   3:32
04. Hurricane John                  2:47
05. Run Dry                         3:34
06. Querido Che                     5:13
07. Another Revolution              5:00
08. If All Else Fails               4:36
09. The Pied Piper                  3:13
10. The End                         4:07
11. Wounded Knee                    1:13

Release Notes:

Singer-songwriters are rather abundant these days, as I suppose they always have
been. Within this narrow genre, though, there is currently a dramatic discrepancy
in talent – for every Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy or Bright Eyes, there are James Blunt
and James Morrison ploughing the MOR furrow. However, now and then there is still
the odd songsmith who slips through the major label net and blesses us with a
collection of songs worthy of some of the greats.

Step forward Yoriyos, whose debut album Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, released
on his own label, has the promise of being just such a collection. Clearly
influenced by some of the finer songwriters of the 60s and beyond, Yoriyos songs
are a mix of storytelling and philosophising backed by acoustic guitar and a
variety of instruments (from accordion on ‘Endoscopises’ to the fitting South
American panpipes of Querido Che). Leonard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ is
referenced in the poignant ‘Run Dry’, while ‘Hurricane John’ sounds like Cat
Stevens. You could point to a whole lot more influences (Dylan, Neil Young etc)
but Yoriyos certainly has his own voice.

The title of the album evokes the snowy massacre representative of the wrongs
done against Native American Indians by white settlers and throughout the album
there are references to revolutionary or political themes, at times reminiscent
of the original protest singers. Yoriyos is better at the storytelling than he
is the protesting though. The poetic hymn from Alberto Granado to a young Che
Guevara – ‘Querido Che’ – is more successful than the “start another revolution,
stand up for your own rights…this time we’re going to fight for love” of
anti-war ‘Another Revolution’ for example.

As well as political protest, these are also songs that argue for art over
office, creativity over capitalism – summed up in ‘If All Else Fails’: “If all
else fails I could buy a suit, and look just like one of you…I won’t need all
my dreams, I won’t be free”. There is a lot of ‘Everyman’ sentiment on this
album, with several songs playing with universal themes. Opener ‘Endoscopises’
speaks of the “journey of life”, Nomad’s Dream asks “What is the meaning? Where
do I turn? When will I get there? When Will I learn” and ‘The Pied Piper’ wants
to know “Who will stand with me when I find wrong and right?” However, whether
he is talking about universal ‘truths’, politics or lost love, Yoriyos tends to
do so with a lyrical quality that penetrates deeper than the theme.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee is a collection of well-crafted, at times
beautiful songs sung in a voice that works equally well on both the more
melodic numbers and the deeper notes of the Cohen-esque ‘The End’. There are
standout moments and barely a weak link throughout this extremely promising
debut - one can only hope that he never puts on that suit.

For more information you can visit: http://yoriyos.com