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Play that funky music rockboy

Listening to Yoav’s music you may well be surprised to find out that all the noises you hear are created on his guitar. Aside from the usual strumming and chord playing, the rhythm which drives his funk-based songs come from beating the crap out of his instrument. This all makes Yoav an intriguing prospect on stage. In a recent R13 interview, Yoav described his music as “left-of-centre pop music channeled through an acoustic guitar, but inspired by hip-hop, electronica and trip hop.” All of which made him an ideal warm up for Underworld.

The Roundhouse was far from full as Yoav took to the stage, but he quickly got a groove going with those who were in attendance. At times during his short set there were moments when Prince influences were shining through: Yoav has as much potential to get a dancefloor moving as higher profile and bigger budget stars of modern R n’ B.

Alongside soul, Yoav would create hooks on his guitar that were like Paul Van Dyk-style trance music, something that would have been pleasing to the ears of Underworld fans.

It’s fascinating to watch him, it’s very easy to screw up if you attempt to copy him by playing the rhythm with one hand on your pint glass and trying to get your head round the fact that the other hand would be playing the guitar…and then there’s words to remember too.

The weakness of Yoav’s music is, once you’ve got past the idea of an extremely talented bloke making electronic sounding pop music on an acoustic guitar, not all of his songs stick in the head for long. The Timberlake-like ‘Club Thing’ is one of the most catchy songs I’ve heard for months, but it did dwarf the rest of what was a short set. The question is, how much variety would be found in an hour?

The exceptional blues guitarist Seasick Steve falls into this trap to an extent as the focus of the performance is as much on the skill rather than just great songs. That said Yoav, like Seasick Steve, is a must see performer. Head to his Myspace as tour dates are updated there.