YO LA TENGO

Is there such a thing as a band that can do no wrong? Dunno, but I think it would require an act that, in addition to being extraordinarily gifted, is honest, good-humored, sensible, extremely eclectic, spirited, and humble. Here they are.

If any band has inherited fully the glory and sheer power of the Beatles, it is Yo La Tengo. If any band might just be as completely lovable as Talking Heads, it is Yo La Tengo. If there's any band whose lack of commercial success truly hurts me (but seemingly not them), it is Yo La Tengo.

They are deeply unpretentious, they make music that is liberating, wholly original, rooted in but not derivative of rock's past, and just joyfully versatile. Their every move seems to represent a love of what they do and who they're doing it for. So many of us are repelled from music today because it is an exclusive practice, like a club or the kids in school who smoke pot and try to convert you. Like the Heads, Yo La Tengo doesn't court the public explicitly, but they are content to maintain their level of communication with the audience without talking down to them. I remember something inexplicable about seeing STOP MAKING SENSE for the first time, watching people who -- in contrast with nearly every major band to exist in the '90s and today -- loved being on stage and playing music, as much for themselves as for the people there to see them. I saw people who weren't concerned with tabloids and scenes and hype, just with the joy of performing. I saw Yo La Tengo in Asheville last year, and Goddamn if I didn't see that again.

Their music is impossible to describe because they are deeply restless. They are my Beatles because they infuse everything they do with new life, and they will try anything. Their original songs are so good you want to consider it impossible that they have not found more widespread recognition. Their covers -- lovably and intelligently selected from the depths of the brilliant couple Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley's record collection -- turn songs from all over the map into lively, rejuvenated anthems. Remember when the Beatles did that with everything they touched?

But no, they may always remain known as a critics' band, the same way the Velvet Underground was even though they made some of the most populist, lively music ever. I am not the type to hoard my favorite bands like rations for winter, I want everyone to know who they are. Maybe if Yo La Tengo just goes on forever the world will catch up with them, but then, I hope they go on forever anyway.

ANNOTATED DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS REVIEWED:
Ride the Tiger (1986) [B] (reviews coming soon)
New Wave Hot Dogs (1987) [A-]
President Yo La Tengo (1989) [A]
Fakebook (1990) [A+]
May I Sing with Me (1992) [A-]
Painful (1993) [A-]
Electr-o-Pura (1995) [A+]
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997) [A+]
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000) [A+]
Summer Sun (2003) [A+]
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006) [A+]

COLLABORATIONS & SIDE PROJECTS
Strange But True (1998) [with Jad Fair]
The Sounds of the Sounds of Science (2002) [A-]

COMPILATIONS
Prisoners of Love (2005) [A-]

RARITIES COLLECTIONS
Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo (1996) [A]
Prisoners of Love: Deluxe Edition (2005) [A]
Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics (2006) [B+]

EP'S
That is Yo La Tengo (1991) [B+]
Upside Down (1992) [A]
Shaker (1993) [A-]
From a Motel 6 (1994) [B+]
Tom Courtenay (1995) [A-]
Camp Yo La Tengo (1995) [A]
Autumn Sweater (1995) [A-]
Little Honda (1998) [A]
Danelectro (2000) [B+]
Nuclear War (2002) [B+]
Merry Christmas from Yo La Tengo (2002) [A-]
Today is the Day (2003) [A]

NON-LP SINGLES & misc. tracks (to come)


OTHER WRITING
review of 2/5-6/07 shows in Carrboro, NC + setlists
highlights of 2/5 & 2/6/07 shows in Carrboro, NC
review of 9/11/03 show in Asheville, NC

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