Yo La Tengo, Beat Your Ass

[penelec]

Has anyone been listening to this? After bending my head to get into recent albums -- and eventually being very happy with 'em -- this one is immediately enjoyable. I expected it to be all over the place, but it's kinda like Ira combed through all his obsessions and made a record that's totally YLT.



I would pay two teeth to see them play this record live. Maybe three.

On a side note, I bought it on vinyl (I know, but at least I don't work in a record store. Much.) and got the "free season pass" online streaming thingy. I'm listening to it right now. Everyone should do this. It's the wave of the future. Appease us album-art vinyl freaks and deliver the intellectual goods you know we're going to burn anyway. Wonderful.

[;ivlunsdystf]

I have always kind of resisted YLT but I finally caved in when I saw that Michael Keaton movie "Game 6" and there were a bunch of older YLT tracks in the soundtrack. Marvelous stuff. It is time to revisit their stuff.

[kayagum]

They're on tour: http://yolatengo.com/schedule.html

I still think "Painful" is a masterpiece 15 years later. "Fakebook" is arguably the best cover album ever, with great guitar work of Dave Schramm to boot.

[centurymantra]

Yeah...I just saw that they have new material coming out and I am mighty stoked to hear it. YLT are an absolute pinnacle of modern rock and one of my favorite bands. On a good night their live performances are nothing short of transcendent, and even on an "off" night, they are inevitably still pretty great. Reading about this new record, I've got very high expectations. Can't wait! And, yes, they are touring. Go see them! Travel long distances if necessary!

[bickle]

Yeah, incredible band I came to too late - I could've been loving them for so much longer!
As it is, though, I've seen them 4 or 5 times, sometimes traveling long distances to do it, and always well worth it.
Can't wait to hear the new record - is it out on CD yet?
And on a side note, get "the sounds of the sounds of science" if you don't have it. Great stuff improvised to visuals, and a great recording, too. A must.

[centurymantra]

Yeah, incredible band I came to too late - I could've been loving them for so much longer!
As it is, though, I've seen them 4 or 5 times, sometimes traveling long distances to do it, and always well worth it.
Can't wait to hear the new record - is it out on CD yet?
And on a side note, get "the sounds of the sounds of science" if you don't have it. Great stuff improvised to visuals, and a great recording, too. A must.

I took a look and saw that the new record comes out on the 12th of this month. Gives me a chance to pick it up before I see them next month on their tour. Looking forward to it...for sure.

And yes, the Sounds of Science record is a great record. After letting it soak in over the course of time and a few listens, it's become one of my favorite YLT records. They are definitely one of THE greatest instrumental rock bands. One of my favorite YLT moments occured in a live show I saw a number of years back, after the final tune of the show where they played the instrumental 'I Heard You Looking'. I look over and see this
bad-ass punk rock kind of dude crying and wiping his eyes. His buddies are asking him if he's OK and he just exclaims that "...man, that song was so sad!". Such is the power of YLT and what they can say without speaking a word...

[jayf]

I think Yo La Tengo is pretty amazing to see live. They really have a great musical rapport with one and other--and they are "small" enough that they play venues where one can see them up-close and be part of it.

I just got their new, unrehearsed / on-the-fly covers album, "Murdering the Classics", which is fun (though it's not an essential YLT album, if you're just getting into them). It is definitely a good record of a band that plays well together--and obviously loves what they're doing and has fun doing it. It reminds me of the Beatles holiday albums--though with more jamming and less talking.

[kayagum]

One of my favorite YLT moments occured in a live show I saw a number of years back, after the final tune of the show where they played the instrumental 'I Heard You Looking'. I look over and see this
bad-ass punk rock kind of dude crying and wiping his eyes. His buddies are asking him if he's OK and he just exclaims that "...man, that song was so sad!". Such is the power of YLT and what they can say without speaking a word...

I saw them open for Teenage Fan Club in Minneapolis (circa 1992), and they played I Heard You Looking as the second song of the set, and blew away the crowd- a slack-jawed skateboarder said "Dude, I didn't know they were that good".

I'd rank that instrumental right up there with Husker Du's Reoccuring Dreams as the best postpunk instrumentals of all time.

[nosamiam]

I've seen them several times and I've never been disappointed. I even saw them twice in one day!: once at a record (vinyl!!!) store followed by that night at a club. I also caught a "The Sounds of the Sounds of Science" date. That was incredible! One of the coolest shows I've ever seen. I was in the 2nd row so I was able to check out all the gear.

They are simply one of the best bands out there live, IMO.

[madtho]

They traditionally do a series of Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken (8 nights). That is definitely the place to see them, I've done it twice-both fantastic. Once David Byrne sat in, the other, David Cross. Puny little club, good food out front.

From their current schedule, it appears they'll be free at the end of December!

-mad