4/4: In the year I was born, so was Yo La Tengo. Which would make them the perfect subjects of yet another indulgent nostalgia post. But the song I want to share today was recorded just five years ago.. Around that time I had heard a song or two. I remember being put off by the hypnotic meandering of Moby Octopad. Someone tried to defuse this by skipping through to the impossibly poppy Mr Tough, which only made things worse. Then one night Graham took matters into his own hands and dragged me out to see Yo La Tengo at the Transmission Room. About two minutes into the show I wriggled my way right to the very front and Im still there, man. Metaphorically, I mean. Im not locked in the Transmission Room. Yo La Tengos greatest asset is that their songs are growers, their albums are growers, their entire world sits inside you and grows there. Forever. There are bands that catch you in a moment and resonate with you until the day they dont. There are bands youll always treasure, that captured your heart and went out in a blaze of glory (or death and glory). And then there is Yo La Tengo, the only band I can think of that has continuously released exceptional music for thirty years (or at least since their 1993 record Painful), either unconscious of the hype that surrounds modern indie rock or just choosing to ignore it. Their staying power might have something to do with the diversity of their epic 12-album back-catalogue, which spans every genre from shoegaze to folk, gleefully twee pop to spine-tingling noise. In the spaces between songs, Yo La Tengo effortlessly switch between screeching indie guitar rock, lush acoustic folk, and some synthesiser thing that sounds like a car ad. For their alternative music contemporaries of the 90s like the Pixies or Nirvana, this all happened between verse and chorus - levels shifting up and down to assert or feign structure and manipulate the audience response through dynamics. But Yo La Tengos talent lies in playing the best jangly guitar rock song you ever heard, followed by the best funk song you ever heard, chased up by the best guy with an acoustic guitar song you ever heard. With that all said, Iras trademark guitar noodling and sentimental lyricism has always felt most at home within every albums quiet, reflective moments. His contribution is given shape by the gentle patter of drums (thats his wife of thirty years, Georgia), and momentum by James simple but ever-present bass parts. So the song I want to share is More Stars Than There Are In Heaven from 2009s Popular Songs. Basically, if I tried to woo you with a mixtape any time after 2009, you might recognise it. And on that note: if Ira and Georgia are even half as in love as they sound on the records, theres is surely the greatest marriage humanity has ever known.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 14:36:40 +0000
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