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Yo La Tengo


John B

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Is anyone else here a fan of this band? Their new disc, Summer Sun, has just been released and I gave it a first spin last night. First impression was that it is a nice disc. It is more of a mellow "late night vibe" disc than anything else. It is nowhere near "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" or "Painful" in my book, but a nice album nonetheless. I think my expectations may have been too high for Summer Sun to not be set up to disappoint me, to some degree.

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John,

I can't believe that we have three Spacemen 3 fans here. Usually when I mention them, I get a blank look from people. They were a huge influence on me musically for a long time.

Playing With Fire is really good. I think both of these albums are essential.

As far as Yo La Tengo is concerned, I haven't really given them a chance. Any recommendations on where to start?

:rsmile:

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are you on emusic? they have all of their albums up for download.

I started with I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and was sold. Most people seem to recommend Painful or Electr-O-Pura as the best albums to start with. You really can't go wrong with any of those albums. To start, I would avoid Ride that Tiger, President YLT/New Wave Hot Dogs, Genius + Love and Nothing Turned Itself Inside out, although you will probably want to grab all of them, eventually.

As far as Spacemen 3 goes I enjoy listening to Spiritualized (who still do "Walking with Jesus" live) but Sonic Boom lost me a while back with his Spectrum and E.A.R albums. I would love to hear more live recordings from the Playing With Fire tour.

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Thanks for the suggestions, John!

I am on emusic - I'll go ahead and download what you suggested. Thanks for the tips on what to avoid. I hate when I'm listening to a band for the first time and I've picked the wrong album to start with. It's hard to get past an initial bad impression.

I'm with you as far as Spacemen 3 and their offspring. I think I gave up on Sonic Boom after the second E.A.R. album. I last saw him play live in 1994. That was a pretty interesting show.

The Spiritualized stuff is good. I've got all their albums, but I don't listen to them that much. After the band broke up, I enjoyed the Spectrum stuff the most.

:rsmile:

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I would like to officially cast my vote for Spacement 3 as well! Ever their dancy major label pre-breakup-full-of-inter-band-tension-record (don't recall the name of it--haven't heard it in years...). Still, Perfect Prescription is aMAZing...

Not really into the E.A.R. stuff and haven't heard Spectrum.

Spiritualized records always sound great to me on first listen, and then gradually depreciate from then on...

Have you guys heard Thh Deviants? Late 60's pre-punk British band. Sometimes they pop into my head as one of many interesting SM3 influences.

Oh yeah, Yo La Tengo, Ra Ra Ra!

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I would like to officially cast my vote for Spacement 3 as well! Ever their dancy major label pre-breakup-full-of-inter-band-tension-record (don't recall the name of it--haven't heard it in years...). Still, Perfect Prescription is aMAZing...

Not really into the E.A.R. stuff and haven't heard Spectrum.

Spiritualized records always sound great to me on first listen, and then gradually depreciate from then on...

Have you guys heard Thh Deviants? Late 60's pre-punk British band. Sometimes they pop into my head as one of many interesting SM3 influences.

Oh yeah, Yo La Tengo, Ra Ra Ra!

The pre-breakup album was Recurring. I never really got into it. I should re-listen to it. You could definitely see that the game was almost over for them.

Thanks for the tip on the Deviants! I've never heard them before. I'll keep my eye out. :eye:

As far as the Spectrum is concerned. Look for "Soul Kiss (Glide Divine)" - this album from 1992 is probably my favorite post-Spacemen release.

Good insight on the Spiritualized albums, I feel the same way.

I have to give Spacemen 3 for coming up with one of the greatest album titles ever:

"Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To"

:rsmile:

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are you on emusic? they have all of their albums up for download.

I started with I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and was sold. Most people seem to recommend Painful or Electr-O-Pura as the best albums to start with. You really can't go wrong with any of those albums. To start, I would avoid Ride that Tiger, President YLT/New Wave Hot Dogs, Genius + Love and Nothing Turned Itself Inside out, although you will probably want to grab all of them, eventually.

As far as Spacemen 3 goes I enjoy listening to Spiritualized (who still do "Walking with Jesus" live) but Sonic Boom lost me a while back with his Spectrum and E.A.R albums. I would love to hear more live recordings from the Playing With Fire tour.

AfricaBrass - Don't listen to him. :D

"President YLT/New Wave Hot Dogs" is a GREAT album - 2 albums, actually. It's different from the type of music they are doing now, but for a REAL good time, it's a lot of fun - especially the "Hot Dogs" tunes. "Ride The Tiger" is similar 'garage-like' rock. "Genius + Love" is a collection of singles and B-sides that is worth grabbing just for the "experience".

Anyway, I'm really liking the new album. It keeps getting better - like a good album should.

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AfricaBrass - Don't listen to him. :D

I *could* have told him to start with the Nuclear War EP. It is a riot hearing all of those little kids chanting "it's a motherfucker!" behind Ira's deadpan delivery. :g

I still believe that neither President YLT / NWHD nor Ride the Tiger would be the best place to start with YLT but, as I said, eventually you'll want them all. Best advice, since AfricaBrass is on emusic is just download everything. All of their albums have moments of brilliance

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  • 8 months later...

up...

John, I want to thank you for turning me on to Yo La Tengo. I don't remember if it was because of this thread, or noticing them from the "July etc listening" threads, but I picked up one of their discs on a whim about 6 months ago (...and then nothing turned itself inside out), and was hooked enough to start picking up more. Now I've got eight of their albums, and am always on the lookout. Before leaving Stuttgart, I came across the "Today is the Day" and "Nuclear War" eps, in one of my old favorite used stores. Love 'em both!

-Erik

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I've been a big time fan of YLT for about 12 years now and can't seem to get into Summer Sun. Too much noodling for me. It's a bummer because they're the only currently existing rock band who has yet to disappoint me. The live show was great, however, as expected. They never disappoint live and did something like a 10-12 minute version of the Sun Ra cover. I especially enjoyed And then Nothing... and can safely claim Painful as my all time fave. I definately prefer their more down-tempo material since they sound entirely too much like Sonic Youth when the try to *rock* (think "Cherry Chapstick", "Flying Lesson [Hot Chicken #1]" and "Big Day Coming").

Anyways, YLT have managed to create an aesthetic both avant-garde and romantic; which is a rare and beautiful thing. "Music to fold your girlfriend's laundry by" I once read. Couldn't have said it better myself.....

Nice people too.

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