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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo |
| Date | Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:33:42 -0500 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@ameritech.net>
> This release has made me realize that I need to get me
> a Yo La Tengo record -- any recommendations (and
> please explain why)?
Generally, PAINFUL and ELECTROPURA are considered the pinnacle. YLT
grew up in public for a much longer period than most bands (their 1986
album RIDE THE TIGER barely even sounds like the band they became, and
Ira Kaplan is shamelessly pillaging Lou Reed's solo records for his
vocal style) and while their early records -- which is everything
through 1992's MAY I SING WITH ME, the first album by the stable trio
incarnation of Ira, Georgia and James -- have much to offer once
you're familiar with the band, I don't recommend starting with them.
PAINFUL and ELECTROPURA are the albums on which they finally perfected
their sound, and really, every subsequent album has been a kind of
refining process.
If you're looking for one over the other...man, that's a tough call.
PAINFUL is a more consistently great album, and it has two landmark
YLT recordings, "From A Motel 6" and the closing instrumental "I Heard
You Looking." ELECTROPURA is a little more experimental and has one
or two songs that are more interesting sonic experiments than
satisfying songs, BUT it also has both "Tom Courtenay," which may well
be their best straightahead pop song ever, and "Blue Line Swinger,"
which to my mind is all of the wonderful things about Yo La Tengo
condensed into nine minutes. (Recipients of my first SOTT mix some
years ago might recall "(Thin) Blue Line Swinger," a re-recording
which turns the gentle little pop song that's at the heart of the
album version into a stand-alone unit; that's from the now OOP EP
called CAMP YO LA TENGO.)
Either PAINFUL or ELECTROPURA is worth your time and money. If you're
only getting one...I'd say get ELECTROPURA, both because it has the
two career high points and its somewhat sprawling structure will let
you gauge just how much further into the oeuvre you want to go. After
that, work both forwards (I believe I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS
ONE would be next) and backwards (MAY I SING WITH ME and before) until
you get bored.
S
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