Artist – Album: Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart
Beating as One
Released: 22nd
April 1997
Sounds Like: Shimmering indie greatness
Whatever it is, Yo La Tengo have got it*. Being one of the music’s
principal purveyors of hazy indie noise pop, they have spent the last twenty-seven
years releasing consistently excellent and highly influential albums. One
reviewer at the time went as far as to call them The Greatest Band in the
Universe, which may be going slightly over the top, but they could well be the
greatest band on this planet at least. They may never have troubled the charts
but they seem perfectly happy simply keep putting out gorgeous music
regardless. Which is just great.
There’s plenty of contenders, but I’d like to forward I Can
Hear the Heart Beating As One as the best album they’ve released in the nearly
three decades since their debut. It has it all – a blissed out adventure into an
eclectic variety of genres, from shoegaze (‘Damage’)to
bossa-nova (‘Centre of Gravity’) to
noisy power pop (‘Sugarcube’); wonderful
takes on cover songs (the feedback driven version of the Beach Boys’ ‘Little Honda’ and the lovely closing
acoustic ditty ‘My Little Corner of the World’);
wry lyrics delivered as a hushed almost-whisper on gorgeous love songs such as ‘Autumn Sweater’.
Alongside the recently reviewed Guided By Voices and
Pavement, Yo La Tengo have been one of the driving forces in the direction of
alternative rock in recent times. Their warm blend of noise rock and poppy melody
has seen them taken to heart by critics and gushing fans alike. They’ve got it
alright.**
* This was a
clever pun – “yo la tengo” is “I got it” in Spanish you see. Check Google
translate. Gosh, I’m so funny...
** I made the same pun again. This was a bad idea, as really
you shouldn’t repeat jokes. I might not actually be that funny after all.
Albumaday... rating:
9/10
1. Return
to Hot Chicken – 1:38
2. Moby
Octopad – 5:48
3. Sugarcube
– 3:21
4. Damage
– 4:39
5. Deeper
into Movies – 5:23
6. Shadows
– 2:27
7. Stockholm
Syndrome – 2:51
8. Autumn
Sweater – 5:18
9. Little
Honda – 3:07
10. Green
Arrow – 5:43
11. One
PM Again -2:25
12. The
Lie and How We Told It – 3:19
13. Center
of Gravity – 2:42
14. Spec
Bebop – 10:40
15. We’re
an American Band – 6:25
16. My
Little Corner of the World – 2:24
Listen to ‘Autumn
Sweater’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIkMeaAfIRw
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