Yo La Tengo
Encyclopedia
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American
alternative rock
band formed in Hoboken
, New Jersey
in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan
(guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley
(drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew
(bass, vocals).
Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential critics' band" and maintains a strong cult following. The band is renowned for its encyclopedic repertoire of cover songs both in live performance and on record.
and Georgia Hubley
formed the band as a husband/wife duo in 1984. They chose the name "Yo La Tengo" (Spanish
for "I have it"; referring to a female-gender object or person, also "I've Got Her") in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball
anecdote
. During the 1962 season, New York Mets
center fielder Richie Ashburn
and Venezuela
n shortstop
Elio Chacón
found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas
, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the heck is a Yellow Tango?".
They placed an advertisement to recruit other musicians who shared their love for bands such as The Soft Boys
, Mission of Burma
, and Arthur Lee
's Love
. The group's debut recording was a 7" single entitled "The River of Water" backed with a cover of Arthur Lee's "A House Is Not a Motel" released in late 1985 with Dave Schramm on lead guitar and Dave Rick
on bass. After recording "Private Doberman" for inclusion on a Coyote Records compilation entitled Luxury Condos Coming to Your Neighborhood, Rick left the band and was replaced by Mike Lewis, the founding bass player of Boston garage-punk bands DMZ
and Lyres
, who was also a member of Brooklyn garage rock
band The A-Bones
throughout his tenure in YLT.
on Coyote Records. Produced by former Mission of Burma
bassist Clint Conley
who also took over bass duties on three songs, the album "marked Yo La Tengo as a band with real potential" according to reviewer Mark Deming. Kaplan was credited as "naive guitar" on the sleeve, and in the liner notes for the 1993 reissue of the album on City Slang Records
, went so far as to say "Dave's guitar playing is inarguably the best thing about the record."
Schramm and Lewis left the band after the album's release, with Kaplan subsequently taking on the role of lead guitar and Stephan Wichnewski joining to play bass. The group's next album New Wave Hot Dogs
(1987) sold poorly, but in the words of Mark Deming, "was a quantum leap over the sound of their debut."
The release of President Yo La Tengo
in 1989 did much to establish the band's reputation among rock critics including Robert Christgau
who praised the "mysterioso guitar hook" in the first song titled Barnaby, Hardly Working. Produced by Gene Holder of The dB's
, the album was the band's last release on Coyote. Despite the positive reception of the album, sales were still poor and Wichnewski left the band not long after. Hubley and Kaplan carried on as a duo and began playing two-electric-guitar shows. Kaplan, though typically a pragmatist, started carrying a bug trapped in amber in his pocket for luck.
, an album of mostly acoustic
tunes, including covers
of Cat Stevens
, Gene Clark
, The Kinks
, Daniel Johnston
, among others, with five original songs by the band themselves, including an acoustic version of Barnaby Hardly Working. Again produced by Gene Holder, the album's folk
sound was a change of pace for the band. Years later, Kaplan recalled that the album was "just me and Georgia looking for an excuse to record with Dave Schramm and Al Greller" who played guitar and double bass
on the album, respectively.
In 1991, with Dave Schramm in tow, Yo La Tengo collaborated with Daniel Johnston
on the song "Speeding Motorcycle" which was released as a single. The band also released a 7" single on Bar/None Records
with the song "Walking Away from You" backed with a cover of Beat Happening
's "Cast a Shadow." Gene Holder produced the single and played the bass. The That Is Yo La Tengo EP released later that year included some tracks that would end up on the group's next LP.
After the release of That Is Yo La Tengo, James McNew
(who also records under the solo moniker Dump
) began playing bass with the band, forming the trio that continues to make up the band today. According to McNew,
The band recorded May I Sing with Me
in Boston
with Holder producing and Lou Giordano
engineering. The album was released on Alias Records
in 1992. Two of the album's eleven songs ("Swing for Life" and "Five-Cornered Drone") were carried over from the That Is Yo La Tengo EP and feature Holder on bass. The Upside-Down EP was released on CD
in support of the album, rounding out the band's releases on Alias.
, releasing a 7" and CD5 of the song "Shaker" which the band recorded with John Siket in New Jersey. The following LP, 1993's Painful
was also the beginning of the band's fruitful creative partnership with producer Roger Moutenot, who has produced all of their subsequent albums. Painful is the first Yo La Tengo to feature James McNew on every song. Ira Kaplan explains: Rob Sheffield
, writing in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide remarked that McNew "became an essential part of the sound on Painful, the 1993 album that kept every promise Yo La Tengo ever made and blew their previous highlights away." Critical reaction was quite positive, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine
calling it "a subtly addicting album." Robert Christgau also praised the group once again, writing in his review that Yo La Tengo is "always friendly. This is not the forbidding experimentation of an aspiring vanguard. This is the fooling around of folks who like to go out on Saturday night and make some noise--and then go home humming it." The band released Electr-O-Pura
in 1995 to similar acclaim. For the first time, all songs were credited to the band as a whole rather than individual members; this became the norm for all future releases.
The band's 1997 LP I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
synthesized the group's eclectic combination of folk, punk rock
, shoegazing
, long instrumental noise-jams, and electronic music
into a sprawling, multi-faceted style. Critical reaction was extremely positive; Pitchfork
awarded the album a 9.7 out of 10, and Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it was "arguably Yo La Tengo's finest and most coherent album to date." Kaplan recalled a turning point in the band's musical progression:
With their critical reputation higher than ever before, the band toured extensively and their fan base continued to grow. In 1998, they collaborated with Jad Fair
and released the album Strange but True
to mixed reviews. The band entered the studio again in late 1999 to record their ninth LP. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
was released in February 2000 to a warm reception. The album features some intimate songs with hushed, varied instrumentation and includes the 19 minute epic "Night Falls On Hoboken".
, entitled The Sounds of the Sounds of Science
. The program debuted at the San Francisco Film Festival and has been performed live approximately twelve times. The band also released an EP with covers of Sun Ra
's "Nuclear War" in late 2002.
The band's tenth LP, Summer Sun
, was released in 2003. Although the album received generally favorable reviews, some critics found the album's quiet atmosphere "underwhelming." Others criticized the band for a perceived lack of invention. When asked about the album's quiet nature, Kaplan stated,
Yo La Tengo collaborated with Yoko Ono
on the 2003 charity album Wig in a Box
: Songs from and Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch
in support of the Harvey Milk High School
. The band put together their first "best of" compilation entitled Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs: 1985–2003 which was released in 2005. They composed scores for four more films: 2005's Junebug
and Game 6
, and 2006's Shortbus
and Old Joy. Their scores for these four films were collected on the 2008 compilation They Shoot, We Score
.
Their eleventh LP, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
, was released in 2006 to universal acclaim. Informed by their soundtrack work, the arrangements included more strings and horns than any of the band's previous albums. Kaplan told an interviewer: "I think we gained an element of comfort with using that kind of instrumentation, and it became something we could draw on for our other songs." In addition, the album was book-ended with two guitar jams lasting over ten minutes each.
In 2006, the band released Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics
, a compilation of their live impromptu cover-song performances on the New Jersey freeform radio station, WFMU
. As part of the station's annual fundraising marathon, listeners who call in to pledge money to the station may request a favorite which the band will then perform on the spot. In late 2007, the band began performing acoustically for "The Freewheelin' Yo La Tengo" tour. Audiences were encouraged to request songs and ask questions which, Kaplan stated, the band tried to answer "in a strategic manner so that the answers to the questions will lead to the next song."
In March 2008, Yo La Tengo performed under the alias "Condo Fucks" at Brooklyn's Magnetic Field. As Condo Fucks, the band released an album of cover songs, Fuckbook
, on Matador in March 2009. On June 4, Matador announced a new Yo La Tengo album called Popular Songs
.
Popular Songs
, the band's 12th album, was released on September 8, 2009. The album was recorded in the band's rehearsal space in New Jersey and features two songs with elaborate string sections (composed by jazz composer Richard Evans). It entered the Billboard
chart at #58, the highest entry of the band's career thus far.
In 2009, Yo La Tengo contributed to Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox, a tribute album for New Zealand rock and roll musician Chris Knox
who suffered a stroke in June 2009. Yo La Tengo covered Knox's song "Coloured". All proceeds from the album go towards Knox's recovery. Also in 2009, Yo La Tengo contributed a cover of the song "Gentle Hour" to the AIDS benefit album, Dark Was the Night
, produced by the Red Hot Organization
.
Preceding their latest album Popular Songs, Yo La Tengo released an EP entitled Here to Fall Remixes in the summer of 2010. Remixes of their single Here to Fall were done by De La Soul
, RJD2
, and Pete Rock
. This was Yo La Tengo's third out-of-the-box remix EP in 14 years, following the Autumn Sweater and Danelectro Remix EPs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan
Ira Kaplan
Ira Kaplan [born 1957] is the co-founder, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. He is married to Georgia Hubley, Yo La Tengo's vocalist, drummer, songwriter and co-founder....
(guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley
Georgia Hubley
Georgia Hubley is an American percussionist and is one of the founding members of the alternative-rock band Yo La Tengo.She is married to the group's other founding member, Ira Kaplan. They would often see each other in record shops and at the same shows...
(drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew
James McNew
James McNew has been the bass player for the rock band Yo La Tengo since their 1992 album May I Sing With Me.He was previously a member of Christmas on their third album Vortex.[]He also has a solo side project, Dump....
(bass, vocals).
Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential critics' band" and maintains a strong cult following. The band is renowned for its encyclopedic repertoire of cover songs both in live performance and on record.
Formation and early history: 1984–1985
Ira KaplanIra Kaplan
Ira Kaplan [born 1957] is the co-founder, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. He is married to Georgia Hubley, Yo La Tengo's vocalist, drummer, songwriter and co-founder....
and Georgia Hubley
Georgia Hubley
Georgia Hubley is an American percussionist and is one of the founding members of the alternative-rock band Yo La Tengo.She is married to the group's other founding member, Ira Kaplan. They would often see each other in record shops and at the same shows...
formed the band as a husband/wife duo in 1984. They chose the name "Yo La Tengo" (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for "I have it"; referring to a female-gender object or person, also "I've Got Her") in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
. During the 1962 season, New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
center fielder Richie Ashburn
Richie Ashburn
Don Richard "Richie" Ashburn , also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" due to his light-blond hair, was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in Tilden, Nebraska...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Elio Chacón
Elio Chacón
Elio Chacón Rodríguez was a Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop who played in the National League from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from Venezuela to play in the majors....
found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (NL baseball player)
Frank Joseph Thomas is a former left fielder and first and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Cincinnati Reds , Chicago Cubs , Milwaukee Braves , New York Mets , Philadelphia Phillies , and the Houston Astros...
, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the heck is a Yellow Tango?".
They placed an advertisement to recruit other musicians who shared their love for bands such as The Soft Boys
The Soft Boys
The Soft Boys were a pop band during the punk era led by Robyn Hitchcock, whose initially old fashioned music style of psychedelic/folk-rock became part of the neo-psychedelia scene with the release of Underwater Moonlight...
, Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...
, and Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee (musician)
Arthur Lee was the frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the Los Angeles rock band Love, best known for the critically acclaimed 1967 album, Forever Changes.-Early years:...
's Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
. The group's debut recording was a 7" single entitled "The River of Water" backed with a cover of Arthur Lee's "A House Is Not a Motel" released in late 1985 with Dave Schramm on lead guitar and Dave Rick
Dave Rick
Dave Rick is an American guitarist and former member of underground rock bands B.A.L.L, Bongwater, King Missile, Phantom Tollbooth, When People Were Shorter and Lived Near the Water, Wide Right, Wonderama, and Yo La Tengo . He is a current member of Atlantic Drone, Dew-Claw, The Martinets, Overcat...
on bass. After recording "Private Doberman" for inclusion on a Coyote Records compilation entitled Luxury Condos Coming to Your Neighborhood, Rick left the band and was replaced by Mike Lewis, the founding bass player of Boston garage-punk bands DMZ
DMZ (band)
DMZ was a first-wave American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, strongly influenced by 1960s garage rock. In early 1976, Jeff Conolly stole the lead vocalist position in the nascent band by out-performing their singer at one of the band's practices...
and Lyres
Lyres (band)
Lyres are a Boston-area garage rock band led by Jeff "Monoman" Conolly. Lyres were founded in 1979 following the breakup of DMZ. Their most popular songs included "Don't Give It Up Now," "What A Girl Can't Do" and "Help You Ann"...
, who was also a member of Brooklyn garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band The A-Bones
The A-Bones
The A-Bones is a garage rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Their name was derived from a song by The Trashmen. The band was formed in 1984 by vocalist Billy Miller and his wife, drummer Miriam Linna; the couple had previously been the editors of the pop culture journal Kicks and later launched...
throughout his tenure in YLT.
Early releases: 1986–1989
In 1986, Yo La Tengo released their first LP, Ride the TigerRide the Tiger (album)
Ride The Tiger, released in 1986 , was the debut album of the Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. The song "Big Sky" is a cover of The Kinks song from their album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society...
on Coyote Records. Produced by former Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...
bassist Clint Conley
Clint Conley
Clinton J. Conley is an American rock and roll musician from Boston, Massachusetts.He is probably best known as a co-founder of Mission of Burma. He played bass guitar, occasional guitar, and wrote and sang some of the group's best-known songs, such as "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" and...
who also took over bass duties on three songs, the album "marked Yo La Tengo as a band with real potential" according to reviewer Mark Deming. Kaplan was credited as "naive guitar" on the sleeve, and in the liner notes for the 1993 reissue of the album on City Slang Records
City Slang Records
City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. It was created in 1990 by former tour agent Christof Ellinghaus. Its main goal was to provide American, Canadian and German independent artists with a way to distribute their records in the European market, particularly the UK,...
, went so far as to say "Dave's guitar playing is inarguably the best thing about the record."
Schramm and Lewis left the band after the album's release, with Kaplan subsequently taking on the role of lead guitar and Stephan Wichnewski joining to play bass. The group's next album New Wave Hot Dogs
New Wave Hot Dogs
New Wave Hot Dogs is the second album released, in 1987, by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. It was later re-released by Matador Records along with President Yo La Tengo and the "Asparagus Song" single on one record in 1996....
(1987) sold poorly, but in the words of Mark Deming, "was a quantum leap over the sound of their debut."
The release of President Yo La Tengo
President Yo La Tengo
President Yo La Tengo was the third album of the Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. It was released on Coyote/Twin Tone Records along with New Wave Hot Dogs and the "Asparagus Song" single on one record, and later re-released by Matador Records in 1996.The lineup includes Georgia...
in 1989 did much to establish the band's reputation among rock critics including Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
who praised the "mysterioso guitar hook" in the first song titled Barnaby, Hardly Working. Produced by Gene Holder of The dB's
The dB's
The dB's are a jangle pop/power pop group who came into prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
, the album was the band's last release on Coyote. Despite the positive reception of the album, sales were still poor and Wichnewski left the band not long after. Hubley and Kaplan carried on as a duo and began playing two-electric-guitar shows. Kaplan, though typically a pragmatist, started carrying a bug trapped in amber in his pocket for luck.
Bar/None and Alias Records: 1990–1992
Yo La Tengo reunited with Dave Schramm in 1990 to record FakebookFakebook (album)
Fakebook is the fourth official, full-length album released, in 1990, by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. Comprising eleven cover songs as well as five originals, this album is regarded as a departure from their previous albums due to it containing mostly folk songs...
, an album of mostly acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
tunes, including covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
, Gene Clark
Gene Clark
Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
, among others, with five original songs by the band themselves, including an acoustic version of Barnaby Hardly Working. Again produced by Gene Holder, the album's folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
sound was a change of pace for the band. Years later, Kaplan recalled that the album was "just me and Georgia looking for an excuse to record with Dave Schramm and Al Greller" who played guitar and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on the album, respectively.
In 1991, with Dave Schramm in tow, Yo La Tengo collaborated with Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
on the song "Speeding Motorcycle" which was released as a single. The band also released a 7" single on Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...
with the song "Walking Away from You" backed with a cover of Beat Happening
Beat Happening
Beat Happening is an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members...
's "Cast a Shadow." Gene Holder produced the single and played the bass. The That Is Yo La Tengo EP released later that year included some tracks that would end up on the group's next LP.
After the release of That Is Yo La Tengo, James McNew
James McNew
James McNew has been the bass player for the rock band Yo La Tengo since their 1992 album May I Sing With Me.He was previously a member of Christmas on their third album Vortex.[]He also has a solo side project, Dump....
(who also records under the solo moniker Dump
Dump
Dump generally refers to a place for disposal of domestic waste. See articles at midden and landfill.-Other uses:The word has other uses alone or in combination and may refer to:* Dump , a Unix program for backing up file systems...
) began playing bass with the band, forming the trio that continues to make up the band today. According to McNew,
The band recorded May I Sing with Me
May I Sing with Me
May I Sing With Me is the fifth album released, in 1992, by indie rock band Yo La Tengo. This album is the first with their now-permanent bassist James McNew.-Track listing:#"Detouring America With Horns" – 3:56#"Upside-Down" – 2:34...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
with Holder producing and Lou Giordano
Lou Giordano
Lou Giordano is a record producer and recording engineer who worked at Radiobeat Studios and Fort Apache Studios. He has produced a wide variety of bands, including Hüsker Dü, the Goo Goo Dolls, and many others....
engineering. The album was released on Alias Records
Alias Records
Alias Records is a small American indie-rock record label based in California.Alias has released albums by American Music Club, Archers of Loaf, Yo La Tengo, The Loud Family, Too Much Joy and Knapsack among others....
in 1992. Two of the album's eleven songs ("Swing for Life" and "Five-Cornered Drone") were carried over from the That Is Yo La Tengo EP and feature Holder on bass. The Upside-Down EP was released on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in support of the album, rounding out the band's releases on Alias.
Early Matador period: 1993–2000
In 1993, Yo La Tengo began their partnership with Matador RecordsMatador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
, releasing a 7" and CD5 of the song "Shaker" which the band recorded with John Siket in New Jersey. The following LP, 1993's Painful
Painful (album)
Painful is the sixth studio album released in 1993 by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo.The album marked a creative shift from Yo La Tengo's previous work in that it blends atmospheric and ambient sounds with their famous noise jams....
was also the beginning of the band's fruitful creative partnership with producer Roger Moutenot, who has produced all of their subsequent albums. Painful is the first Yo La Tengo to feature James McNew on every song. Ira Kaplan explains: Rob Sheffield
Rob Sheffield
Rob Sheffield is an American music journalist and author. He is currently a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, writing music reviews and essays on pop culture. Prior to that, he was a contributing editor at Blender before the print version of the magazine folded in 2009, and at Spin...
, writing in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide remarked that McNew "became an essential part of the sound on Painful, the 1993 album that kept every promise Yo La Tengo ever made and blew their previous highlights away." Critical reaction was quite positive, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
calling it "a subtly addicting album." Robert Christgau also praised the group once again, writing in his review that Yo La Tengo is "always friendly. This is not the forbidding experimentation of an aspiring vanguard. This is the fooling around of folks who like to go out on Saturday night and make some noise--and then go home humming it." The band released Electr-O-Pura
Electr-O-Pura
Electr-O-Pura is the seventh album by Hoboken, New Jersey indie rock group Yo La Tengo, released in 1995. The back of the CD case gives intentionally wrong running times leading many to think the running time is around 45 minutes, when in fact it is just shy of one hour...
in 1995 to similar acclaim. For the first time, all songs were credited to the band as a whole rather than individual members; this became the norm for all future releases.
The band's 1997 LP I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is an album by Yo La Tengo. It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and mixed in New York City. The album was released on Matador in 1997, and "Busy with My Thoughts" appeared on the Japanese version, the song also available as the b-side to the "Sugarcube"...
synthesized the group's eclectic combination of folk, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
, long instrumental noise-jams, and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
into a sprawling, multi-faceted style. Critical reaction was extremely positive; Pitchfork
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
awarded the album a 9.7 out of 10, and Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it was "arguably Yo La Tengo's finest and most coherent album to date." Kaplan recalled a turning point in the band's musical progression:
With their critical reputation higher than ever before, the band toured extensively and their fan base continued to grow. In 1998, they collaborated with Jad Fair
Jad Fair
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...
and released the album Strange but True
Strange But True
Strange But True is a collaborative album between the band Yo La Tengo and Jad Fair. It was released by Matador Records in 1998. Song titles on the album are taken from outrageous newspaper headlines.-Track listing:...
to mixed reviews. The band entered the studio again in late 1999 to record their ninth LP. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is the ninth studio album by Yo La Tengo, an alternative rock music group from Hoboken, New Jersey. The album was released in February 2000 by Matador Records...
was released in February 2000 to a warm reception. The album features some intimate songs with hushed, varied instrumentation and includes the 19 minute epic "Night Falls On Hoboken".
Continued acclaim and soundtrack work: 2001–present
In 2001, Yo La Tengo recorded an instrumental score for eight short undersea documentaries by Jean PainlevéJean Painlevé
Jean Painlevé was a film director, actor, translator, animator, critic and theorist. He was the son of mathematician and twice prime-minister of France, Paul Painlevé.-Upbringing:...
, entitled The Sounds of the Sounds of Science
The Sounds of the Sounds of Science
The Sounds of the Sounds of Science is a score written by Yo La Tengo for filmmaker Jean Painlevé. It contains 78 minutes of instrumental music to accompany his eight short documentary-style films shot underwater. The live performances are known as “The Sounds of Science.” The program debuted in...
. The program debuted at the San Francisco Film Festival and has been performed live approximately twelve times. The band also released an EP with covers of Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
's "Nuclear War" in late 2002.
The band's tenth LP, Summer Sun
Summer Sun
Summer Sun is the tenth full-length album by Hoboken-based indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released on April 8, 2003. It is their 5th album released on Matador.Despite the title of the album, the cover shows the band wearing winter coats...
, was released in 2003. Although the album received generally favorable reviews, some critics found the album's quiet atmosphere "underwhelming." Others criticized the band for a perceived lack of invention. When asked about the album's quiet nature, Kaplan stated,
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
on the 2003 charity album Wig in a Box
Wig in a Box
Wig In A Box: Songs from & Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a charity tribute album featuring versions of songs from the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch...
: Songs from and Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
in support of the Harvey Milk High School
Harvey Milk High School
Harvey Milk High School is a public high school in the East Village of New York City designed for, though not limited to, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people, as well as those questioning their sexuality...
. The band put together their first "best of" compilation entitled Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs: 1985–2003 which was released in 2005. They composed scores for four more films: 2005's Junebug
Junebug (film)
Junebug is a 2005 American comedy-drama film directed by Phil Morrison. It was released on August 3, 2005 and stars Amy Adams, Alessandro Nivola, Embeth Davidtz, and Benjamin McKenzie...
and Game 6
Game 6 (film)
Game 6 is a 2005 American film directed by Michael Hoffman, first presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and released in the United States in 2006...
, and 2006's Shortbus
Shortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
and Old Joy. Their scores for these four films were collected on the 2008 compilation They Shoot, We Score
They Shoot, We Score
They Shoot, We Score is a compilation soundtrack album by the band Yo La Tengo, released on 12 September 2008.It contains tracks from the films Old Joy , Junebug , Game 6 and Shortbus ....
.
Their eleventh LP, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is the eleventh full-length album by Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo, released on September 12, 2006. It is their sixth album released on Matador....
, was released in 2006 to universal acclaim. Informed by their soundtrack work, the arrangements included more strings and horns than any of the band's previous albums. Kaplan told an interviewer: "I think we gained an element of comfort with using that kind of instrumentation, and it became something we could draw on for our other songs." In addition, the album was book-ended with two guitar jams lasting over ten minutes each.
In 2006, the band released Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics
Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics
Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics is a compilation album by the band Yo La Tengo, released in 2006.Yo La Tengo supported the fundraising efforts of New Jersey's world-renowned independent radio outlet WFMU with annual studio visits...
, a compilation of their live impromptu cover-song performances on the New Jersey freeform radio station, WFMU
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
. As part of the station's annual fundraising marathon, listeners who call in to pledge money to the station may request a favorite which the band will then perform on the spot. In late 2007, the band began performing acoustically for "The Freewheelin' Yo La Tengo" tour. Audiences were encouraged to request songs and ask questions which, Kaplan stated, the band tried to answer "in a strategic manner so that the answers to the questions will lead to the next song."
In March 2008, Yo La Tengo performed under the alias "Condo Fucks" at Brooklyn's Magnetic Field. As Condo Fucks, the band released an album of cover songs, Fuckbook
Fuckbook
Fuckbook is an album released by indie rock band Yo La Tengo under the alias Condo Fucks in 2009. The band name comes from an inner sleeve listing fake albums and genre send-ups included in their 1997 album I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Guitarist Ira Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley are...
, on Matador in March 2009. On June 4, Matador announced a new Yo La Tengo album called Popular Songs
Popular Songs
Popular Songs is the twelfth full-length album by Hoboken-based rock band Yo La Tengo, released digitally, on CD, and double LP on September 8, 2009. It is their 7th album released on Matador and the eighth album to be given Matador's Buy Early Get Now treatment...
.
Popular Songs
Popular Songs
Popular Songs is the twelfth full-length album by Hoboken-based rock band Yo La Tengo, released digitally, on CD, and double LP on September 8, 2009. It is their 7th album released on Matador and the eighth album to be given Matador's Buy Early Get Now treatment...
, the band's 12th album, was released on September 8, 2009. The album was recorded in the band's rehearsal space in New Jersey and features two songs with elaborate string sections (composed by jazz composer Richard Evans). It entered the Billboard
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart at #58, the highest entry of the band's career thus far.
In 2009, Yo La Tengo contributed to Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox, a tribute album for New Zealand rock and roll musician Chris Knox
Chris Knox
Chris Knox is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest,...
who suffered a stroke in June 2009. Yo La Tengo covered Knox's song "Coloured". All proceeds from the album go towards Knox's recovery. Also in 2009, Yo La Tengo contributed a cover of the song "Gentle Hour" to the AIDS benefit album, Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
, produced by the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
.
Preceding their latest album Popular Songs, Yo La Tengo released an EP entitled Here to Fall Remixes in the summer of 2010. Remixes of their single Here to Fall were done by De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
, RJD2
RJD2
RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
, and Pete Rock
Pete Rock
Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
. This was Yo La Tengo's third out-of-the-box remix EP in 14 years, following the Autumn Sweater and Danelectro Remix EPs.
Discography
Studio albums- Ride the TigerRide the Tiger (album)Ride The Tiger, released in 1986 , was the debut album of the Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. The song "Big Sky" is a cover of The Kinks song from their album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society...
(1986) - New Wave Hot DogsNew Wave Hot DogsNew Wave Hot Dogs is the second album released, in 1987, by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. It was later re-released by Matador Records along with President Yo La Tengo and the "Asparagus Song" single on one record in 1996....
(1987) - President Yo La TengoPresident Yo La TengoPresident Yo La Tengo was the third album of the Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. It was released on Coyote/Twin Tone Records along with New Wave Hot Dogs and the "Asparagus Song" single on one record, and later re-released by Matador Records in 1996.The lineup includes Georgia...
(1989) - FakebookFakebook (album)Fakebook is the fourth official, full-length album released, in 1990, by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. Comprising eleven cover songs as well as five originals, this album is regarded as a departure from their previous albums due to it containing mostly folk songs...
(1990) - May I Sing with MeMay I Sing with MeMay I Sing With Me is the fifth album released, in 1992, by indie rock band Yo La Tengo. This album is the first with their now-permanent bassist James McNew.-Track listing:#"Detouring America With Horns" – 3:56#"Upside-Down" – 2:34...
(1992) - PainfulPainful (album)Painful is the sixth studio album released in 1993 by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo.The album marked a creative shift from Yo La Tengo's previous work in that it blends atmospheric and ambient sounds with their famous noise jams....
(1993) - Electr-O-PuraElectr-O-PuraElectr-O-Pura is the seventh album by Hoboken, New Jersey indie rock group Yo La Tengo, released in 1995. The back of the CD case gives intentionally wrong running times leading many to think the running time is around 45 minutes, when in fact it is just shy of one hour...
(1995) - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as OneI Can Hear the Heart Beating as OneI Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is an album by Yo La Tengo. It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and mixed in New York City. The album was released on Matador in 1997, and "Busy with My Thoughts" appeared on the Japanese version, the song also available as the b-side to the "Sugarcube"...
(1997) - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000); US #138
- Summer SunSummer SunSummer Sun is the tenth full-length album by Hoboken-based indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released on April 8, 2003. It is their 5th album released on Matador.Despite the title of the album, the cover shows the band wearing winter coats...
(2003); US #115 - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your AssI Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your AssI Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is the eleventh full-length album by Hoboken-based alternative rock band Yo La Tengo, released on September 12, 2006. It is their sixth album released on Matador....
(2006); US #66 - Popular SongsPopular SongsPopular Songs is the twelfth full-length album by Hoboken-based rock band Yo La Tengo, released digitally, on CD, and double LP on September 8, 2009. It is their 7th album released on Matador and the eighth album to be given Matador's Buy Early Get Now treatment...
(2009); US #58
External links
- Official site
- Matador Records' Official site
- Yo La Tengo at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- Music Guide to Yo La Tengo at pontone.pl
- Bar/None Records Yo La Tengo page