Matador Records

Yo La Tengo

Popular Songs
September 8, 2009


Most of us fans have a silly tendency to look at our favorite musicians as being the smartest people in the world. Within their lyrics we know we'll find the answers to everything, if we just look hard enough. In truth, most musicians are no smarter than any of us, often much less so. You can find many books on this subject.

Georgia, Ira and James of Yo La Tengo are exceptions to this rule, and Popular Songs, their 12th (or 14th, depending on what and how you count) album is the proof. Because when this new and dramatically unimproved world puts the hard questions to Yo La Tengo, they go Socratic as hell, swaggeringly, reassuringly, honestly telling us that all they know is they know nothing. They do not know why that sunbeam comes through the window when you are determined to sulk; they do not know just how are we going to make it, anyway?

Still, Yo La Tengo are nothing if not attentive: They do know that, if you are hearing this record and reading these words (preferably both), you are still here, and they are too, and so, Popular Songs, to resanctify us and all our foibles and goodnesses. They might've called it Manual for the People, or perhaps even Carry On, Oy! But it's good they didn't.

Popular Songs demonstrates that everything said about Yo La Tengo in the past is still true, only more so. Now, almost any song can sound like Yo La Tengo, provided it's Yo La Tengo playing it:

The strings-and-keyboards orchestrations of the opener, "Here to Fall," on which Ira offers the new best articulation of what it means to love; the Clean-feeling pop of "Avalon or Someone Very Similar," unburdened by gravity or friction; Georgia's aching "By Two's," a dream-machine in motion, a warm shiver for your cold, still nights. And that's just the first three tunes!

What of the garagey rave-up of "Nothing to Hide", the funky but unfunklike "Periodically Double or Triple", and the classic-pop duet, "If It's True"? Which isn't to even mention the gently ambling "I'm On My Way", containing some of the album's smartest, simplest lyrics, which rolls into a duo of romantic wedding-ready tunes alternately fronted by Georgia ("When It's Dark") and Ira ("All Your Secrets").

Then fans of Yo La Tengo's well-established habit of stretching out will be enthralled by the simmering, sultry "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" and the hypnotic ebbing flow of "The Fireside", these final two epics totalling 20+ minutes of the most beautiful, obsessive Yo La Tengo music ever put to tape. (The format-savvy may even resolve themselves with the coda di tutti frutti, "And The Glitter Is Gone".)

This annum ridiculus isn't even half over and Yo La Tengo have: Placed a song on the widely liked Dark Was the Night benefit compilation; released that Condo Fucks record of covers; composed the score to the film Adventureland; taken their "Freewheeling Yo La Tengo" tour to select lucky European locations; performed their umpteenth request-any-song three-hour set for WFMU's annual marathon; compiled one of Merge Records' anniversary CDs (Georgia); played on the forthcoming A-Bones album (Ira); brought Dump back to the stage (James).

Down to their fingernails, Yo La Tengo understand that the dichotomy has never been love & hate; this life is about love & fear. And fear makes you run and hide, sit on your ass, do nothing but be consumed by it. To restate the obvious, Yo La Tengo are not afraid. They walk bravely forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.

I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
September 12, 2006

Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew sound like no other band. This is not because they're contrarians, but because they're artists. I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass has everything that ever made Yo La Tengo great, but elevated to new heights, from the remarkable orchestral chamber piece "Black Flowers" to the garage-punk rave-up "Watch Out For Me Ronnie." If there's one constant about Yo La Tengo, it's that this famously restless band continues to broaden its horizons.

I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is an album that delights in being an album. This is no mere loud followed by soft merry-go-round, but a subtle parade. Bookended by very different but equally intense ten-minute-plus guitar epics, the set has dramatic arcs that don't all build in expected ways. After a dense thicket of forest they may find a clearing, stop for a picnic, but then fall asleep, dreaming away as day turns to night. A violin (played by David Mansfield, of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue) threads its way through the heartbreakingly fragile "I Feel Like Going Home," mirroring the longing in Georgia's vocal, after which "Mr. Tough" struts in on a funky piano riff, with Ira and James singing in falsetto about the transformative power of music.

As much as the full album experience is about the big picture, Yo La Tengo are aware of the small moments. In fact, it is the slivers that make the band so hard to describe: The ambient static in the haunting instrumental "Daphnia"; Georgia's dramatic reading of the vaguely "Autumn Sweater"-esque "The Room Got Heavy"; the way the drums, bass, and tambourine turn themselves inside-out in the intro of "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind".

The band's quest for musical release is inextricably tied to a sense of community. It's suffused with the hope borne of realizing that if music can transcend the fractious or mundane realities of life, then we can and must rise above the troubles that divide us (see "Mr Tough"). They embody these ideas in dealings with fellow musicians, and have worked with an incredibly diverse range of artists, from Jad Fair to Ray Davies. Their week of Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's has become an annual Hoboken tradition and raised tens of thousands for local charities, as scores of guests take the stage, stepping into a community forged around the gentle yet sturdy triumvirate that is Yo La Tengo. Similarly, the band's Swing State Tour in fall 2004 encapsulated much of what the band is about, involving tons of friends, a wild array of songs, a radically-different three-hour set each night, and political motivation with little to no actual politics at the shows except by implication.

It's been said that while Yo La Tengo is not a jazz combo, they think like jazz musicians, and indeed their penchant for surprise stretches beyond their well-documented work with free-jazz ensembles Other Dimensions In Music and the Sun Ra Arkestra. Their annual covers-by-request WFMU fundraiser gets a huge audience and lots of laughs (and a CD compilation released earlier this year as Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics), but is also a shocking display of improvisational skill (and ridiculously encyclopedic knowledge of pop history). In July 2004, they performed at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC, improvising a soundtrack to a live light show by artists Joshua White and Gary Panter, which led to their using a Panter painting as the cover of I Am Not Afraid.

Clearly, Yo La Tengo act like no other band either. Since their last record, Summer Sun, they've also scored four films ("Junebug," "Game 6," "Old Joy," and the forthcoming "Shortbus") and turned what could have been an inspired one-off - their score to the experimental underwater films of Jean Painleve - into a well-received CD release and frequent repeat performance. They recorded the Simpsons theme for one episode, and played on the recent Gilmore Girls finale. Anderson Cooper loves 'em.

As a trio, Yo La Tengo are a complex engine, but they're a completely natural one, tearing through the underbrush like a fully focused prehistoric creature. As much as spontaneity is built into the construction of their sonic world, everything is considered. From whispered ballads to punkish verve, from intricate arrangements to the heady allure of happenstance, Yo La Tengo - as their name suggests -have it all. They manage the near impossible of satisfying both their quest for the loving embrace of their unshakable musical character, and the tirelessness that has kept them from repeating themselves.

Whether one thinks of life as being brief or interminable, the clock is always ticking. We must be ever grateful for any endeavors which distort our sense of time. That is one of the many things that Yo La Tengo do.
--David Greenberger


Prisoners Of Love:
A Smattering Of Scintillating Senescent Songs, 1985-2003
March 22, 2005

Matador Records is proud to announce the release of 'Prisoners Of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs 1985-2003' from Yo La Tengo, a career-spanning 26 songs spread over 2 CDs, or 42 songs on 3 CDs.

The two CD version crams together previously released highlights from Yo La Tengo's pre-Matador tenure along with the hottest moments from their second decade in showbiz. The third disc is the sort of rarities collection that will have you wondering why we bothered to do a two-disc version. And it's all beautifully packaged with liner notes from Byron Coley and former Yo La Tengo tour manager, Joe Puleo.

Yo La Tengo's place in rock history is unique. The personal and musical partnership of Ira Kaplan (guitars/vocals/keyboards) and Georgia Hubley (drums/vocals), with the addition of James McNew (bass & more) in the early 90s, has been one of the most intimate and secure musical alliances in history. Few bands in memory dare to experiment quite so widely with such casual audacity. From screeching art-rock and jangling pop songs to electronic soundscapes and hushed lullabies, Yo La Tengo's music explores the range of musical history without ever sounding less than modern. It isn't their place to call themselves The Greatest Band On Earth but it is ours.

Yo La Tengo's live shows are electrifying events, never the same as the last, and it's onstage that their dynamism is most visceral. Over the years, they have expanded their basic guitar/drums/bass line-up by adding banks of keyboards and additional percussion. Their vast cache of originals often take unexpected forms, and as Spin said recently, "their covers range from the Beach Boys to Sun Ra and virtually never suck." The band have played with such influences as Ray Davies, Jad Fair, Robyn Hitchcock, Neil Innes, and members of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

There are few other bands that can lay claim to their own eight-day festival. Yo La Tengo's Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's, in their hometown of Hoboken, have become legendary, gathering friends, comedians and the occasional hero to share the stage during the festive season. Guests have included Conor Oberst, Laura Cantrell, Gilbert Gottfried, Calexico, Wreckless Eric, Janeane Garofalo, Richard Hell, Jobriath, and many others. Another annual tradition is the WFMU fundraiser, where they play any and all requests on Tom Sharplings's 'Best Show on WFMU'; tune in for the 2005 bash on March 15 at 8-11pm EST.

Last year Yo La Tengo wrote two soundtracks for the Sundance-selected films Game 6 (directed by Michael Hoffman, written by Don DeLillo) and Junebug (directed by Phil Morrison). In other movie-related news, they are resurrecting 'The Sounds Of Science' performances that debuted in 2002. For these special shows, the band plays original accompanying music for the remarkable underwater films of French documentarist Jean Painlev. Summer Sun
April 8, 2003

"One of rock's last true visionary bands." -- USA Today

The amplifiers that had laid in wait at the Yo La Tengo practice pad for the last eighteen months warm up to a sunrise lit from underneath on a Hoboken sound stage made up of remnants of Yma Sumac's "Xtabay" and the orchestration of the Mingus Dynasty. The credits roll over "Beach Party Tonight," the lead cut from Yo La Tengo's twelfth record 'Summer Sun', which pulls you into the scenery with its gentle, yet foreboding, tentacles. Careful with that beach ball, Eugene, as the shards of glass tempered to look like sand rip up your heels as you enter what could be the darkest summer surf record ever recorded. A backdrop of winter storms paints nearly every reference to summer, sunshine, and good will towards men (with lyrics "you blame the sun as the cause of the shadows on the wall" in the Gilberto Gil stretch of "Season of the Shark" to the "summer stays too long" refrain in the sixth cut "Tiny Birds," as voiced by bassist James Mcnew). The pared-down and laid-bare instrumentation propping up hushed vocals, like an unseen undertow, may pin you down drowning if you stumble in unaware.

The Cherry Chapstick groupies and pud-waxing newsies will ask, where is the roar of the guitar? The whir of saturated Dean Markley strings feeding in and on themselves? The ba-ba-ba-ba's or blankets of shorting-out chords to cushion the summer fall? In their stead, hot ass, is the stripped-down Atari 2600 silent film score that made its first appearance on 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out', with piano draping the canvas where its cousin used to reside. We suggest you get accustomed to the Georgia and Ira that choose to take most turns on 'Summer Sun' unaccompanied by the other, with their vocals pushed to the forefront (save for the Harmon mute Shaggs rhythm of the 10-minute-plus epic "Let's Be Still" which includes the two of them doped out & singing in unison!) to reveal a more vulnerable batch of songs bold in their Yo La Tengo-trademarked lack of artifice. 'Summer Sun' casts its net with a gilded crush that finds itself filthy with blood and mud as it digs to the heart of matters, matters usually reserved for great cinema or short stories. You, the listener, will find them shelved neatly in digital 1's and 0's or reeling on an analog double LP... and then the summer comes undone.

Key Points:
- Lonely boys who spent their allowances on 45 singles will enjoy playing spot the reference, ranging from the Isley Brothers 19twentyfirst century drawl of "Nothing But You And Me," the Roland Kirk punchline of "How to Make a Baby Elephant Float," Ira's impersonations of Rod McKuen, and someone pulling a Lionel Hampton, not to mention that bitch motherfucker with the train tracks in Nashville flying his moped across the rails only to be caught in the background of "Moonrock Mambo."

- There is still plenty of comedy left in the darker corners of 'Summer Sun', including references to the band's favorite chocolate bars, an interpretation of what "Skiffle Electronica" might sound like, and the first successful marriage of John Barry & Deodato. (Comedians never win Oscars, nor Grammys, so keep it quiet.)

- Georgia gets the final run in extended-inning play on the album closer, a cover of Big Star's "Take Care." A gorgeous farewell to the brothers Wilson, a shout out to the ailing Dick Dale, a crashing $20 wave to Japanese only Ventures releases, and a reminder as to why Yo La Tengo remains one of the few American institutions worth whistling Dixie about. Thank you America!


- Dennis Callaci, 2003


Yo La Tengo are Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew.

Also:

Roy Campbell Jr. (Other Dimensions In Music): trumpet on "Beach Party Tonight," "Don't Have to Be So Sad," "Let's Be Still"

William Parker (ODM): upright bass on "Beach Party Tonight," "Nothing But You and Me," "Don't Have to Be So Sad," "Let's Be Still," and "Take Care"

Daniel Carter (ODM, Test): tenor sax on "Beach Party Tonight," alto sax on "Don't Have to Be So Sad," flute on "Let's Be Still"

Sabir Mateen (Test): alto sax on "Beach Party Tonight," tenor on "Don't Have to Be So Sad," flute on "How to Make a Baby Elephant Float," "Let's Be Still"

Katie Gentile (Special Pillow, Run On): violin on "Tiny Birds"

Tim Harris (Special Pillow, Antietam): cello on "Tiny Birds"

Paul Niehaus (Lambchop, Calexico): pedal steel guitar on "Take Care"

Produced by Roger Moutenot, recorded at Alex the Great/Nashville
And then nothing
turned itself inside-out
February 22, 2000

". . . a Bergman film set in a Hoboken record store: abstract and intimate, sweetly whispering, raging like a distant thunderstorm." -- Chris Norris, SPIN Magazine

Jazz critic Whitney Balliett once described jazz as "the sound of surprise." While Yo La Tengo don't play jazz, the description applies. For 13 years they have been a remarkably consistent, almost comforting presence on the American pop scene, yet we love their genius because they are not afraid to surprise us. New York magazine calls them "the most dearly treasured New York rock band of the decade," but Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan have always lived across the river in Hoboken. Their recording site of preference in recent years is Nashville, but they're not a country band. Their songs are smashed into sharp relief with seemingly disparate elements, but always emerge a beautiful, somehow coherent mess.

Yo La Tengo is not a jazz combo, but they think like jazz musicians. They constantly redefine their own boundaries, stretch their songs into new shapes, and often restructure their old songs into new forms. As rabid fans of music, Yo La Tengo choose from a wildly diverse selection of covers (Richard Thompson, Wire, John Cale, The Dead C, The Normal, Flamin' Groovies, and the Kinks comprise a small sampling) and make the songs their own, much like Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry deconstructing "Embraceable You." Like most great artists, they never regurgitate derivatively, synthesizing influences into music that only sounds like Yo La Tengo.

Yo La Tengo don't play jazz on their new album, but they play like jazz players. The now-telepathic interplay of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew means the trio now approach their music as one entity; they are solid and powerful, comfortable enough to allow room for improvisation. Georgia's drumming is a gentle web, but tensile enough to support sheets of organ throb and guitar noise. James anchors integral melodies in ways bassists rarely do. Ira's wild throttling of his guitar is by now legendary, but his restraint in playing the perfect few quiet notes keeps the band walking their delicate tightrope while pushing the music forward. Listening to ATNTIIO, you get the impression these songs will continue to grow and expand, even as they've just been committed to tape.

While their colossal sonic achievements are well-documented, Yo La Tengo's new album is more In A Silent Way than Interstellar Space: a quietly intense melange of pulsing beats, acoustic guitar strum, ringing vibraphone and organ washes. Add electric guitar buzzing underneath dreamy, nearly whispered vocals, and ATNTIIO is more mood swing than song cycle.

Yo La Tengo have stripped away layers of electric guitar chaos from their sound. Is it so we can hear their voices? So they can hear each other? Whatever the reason, Georgia and Ira's most audible and distinctive vocal performances to date are genuinely intimate and affecting. The quieter settings allow other subtle details to emerge: guest Susie Ibarra's percussion on the first single, "Saturday," high close harmonies swelling in from nowhere, Hubley's delicate brushwork, the gorgeous shimmer of vibes and mellotron.

Pop culture references usually abound on Yo La Tengo track listings, and continue here. "Last Days of Disco" is a modal pop song, Ira reminiscing about a distant first meeting, his vocals and guitar cruising lightly over Georgia and James's polyrhythmic underpinning. "The Crying of Lot G," title suggestive of notoriously byzantine author Thomas Pynchon, is ironically the most lyrically naked and literal song on the album. It's also the most direct paean to the internal ebb and flow of love they've ever written, with Kaplan speak-singing "You say all we do is fight, and I think, 'Gee, I don't know if that's true...'" over an ambient 50's-style weeper. A cover of disco hitmaker George McRae's "You Can Have it All" follows and features Hubley sleepily declaring her heart over Kaplan's AM-radio "ba-ba-da"s ping-ponging in the background and funky soul string accents (courtesy engineer David Henry and his cello). The band's approach to disco cheese is loving and unironic and raises the song above its station in pop's hierarchy; it could be a Yo La Tengo song, whereas the next song, "Tears Are In Your Eyes" sounds achingly classic enough to be a cover of a lost country ballad.

Such are the gifts of Yo La Tengo. They are a pop band, but don't just write pop songs; they write what can only be described as Yo La Tengo songs. By not rocking out, Ira, Georgia and James have made a record which shows how tight-knit a musical unit the trio have become. They are like a three-cornered atom harnessing its energy to the point where blinding explosions are no longer necessary to emanate power.

Jazz critic Nat Hentoff once described jazz as "a continual autobiography, or rather a continuum of intersecting autobiographies, one's own and those of the musicians with whom one plays."

Yo La Tengo don't play jazz, but And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is the sound of surprise, and it is the latest chapter in their fascinating autobiography.








Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo
Strange But True
October 20, 1998

The product of a long-rumored collaboration between Half Japanese vocalist/founder Jad Fair and more-popular-than-Jesus (Jones) rock trio Yo La Tengo. Recorded throughout the 90s, Jad's unique worldview combines beautifully with the backdrop provided by Yo La.

* Helpful Monkey Wallpapers Entire Home
* Texas Man Abducted by Aliens for Outer Space Joy Ride
* National Sports Association Hires Retired English Professor to Name New Wrestling Holds
* Dedicated Thespian Has Teeth Pulled to Play Newborn Baby in High School Play
* Three-Year-Old Genius Graduates High School at Top of Her Class
* Embarrassed Teen Accidentally Uses Valuable Rare Postage Stamp
* Principal Punishes Students with Bad Impressions and Tired Jokes
* Retired Grocer Constructs Tiny Mount Rushmore Entirely of Cheese
* X-ray Reveals Doctor Left Wristwatch Inside Patient
* Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert by Mistake #2
* Retired Woman Starts New Career in Monkey Fashions
* Circus Strongman Runs for PTA President
* High School Shop Class Constructs Bicycle Built for 26
* Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert by Mistake #1
* Ohio Town Saved from Killer Bees by Hungry Vampire Bats
* Nevada Man Invents Piano with 21 Extra Keys
* Clever Chemist Makes Chewing Gum from Soap
* Minnesota Man Claims Monkey Bowled Perfect Game
* Ingenious Scientist Invents Car of the Future
* Car Gears Stick in Reverse, Daring Driver Crosses Town Backwards
* Shocking Fashion Statement Terrorizes Town
* Feisty Millionare Fills Potholes with Hundred-Dollar Bills

Total Time: 41 Minutes And then nothing
turned itself inside-out
February 22, 2000

". . . a Bergman film set in a Hoboken record store: abstract and intimate, sweetly whispering, raging like a distant thunderstorm." -- Chris Norris, SPIN Magazine

Jazz critic Whitney Balliett once described jazz as "the sound of surprise." While Yo La Tengo don't play jazz, the description applies. For 13 years they have been a remarkably consistent, almost comforting presence on the American pop scene, yet we love their genius because they are not afraid to surprise us. New York magazine calls them "the most dearly treasured New York rock band of the decade," but Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan have always lived across the river in Hoboken. Their recording site of preference in recent years is Nashville, but they're not a country band. Their songs are smashed into sharp relief with seemingly disparate elements, but always emerge a beautiful, somehow coherent mess.

Yo La Tengo is not a jazz combo, but they think like jazz musicians. They constantly redefine their own boundaries, stretch their songs into new shapes, and often restructure their old songs into new forms. As rabid fans of music, Yo La Tengo choose from a wildly diverse selection of covers (Richard Thompson, Wire, John Cale, The Dead C, The Normal, Flamin' Groovies, and the Kinks comprise a small sampling) and make the songs their own, much like Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry deconstructing "Embraceable You." Like most great artists, they never regurgitate derivatively, synthesizing influences into music that only sounds like Yo La Tengo.

Yo La Tengo don't play jazz on their new album, but they play like jazz players. The now-telepathic interplay of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew means the trio now approach their music as one entity; they are solid and powerful, comfortable enough to allow room for improvisation. Georgia's drumming is a gentle web, but tensile enough to support sheets of organ throb and guitar noise. James anchors integral melodies in ways bassists rarely do. Ira's wild throttling of his guitar is by now legendary, but his restraint in playing the perfect few quiet notes keeps the band walking their delicate tightrope while pushing the music forward. Listening to ATNTIIO, you get the impression these songs will continue to grow and expand, even as they've just been committed to tape.

While their colossal sonic achievements are well-documented, Yo La Tengo's new album is more In A Silent Way than Interstellar Space: a quietly intense melange of pulsing beats, acoustic guitar strum, ringing vibraphone and organ washes. Add electric guitar buzzing underneath dreamy, nearly whispered vocals, and ATNTIIO is more mood swing than song cycle.

Yo La Tengo have stripped away layers of electric guitar chaos from their sound. Is it so we can hear their voices? So they can hear each other? Whatever the reason, Georgia and Ira's most audible and distinctive vocal performances to date are genuinely intimate and affecting. The quieter settings allow other subtle details to emerge: guest Susie Ibarra's percussion on the first single, "Saturday," high close harmonies swelling in from nowhere, Hubley's delicate brushwork, the gorgeous shimmer of vibes and mellotron.

Pop culture references usually abound on Yo La Tengo track listings, and continue here. "Last Days of Disco" is a modal pop song, Ira reminiscing about a distant first meeting, his vocals and guitar cruising lightly over Georgia and James's polyrhythmic underpinning. "The Crying of Lot G," title suggestive of notoriously byzantine author Thomas Pynchon, is ironically the most lyrically naked and literal song on the album. It's also the most direct paean to the internal ebb and flow of love they've ever written, with Kaplan speak-singing "You say all we do is fight, and I think, 'Gee, I don't know if that's true...'" over an ambient 50's-style weeper. A cover of disco hitmaker George McRae's "You Can Have it All" follows and features Hubley sleepily declaring her heart over Kaplan's AM-radio "ba-ba-da"s ping-ponging in the background and funky soul string accents (courtesy engineer David Henry and his cello). The band's approach to disco cheese is loving and unironic and raises the song above its station in pop's hierarchy; it could be a Yo La Tengo song, whereas the next song, "Tears Are In Your Eyes" sounds achingly classic enough to be a cover of a lost country ballad.

Such are the gifts of Yo La Tengo. They are a pop band, but don't just write pop songs; they write what can only be described as Yo La Tengo songs. By not rocking out, Ira, Georgia and James have made a record which shows how tight-knit a musical unit the trio have become. They are like a three-cornered atom harnessing its energy to the point where blinding explosions are no longer necessary to emanate power.

Jazz critic Nat Hentoff once described jazz as "a continual autobiography, or rather a continuum of intersecting autobiographies, one's own and those of the musicians with whom one plays."

Yo La Tengo don't play jazz, but And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is the sound of surprise, and it is the latest chapter in their fascinating autobiography.








Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo
Strange But True
October 20, 1998

The product of a long-rumored collaboration between Half Japanese vocalist/founder Jad Fair and more-popular-than-Jesus (Jones) rock trio Yo La Tengo. Recorded throughout the 90s, Jad's unique worldview combines beautifully with the backdrop provided by Yo La.

* Helpful Monkey Wallpapers Entire Home
* Texas Man Abducted by Aliens for Outer Space Joy Ride
* National Sports Association Hires Retired English Professor to Name New Wrestling Holds
* Dedicated Thespian Has Teeth Pulled to Play Newborn Baby in High School Play
* Three-Year-Old Genius Graduates High School at Top of Her Class
* Embarrassed Teen Accidentally Uses Valuable Rare Postage Stamp
* Principal Punishes Students with Bad Impressions and Tired Jokes
* Retired Grocer Constructs Tiny Mount Rushmore Entirely of Cheese
* X-ray Reveals Doctor Left Wristwatch Inside Patient
* Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert by Mistake #2
* Retired Woman Starts New Career in Monkey Fashions
* Circus Strongman Runs for PTA President
* High School Shop Class Constructs Bicycle Built for 26
* Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert by Mistake #1
* Ohio Town Saved from Killer Bees by Hungry Vampire Bats
* Nevada Man Invents Piano with 21 Extra Keys
* Clever Chemist Makes Chewing Gum from Soap
* Minnesota Man Claims Monkey Bowled Perfect Game
* Ingenious Scientist Invents Car of the Future
* Car Gears Stick in Reverse, Daring Driver Crosses Town Backwards
* Shocking Fashion Statement Terrorizes Town
* Feisty Millionare Fills Potholes with Hundred-Dollar Bills

Total Time: 41 Minutes