Yo La Tengo

I honestly can't stand The Sounds of Science (it’s just all that fishy, aquarium-vibe nonsense... 😲 😢 ), but man, I Can Hear a Heart Beating as One is easily one of my absolute favorites. What’s your take on them?

Just spinning Center of Gravity right now...
They’re one of those bands you just don't bother comparing to anyone else. They’ve got their own thing going on, their own weird little universe...
Whenever I'm feeling a bit isolated, I always put them on. It makes me feel steady, kind of safe and untouchable, you know?

Like "Tears Are in Your Eyes"🙂

For me, I Can Hear a Heart Beating as One is right up there too... try to squeeze... drop of blood... from a sugarcube; Sugarcube is easily one of my all-time favorite simple, beautiful tracks.

I just need to see Yo La Tengo live!

Personally, I still think *Painful* is their best work. It’s hard to beat, though "Nowhere Near" and "Sudden Organ" are definitely my top picks from them, and both happen to be on that record. For second place, I'd say it's a toss-up between "I Can Hear a Heart Beating as One" and "Fakebook"—those covers they did on that one are just fantastic...

Facebook is basically country music at this point!

Listening to A Painful End on a Discman is just torture because of all the distortion.

Anyway, Yo La Tengo exists in a league of their own... I haven't gotten around to this soundtrack yet, just haven't had the headspace... but what they play... it's the best. They go from these incredibly atmospheric, smooth tracks to these melodic crashes, man... like that one louder track on the last album... "In the Middle"... pure perfection. It feels connected to the spirit of jazz, but it isn't jazz... more like alchemy. They take human warmth and turn it into sound, then flip it back again.

I totally agree—they’re in a league of their own. There’s definitely a mix of Velvet and Beach Boys vibes in there (that "Little Honda" track absolutely kills 🙂), but honestly, I haven't come across any other band that hits quite like them.

Jimmy, I have a feeling you’d actually really dig this soundtrack 😉

shadowgardener12 said:Facebook is basically country music!

So does that mean it should be considered lo-fi?😕

Look, if you’ve got the vinyl, there's plenty of Josh to dig through... 😁 😁 🙂

shadowgardener12 said:Look, if you've got a record player, there's still plenty of great music out there to dig through! 😁 😁 🙂

Fair enough.....🙄

Mickey, yeah, they've got it, but then there's "Lambchop," which I actually dig... though Facebook feels a bit too much like acoustic country for me... as long as it stays in that "Lambchop" lane, it's fine.

their music has so much soul. just a certain feeling... it's not like they're just doing covers of Mayfield

Methinks they’re easily the best American pop band from the 90s. They just don't have that annoying, elitist indie clique vibe where everyone acts like they're too cool for school, which you definitely get with bands like Pavement. Beyond that, their quality control is incredibly consistent, they’re deeply emotional in the best way possible, totally unpretentious, and honestly, they're one of the top two or three live bands I've ever had the pleasure of seeing... it's like being stuck right in the eye of a hurricane when they dive into one of those fifteen-minute noisy swirls (just imagine Ira tearing through pedals, while James handles bass and organ whenever he feels like it—plus some bass pedals—and then there's Georgia on drums keeping it relatively low-key, much like Moe Tucker). To me, Painful is an absolute masterpiece, though I can hear... comes a very close second. Electr-o-pura is a great record, but I feel like it leans a little too hard on pop references ("Julia Christie, the rumors were true.... pa pa pa pa ra pa...") instead of focusing on raw human emotion and real connection. Their last full-length was also really solid, but if they don't pivot soon—and it looks like they might be trying something different with that new EP featuring the Sun Ra cover—or if they don't just break up, they risk becoming predictable. The albums released before Painful are a bit hit or miss, but hey, that was the 80s. Personally, Fakebook didn't do much for me, though it was cute enough and definitely proves YLT has great taste. BTW, they make an awesome cover band.

Just checking in to see if my avatar is actually showing up right, but since I’m here, I might as well add something useful to the mix instead of just lurking: there’s an album nobody’s brought up yet that’s a total personal favorite of mine, *And then nothing turned itself inside out*. After giving it a full spin, I walked away thinking the whole thing feels like a perfect cocktail of that raw, unhinged energy our old-school legends used to bring to the stage.

Also, their website is pretty slick

It's dead
(five minutes later) okay, now it's working, can you believe that?

...Painful is hands down one of the most absolute clusterfucks of an album ever made 😳 🙂

Sean Wilson53 said:...An album nobody's even brought up yet, but it's my absolute favorite: And then nothing turned itself inside out

Facts. 🙂

Facebook... what a total vibe for listening! I also picked up and Then nothing turned itself inside out, which Damien mentioned earlier 😁. Honestly, I just stumbled upon it by accident, and man, was I surprised. 😉

When I mentioned it was the "last regular one," I actually meant I was talking about and Then...

The whole debate is pretty much pointless. But I have to say my piece.

Sonic Youth paired with Fugazi. That’s basically the greatest band combo on the planet. It’s an easy concept to grasp... there’s really no point in trying to explain it to anyone who actually knows the music.

hm, what does Fugazi have to do with my tiny little slice of the universe anyway...😉

Painful, and I can actually hear it... the two best ones out there...