History Yo La Tengo

1 history

1.1 formation , history, 1984–85
1.2 releases, 1986–89
1.3 bar/none , alias records, 1990–92
1.4 matador period, 1993–2000
1.5 continued acclaim , soundtrack work, 2001–present

history
formation , history, 1984–85

ira kaplan , georgia hubley formed band couple in 1984. chose name yo la tengo (spanish have ; or referring female-gender object or person, ve got ) in effort avoid connotations in english. name came baseball anecdote. during 1962 season, new york mets center fielder richie ashburn , venezuelan shortstop elio chacón found colliding in outfield. when ashburn went catch, scream, got it! got it! run chacón, spoke spanish. ashburn learned yell, ¡yo la tengo! ¡yo la tengo! instead. in later game, ashburn happily saw chacón backing off. relaxed, positioned himself catch ball, , instead run on left fielder frank thomas, understood no spanish , had missed team meeting proposed using words ¡yo la tengo! way avoid outfield collisions. after getting up, thomas asked ashburn, hell yellow tango? .

they placed advertisement recruit other musicians shared love bands such soft boys, mission of burma, , arthur lee s love. group s debut recording 7 single entitled river of water backed cover of arthur lee s house not motel released in late 1985 dave schramm on lead guitar , dave rick on bass. after recording private doberman inclusion on coyote records compilation entitled luxury condos coming neighborhood soon, rick left band , replaced mike lewis, founding bass player of boston garage-punk bands dmz , lyres, member of brooklyn garage rock band a-bones throughout tenure in ylt.

early releases, 1986–89

in 1986, yo la tengo released first lp, ride tiger on coyote records. produced former mission of burma bassist clint conley took on bass duties on 3 songs, album marked yo la tengo band real potential according reviewer mark deming. kaplan credited naive guitar on sleeve, , in liner notes 1993 reissue of album on city slang records, went far dave s guitar playing inarguably best thing record.

schramm , lewis left band after album s release, kaplan subsequently taking on role of lead guitar , stephan wichnewski joining play bass. group s next album new wave hot dogs (1987) sold poorly, in words of mark deming, quantum leap on sound of debut.

the release of president yo la tengo in 1989 did establish band s reputation among rock critics including robert christgau praised mysterioso guitar hook in first song titled barnaby, hardly working . produced gene holder of db s, album band s last release on coyote. despite positive reception of album, sales still poor , wichnewski left band not long after. hubley , kaplan carried on duo , began playing two-electric-guitar shows. kaplan, though typically pragmatist, started carrying bug trapped in amber in pocket luck.

bar/none , alias records, 1990–92

yo la tengo reunited dave schramm in 1990 record fakebook, album of acoustic tunes, including covers of cat stevens, gene clark, kinks, daniel johnston, among others, 5 original songs band themselves, including acoustic version of barnaby hardly working. again produced gene holder, album s folk sound change of pace band. years later, kaplan recalled album me , georgia looking excuse record dave schramm , al greller played guitar , double bass on album, respectively.

in 1991, dave schramm in tow, yo la tengo collaborated daniel johnston on song speeding motorcycle released single. band released 7 single on bar/none records song walking away backed cover of beat happening s cast shadow. gene holder produced single , played bass. yo la tengo ep released later year included tracks end on group s next lp.

after release of yo la tengo, james mcnew (who records under solo moniker dump) began playing bass band, forming trio continues make band today. according mcnew,

the band recorded may sing me in boston holder producing , lou giordano engineering. album released on alias records in 1992. 3 of album s eleven songs ( swing life , out window , five-cornered drone ) carried on yo la tengo ep , feature holder on bass. upside-down ep released on cd in support of album, rounding out band s releases on alias.

early matador period, 1993–2000

in 1993, yo la tengo began partnership matador records, releasing 7 , cd5 of song shaker band recorded john siket in new jersey. following lp, 1993 s painful, beginning of band s fruitful creative partnership producer roger moutenot, has produced of subsequent albums until 2013 s fade, produced john mcentire. painful first yo la tengo album feature james mcnew on every song. ira kaplan explains:

rob sheffield, writing in new rolling stone album guide remarked mcnew became essential part of sound on painful, 1993 album kept every promise yo la tengo ever made , blew previous highlights away. critical reaction quite positive, reviewer stephen thomas erlewine calling subtly addicting album. robert christgau praised group once again, writing in review yo la tengo friendly. not forbidding experimentation of aspiring vanguard. fooling around of folks go out on saturday night , make noise—and go home humming it. band released electr-o-pura in 1995 similar acclaim. first time, songs credited band whole rather individual members; became norm future releases.

the band s 1997 lp can hear heart beating 1 synthesized group s eclectic combination of folk, punk rock, shoegazing, long instrumental noise-jams, , electronic music sprawling, multi-faceted style. critical reaction extremely positive; pitchfork awarded album 9.7 out of 10, , allmusic reviewer stephen thomas erlewine wrote arguably yo la tengo s finest , coherent album date. kaplan recalled turning point in band s musical progression:

with critical reputation higher ever before, band toured extensively , fan base continued grow. in 1998, collaborated jad fair , released album strange true mixed reviews. band entered studio again in late 1999 record ninth lp. , nothing turned inside-out released in february 2000 warm reception. album features intimate songs hushed, varied instrumentation , includes 19 minute epic night falls on hoboken .

continued acclaim , soundtrack work, 2001–present

in 2001, yo la tengo recorded instrumental score 8 short undersea documentaries jean painlevé, entitled sounds of sounds of science. program debuted @ san francisco film festival , has been performed live approximately twelve times. band released ep covers of sun ra s nuclear war in late 2002.

the band s tenth lp, summer sun, released in 2003. although album received favorable reviews, critics found album s quiet atmosphere underwhelming. others criticized band perceived lack of invention. when asked album s quiet nature, kaplan stated,

ira kaplan of yo la tengo playing in battery park, new york city, july 4, 2005

yo la tengo collaborated yoko ono on 2003 charity album wig in box: songs , inspired hedwig , angry inch in support of harvey milk high school. band put first best of compilation entitled prisoners of love: smattering of scintillating senescent songs: 1985–2003 released in 2005. composed scores 4 more films, 2005 s junebug , game 6, , 2006 s shortbus , old joy. scores these 4 films collected on 2008 compilation shoot, score.

their eleventh lp, not afraid of , beat ass, released in 2006 universal acclaim. informed soundtrack work, arrangements included more strings , horns of band s previous albums. kaplan told interviewer: think gained element of comfort using kind of instrumentation, , became draw on our other songs. in addition, album book-ended 2 guitar jams lasting on ten minutes each.

in 2006, band released yo la tengo murdering classics, compilation of live impromptu cover-song performances on new jersey freeform radio station, wfmu. part of station s annual fundraising marathon, listeners call in pledge money station may request favorite band perform on spot. in late 2007, band began performing acoustically freewheelin yo la tengo tour. audiences encouraged request songs , ask questions which, kaplan stated, band tried answer in strategic manner answers questions lead next song.

in march 2008, yo la tengo performed under alias condo fucks @ brooklyn s magnetic field. condo fucks, band released album of cover songs, fuckbook, on matador in march 2009. on june 4, matador announced new yo la tengo album called popular songs.

popular songs, band s 12th album, released on september 8, 2009. album recorded in band s rehearsal space in new jersey , features 2 songs elaborate string sections (composed jazz composer richard evans). entered billboard chart @ no. 58, highest entry of band s career far.

in 2009, yo la tengo contributed stroke: songs chris knox, tribute album new zealand rock , roll musician chris knox suffered stroke in june 2009. yo la tengo covered knox s song coloured . proceeds album go towards knox s recovery. in 2009, yo la tengo contributed cover of song gentle hour aids benefit album, dark night, produced red hot organization.

preceding album popular songs, yo la tengo released ep entitled here fall remixes in summer of 2010. remixes of single here fall done de la soul, rjd2, , pete rock. yo la tengo s third out-of-the-box remix ep in 14 years, following autumn sweater , danelectro remix eps.

in 2012 yo la tengo recorded cover of todd rundgren s saw light fund raising cd titled super hits of seventies radio station wfmu. in august 2012, announced release of ep in september 2012 followed full-length album in january 2013. ep includes 3 versions of song stupid things : single version, remix eyƎ, , original 12-minute instrumental version.

on november 14, 2012, band announced release of new studio album. after 30 years of recording albums, yo la tengo have gained perspective, , @ creating new albums challenge rather has become easier or harder on time. new work, fade, said musically reminiscent of landmarks 1997‘s can hear heart beating 1 , 2000’s , nothing turned inside out , feature lyrical themes of aging, tragedy , emotional bonds... woven fully-realized whole. fade released january 15, 2013.

in 2014 toured , performed live onstage film maker sam green live narrated evolving version of new film love song of r. buckminster fuller in austin, burlington, detroit, portland, new orleans , vancouver.

in 2014, played indiana-based night ranger cover band bobby night ranger in final episode of season 6 of television series parks , recreation.

on june 2, 2015, yo la tengo announced stuff there, upcoming album (and sequel of sorts fakebook ) of re-recorded versions of of old songs covers, including songs cure, hank williams, , sun ra. album released on august 28, 2015.

in 2016, band released murder in second degree, second compilation of live impromptu cover-song performances on new jersey freeform radio station, wfmu.

in 2017, band played 2 dates in new york city robyn hitchcock. performances included hitchcock album black snake diamond role in entirety, collections of classic hitchcock songs , covers of other artists.