Track Listing
1. Return to Hot Chicken
2. Moby Octopad
3. Sugarcube
4. Damage
5. Deeper Into Movies
6. Shadows
7. Stockholm Syndrome
8. Autumn Sweater
9. Little Honda
10. Green Arrow
11. One PM Again
12. Lie and How We Told It, The
13. Center of Gravity
14. Spec BeBop
15. We're an American Band
16. My Little Corner of the World
| Details | | Playing Time: | 68 min. | | Producer: | Roger Moutenot | | Distributor: | Alternative Dis. Alliance | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Yo La Tengo: Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, James McNew.
Additional personnel: Al Perkins (lap steel & pedal steel guitars); Jonathan Marx (trumpet).
Recorded at House Of David, Nashville, Tennessee.
Yo La Tengo began life as one among hundreds of Velvet Underground-inspired bands, banging out dark, skittish tunes that displayed YLT guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan's affection for Uncle Lou as well as Yo La Tengo's commitment to creating a gently subversive groove. Over the years, the band, which also features Kaplan's wife Georgia Hubley on drums and vocals, has gone through more identity changes than David Bowie, from acoustic folk-rock to wailing, Sonic Youth-like guitarchitecture.
On this album, the band consolidates their sound as they expand it, incorporating bossa nova, electronica and '60s pop into a gorgeous shimmering whole that is something more than the sum of its parts. The laconic-but-expressive vocals of Kaplan and Hubley provide the songs with just the right combination of detachment and naivete, and the trio (which also includes bassist James McNew) sounds like one person with six arms, three brains and one big heart. And don't worry; "We're An American Band" isn't the old Grand Funk Railroad song.
Editorial Reviews
Included in Rolling Stone's Essential Recordings of the 90's.
Rolling Stone (05/13/1999)
Ranked #19 in NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.
NME
...influences ranging from Jobim and '60s French pop to the Jesus & Mary Chain and the Beach Boys...bound by occasional dollops of greasy feedback....YLT fully indulges its desire to make noise, bridging the drone gap between '60s VU and '90s Tortoise...
Option (05/01/1997)
...confirms what their last few albums have intimated: They've become our best old-school indie-rock band....Their muted, after-hours guitar drone is in full effect. But splashes of piano or acoustic guitar add depth and airiness to the songs... - Rating: A-
Entertainment Weekly (05/02/1997)
...I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE is wonderfully sprawling and diverse, with a rock curator's attention to detail and the odd in-joke thrown in....An impressive mixture of curiousness and guile, all told....
NME (04/19/1997)
This album is a long journey. It has the stretch of distance covered and the domestic intimacy of sitting in a small space and watching things go by the window...
Melody Maker (04/19/1997)
...16 examples of Nashville-recorded, dreamy pop sleight-of-hand...
Q (06/01/1997)
9 (out of 10) - ...this is a band that not only delves into their vast record collection but figures out what makes their faves tick; and their tickers beat as one...
Spin (06/01/1997)
4 Stars (out of 5) - ...Yo La Tengo maintain a tension between aural deconstruction and sharp songwriting. The album has its share of perfect pop songs....HEART proves that Yo La Tengo can master nearly any pop style...
Rolling Stone (05/01/1997)
Ranked #5 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
Village Voice (02/24/1998)
Ranked #8 on Spin's list of the Top 20 Albums Of The Year.
Spin (01/01/1998)
Ranked #78 in Spin Magazine's 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s.
Spin (09/01/1999)
...confirms what their last few albums have intimated: They've become our best old-school indie-rock band....Their muted, after-hours guitar drone is in full effect. But splashes of piano or acoustic guitar add depth and airiness to the songs... - Rating: A-
Entertainment Weekly (05/02/1997)
This album is a long journey. It has the stretch of distance covered and the domestic intimacy of sitting in a small space and watching things go by the window...
Melody Maker (04/19/1997)
4 Stars (out of 5) - ...Yo La Tengo maintain a tension between aural deconstruction and sharp songwriting. The album has its share of perfect pop songs....HEART proves that Yo La Tengo can master nearly any pop style...
Rolling Stone (05/01/1997)
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