Reviews Y - Part 2

Neil Young

On the Beach

This album was out of print when my first wave of Neil-Young-itis struck (when Young and Sonic Youth toured together), but have played the hell out of this Cd. Great depth. Some review called it an “Irish Wake” of a record. Fair assessment, but the album is better than even that. I've also read that on one of tracks, the band did the equivalent of participating in a Scythian hemp ritual. Here's the recipe for honey-slides, via a transcription of some on-stage patter.

Royal Festival Hall, London 1971
bootleg. I'll burn you a copy if you ask nicely. Acoustic performance, live at this theatre which has hosted a lot of artists, including Dylan and the Band, Roy Harper, Frank Sinatra, etc.

Good sound. Too many bootlegs have really crappy sound. Acoustic versions of Cowgirl in the Sand and Ohio cut to the bone. Much better than Comes a Time, or Harvest, as far as that goes. Young says in the intro to Heart of Gold, in response to an audience request, “I can't do that one without the band”, then goes into Heart of Gold instead. Yes, that is true, isn't it.

Tonight's the Night

Can a depressing subject (death by drug overdose, delerium caused by fame) be any more delicious? Another desert island disc, for sure. Plenty of flubbed notes, especially vocally, this only lends more authenticity to the anguish. I could go on, but I'd rather just listen.

Lester Young
The Kansas City Sessions
Swinging Jazz, I really should buy some more Lester Young. Makes me happy to listen to it. Recorded from 1938-1944. Lester Young even plays some clarinet, as well as Tenor Sax. Produced by John Hammond, Sr. himself.

Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo
Strange but True
Odd little album. Sounds like it was recorded on a lark, after consuming some honey-slides. This is not a desert island disc, by any stretch. The only thing interesting are the song titles, and that doesn't make this album a keeper. However, looking at Amazon, lots of folks want to unload theirs as well, so I'd only get a couple of bucks out of selling it. Bleh. Albums like this are why Napster became so damn popular.

Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo has a reputation for being 'critical darlings', which is a polite way of saying, sales suck. Named after a baseball anecdote:

The center fielder of the New York Mets in 1962, Richie Ashburn, was crashing again and again with Venezuelan, Elio Chacon. Every time Ashburn went for a ball, he would scream, “I got it! I got it!” only to collide with the 160 pound (73 kg) Chacon, who spoke only Spanish. Finally, Ashburn learnt to yell, “Yo la tengo! Yo la tengo!” which is “I've got it” in Spanish. Ashburn happily saw Chacon backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was run over by 200 pound (91 kg) left fielder Frank Thomas Sr. who understood no Spanish.

They are such an intrinsic part of the 'soundtrack' to my life as a 20-something boho.

And Then Nothing Turned itself Inside Out

Quieter than most YLT albums, but even better because of it. Still contains some feedback noises, and droning guitars, don't worry.

Electr-O-Pura

Music to take drugs too? No, too easy. Music to listen to while driving across the mid-west in a rented car full of boxes of books and bags of clothes? Closer. Music to listen to while combining the first two activities? Now, we're getting somewhere, and wherever it is, we're going to have a lot of fun.

You didn't expect serious reviews of 1300 CDs, did you? Good.

Fakebook
Did I tell you is a super catchy jingle-jangle tune. More in the shoe-gazer genre, without a feedback squeal to be heard, in other words, not typical of YLT. Can't Forget is sweet, but not cloying. Griselda is a little too quirky to endear itself, but in small frequencies, is ok.

Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo
Obscurities, out-takes, experiments, and some good tunes. Lots of instrumentals. The Daniel Johnson-singing-vocals-into-a-phone gimmick gets tiresome after a few listens. However, the easy-listening version of Blitzkrieg Bop wears pretty well.

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

All of this listening to YLT is clearing my eardrums a bit. I should probably floss too. Hmmmm, this album is more droney, I especially cling to the songs Moby Octopad and Deeper into Movies. I named a photo after Moby Octopad, that has the honor of being the first to be uploaded to my Flickr account.....

Can't forget the propulsive, Little Honda.

Little Honda
Little Honda 8 song EP. I forgot I had this (wasn't in my iTunes library for some reason). Seems to be out of print, Be Thankful for What You Got is a catchy little ditty with a hopscotch bass line, perfect for coasting down a hill on your bike....