Yo La Tengo - The Sound of the Sound of Science

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Any comments so far?

― Dave225, Tuesday, 14 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.yolatengo. com/audio/merch.html .. (Info & sound samples)

― Dave225, Tuesday, 14 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

just based on the track that i've downloaded from the site i quite like it. i am definitely thinking about octopi -- ylt has a very unique way of using their instruments to full "underwater" effect. beyond that this seems like the most interesting thing ylt has done since "i can hear the heart ..." i doubt i was the only one disappointed by "and nothing turned ..."

― fields of salmon, Tuesday, 14 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i've downloaded the love life of the octopus last week but haven't been able to listen to it, i'm very curious. but...what's wrong with and then nothing...? i love it, though listening to it does require "the right mood".

― willem, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I actually saw them perform the scores live, accompanying the actual Panleve films, at the latest Full Frame Film Festival. The films themselves were pretty amazing, and YLT's soundtrack, while curiously inert in the way so many soundtracks are, was very apt, occasionally very powerful, and very Yo La Tengo. That said, the credits to the films themselves listed soundtracks from the likes of Pierre Henry and some other 20th-century music bigwigs. I'm glad I saw them they way I did, but now I want to hear the original scores.

― Lee G, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw that show at the Barbican in London and picked up that CD at the merchandise stall afterwards. If you're a fan it's definitely worth getting, although my judgement may be coloured because I saw them play it live with the Painleve films. Everytime I hear the last track I always see those male seahorses giving birth, and the octopus still creeps me out.

― Jonathan G, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i think and nothing turned ... lacks the atmospherics of i can hear the heart... gone is that gorgeous bacharachian kraut- rock sound -- on the latter album they favoured instead some sort of half-hearted americana, cut with a couple of meandering drum machine'n'synth experiments (and of course a couple of real stunners ... "tony orlando's house" is a gift from the gods). "our way to fall", "last days of disco", "the crying of lot g", and "tears are in your eyes" are so bland and middle-of-the-road that i shudder at ever having to listen to them. they have no edge, but not exactly enough melody or ambience to compensate either.

that's why this soundtrack project sounds promising to me ... a return to older, more interesting forms before they turn into jefferson starship.

― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"tears are in your eyes" is about the most moving ballad ylt have ever made. The kitsch factor is high but it is still all right I guess. And I don't think there is a lack in melody in the songs you cited fields of salmon. The tunes are subtle and understated, ok. Give it another listen. It was a slow grower for me. The music is a lot about atmosphere. So the next step to do a soundtrack for underwater documentaries is quite logical. What the heck has Jefferson Starship got to do with it? That is overproduced MOR rubbish.

― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

now that i think of it, i can hear the heart beating as one is the only yo la tengo album i really enjoy. i've been trying for about a half an hour now to describe why and then nothing turned itself inside out doesn't do it for me, but i can't. the majority of the tunes sound hokey to me ("our way to fall" and "the crying of lot g" have the most embarrasingly trite lyrics on the planet), and georgia's voice just doesn't gel on the tunes she sings. she sounds out-of-place, bored, strained (of course some would argue this is the point). i guess the album just falls into "sequel" syndrome ... i had such high expectations that i couldn't have been anything but disappointed. i know that it's a "slow grower" but after two years i'm still waiting for it to grow on me.

― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

RE: And then...
Cherry Chapstick - of course. Everyone likes the hit single. Night Falls on Hoboken is wonderful - but maybe because I heard it played live about 5 times before I heard it on the CD.

― Dave225, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

And then the nothing… is certainly sentimental enough that “hokey” is fair (while “embarrassing” seems a bit cruel), but “trite”? to me that album sounds like a very personal looking inward at some of those boring moments that love seems to be more about than those other more dramatic but less important moments. but I’ve been a fan for years so I guess I’m the exact listener who is going to feel voyeuristic instead of bored listening to lyrics about Georgia & Ira’s “nothing”. cherry chapstick bores me.

I’ve only heard the the sounds of the sounds of science once (and didn’t see the screening), and I’m liking it so far but wish they could have had Susie Ibarra help them out on this one too.

― kristin sage, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

who is susie ibarra?

― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.susieibarra.com

― kristin sage, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

woah she plays with ikue mori and she's cute.

― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 15 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure I notice SOMETHING when I listen to the right tracks but I can't remember any significant difference Ibarra made to the songs she played on.

― Josh, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

their best album, followed by electr-o-pura

― Mt. Scorcese, Saturday, 6 August 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

Just out of curiosity, I was looking for a Yo La Tengo poll (couldn't find one) and came across this..."How Some Jellyfish Are Born" is absolutely beautiful. I think think there was a week a few years ago where I'd play it over and over again on the way to work.

― clemenza, Saturday, 5 December 2009 12:16 (sixteen years ago)

four years pass...

I'm ready to add The Sea Horse and How Some Jellyfish Are Born as some of my favorites YLT tracks. Other tracks on this album are lovely as well, but these two are perfect to me.

― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 22:09 (eleven years ago)

dammit I lent out my CDR of this to somebody years ago and forgot abt it

― polyamanita (sleeve), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 22:46 (eleven years ago)

pretty great album, wouldn't mind if they did more instrumental albums along these lines. not quite as good, but plenty of nice stuff on that They Shoot We Score soundtracks compilation too.

― tylerw, Thursday, 12 June 2014 16:12 (eleven years ago)

eight years pass...

Surprise vinyl reissue! Super pricy but whatever...

https://yolatengo.bandcamp.com/album/the-sounds-of-the-sounds-of-science

― Evan, Friday, 3 March 2023 15:30 (three years ago)

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