I used to POLL about you all the time. And now I POLL about you all the time. - Yo La Tengo I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One

"stockholm syndrome", but i might have to listen to this again

i wish i still had this. off the top of my head "We're an American Band" but i don't think there's a single track here i don't like. return to hot chicken -> autumn sweater is an amazing run.

"Deeper Into Movies" is the real keeper for me from this one; a glorious drone.

center of gravity is one of my default tunes to whistle. very well written song.

having said that, deeper into movies runs a close second

moby octopad.
their signature song for me.

btw, am i the onle one whop think the first half of this record is waaaay much better than the 2nd?
(except "american band)?

Deeper Into Movies

One of the best records of 1997, which is saying a lot because that was just a ridiculously great year for music.

I've tended to stop listening after "Little Honda"; I get kinda lost in the 2nd half. I think I remember "We're An American Band" being great but I so rarely make it that far that I can't say for sure.

so i'm not alone

I need to re-listen to this, it's been a while. With that said, I'll go with Shadows, which is absolutely stunning.

"Moby Octopad" with room to spare, but "Return to Hot Chicken"'s pretty great too.

"Sugarcube" is the perfect combo of sugar and sweet. I may be alone but "Spec Bebop" contorts most interestingly. Try listening really high.

hmmm, sugar + sweet, eh? i bet you're listening really high right now, haha

haven't heard this since high school! incredibly good album, underrated by my hazy memory

"stockholm syndrome", but i might have to listen to this again

― k3vin k., Friday, June 5, 2009 11:06 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Damage FTW

i . . . i can't decide

hmmm, sugar + sweet, eh? i bet you're listening really high right now, haha

Ha -- no.

I can't have heard this for a good few years and the clarity with which I can recall most of the songs (NB I have a memory like a sieve) is pretty impressive. 'Moby Octopad' out of six or seven fkn beauties

either "Sugarcube" or "Autumn Sweater" for me. probably the latter, since their oeuvre contains other great fuzzy pop songs but not as many sweet krautrock-inspired lovesoundzz.

Was a toss-up between Sugarcube and Moby Octopad, but went with the latter. Glad to see it getting so much love here.

Moby Octopad love isn't surprising to me, but it's far from my fav

For me, this was their last really great album.

"American Band"

Such an excellent album! voted "Shadows" but am so torn between that and "Damage" "Stockholme Syndrome"... whole thing really.

so many great ones to choose from but i'll say Green Arrow since it hasn't had a mention yet

i think the green arrow reticence is because it is superseded by blue/green arrow.
all of this lp is real nice except little honda.

would agree with those who say this album is frontloaded -- everything through "Little Honda" is gold. But I do like the drifty, dreaminess of the second half, and the end picks up considerably with "American Band", "Center of Gravity" and "Corner of the World." Easily one of the best indie rock albums of the 90s.

it was an incredible step forward from electr-o-pura, really blew me away at the time. i don't think they've come even close to topping it since. turned itself inside-out stands up on its own as a pretty good record but was still disappointing after this one.

My immediate response is "Moby Octopad" (that's the one with the epic Velvets/Kraut bassline, right?) but then again, there are so many beautiful little bittersweet pop songs buried on this album.

My Little Corner of the World, Autumn Sweater, Centre of Gravity (ah, the perfectly off kilter harmonies on that one)

Going to get it out and listen to it again.

Kate! You're back! Welcome back. :)

The drummer of Yo La Tengo went to my high school. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other about them.

'Autumn Sweater' is the winner here.

Great album start to finish, tho I'm not currently in a music listening phase where I'd want to hear anyyy of it.

But - American Band.

Used to listen to this before I went to the bars during college all the time - I love it to pieces. Voted for "Damage."

Walking home after dark
Past the softball park

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

started this poll, still haven't voted yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgpQBaziy0

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

autumn sweater backlash begins here?

so glad little honda didn't score votes. should have been left off.

"deeper into movies" is new order "ceremony" (bass line, scratchy guitar) mashed up with "comfortably numb" (pre-chorus vocal melody).

the lyrics are pretty wild (although the ones listed on thousands of lyrics sites are pretty far off).

i figure the title is a nod to Pauline Kael, does anyone know what movie the lyrics are referring to? some late 60s odd loner sci-fi telekinesis flick (like isn't El Topo in her book)?

here's the correct lyrics: http://www.sunsquashed.com/Discog/Discog/icanhearlyrics.html#deeper

Love this album, subsequently they never quite hit the same highs

the audible ramp-ups on the long 'deeper into movies' fade-in always throw me a little

I'm surprised at the hate for Little Honda. That song blows me away, I actually told Ira that I think it's one of the best Yo La Tengo songs recorded which he gave a good laugh to. I remember absolutely cracking it the first time I heard that solo, It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, just when you thought it was finally going to stop, they do it all again, just riding that one note. At the very least, it's the best beach boy cover. They really concreted my memory when I saw them live the other month with this incredible 15 minute noised out version they did as their closer.

i had a friend in college who called ira kaplan a 'pussy-voiced dork' once and that has lodged in my memory ever since and diminished my enjoyment of this record

but only a little

was kind of crazy to clearly hear the lyrics of "deeper into movies" finally on the new version of the song that appears on Stuff Like That There

there are about 15 songs on this i like more than the boring, predictable "sugarcube". even "autumn sweater" - which i have listened to about a thousand times too often - is more fun. "return to hot chicken" did not get enough love. 100 seconds of pure bliss. like a prelude to the beautiful underwater film soundtracks of "the sounds of the sounds of science".

20 years old today

it rules

Yes! This could be my favorite album of 1997, which was a ridiculously bountiful year for music.

I change my vote to “deeper into movies”

I interviewed McNew about this record! https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2022/05/17/return-to-hot-chicken-james-mcnew-reveals-the-secrets-of-yo-la-tengos-i-can-hear-the-heart-beating-as-one/

That's a great read Tyler, thanks for sharing.

no idea what i voted for at the time

but right now it would absolutely be 'deeper into movies'; k3vin k otm

i don't follow this band but i really love that song, do they do more gazey or noisepoppy shit on other records? bc the rest of the album is good at what it's doing and i know the eclecticism is kind of the point but I just want to hear that track on repeat tbh

a few others in that vein:

From a Motel 6
Double Dare
Straight Down to the Bitter End
Pass the Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind
Shaker
Barnaby, Hardly Working

That song def stands out though, hard to think of another that manages that type of melody and noise together.

not entirely sure what you're looking for but blue line swinger is always a good bet

I’d put The Story of Yo La Tango in that mix too

i don't follow this band but i really love that song, do they do more gazey or noisepoppy shit on other records? bc the rest of the album is good at what it's doing and i know the eclecticism is kind of the point but I just want to hear that track on repeat tbh

― Left, Saturday, July 9, 2022 7:24 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

their best album - Painful.

i think i like painful more than this one now some of this shit sounds like grouper

First time I've ever seen this: "Moby Octopad" to old footage of the '64 World's Fair and a baseball game (Shea, I presume). Great, of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeIeqGA-Ogc

https://i.postimg.cc/MGhsVxwX/Screenshot-20240526-112919-Firefox.jpg

i was killing time in the independent record store a few months back before a yo la tengo show and who should walk in but Ira Kaplan to do little browsing.

not sure if people feel the same way about this album, but it's always been a spring weekend record for me. bust the windows open for the first time of the year and air this out.

it came out in april and i saw the tour in may, so there's that

but little honda and especially green arrow are summer songs

but then again the first single was autumn sweater and i guess that's the season i mostly associate it with