I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Yo La Tengo
Matador (record label), 2006
1 CD
Catalogue #: 10692
EAN: 0744861069225
UPC: 744861069225
You save: 20%
Yo La Tengo: Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, James McNew.
Additional personnel: Roger Moutenot (acoustic guitar); David Mansfield (violin); Garo Yellin (cello); Jim Hoke (saxophone); Steve Herrman (trumpet); Bill Huber (trombone).
Recording information: Brooklyn Recording, Brooklyn, New York (2006).
With 2006's cheekily titled I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU AND I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS, the beloved indie-rock trio Yo La Tengo presents a dynamic set of songs that echo the band's past, while notably downplaying the soporific atmospherics of preceding discs (the lauded AND THEN NOTHING and SUMMER SUN). The New Jersey-based group opens with "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," a feedback-drenched guitar workout anchored by pulsing, insistent rhythms, which is followed by the jaunty "Beanbag Chair," a charming pop ditty that percolates under Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley's breezy vocals. Other highlights of this eclectic record include the beautifully orchestral "Black Flowers" and "The Room Got Heavy," a quirky electro tune. Essentially a well-chosen crossroads for most of Yo La Tengo's various stylistic paths, I AM NOT AFRAID distills the ensemble's decades-long history into a willfully varied and always-engaging album.
Tracklist
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo started out in the mid-1980s and became perhaps the ultimate critics' band. Led by former NYC rock journalist Ira Kaplan, they combined numerous, often esoteric influences to eventually create a distinctive sound. They started out in heavy debt to the Velvet Underground, but by the late '90s, they were incorporating ambient electronic textures and more experimental song structures for a transcendent, dream-pop sound that brought them a whole new audience.
