Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics

We've been blessed with the annual ritual since 1996: each WFMU marathon our good New Jersey neighbors (give or take a New Yorker or two) Yo La Tengo have graciously dragged their gear down to our studios and helped us raise cash by attempting to play requested covers for real live pledgers. Any request. Were they ever afraid of falling on their faces by not knowing the chords to "Rock the Boat" or "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"? Hell no. With the iron backbone of host Gaylord Fields covering for them on mic breaks while they huddled and worked out arrangements between sets, James, Ira, Georgia and their friend Bruce would fearlessly dive headfirst in and come up winners (contrary to what they would say in the liners). For everyone who has longed for a document of these years (or miss your copy of the Replacements' The Shit Hits the Fans you lost in that move) the long awaited CD Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics is now available via the band's site on their own Egon label. Pledgers who were owed this back in '04 should have gotten a package as we speak. It's a compilation of assorted cuts from the 96-03 years (they're still doing the shows since then with Tom Scharpling as well as Gaylord), and includes such crowd-pleasers as Eno's "Baby's On Fire", Doug Sahm's "Mendocino", Yes' "Roundabout" and one helluva finale medley we won't ruin by revealing. Says Ira, inspiration for playing WFMU came from the lengths our marathon DJ's endured themselves: "Glen Jones setting himself on fire, Tom Scharpling making himself sick on junk food, Ken Freedman getting an Eagles tattoo, and most bravely of all, the DJ's speaking for minutes at a time without 45-minute blocks of uninterrupted music to hide behind." "Meet the Mets"/"Oh Bondage Up Yours" (Real Audio from the CD played on Laure's I Had To Kill That Guy show).

Comments

[Gaylord Fields]

Thanks for your patience and perseverance, pledgers to my 2004 marathon shows; you'll find the disc is well worth the wait, despite what Ira says in the liner notes. And how about that Adrian Tomine artwork? Makes me want to go out and buy a canary yellow shirt.

[Y]

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