Written by stoplovingeverything

You say piano, I say yo la piano

Please don’t expect much from J Frank for a while. Certainly not daily entries. Closing shop on the old job last week killed any writing time. And when blogger or ezarchive were/are down, which lately seems like always, I can’t wait around. Certainly not this week, learning the new stuff from the old boss, whom I replace beginning next week.

Speaking of the old boss, same as the old boss, I can at least tell you that Yo La Tengo have stepped back onto the right path with I Am Not Afraid of You etc, after much recent wrong path-ness since 1997, the year they released their last decent album, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Whenever I play 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, it sets off our carbon monoxide detector. At least I wake up before dying.

Bassist James McNew remains the secretest of secret weapons. He’s certainly the source of the album’s best song, “Black Flowers,” which might be one for the greatest hits comp. Piano sounds like the main compositional instrument for most songs, and it’s a welcome change from dead-end drone organ and breakbeats and whatever else sent their last few albums into the toilet.

Yo La Tengo — Black Flowers

Yo La Tengo – Daphnia

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7 thoughts on “You say piano, I say yo la piano”

  1. “Whenever I play 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, it sets off our carbon monoxide detector. At least I wake up before dying.”My first visit to your blog and you’ve already blown it! If “Madeline,” “Cherry Chapstick” and “Tony Orlando’s House” don’t move you, and if “Last Days of Disco” doesn’t touch you, well . . . you’re fucked!

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  2. Actually, being fucked would be better than being touched by those boring pieces of songshit.Being fucked is better than most things. And did I blow it? Of course not. Those other blogs that pander to your mediocre tastes and your tendency to like whatever music you buy because to think otherwise would mean you misspent your money, and those blogs that like music deemed acceptable rather than have the balls to say when something <>sucks<>, those blogs are blowing it. And they’re blowing you. Which is kinda like being fucked. It just doesn’t cost you as much, and gets them what they want from you, later, without having to really commit. That album is the darkest day of Yo La Tengo. No me gusta, no lo quiero. First time you visit my blog, and you remain anonymous. Ballsy.Come back soon!

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  4. If the name of your blog didn’t clue anon into the fact that you wouldn’t like everything (s)he does, I don’t know what would. I personally like And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, to an extent, but I also enjoy your healthy “don’t believe the hype” attitude…so I will not take issue with you, sir.And more importantly, Beat Your Ass does crush that record. My favorite track has to be “The Weakest Part,” but I would agree that “Black Flowers” is great, and that Mr. McNew does indeed shine on this album. I loved the whole album at first, then I thought some of the tracks were boring for awhile, but now I love the whole thing again. Well, I’m not sure they needed “Point and Shoot,” but it’s pretty decent and doesn’t really get in the way.

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  6. When Weird Al Yankovic puts out a collection of alt-rock parodies, will it be called, “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Break Your Heart,” or will it be called, “I Am Trying To Kick Your Ass”?Just asking.

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