Customer Reviews

Electr-O-Pura [Vinyl]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While some albums can grab you and beat you over the head with their brilliance upon first listen, others take more time to appreciate, slowly revealing new details with each listen until you're fully able to grasp their entirety. "Electr-O-Pura," however, is that rare album that manages to do both. The day after getting this album I played it five times in a row straight through, and I've only become more addicted to it since. To say it's like a drug would probably be an understatement: I doubt there's a drug out there with a pull this strong. I thought Sonic Youth were the masters of the guitar-driven noise-rock soundscape, but until you've heard Yo La Tengo you don't know the half of it.

The array of mind-bending guitar sounds that Ira Kaplan creates is nothing short of staggering, but his endless creativity and dizzying technical proficiency are only the beginning of what makes this such a great album. "Electr-O-Pura" is more about texture than anything else, as guitars, voices, and rhythm section intertwine, all the sounds dancing around each other without any ever achieving supremacy. Instead, the elements all coalesce to form some of the most sublime, fascinating sounds that a rock band has ever produced. I know I may not be doing the best job of describing it, but one listen to the jaw-dropping "The Ballad Of Red Buckets" should nicely illustrate what I mean. It's not necessarily the album's best song (more on that later), but I do feel it best exemplifies its overall sound. If that makes sense.

What's perhaps most amazing about this album is that while the songs all hang together in a coherent whole, most of them are simultaneously able to establish their own identities, as Yo La Tengo experiment wildly without ever abandoning their song-oriented approach. The result is a batch of tunes that are readily accessible, instantly memorable and enduring in their appeal.

There are so many classics here it's a daunting task to list them all, but here goes nothing. "Decora" is transcendent in its utter gorgeousness, as Georgia Hubley's ethereal vocals float over a vast expanse of shimmering guitar noise. The following "Flying Lesson (Hot Chicken #1)," by contrast, is darker and harder-edged, with Ira Kaplan's vocals an ominous whisper and the guitars much sparser, at least until the two prolonged freakouts towards the end. Between them, the two songs present a study in the dichotomy between light and dark that would do King Crimson proud.

The forceful, up-tempo "Tom Courtenay" is probably the catchiest offering here, propelled by a head-bobbing hook and some dense, almost metallic riffage. "Paul Is Dead" is a quietly minimal piece, but the "Ooh-Ooh-Ooh's" in the background make it downright mesmerizing. "False Alarm" is a major curveball, imbuing the album's typical noise-rock inclinations with a dirty, bluesy sound complete with organs and distorted, swaggering vocals. "(Straight Down to the) Bitter End" is fast and furious, with snatches of electrifying guitar distortion scratching at the surface as the drums thump along heavily in the background. "My Heart's Reflection" is a woozy, swooning piece whose slow pace and mellow tone only partly conceal its powerful psychotropic properties.

But wait, there's more! Not content just to warp your mind with towering guitar-led onslaughts, the band also go the guiet route with the stripped-down "The Hour Grows Late" and "Don't Say a Word (Hot Chicken #2), which consist of little more than acoustic guitar, hushed vocals, and a smattering of keys. The energy of the album is somewhat muted on these songs to be sure, but it's certainly not absent.

In my humble opinion, though, Yo La Tengo saved the best of "Electr-O-Pura" for last in the form of the nine-minute "Blue Line Swinger," which has quickly become one of my favorite tunes of all time. "Blue Line Swinger" is a frightening juggernaut of a song, starting slowly before building steadily into an epic freakout of earth-shaking proportions. And it only becomes more stunning when Georgia's vocals enter the fray, her childlike innocence serving as the perfect foil for the sonic chaos going on all around her.

I listen to tons of different music, and I must say that I've heard few albums that can boast as broad an appeal as "Electr-O-Pura." Rarely can a band combine a flair for the the esoteric with such flawless pop instincts, but Yo La Tengo pull off the trick with ease. It's unfortunate that marvels of craftsmanship like this one don't come along too often, but I guess that fact just means we should appreciate them more.

As each subsequent YLT album has come out, I have, for a short time, wondered if it would replace "Electr-O-Pura" as my favorite album in the world (that's ALBUM, not just YLT album). "I Can Hear the Heart..." came close for a month or two. "And then nothing..." came closer. It spent months in my CD player without being interrupted by anything else. But something about the album was too perfect, too careful. Going backwards, "Painful", while not as perfect an ALBUM experience, has some individual tracks that offer the most sublime garage pop experiences to be found (although "Pablo and Andrea", "Tom Courtenay" and "Blue Line Swinger" go beyond anything the band attempted on that album), and perhaps make Painful a little more FUN to listen to.

One day, though, after the glow of these other releases had worn off, I put my old friend "Electro" back on the CD player, and instantly, a smile came to my face. This was the pinnacle. While not as high-reaching or sonically conceptual as "And Then Nothing..." (or, arguably, even "Summer Sun"), and not as brashly fun or catchy as many prior efforts, "Electro" was made at that perfect point in YLT's career when everything came together in perfect balance, when they were confident enough and musically/lyrically accomplished enough to brashly go beyond anything Indie rock had ever produced, but naive enough to not let themselves be reigned in by conceptual restraints or pop perfectionism. Don't get me wrong. I admire subsequent releases for their attributes just as much as (in some ways more so than) this album. They have a grander vision, more experimentation, more musical and lyrical experience and skill behind them.

Don't get me wrong about this album, either. This is a cohesive album, not a collection of random songs, and it's made by very talented people. But everything teeters perfectly on balance, threatening to topple at any moment, but never doing so. The band is stretching here, grasping for new heights, just beginning to realize the power they really posses. Lyrics are a meeting of old YLT with new YLT-- the excitingly abstract and obtuse meet with a new-found emotional depth and warmness, along with a small hint of the personal revelations that followed in later releases. Musically, the album may be the most narrow of all YLT releases (which is not saying much when you consider how all over the map YLT is--most of the people I know who cannot get into them say it's because the band cannot seem to pick a style), with less range stylistically and sonically than other albums, especially later ones. There are no covers, there are no country songs, no bossa nova pop symphonies, no jazz piano noodlings. The music comes primarily from the indie rock world, and uses its aesthetics as a starting point, but masters and exceeds the form, going beyond mere attitude and noise and lo-fi production values to create a beautiful, cohesive, lasting work that really means something. The operative word is "balance." Balance between intellect and emotion. Between skill and attitude. Between beauty and ugliness. Between the fun and the serious. There's just the right mix of the planned, the honed and the refined, with the chaos, the noise and the mistakes-a perfect mess. A beautiful noise. Absolutely human.

Every track is integral to the album. For those who think "False Alarm" is a clinker, you will change your mind after you see it played live, and will suddenly find it to be one of the most exciting songs on the disc. Even "Attack on Love" is absolutely necessary. It sounds like the musical equivalent of an abstract expressionist painting to me, and it serves as a sort of moment of release before we launch into the epic finale that is "Blue Line Swinger".

I never tire of this album. And I never press the skip button. I cannot always say that for "..Feel the Heart..." or "Summer Sun", which, while perhaps more accomplished works, do not always grab me as tightly. And the weight and length of "And then Nothing...", while perhaps a more important work, is sometimes just too much for me. Making "Electr-O-Pura", well...perfect. Perfect because it has just the right amount of imperfection.

Falling in between two of the most acclaimed Yo La Tengo albums ("Painful" and "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One"), "Electr-O-Pura" is a bit of an orphan in the group's catalog, which I've always found difficult to understand. Why was the world ready for "I Can Hear..." (which if anything, sounds like a tamer, less interesting version of this album) but not "Electr-O-Pura"?

I often hear "harsh" and "inconsistent" used as adjectives to describe "Electr-O-Pura." However, those are givens with YLT; "Fakebook" is the only album they've made that didn't jump all over the place, sometimes in ear-breaking ways. What "Electr-O-Pura" really offers is a sprawling tour of everything YLT can do, delivered with finesse and confidence. The album is overflowing with ideas and (usually) nonindulgent experimentation.

First, the quieter stuff: There's nothing on "I Can Hear..." as beautiful and perfect as the shimmering, exquisite "Pablo and Andrea," quite possibly the group's finest song, with Georgia Hubley's warmest, most seductive vocals ("I'll cover for you like a slipcover covers a chair"). Plus, Ira Kaplan's soaring guitar solo never fails to deliver goosebumps. An absolute masterpiece. "Don't Say a Word," "The Hour Grows Late," "My Heart's Reflection," and "Ballad of Red Buckets" are other (mostly) quiet, gorgeous songs.

Noise rears its sometimes ugly head throughout the album, with the (fortunately) short skronk piece "Attack on Love" being the worst offender. Also, Ira sprays his trademarked (actually, more like his take on Lou Reed's trademark) feedback and twisted solos throughout the album, but usually in restrained doses. However, one noisy experiment falls flat: "False Alarm" is a bit of a chore to sit through; its distorted organ and vocals mangle what could have been an interesting song.

Two of the best tracks combine classic YLT beauty with discordance. "Decora" and "Blue Line Swinger" are attractive Georgia-sung pieces that challenge listeners with their almost backward constructions and phased instrumental loops. Some people can't hear these songs past the odd structures, unfortunately. (It helps to be attuned to stuff like My Bloody Valentine, a palpable influence throughout this album.) Georgia's drumming is quite astounding on both of these tracks. At this point, it needs to be said that she is one of the finest drummers in rock--economical, creative, and powerful, with a dynamic right foot (listen to her swinging backbeat on tracks like "Tom Courtenay" and "Flying Lesson").

And speaking of that last track, it's the most curiously intense and spooky thing the group has recorded. On top of Georgia's driving beat, Ira talk-sings about romantic obsession with stalker-like menace, punctuating it with increasingly discordant blasts of guitar that get downright queasy and blood-curdling by the end. A long, tense, exhilarating track perfect for paranoid night driving on long stretches of open road. In fact, the whole album is a magnificent soundtrack for a long car trip.

Don't let the (deserved) acclaim for "Painful" and "I Can Hear..." cause you to miss this extraordinary showcase of Yo La Tengo's world. It's an overlooked classic, an arguably the group's definitive album.

I wanted to lend my support to this album, which oddly tends to be seen by some critics as a mild misstep between the masterpieces Painful and I Can Hear the Heart. I think it is considerably better than Heart and about equal to Painful. As many of the reviews mention, there's a confidence on this one that allowed YLT to explore the further reaches of the noise that was woven into Painful. And yes, the noise was present on May I Sing With Me and the Evil That Men Do from President, but it was different. Those tacked on vicious feedback-laden guitar solos to songs. Here, the noise is an integral part of the songs themselves, if that makes sense. I could probably never choose between this and Painful, but suffice it to say they would both make it to the proverbial desert island.

The other reason for this review is to help clear up the confusion about the times listed for the songs. As I understand it, they lifted not only the song times, but the little descriptions (i.e., "patterns of sound are my bag right now") from some old, unrelated blues album. So it was essentially a joke, not a mistake. This is no mystery and YLT-philes could probably be more precise, but in essence, that's the reason.

"I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" is such a heavy shadow. Not that it's over-rated, but it's all relative ... The gem that is Electr-O-Pura may not have that near-perfect track sequencing that is present on "I Can Hear ...", neither does it have tracks that are career-standouts, like "Moby Octopad" or "We're an American Band". But Electr-O-Pura is the career-standout as an album. Its share of great songs is quite easily the highest, and the whole feeling is that the band knew they are making a masterpiece - you can see it in the cover design, in the opening track ... Think of Sonic Youth entering the studio for Daydream Nation and you'll get the idea. Also, notice that it is one of a few YLT albums without cover-versions. They really knew they were on to something.

It all came together here - the songwriting, the lovely vocals, the shoegazing, the ROCK. It's even in the name - electric, electrifying and purely Yo La Tengo.

Electr-O-Pura opens with the bass-driven rockout Decora, with Ira's simple three-note riff and Georgia's soothing vocals. It goes on to probably the most gothic, agressive and hard-rocking Yo La Tengo song - Flying Lesson. Again, bass-driven, with scary mumbled vocals and insane guitar freakouts it sets the mood well ... if you have the guts. But then the angry mood breaks with the nocturnal When the Hour Grows Late. "He took a minute to retune his guitar" - is Ira singing about himself here? Then comes the big hit - Tom Courtenay, try to find its lovely video somewhere.

False Ending is a hint of what to expect in False Alarm, probably the weakest point on the album. They should have replaced it with Up to You, that ended up on the rarities collection "Genius+Love". Pablo and Andrea, however, is a beatiful ballad, and Paul is Dead is an ultra-pleasant easy acoustic woo-hoo thingy.

Later comes Don't Say a Word - they should have called it DARE to Say a Word. Pure acoustic beauty, Don't Say a Word has some of the best opening notes in a rock song ever.

But the last track, "Blue Line Swinger" is where it all really comes together: a long organ+guitar jam that finally becomes a haunting song that is so Yo La Tengo - your heart melts as you listen to Georgia, Georgia and more Georgia on top of guitars, guitars and more guitars...

Oh damn it, stop reading, it's mid-price, buy it already!

Okay, I'll probably catch some flak from Painful diehards out there, but I maintain that this one is just slightly better. It's also YLT's best albums, and one of the top five of the 90s. It's a lot louder than Painful, and less lovey-dovey--tension is the engine that drives "Electropura." I couldn't tell you if it was written during a period of marital discord, but it sounds like it--check the lyrics to "(Straight Down to the) Bitter End" or "False Alarm" especially. The music is gorgeous, as other reviewers have noted--a perfect split between noisy and quiet, ugly and pretty. The music surges, yells, whispers, holds back, sulks a little, and carries the listener along. I have to single out the closing track, "Blue Line Swinger," as one of YLT's most perfect moments (sharing that honor with "I Heard You Looking," "Satellite" and "Tears Are In Your Eyes" from various other albums). It's nine minutes plus of pure bliss: the instruments start out of sync, like everyone's playing a different song, then gradually cohere into a throbbing mass that wails above and around the song's wistful, disappointed, yet still hopeful lyrics. (Before this YLT album, I had never thought of them as especially good lyricists, but they are.) "Electropura" is a masterpiece musically, lyrically, thematically....I don't have enough superlatives for it.

BTW, in answer to another reviewer's question....If you look at the track lengths on the back of this CD, you will see that some of them are accurate and some are way off ("Blue Line Swinger" is listed as 3:15; the six-and-a-half-minute "Flying Lesson" is clocked there at 3:11). I heard the explanation and forgot it; best I can recall, it was some sort of error that happened in the studio and didn't get corrected. (Similar is the album "In a Priest-Driven Ambulance" by the Flaming Lips, where all the tracks are listed as 3:26.)

Some things I haven't bothered to review because other reviewers have already perfectly encapsulated my exact sentiments in re the work in question, but I just have to chime in here.

This record is what Yo La Tengo are all about, surely. Someone else below referred to it as a "beautiful mess", and that's as apt a description as I can think of. Listening to this CD is like chewing a big healthy wad of gum and the flavor changing unpredictably and suddenly every 3 or 4 minutes. The mouth, it waters. Irresistible melodies, warm guitar textures, off-kilter ballads, wild bursts of crazy dissonance, it's all here. Sometimes all in the same song. You just have to keep listening to it because once you're through with it (or rather, once it's through with _you_), you have to go back and find what was it again you liked so much, because your mind is in a tizzy and really quite disoriented. It's the nicest of confusions, really. In fact, I can't really pick out any particular track to mention because they all tangle with one another so perfectly, except to say that "Blue Line Swinger" is worth the price of the CD alone. I mean, dang. Just listening to that one a couple times a day will surely cure what ails you. Try it and see if I'm wrong.

I finally got round to buying this recently, following highly satisfying purchases of the latest 'And then nothing..' and the previous 'I can hear the heart..' Of the three, 'Electropura' stands out as the most pure, most raw, and most musically exciting. Though I was prepared for the lush little ballads like 'The hour grows late' and 'Pablo and Andrea', and the sporadic wig-outs as evident in 'The bitter end', nothing (especially not the misleading 3 minute-something allocated to the track length on the album sleeve) hinted at the dizzying epic at the album close. 'Blue line swinger' (a dud Ira Kaplan blues experiment, I had predicted before hearing) is the the most engaging, captivating piece of musical artistry -please excuse the pomp- I have ever lent my ears to. Time to order 'Painful'...

This is one of Yo La Tengo's best record. You still can't really understand what Georgia and Ira and saying half the time through their whispered monotones, but this is really a high point for their music.

There's such a great dense quasi-psychadelic layering here, and the best tracks are those that feature either Georgia or Ira doing their high pitched bop-bop things.

Blue Swinger is just superb, this track really builds such a great tension with Georgia's drums, and her sweet angelic voices really provides the relief.

This album is just pure Yo La bliss. It showcases everything they can do. I mean, what band can fit an acoustic folk song and an extended noise jam on the same album? And make it work PERFECTLY? Georgia Hubley has the voice of an angel, (she's a rockin drummer too), and you can never tell where Ira Kaplan's guitar is gonna go next. James McNew is very talented as well. They play as a perfect triangle, interplaying and showing off all three sides. This album is for those that find Painful too droney and I Can Hear too long. I love both those albums, but Electr-O-Pura just hits the spot. I mean, BLUE LINE SWINGER!