Customer Reviews

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is easily the most lo-fi, acoustic effort of the last four YLT discs: softly ticking drum machines, spacy guitar atmospherics, not-so-sudden organs and whispery vocals are the m.o. here. One exception: "Cherry Chapstick," which sounds like "Sugarcube" injected with a healthy dose of Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot"--and it's amazing. The album starts off slowly, almost shyly, with the ethereal "Everyday," but by the third or fourth track, it becomes all-consuming. This is the most seamless YLT since "Painful"--even after the 17th minute of "Night Falls on Hoboken" (and the 77th minute of the disc), you'll want to do it all over again. (I have nothing against "I Can Hear the Heart," but come on, dear reader, tell the truth, you don't always want to sit through "Spec Bebop" in its entirety.)

How does it stack up to previous YLT records? Who cares? Beginning with "Painful," they have produced 4 of the most intelligent records of the last ten years. And to top it all off, Ira and Georgia are still in love: I'm surprised the "family values" ideologues don't jump on the bandwagon--YLT might just make marriage cool again.

Although it cannot be said for many, many bands, many, like fine vintage wine, just seem to get better with age. The magic threesome that is Yo La Tengo (married couple Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley and rotund bass master James McNew) return with what could very well be their finest CD. A truly perfect album that dishes out songs about love, loss, pain, joy, distress, loneliness, and suffering. Songs that echo with pleasant and vicious guitar licks, kick mud in your mamma's face drumming, and absolutely gorgeous singing. The haunting opener "Everyday", the bouncy "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House", the brilliant cover of "You Can Have It All", the savagely beautiful "Cherry Chapstick" w/ a guitar solo that kicks you while your down, the depressingly gorgeous "Tears Are In Your Eyes" and the dreamy, "Night Falls On Hoboken" are just a handful of the magnificent songs that encompass this excellent album. This is one fan who couldn't get enough of "I Can Hear The Heart" and who has made a new space in his CD player for this one. Also, if you haven't checked out YLT live, do yourself a favor, they are tourning right now (3/00) so go see a show, you will not be dissapointed.

Quiet, meditative, intimate and lovely. Pefect music to listen with the lights down low. Yo La Tengo has managed to totally redefine themselves while staying true to form. And damn it all, they've gone and created another lo-fi masterpiece again. Great stuff.

I've had this record for a while, so I can't remember If I wrote a review or not, but anyway---listening to again, and it's always lovely each time. Albums like this prove you don't need over-top-performance and aggressive euphoria to make great masterpeices. The only real rocker is "Cherry Chapstick". For the most part, it's extremely atmospheric, subtle, emotionally understated, gently hallucinogenic, quietly trippy music. In synopse, a good trip and a great album. Whether you can relate to the love relationship-centered lyrics or not, if you dig emotionally and mentally stimulating music at all, you'll be sure to get lost in the softly meditative textures.

P.S: "Night Falls On Hoboken" is one of my favorite songs of all time, along with let's say "The Diamond Sea" or something. A gentle acoustic shoegazer ballad with hushed vocals that gives way to 15-some minutes of droning, meandering blissful tones and noises.

I was never a huge fan of Yo La Tengo, until now. I went to see them in concert in Philly last weekend, and was in the second row. It was the best concert I have ever been to. If you get the chance, see them. As for this new album, I find it almost as stunning as "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One." It moves me, shifts me, breaks me, and puts me back together again. I will never be the same. My bf and I just hold each other when this disc is on. It's that kind of feeling. Pure, unadulterated bliss.

A fantastically adult record, for sure. I sometimes feel too much like a grownup when I express my distaste for the angst and schmaltz of so many current bands' music. But YLT makes me happy to be pushing 30, happy that my life is where I want it to be, and happy with where I'm going. There comes a point in our lives when we figure out that life is not about being happy ALL the time, but about enjoying those moments when we are. YLT mirror that philosophy with this record.

I've had Yo La Tengo's latest cd And then nothing turned itself inside-out since April, and after close to four months, it still sounds as great as it did the first time I heard it. It's perfect, and that's something I don't say very often...I can count all the 'perfect' albums I've heard since 1995 on one hand: Pulp's Different Class, Moby's Everything Is Wrong, Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind, and Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Even more amazing is that it is a whopping 77 minutes long but never feels like a second is wasted.

So what makes And then nothing turned itself inside-out (the title lifted from a line in a Sun Ra song) so great? Everything about it, that's what. First, and most obviously, is the music. Yo La Tengo's previous album I Can Still Hear The Heart Beating As One was hailed as a great album by critics, and although it was the group's most accomplished record at the time, stylistically it was all over the place, as endearingly eccentric as The Beatles' White Album. And then nothing... is more focused. You still get the wide range of Yo La Tengo song styles, like minimalist dirges ('Everyday'), kooky instrumentals ('Tired Hippo'), Velvet Underground tributes ('Tears Are In Your Eyes'), feedback-filled rockers reminiscent of Sonic Youth ('Cherry Chapstick'), beautifully melodic tunes ('Madeline'), an epic-length song ('Night Falls On Hoboken'), and a token cover ('You Can Have It All'), but despite the continued variety of song styles, everything is toned down a bit, with each song retaining a similar feel throughout the album.

Lyrically, the songs are more personal than ever. And then nothing... is essentially a meditation on love and married life, a dialogue between real-life couple Ira Cohen and Georgia Hubley, with fellow group member James McNew playing a supporting role this time around. On the songs 'Our Way To Fall', 'Last Days Of Disco', 'The Crying Of Lot G', and 'From Black To Blue', Cohen pours his heart out, nearly whispering the lyrics, tenderly singing as if he's slightly embarrassed laying everything out for all to see. The lyrics on those four songs are as intensely personal as any I've ever seen, ranging from the first time the couple met each other to the quarrels they have, with plenty of gentle humor thrown in.

As good as those songs are, there are three that stand out that are so perfectly glorious, lifting And then nothing... to the level of a truly classic album. 'Let's Save Tony Orlando's House' lifts its title from The Simpsons tv show (one of Troy McClure's myriad oddball tv projects), and uses it to create a funny little portrait of the singer without being condescending. With a shuffling beat, minimal keyboards and guitar, and absolutely breathtaking harmonies, Hubley sings about Tony Orlando, Dawn and a jealous Frankie Valli, Orlando's burning house, among other things, and gives perhaps the most perfect description of an endearingly square, Branson-type crowd ever put forth in song: "Inside a thousand people with yellow ribbons sing/and clap on one and three."

'Cherry Chapstick' is the other standout, the album's only 'loud' song, where the band lets loose and jams relentlessly, playing a song so catchy and instantly memorable it brings to mind Sonic Youth's classics 'Teen-age Riot' and 'Silver Rocket', the feedback lifting the song to an almost otherworldly level.

'Night Falls On Hoboken' closes the album, but takes its time doing it. It starts off as a slow, pretty song with the conventional verses and chorus, but it gradually eases away from that, turning into something that would be best described as 'Sister Ray' on downers. Ever so slowly, over the course of nearly eighteen minutes, the song majestically floats away, like a grain elevator on the prairie horizon seen through a rear-view mirror. A more exquisite fade-out you will never hear.

If And then nothing... wasn't perfect enough, the cover art seals things. A cover photo that's destined to live on as an all-time rock classic, it pictures a suburban or small-town neighbourhood at dusk, with a dark blue sky, power lines, and evergreens looming over two houses with porch lights on, cars parked here and there, with bikes, lawns chairs, and a cooler strewn about the front yard of one house. Off to the right side, a lone spotlit man holding a six-pack of beer gazes up to the unseen source of the light. Like the music of the album, it's a pictured moment of clarity, transcendence, and redemption. Or a spaceship. Or a streetlight. Or maybe just nothing turning itself inside-out.

I strongly doubt that I will hear a better album this year.

There is something inherently endearing about this band. Most of their albums show a mastery of soundsculpture, great taste in cover songs and (in my opinion) maybe two or three really great original songs. 1998's 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One' was a breakthrough of sorts (their 'Daydream nation' if you will) because (for once) it contained a surplus of great songs; the fancy sonic textures served merely as enhancements.

Those hoping for another 'Heart' will most likely be disappointed by 'Inside Out', but longtime fans will find much to enjoy & appreciate. Yes this is their quietest album yet (exactly one song registers on the rock-o-meter: "Cherry Chapstick" - which, and I mean this as a compliment, could have been called "Sugarcube Pt. 2") but also their warmest. Would have been nice if the songwriting was as consistant as it was on 'Heart,' but apparently they've gone back to having only 2-or-3 standout tracks per album (my favorite here also has the best title: "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House").

For those just becoming acquainted with YLT, a better starting point would be '...Heart...' or their fine & fun almost-all-covers 1990 album 'Fakebook'.

If you think you know what a good love-song sounds like, you should really buy this album and listen to "Our way to fall". This song is really beautiful and moving : certainly not of that mushy, gushy, commercial stuff that is often played on the radio.

And then there are 12 other treasures that can be found on this record. From the sad "Tears are in your eyes" to the almost funny and yet romantic "You can have it all" : all songs are shaped to perfection and made to dream away on. Married couple george&ira sing together or alone, about love and all the little things that come with romance.

This album comes with pain, happiness or anger but it will certainly not leave you unmoved...it`s not an easy album, but you won`t regret it later on if you buy it now.

I would have to say that this is the best release by Yo La Tengo. I won't waste anybodys time explaining my thoughts, but all I will say is that Yo La Tengo got it right when they threw this album together. The lyrics and downtempo beats are guarenteed to send chills down your spine and for that hour and twenty mintues, send you into a warm place.