Alienation and Despair - Faves

A Bald Head?!?!

Dude, I'm so glad I made it. The baby sitter 
was an hour late, man!


...overheard at the Sex Pistols
reunion show by rock crit 
Johnny Angel

  from: Justin  Robertson <libjr01@emory.edu>


 Still looking for people who want to exchange tapes for a copy of 
 "Realbook"
 
 This homemade compliation contains all the original material from 
 Fakebook by the original artists...(just like K-Tel)

 Anyway please e-mail me at following address if interested

 justin

 libjr01@emory.edu



 from: "Purnell, Vernon" <VePurne@kpsgroup.com>

 Monkees query

 In the latest digest,  Kim Rudzki asked for info on that Monkees tune
 YLT's been performing lately.  Well, I'm embarrassed to say that Georgia
 told me the title of that in Pittsburgh, but it completely slipped my
 mind.  However, since they supposedly recorded "Gonna Buy Me A Dog"
 during the ELECTR-O-PURA sessions, that's probably the one they've been
 doing.

 Vernon  



 from: ROBERT PARKINSON <RPARKIN@macollamh.ucd.ie>

 dumpography


 Right on all counts, sire, but one.

 Dump only appears on "Fast Forward no.1" compilation (BRINKMAN CD).
 The songs are: Secret Blood (from "Superpowerless")
               Bus Kicker('s?) Theme (oh memory! how you fail me!)
               Jaundice (by Lou Barlow)

 That's no reason not to get "F.F. no.2". Check out The Body Has A Head, The 
 Cakekitchen, The Mountain Goats, and many more. Hours of fun, GUARANTEED!

 There's also the other bunch of covers which was advertised w/ the "You & I 
 +3" 7", which I was lucky enough to get on tape. Ah, "Don't Worry Baby"...
 (I doubt that offer still holds, though.)

 BEST,

 ROBERT PARKINSON, DUBLIN, IRELAND.


 from: WellScotch@aol.com


 Well, here goes...
 
 
 It's been an extremely good couple of weeks, what with seeing YLT 4 (!)
 times over as many nights (on which more below, of course), getting to
 interview my favorite actress in the world (Lili Taylor) for a whole hour
 and today, the release (finally) of the long-awaited (by me) Pere Ubu 
 box set, which means I no longer have to listen to my used-vinyl and 
 second-generation-dub-of-used-vinyl copies of those Ubu albums I adore
 so deeply. I have a dream that some day YLT will cover Ubu's 'Heart 
 of Darkness' (which I thought False Alarm was the first time I heard it). 
 I also have a weird idea that YLT would do a really kickin' version of the
 Hollies' 'Carrie Ann', but I couldn't really say why.

 Incidentally, I recently acquired a tape of YLT playing JC Dobbs here in 
 Philly in 1987. Second song in the set is what I now know (thanks to the 
 Matador web page) is "White Rabbit", the early version of "Demons".
 Lyrics are completely indecipherable, if anyone's asking. 

 Anyway, to the point. Through a series of coincidences and insane
 devotion, I recently ended up seeing Yo La Tengo four nights in a row
 in three different cities: 8/18 at the Black Cat in DC; 8/17 at the
 Trocadero in Philly; and 8/18 and 8/19 at Maxwell's in Hoboken. I won't
 comment on each show individually, but do more of an overview. First, the
 set lists (* denotes a song title taken directly from the set list that
 I can't identify ; make of it what you will):

 8/16 Black Cat
 
 Little Honda / Evanescent Psychic Pez Drop / The Evil That Men Do / Dreamy*
 / Double Dare / The Kid with the Replaceable Head /Demons / Joe's* / Sweater
 / False Alarm / Drug Test / Movies /Blue Line Swinger // Encores: 
 (1) Upside-Down (quiet) / (There's Gonna Be a) Borstal Breakout //
 (2) Borstal Breakout (reprise) / All God's Children

 8/17 Trocadero

 From a Motel 6 / Cast a Shadow / ? / Flying Lesson / The Queen of Eyes 
 / Tom Courtenay / Folk Rock* / The Summer / Sweater / False Alarm /
 I Heard You Looking / Movies / Blue Line Swinger // Encores (1) The Whole
 of the Law / Somebody's Baby // (2) Roller Rink Instr. / Upside-Down /
 Prisoners of Rock 'n' Roll

 8/18 Maxwell's

 Surfin' with the Shah / 5 Cornered Drone (Crispy Duck) / Shaker/ Dreamy* 
 / The Kid with the Replaceable Head / Double Dare / Alyda / Demons /
 Sweater / False Alarm / Drug Test / Movies / Blue Line Swinger // Encores:
 (1) Roller Rink Instr. / Cast a Shadow / (There's Gonna Be a) Borstal
 Breakout // (2) Bad Politics / Somebody's Baby (w/ Allan Callaci)

 8/19 Maxwell's

 Big Day Coming (slow) / Attack on Love / Little Honda / Pop* / Folk Rock*
 / Tom Courtenay / Satellite / My Little Corner of the World / Sweater / 
 False Alarm / Rocket* / Sudden Organ / Movies / Blue Line Swinger //
 Encores: (1) Nowhere Near / Decora / Yellow Sarong / For the Turnstiles
 (w/ Dennis Callaci) // (2) "Stuck in the Midwest" / Let's Get Rid of NY

 OK now deep breath. Here's what they were like:

 YLT did a brief jaunt up the East Coast before going into the studio next
 month to record a new album. Since they weren't particularly promoting
 anything, these shows had a lot more new material and covers than I'm used
 to hearing, but over the course of 4 nights I was enjoying the new songs
 even more than some of the old favorites. These were LONG shows, too,
 with the last Maxwell's show going over 90 minutes. (I know because I taped
 it and it wouldn't all fit).

 The highlight each night was the closing nonstop quintet of Sweater (a
 new song), False Alarm, something else, Movies (another new one), and a
 monumental, gut-wrenching, spastic, explosive, staring-into-the-abyss
 version of Blue Line Swinger. Of the several new songs they played
 ("Folk Rock" and "Dreamy" sound like YLT songs, not covers) =

 "Sweater" is my favorite (and, Ira told me, the band's too).  Anyone who 
 saw any of these shows will remember it from the setup: Georgia behind
 the kit, Ira on Organ, and James, seated, playing maracas and snare. It
 begins with Georgia playing a skittering, syncopated beat, which James
 undergirds with shakers and punctuates with snare hits. (The snare is
 extremely tight, so it sounds like hitting a garbage can). Ira plays
 changes on the organ, and sings. Near the song's end, organ, snare,
 and shakers abruptly drop out, leaving just Georgia and her wonderful
 drumming. I remarked to Ira that it was as close to hip-hop as YLT was
 likely to get (unless there's a Whitey Album in them somewhere), and
 he said there were a lot of kinds of music the band liked that didn't
 end up in their songs. He said something about reggae, too, but Dennis
 Callaci of Refrigerator drowned him out with his guitar. (The 'Fridge
 opened all four shows, but I won't say anything about them because I
 know people who like their music. Although maybe Allan should go back
 to his day job as the singer in Styx.)

 "Movies" is also a great new tune, with a great melody and a rousing
 chorus of "Not my fault, Not my fault"--and a great bass line which
 sounds a little like the part from Husker Du's "Powerline". Hope it's
 on the album "Roller Rink Instrumental" is my name for a new YLT song
 they played twice,  which sounds like the "Intermission" music in
 Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

 The band pulled out all sorts of unusual covers for the shows, my
 favorite being "The Kid with the Replaceable Head" by Richard Hell and
 the Voidoids. True to form, the band covered the obscure Nick-Lowe
 produced single version and not the readily available version from
 Destiny Street. "Little Honda" (a Beach Boys song, I think) made the
 cut, and the version of "For the Turnstiles" with Dennis Callaci on
 guitar was quite a stormer. And you gotta love the Randoms' "Let's
 Get Rid of NY", a classic from those "beautiful days of hatred" (Ira)
 available on the essential "Dangerhouse, Vol. 1" compilation.

 The DC show was quite the best, with a shattering BLS for a closer,
 and an amusing cover of Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" closing out the
 first encore. James on vocals, Ira on drums, and Georgia on guitar
 (the lineup for "Bad Politics", too). James was thrashing away at
 his bass so hard he busted a string (which doesn't happen too often),
 so all the band could offer when they were called back to the stage
 was another 10 seconds of "Borstal Breakout" and a cover of the Kinks'
 "All God's Children" (which Dump covered during the You & I sessions;
 check with James to see if he's still sending out the excellent tape
 of outtakes). Never been to the Black Cat before; my, what a lovely
 place. [I may be missing an encore song here; since I forgot to write
 them down for about two weeks]

 Trocadero show was about as good as they get in that much-hated barn of
 a place. "Flying Lesson" (which they don't do very often) was kicked off
 by a freshly-manufactured guitar loop of Ira tuning his guitar which
 played through much of the song. (Frippertronics, where are you now?).

 The first Maxwell's show was the worst of the lot, with an audience so
 unenthusiastic that Ira suggested that they must be immersed in the liner
 notes to all the Shrimper cassettes they'd purchased. The set opened
 with what Ira called "the first two songs we ever played here", and
 closed with an extremely lousy Somebody's Baby with Allan Callaci
 trying gamely to provide vocals to a song he clearly didn't know. At
 least not knowing the lyrics kept him from the bombastic whelping he
 uses with Refrigerator. Not a bad show (are they ever?) but they could
 do better.

 And did. The second Maxwell's show was a real ass-kicker. "Attack on Love"
 featured guest vocals and sax from Fast Freddy, a gent with a goatee and
 pillbox hat who read the lyrics from a poetry book while the band did 
 their avant-skronk thing in the background.  "My Little Corner of the
 World" is a sweet number the band learned from a thrift shop record, with
 unusually beautiful vocals from Georgia, and I would very much like it if
 it ended up on a single somewhere sometime. Again, the last 25 minutes of
 the show went without a break, including a great segue from "Sweater"
 into "Rocket", a pulsing cover where Fast Freddy rejoined the band, with
 all four of them chanting about a rocket to the "planet Venus" going "up,
 two, up in the air". Any idea what this is?

 Before the show, I'd asked Ira if the band would consider playing
 Nowhere Near, since it's my favorite YLT song and I'd never seen them
 play it. I got a fairly unenthusiastic reaction along the lines of
 "we've already got a set list" and "it's long and slow and doesn't
 make a good encore", and of course they played it. (More or less the
 same thing happened the last time I requested a song before the show;
 anyone else seen this pattern ?). Needless to say, I was enthralled.
 The band closed it out with a pair of punk covers including the
 aforementioned "Let's Get Rid of NY" and a song that I, too, think
 is about getting "stuck in the midwest". I don't mean to sound
 fannish (too late?) but it's really starting to scare me how good
 Yo La Tengo is getting. I thought Painful was pretty amazing when 
 it came out, but based on Electr-o-Pura and these shows, they
 haven't even hit their peak yet. (And I still feel like they've
 only just learned to get their awesome live power onto plastic.) 
 Well, that's all for now. Vi va la Digest.



 from: Glenn Susser <glenns@panix.com>

 The most terrible time...

 Curiously, "The Yo La Tengo Gazette" in Issue #7 has devoted yet another
 issue of various bands' comments on their worst memories of playing with
 YLT.  Now, it's all well and righteous of YLT to give their
 fellow musicians an opportunity to ventilate (and there's obviously a lot
 of venting considering there's 2 YLTG's devoted to the topic), but what
 about us fans?  Yeah, I know, 98% of YLT's concerts are perfection in all
 respects, but what about that 2%?  And what better forum to do this on but
 right here on the YLT list? 

 So I'm at Tramps in NYC sometime last year at the YLT show with Barbara
 Manning (who was absolutely fantastic).  After BM's set and during
 intermission, I see my buddy all the way up front.  The place was totally
 packed with wall-to-wall people.  So like an idiot, I figure I'd slither
 thru the crowd and join my buddy.  After all, I say to myself, at my age,
 people are gonna think I'm Ira's great uncle or something.  As soon as I
 started my progression I realized I made a BIG mistake.  The crowd was
 filled with beer-guzzling frat guys.  And they were all trying to achieve
 that "perfect head"  by guzzling and smoking as much as they could
 physically ingest before YLT came on.  But once I started there was no
 stopping.  The kicks and shoves I was getting after saying "pardon me
 scuse me" kept me moving fast.  I mean, can't they see I'm not one of
 those totally inconsiderate bullies trying to shove my way up front?  So
 finally, I get pretty close to the front, and then the horror sets in. 
 That's not my pal up there, but a clone or something!  So there I am, in
 the midst of a very drunk and angry crowd left with no excuse for
 bulldozing my way up front.  The 5 minutes I had to wait before YLT came
 on were the longest of my life.  As impossible as it may seem, things
 only got worse.  Tramps erected a barrier in front of the stage to
 discourage moshing, I guess.  The only moshing it discouraged was onstage
 because people started doing it right next to me, not to mention dancing
 (if that's what you call jumping up & down) all over everyone.  And I
 couldn't even escape cuz the crowd was even more packed than when I began
 my pilgrimage up front!  So, after that show, I swore off seeing them live
 EVER again. 

 So much for promises.  I caught the Sunday (8/18) show at Maxwells in
 Hoboken.  This show was indeed, perfection.  First thing I noticed of
 course, was the female:male ratio.  As opposed to the normal YLT ratio of
 8:1, this one was only 2:1.  Accordingly, the crowd behaved, like,
 civilized. I'm sure there'll be lots of reviews from this tour so just a
 couple of comments.  They did a bunch of stuff I never heard before,
 including covers.  A BIG surprise was a cover of a Richard Hell & the
 Voidoids tune whose name I can't place .  Another was the cover of "Cast A
 Shadow", one of my all time favorites. 

 Does anyone have a song list of the new double-cd reissue?  Btw, a
 reliable source sez it'll be released 9/10, "fer sure". 

 glenn susser
 glenns@panix.com
 CIS:73424.2630


 
 Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo


 Sprawling, 28-song compilation of B-sides, outtakes, compilation tracks,
 soundtrack stuff  hardly anyone heard, and live stuff spread over two 
 discs (one of 'em all-instrumental) with  extensive liner notes. For 
 hardcore enthusiasts and neophytes just aching for a confusing introduction.
 

 EVANESCENT PSYCHIC PEZ DROP (4/95)
 We recorded this one at our practice space for a Duophonic Super split
 single with Stereolab to commemorate our gear-fab UK tour of 1995.

 DEMONS (4/95)
 This song goes back to 1986 when it was known to us as "White Rabbit" which
 may or may not have had something to do with us naming our first album Ride
 the Tiger. We reworked it for the I Shot Andy Warhol soundtrack. Recorded at
 the Magic Shop, produced by Roger Moutenot. Tara Key on atmospheric guitar.

 FOG OVER FRISCO (10/89)
 Georgia and I started playing this in 1989 on our acoustic duo tour (oh,
 how the Timbuk 3 crowd in KC loved us). Gene Holder played bass and produced
 the rock version at Water Music, which was then shelved until we completed it
 in 1991 for That Is Yo La Tengo.

 TOO LATE (12/94)
 This Wire song was recorded by Roger Moutenot live at Alex the Great during
 Electr-o-pura.  Mixed May 1995 by Peter Walsh at Tin Pan Alley. Listen for
 James' scream.

 HANKY PANKY NO HOW (9/89)
 Tara helped us with this one, I no longer remember how. Recorded in the 
 basement of our old  house, featuring our microphone-shy cat on backing 
 vocals. Originally on the 1991 Spanish comp The Ruta 66 Album.

 SOMETHING TO DO (10/89)
 Before Arye Gross won our hearts in Ellen he appeared in a little cinematic
 treasure called  A Matter of Degrees. And playing very quietly during a scene
 in a bar was this tune,  produced by Gene at Water Music. That's Gene on bass
 and Georgia taking the solo.

 ULTRA-POWERFUL SHORT WAVE RADIO PICKS UP MUSIC FROM VENUS (6/94)
 One of 16 or so songs we made up and recorded in an afternoon at Snack Time
 with Jad Fair singing. Recorded by Fred Brockman.

 UP TO YOU (11-12/94)
 Another Electr-o-pura outtake. Produced by Roger and mixed at Sound on Sound.
 
 SOMEBODY'S BABY (5/88)
 Produced very quickly by Kramer at Noise NY and included on the Homestead
 comp Human Music (cover art by Georgia). Remixed in May, 1996 by Peter 
 Walsh at Cherry Bomb. The Man in Black, Stephan Wichnewski, on bass.
 
 Recorded at Water Music for That Is Yo La Tengo and a Bar/None 45. Produced
 by Gene, who  also plays bass. Georgia on the two-note guitar.

 ARTIFICIAL HEART (4/91)
 James' first recording with us. Recorded at Fun City by Wharton Tiers
 and featuring a guest appearance by Zeena Parkins on harp (Kramer had 
 sold us some used tape, and there she was). From Delicacy and Nourishment,
 Lyrics by Ernest Noyes Brookings Volume 3.

 CAST A SHADOW (1/91)
 B-side of "Walking Away from You." Produced by Gene, who also played 
 the classy lead guitar. Wilbo Wright on upright bass.



 I'M SET FREE (4/95)
 Outtake from the I Shot Andy Warhol session and no Entertainment Weekly 
 reader has to ask why. Tara plays the guitar solo and Roger Moutenot 
 produces.
 
 BARNABY, HARDLY WORKING (2/90)
 Georgia, Dave Schramm and I went on Nick Hill's Music Faucet show and this
 is the track he chose for the WFMU compilation They Came, They Saw, They 
 Blocked the Driveway. Later that night we would back up a phoned-in Daniel 
 Johnston. To help us prepare, current 'FMU air personality Gaylord Fields 
 and Maxwell's/Telstar impresario Todd Abramson called up and sang "Farmer
 John."

 SOME KINDA FATIGUE (2/93)
 Fred Brockman recorded this May I Sing With Me revision at Snack Time for
 a Radiation (Spain) double 7" compilation This Is Art (named for graffiti 
 outside our rehearsal room, and narrowly beating out "Axl Rose--Gay" and 
 "Ira Is an Uptight Fag").

 SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE (2/90)
 Dave Schramm moves from lead guitar to organ. Georgia's playing drums 
 though you may not be able to hear her. Released on an SOL single without 
 the chitchat and on the Bar/None "Here Comes My Baby" promo CD just like this.

 NUTRICIA (7/93)
 Recorded on James' birthday by Fred Brockman at Snack Time, and released
 on the "From a Motel 6" CD.

 HER GRANDMOTHER'S GIFT, TOO MUCH (PARTS 1 & 2), ONE SELF: FISH GIRL 
 and ENOUGH (5/94)
 All of these were produced by Gene at Water Music for soundtracks to animated
 films by Georgia's sister Emily.

 FROM A MOTEL 6 (PARTS 1 & 2) (6-8/92)
 Two of the Painful demos recorded at Snack Time by Fred. Part 1 features the 
 guitar riff, later discarded, around which the song was written. The same riff 
 was the basis for our earlier song "The Summer" before being similarly excised.

 GOOSENECK PROBLEM (2/93)
 Georgia vents some frustration in the practice room.

 SURFIN' WITH THE SHAH (2/93)
 This Urinals cover is the first song we ever played live. This version recorded
 on the Dump Mobile Unit in the south of France where Matador sent us to write 
 songs for a proposed musical based on the popular television program Small
 Wonder. 

 ECSTASY BLUES (5/89)
 Stephan on the fuzz bass. Another selection from the "Here Comes My Baby" CD.

 BLITZKRIEG BOP (2/93)
 We gave this to a Japanese fanzine, but I have no memory which one. The 
 arrangement dates back to our brief incarnation as a wedding band--we were 
 much better at performing music for dining pleasure than for dancing pleasure.

 DRUM SOLO (12/92)
 Georgia vents somes frustration during the recording of Painful.

 SUNSQUASHED (1/92)
 For all those who have clamored for an alternate take of this pop confection, 
 the original  of which can be found on the Alias "Upside-Down" CD. Recorded
 by Adam Lasus at Water Music. 


 gutless email interview w/ dump


 hello 

 my crappy debut issue of my zine GUTLESS is out w/ a short but sweet
 email interview with james of dump (oh, and ylt!).  also: email 
 interviews w/ tsunami and mark robinson, plus reviews, stories, etc.
 interested parties should send a buck plus 3 stamps.  is that too
 much to ask?

 -- 

 Stephen E. Cramer                    e-mail:  secramer@oakland.edu
 3122 Harvard Rd.                      Phone:  810-288-5887
 Royal Oak,  MI 48073

It's so very lonely; you're light years from home.
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This page modified on September 21, 1996