Yo La Tengo I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One CD

Full title - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. Over 65 minutes of breath-taking material recorded under smooth circumstances in Nashville, TN. 1997 Matador Records.

Yo La Tengo: Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, James McNew.
Additional personnel: Al Perkins (lap steel & pedal steel guitars); Jonathan Marx (trumpet).
Recorded at House Of David, Nashville, Tennessee.
Personnel: Al Perkins (lap steel guitar); Jonathan Marx (trumpet).
Audio Mixer: Roger Moutenot.
Recording information: House Of David, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Steve Thornton.
Functioning as a virtual catalog of mid-'90s indie rock trends, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is an astonishing tour de force from Yo La Tengo, establishing their deep talents as songwriters and musicians. Although the album may run a little long for some tastes, there are very few throwaways on the record -- even the shoegazer cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" is a revelatory gem. But what truly impresses is the way the songs, ranging from hypnotically droning instrumentals to tightly written and catchy pop songs, hold together to form what is arguably Yo La Tengo's finest and most coherent album to date. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Yo La Tengo began life as one among hundreds of Velvet Underground-inspired bands, banging out dark, skittish tunes that displayed YLT guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan's affection for Uncle Lou as well as Yo La Tengo's commitment to creating a gently subversive groove. Over the years, the band, which also features Kaplan's wife Georgia Hubley on drums and vocals, has gone through more identity changes than David Bowie, from acoustic folk-rock to wailing, Sonic Youth-like guitarchitecture.
On this album, the band consolidates their sound as they expand it, incorporating bossa nova, electronica and '60s pop into a gorgeous shimmering whole that is something more than the sum of its parts. The laconic-but-expressive vocals of Kaplan and Hubley provide the songs with just the right combination of detachment and naivete, and the trio (which also includes bassist James McNew) sounds like one person with six arms, three brains and one big heart. And don't worry; "We're An American Band" isn't the old Grand Funk Railroad song.

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.65) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (5/1/97, pp.50-52) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Yo La Tengo maintain a tension between aural deconstruction and sharp songwriting. The album has its share of perfect pop songs....HEART proves that Yo La Tengo can master nearly any pop style..."
Spin (9/99, p.158) - Ranked #78 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (1/98, p.86) - "Ranked #8 on Spin's list of the "Top 20 Albums Of The Year."
Spin (6/97, pp.118-119) - 9 (out of 10) - "...this is a band that not only delves into their vast record collection but figures out what makes their faves tick; and their tickers beat as one..."
Entertainment Weekly (5/2/97, p.56) - "...confirms what their last few albums have intimated: They've become our best old-school indie-rock band....Their muted, after-hours guitar drone is in full effect. But splashes of piano or acoustic guitar add depth and airiness to the songs..." - Rating: A-
Q (6/97, p.140) - "...16 examples of Nashville-recorded, dreamy pop sleight-of-hand..."
Option (5-6/97, p.89) - "...influences ranging from Jobim and '60s French pop to the Jesus & Mary Chain and the Beach Boys...bound by occasional dollops of greasy feedback....YLT fully indulges its desire to make noise, bridging the drone gap between '60s VU and '90s Tortoise..."
Melody Maker (4/19/97, p.52) - "This album is a long journey. It has the stretch of distance covered and the domestic intimacy of sitting in a small space and watching things go by the window..."
Village Voice (2/24/98) - Ranked #5 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
NME (Magazine) (12/20-27/97, pp.78-79) - Ranked #19 in NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.
NME (Magazine) (4/19/97, p.44) - "...I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE is wonderfully sprawling and diverse, with a rock curator's attention to detail and the odd in-joke thrown in....An impressive mixture of curiousness and guile, all told...."