I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass Yo La Tengo
I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass OLE-692 2006-09-12
Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew sound like no other band. This is not because they're contrarians, but because they're artists. I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass has everything that ever made Yo La Tengo great, but elevated to new heights, from the remarkable orchestral chamber piece "Black Flowers" to the garage-punk rave-up "Watch Out For Me Ronnie." If there's one constant about Yo La Tengo, it's that this famously restless band continues to broaden its horizons.

I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is an album that delights in being an album. This is no mere loud followed by soft merry-go-round, but a subtle parade. Bookended by very different but equally intense ten-minute-plus guitar epics, the set has dramatic arcs that don't all build in expected ways. After a dense thicket of forest they may find a clearing, stop for a picnic, but then fall asleep, dreaming away as day turns to night. A violin (played by David Mansfield, of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue) threads its way through the heartbreakingly fragile "I Feel Like Going Home," mirroring the longing in Georgia's vocal, after which "Mr. Tough" struts in on a funky piano riff, with Ira and James singing in falsetto about the transformative power of music.

As much as the full album experience is about the big picture, Yo La Tengo are aware of the small moments. In fact, it is the slivers that make the band so hard to describe: The ambient static in the haunting instrumental "Daphnia"; Georgia's dramatic reading of the vaguely "Autumn Sweater"-esque "The Room Got Heavy"; the way the drums, bass, and tambourine turn themselves inside-out in the intro of "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind".

Tracklisting

preview track # song name mp3 $0.80 flac $0.99
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1. Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
2. Beanbag Chair BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
3. I Feel Like Going Home BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
4. Mr. Tough BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
5. Black Flowers BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
6. The Race Is On Again BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
7. The Room Got Heavy BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
8. Sometimes I Don't Get You BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
9. Daphnia BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
10. I Should Have Known Better BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
11. Watch Out For Me Ronnie BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
12. The Weakest Part BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
13. Song For Mahila BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
14. Point And Shoot BUY MP3 BUY FLAC
15. The Story Of Yo La Tango BUY MP3 BUY FLAC


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