Scegliere un disco degli Yo La Tengo non è facile. Uno dei pochissimi gruppi, insieme a Fugazi e anche più dei Sonic Youth ad aver mantenuto per tutta la carriera uno standard qualitativo enorme, questo obbedendo a un semplice precetto: libertà espressiva. Nulla di più e nulla di meno. Che Ira Kaplan riesca a dare grande uniformità alla materia trattata nelle sue composizioni è indubbio: ogni brano degli Yo La Tengo respira di psichedelica malinconia; ma è una band che si può supporre senza esagerare abbia abbracciato praticamente ogni genere musicale. E non solo.
Gli Yo La Tengo sono un istituzione, nati nel 1984 hanno mantenuto lo status leggendario di una delle prime vere Indie band americane, influenti più di molti gruppi meglio conosciuti. Ma non basta. La vera grandezza di questa band sta in quella atmosfera unica che riesce a trasmetterti. Ogni loro pezzo ha il sentore e il clima di un viaggio... da questo punto di vista, senza esagerare, gli Yo La Tengo molto più di tanti blasonati cantautori, prima nella musica che nelle liriche incarnano al meglio l'eredità della tradizione folk americana, quella di Woody Guthrie, di cui rispecchiano a pieno certo non tanto la forma quanto però gli intenti artistici.
"I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One", a questo punto non ha bisogno di particolari approfondimenti, perchè è l'album in assoluto che più trasmette gli elementi sovracitati... un vero e proprio sunto, creato però da canzoni inedite, della carriera del trio di New York; forse per questo meno compatto e sperimentale rispetto ad altri album, ma certamente più esemplificativo. Basta l’incipit di “ Moby Octopus” per avere un assaggio della grandezza degli Yo La Tengo... tremoli psichedelici, andamento ipnotico, e a metà brano un pianoforte minimalista che subentra a tratteggiare scale dissonanti sul pezzo:
Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
03 Sugarcube (03:21)
Whatever you want from me, whatever you want I'll do
Try to squeeze a drop of blood from a sugarcube
Try to be more assured, try to be more right there
Try to be less uptight, try to be more aware
Whatever you want from me, is what I want to do for you
Sweeter than a drop of blood from a sugarcube
And though I like to act the part of being tough
I crumble like a sugarcube for you
Whatever you want from me, whatever you want I'll do
I will try
04 Damage (04:39)
Not much Friday night, pinball, Lower East Side
Walked halfway past and into the bar
I used to think about you all the time
I would think about you all the time
Now it just feels weird, that there you are
The damage is done
Feeling like a kid again, my eyes are glued to the floor
I hope I mumbled goodbye as you walked out the door
The damage is done
05 Deeper Into Movies (05:23)
I may have been gazing out too late at night
I see a deeper window into my eyes
Every day they screech outside my window,
The crashing cars never seem to collide
Sometimes when I'm staring out my window
To catch the stars, I watch as they go by
I've been getting messages from outer space
They expire light in the window in the sky
There goes my mind
If we dare walk onto my window
I could hear them if I open my eyes
Sometimes flashing lights seem soulful in the window
You may have seen them circle me at night
I keep sending signals into outer space
They expire by your window in the sky
There goes my mind
Every day when restlessness takes over me
I can't see it as I'm closing my eyes
I keep sending signals into outer space
They expire light in the window in the sky
Sometimes when I'm staring out my window
To catch the stars, I watch as they go by
I've been getting messages from outer space
They expire light in the window in the sky
By your window in the sky
06 Shadows (02:26)
Scold me, that's all you've got to say
Coldly hurt me and turn away
You say I'm not sorry that
I'm resolved to what is next
I head for the shadows
Hold me, taking it back in tears
You've told me, slowly confessed your fears
But I've got myself to protect
It's too soon for me to forget
I wait in the shadows
In the shadows, where I end up loved
They help me see that I've finally won
We wait in your heart
So until I truly believe
That your words convey what you mean
I wait in the shadows
I wait in the shadows
I don't mind the shadows
07 Stockholm Syndrome (02:51)
What's the matter, why don't you answer
What's the matter with me
Cause it's so hard to be
Free and easy, we'll disappear completely
Hardly as I've known it's glad
You're heart is broken, and the doors are open
As you're hoping to be
There's brighter places to see
Hands need warming, early in the morning
Hardly as I've known a surprise
No, don't warn me I know it's wrong
But I swear it won't take long
And I know, you know it makes me sigh
I do believe in love
Another season, but the same old feelings
Another reason to be
I'm tired of aching, summer's what you make it
But I'll believe what I want to believe
08 Autumn Sweater (05:18)
When I heard the knock on the door
I couldn't catch my breath
Is it too late to call this off
We could slip away, wouldn't that be better
Me with nothing to say, and you in your autumn sweater
I tried my best to hide
In a crowded room, it's nearly possible
I wait for you, oh, most patiently
So I looked for your eyes
And the waves looked like they'd pour right out of them
I'll try hard, I'll try always
But it's a waste of time
It's a waste of time if I can't smile easily
Like in the beginning
In the beginning...
13 Center of Gravity (02:42)
In crowded bars, at subway cars
Whenever you are next to me,
center of gravity,
can't feel both feet on the ground
Walking home after dark, past the softball park
It's clear to me, according to a rule I learned one day in school
Basic geometry: two halves of a circle, you and me
It's a familial song we've known so long
Your clever cuts into me
as long as you're next to me
I can't feel both feet on the ground
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