I Can Hear Heart Beating as One is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released on April 22, 1997, by Matador Records. It was produced by Roger Moutenot and recorded at the House of David in Nashville, Tennessee. The album expands guitar pop from its predecessor Electr-O-Pura to include a variety of other musical genres, including bossa nova, krautrock, and electronic music. Most of the songs in this album relate to melancholy emotions and range from short and fragile ballads with long and open dissonance.
Upon release, Beating as One reached number 19 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, becoming the first Yo La Tengo album to enter the charts.. Three songs from the album, "Autumn Sweater", "Sugarcube", and the cover of "Little Honda", were released as singles. The album received much praise from music critics, who praised the band's ability to successfully extend the boundaries of almost any pop style. The album is widely regarded as the band's best work and is often included in several best-selling album lists. In 2010, Rolling Stone placed it at number 86 on the 100 Best Album Album list of the 90s.
Video I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Background and recording
I Can Hear The Heart Beating as One is a follow up of the highly appreciated 1995 album Electr-O-Pura , which ranks # 9 on The Village Voice ' s 1995 Pazz & amp; Jop critics' poll. Electr-O-Pura marks a new creative direction for the band. According to singer and guitarist Ira Kaplan, "I think after Electr-O-Pura we already have the direction of trying not to worry too hard about what the next album will sound like [...) We just write some songs , and then go one small step at a time and just do what seems right. "At that point, Kaplan also explained that the lyrics used to come last:" What will really happen is someone will start playing and we all will fall and play for a long time.We'll finish playing an hour later and rather say, 'Oh, do you remember what you did?' Then we'll write something - or maybe not. "
Beating as One was recorded at the House of David in Nashville, Tennessee and produced by Roger Moutenot, who also produced two previous band albums. Kaplan described the album recording sessions as follows: "We broke into a room and worked for a very long time, then we came out and blinked because it was sunny out". Initially, the band did not intend to write a long album, but ultimately felt that having a long album was the only way to accommodate the instrumental song "Spec Bebop", which the band felt it was necessary to be included in the album "by hook or by bastard". Beating as One is Yo La Tengo's only album recorded on the ADAT magnetic tape format, though it is mixed into later analogs. Audio mixing takes place at Big House and Magic Shop in New York City.
Maps I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Music and lyrics
Beating as One extends Pop-guitar-based electr-o-pura to cover a variety of other musical genres, ranging from bossa nova soundscapes from "Center of Gravity "to the electronic flow" Autumn Sweater ", krautrock jam" Spec Bebop "," jazzy goof "from" Moby Octopad ", the sound of the journey of" Damage ", and the psychedelic people of instrumentation" We are an American Band ", among others. The album also contains two closing songs: "Little Honda", a Beach Boys song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, and "My Little Corner of the World", recorded by musician and anti-gay activist Anita Bryant, although the band did not initially knew he had recorded it. The first, which is a song Kaplan studied for a single guitar performance, was originally used to ensure the recording equipment was properly installed. However, it was eventually included in the album because, according to bassist James McNew, "it seems pretty good."
The title for the song "Moby Octopad" is a reference to Yo La Tengo's appearance on the 1995 Lollapalooza tour, where the band performed in the middle of the afternoon on the stage next to the festival. Often performing earlier in the afternoon is a Moby artist. One of the instruments Moby used in his performance was Roland Octapad, an electronic percussion instrument. When performing on stage for their own performances, Yo La Tengo often sees road crew recording with "MOBY OCTAPAD" written on it, still remaining on stage after Moby's set. The band then uses this anecdote as the title for the instrumental they play. Lyrics unrelated to the Moby story were added later.
Most of the lyrics in Beating as One deal with melancholy emotions. The song "Stockholm Syndrome", which is the first Yo La Tengo song sung by McNew, is about a prisoner who ends up expressing empathy towards their kidnappers and vice versa. It was described by leading music critic Robert Christgau as "Neil Young ballad simulation". The song "Autumn Sweater", lined with elaborate rhythms and textures, explores the themes of love and lack of communication, while the "Gravity Center" has been described as "a simple lo-fi devotional love song." Beating as One also marks Kaplan's falsetto singing debut, which is said to blur the line between his voice and Georgia Hubley drummer. The album title is taken from a line in an unknown movie. According to Kaplan, "I think it's a nice and evocative title - it seems very meaningful but it does not really mean anything It comes from the movie, but I do not tell you what kind of movie You should look at it one day and say, Eureka! ' "
Release
Beating as One was released on April 22, 1997, by independent record label Matador Records and reached number 19 on Billboard's Heatseeker Albums chart, becoming Yo's album The first La Tengo to enter the charts. Three songs from the album, "Autumn Sweater", "Sugarcube", and "Little Honda", were released as singles or EPs in 1997. A music video featuring Mr. Show with Bob and David ' s comedian David Cross and Bob Odenkirk created for "Sugarcube". The song "Moby Octopad", which was not released as a single, reached number 4 on the KEXP Top 90.3 Album Chart in 1997. In March 2000, Beating as One has sold 73,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, being the most commercially successful album Yo La Tengo at the time. In 2012, The Daily Beast reported that the record has reached 300,000 copies since its release.
Critical reception
Once released, Beating as One received much praise from music critics. Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone felt that the album "proved that Yo La Tengo can master almost all pop styles [...] This music frenzy is weakened by Yo La Tengo's infectious joy at just making noise. this is what makes Yo La Tengo stand out among their indie-rock counterparts ". Similarly, in his review for Spin , Robert Christgau said that the album gave the band "a boon to professionalize towards the pop melodicism they always love." He also feels that the first nine songs are perfect and are considered "Autumn Sweater" as the "very top" of the album. Chicago Tribune reviewer Greg Kot highlighted the effects of various albums, stating that the band "Fashions pulled out albums from minimal instrumental strokes and soft sounds."
The range of strengths and soft elements of this album is recorded. Writing for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne says that, while the band is always "adept at creating a balance between wind power dissonance and brittle calm", Yo La Tengo "opens their voices wider here. they, after full full effect [...] As adults still have to make a fuss, they remain addicted to noise, but now the trio integrate feedback into settings, like a thunder rumbling at a distance. " Dele Fadele of NME also praised the open-ended nature of the album, but criticized the instrumental "Spec Bebop" because "it was built around some painful feedback, to end up as a test of endurance." In a very positive review, Jason Josephes of Pitchfork praised the album for exploring new directions, commenting that the band took "sonic discoveries to new levels."
Beating as One was ranked number 5 at The Village Voice ' 1997 Pazz & amp; Jop critics' poll, the highest position of the band to date. In the accompanying essay, Christgau called the album one of his "favorite albums of the year, easy," along with Pavement, Sleater-Kinney and Arto Lindsay albums. Similarly, the editor of the NME magazine placed the album at number 19 on their album from the 1997 list, while Spin reporters placed the album at number 8 on their Top list. 20 Albums of the Year.
Legacy
Retrospectively, Beating as One is widely regarded as the band's best work. AllMusic's reviewer Fred Thomas described it as "the definitive master statement." The mood shift and wide, curious palette of style exploration resulted in timeless indie rock music, important hearing and also something of a blueprint for much of what was followed from the like-minded band over the years -the year to come. " The AV Club editor John Krewson said that the album marked the point when the band started "[rocking] in electronica" with songs like "Moby Octopad" and "Autumn Sweater", calling it "a band example that has a lot of fun exploring musical possibilities pop. "In his review of the band's 2003 Summer Summer album, Christgau praised Beating as One as Yo La Tengo's" career album ", commenting that" There is no challenge or insult to declare for sure that they will never be on it. "In 2017, Pitchfork author Marc Hogan described the record as the band's" first true work ".
The album is often included in some of the best album lists of publications. In 1999, it was ranked 78th in the Spin ' list of 90 Largest Albums in the 90s. In 2003, Pitchfork ranked number 25 on the top 100 album list of the 1990s. Similarly, Rolling Stone placed the record at number 86 on the 2010 compilation of 100 Best Albums of the 90s. In 2012, this album appeared at number 22 on the Paste ' list of 90 Best Albums of the 1990s.
Track list
All songs are written by Yo La Tengo unless otherwise stated.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from album liner notes.
- Yo La Tengo - players, songwriters 1 through 8 and 10 through 15
- Roger Moutenot - production
- Greg Calbi - master
- Jad Fair - artwork
- Steve Thornton - photography
References
External links
- I Can Hear Heart Beating as One on Discogs (release list)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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