Yo La Blogotheque

Yo La Tengo perform for La Blogotheque for their series of Take-away Shows.

Yo La Tengo - New video and stream

Check out the dreamy video for When It's Dark.
Yet another track taken from the stunning new album by Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs.



Also well worth a look is a great interview Pitchfork have up with Dario Robleto, the conceptual sculptor responsible for the burnt tape that appears on the album's artwork.

Popular Songs is out now, so be sure to run out and grab a copy.

Those who STILL need further convincing can stream the album in full here.

Now who says we're not good to you?

Yo La Tengo - Avalon Or Someone Very Similar

The third video installement in the 5 week lead up to the release of Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs!



Follow the hyperlink to see previous videos
Here To Fall and Periodically Double Or Triple

Yo La Tengo - Periodically Double Or Triple

Last week when we blogged the video for Yo La Tengo's Here To Fall we told you all about the band's weekly video offering leading up to the release of their 16th (and pretty stunning) album Popular Songs.

It's another week and just as promised, we have another clip for you.

This week's installment is Periodically Double Or Triple, a very fruity and juicy clip directed by John McSwain.

I gotta say, there's nothing quite like close up chin-shots of people devouring melons and bananas...

New Yo La Tengo video Here To Fall

We had a very excited response to our blog of the first sounds from Yo La Tengo's new album Popular Songs. We can now reveal the release date is Sep 4 and share with you both sounds and sights for a second track Here To Fall. This sprawling, ambitious album is Yo La Tengo’s 16th, and marks their 25th anniversary. It is also a new culmination for a career that has been swinging upwards again since 2006’s I Am Not Afraid Of You.

Popular Songs crosses a ton of different styles while marking a musical journey through pop history AND the band’s history. It ranges from the foreboding wah-wah of the opener, “Here To Fall,” to the gorgeous, Georgia-sung “Avalon Or Something Very Similar,” to the concise, Ramones-driven summer anthem “Nothing To Hide,” and then to the three, very long songs that close the album, ending with the 16-minute drone freakout jam, “And The Glitter Is Gone.”

And in lead up to the release of the album, the band are releasing five video clips. Here to Fall is the album's dramatic opening track and kicks off director John McSwain's visual accompaniment to the diverse and arresting sounds of YLT's exceptional new album.

Popular Songs is out Sep 4 through Matador/ Remote Control.

Yo La Tengo - Avalon Or Someone Very Similar

Here comes the third video installment from Yo La Tengo in the lead up to their new album Popular Songs

Avalon Or Someone Very Similar is a bright and summery clip complete with kites, parks and trance-inducing triangles.

Take a look.

Yo La Tengo's much anticiapted album Popular Songs is out September 4th through Matador/Remnote Control.

New Yo La Tengo live footage

As we mentioned last week, Yo La Tengo have a new record coming out this September. It is called 'Popular Songs' and you can hear the first single Periodically Double Or Triple here.

You can watch the band perform another track "Nothing To Hide" from what will be the band's 12th album, on French TV here. It's YLT at their noisy best.



Popular Songs is due out September through Matador/ Remote Control. Can't wait!

New Yo La Tengo mp3 from forthcoming album Popular Songs

(cassette by Dario Robleto)

From the Matablog:

We have an old saying at Matador HQ, “the only thing predictable about Yo La Tengo albums is their high level of excellence and crazy amount of musical ground covered”. Trouble is, even if you believe we really have an old saying that unwieldly, it doesn’t really do justice in this instance. The new Yo La Tengo CD/2XLP/digital album ‘Popular Songs” (OLE 856-1,2) could be the bravest musical statement to date in a career full of ‘em. Recorded in Hoboken and Nashville in early 2009 with longtime associate Roger Mountenot, ‘Popular Songs’ finds the trio of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew at the height of their creative powers, fashioning an epic work that’s cooly confident as it is wildly adventurous.

Even for longtime followers of Yo La Tengo, the stylistic range encompassed on ‘Popular Songs’ is startling ; the band aren’t merely conversant with rock & pop subgenres stretching into the double digits, but their unselfconscious mastery of such is simply uncanny. Without absolving you of the sacred responsibility of listening to this album from start to finish (with no commercial interruptions!) , we can say with full confidence there are portions of ‘Popular Songs’ where a cursory needle drop reveals a band that doesn’t sound instantly like Yo La Tengo — or at least how you recognized them prior to now. In the words of Mike Wolf, “Yo La Tengo is not afraid. They walk confidently forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.”

Periodically Double Or Triple [mp3]
is the first MP3 from ‘Popular Songs’. Stay tuned for the release date.

Dark Was The Night compilation out now

Dark Was The Night, the 20th release by the Red Hot Organization to raise funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS, is out now.

Produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, DWTN is available on double CD and triple vinyl and features 31 new and exclusive tracks from a vast array of indie's biggest names including Feist, Arcade Fire and Sharon Jones.

Here are just a few tracks from the release:

Dark Was The Night Widget

February 14th will see the release of the 20th Red Hot Charity compilation, Dark Was The Night, curated by The National's Dessner brothers.

Over the past week or so, a different track from the album has been uploaded on the DWTN MySpace page. Already uploaded have been a collaboration between Dirty Projectors + David Byrne (on first single Knotty Pine, downloadable here), as well as songs from Bon Iver, The National, Feist and My Brightest Diamond.

If you missed them the first time around, you can now head over to the DWTN website and make your widget player.



For those unaware, the Red Hot Organisation is an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS, using music as a great way of achieving both. Their track record is second-to-none, having worked with many greats in their time (including U2, George Michael, Madonna, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Wu Tang Clan among many, many more) and Dark Was The Night is the next instalment in an already esteemed compilation series.

First single from Dark Was The Night compilation

Dark Was The Night is a 31-track compilation produced for noted AIDS charity The Red Hot Organisation and features a stellar cast of musicians including Cat Power, The Decemberists, Sharon Jones and Arcade Fire. Out February 14th, Dark Was The Night was produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner from The National with John Carlin (the charity’s founder).

The first single is Knotty Pine, a fantastic collaboration between Dirty Projectors and David Byrne. The 7" is backed with an excellent new track from The National, So Far Around The Bend.

Knotty Pine by Dirty Projectors + David Byrne [mp3]


To hear more tracks from Dark Was The Night, head to their MySpace where they are currently uploading a new track each day. The full tracklist can be found here.

New track from Condo Fucks

Condo Fucks are Georgia Condo (drums), Kid Condo (guitar) and James McNew (bass). You might remember them from such bands as Yo La Tengo.

They have a new album coming out in March called Fuckbook. And here's the first single:

What'cha Gonna Do About It [mp3] (160kbps)

Dark Was The Night tracklist revealed

The tracklist for Dark Was The Night, a Red Hot charity compilation curated by The National's Dessner brothers, has been revealed. The release will be available on double CD and triple vinyl on February 14th.

DISC ONE:

1. "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. "Cello Song" - The Books featuring Joses Gonzalez
3. "Train Song" - Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
5. "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
6. "So Far Around The Bend" - The National
7. "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
8. "Feeling Good" - My Brightest Diamond
9. "Dark Was The Night" - Kronos Quartet
10. "I Was Young When I Left Home" - Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13. "Die" - Iron & Wine
14. "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens


DISC TWO:

1. "Well-Alright" - Spoon
2. "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
3. "Mimizan" - Beirut
4. "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
5. "Inspiration Information" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. "With A Girl Like You" - Dave Sitek
7. "Blood Pt. 2" - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. "Hey, Snow White" - The New Pornographers
9. "Gentle Hour" - Yo La Tengo
10. "Amazing Grace" - Cat Power
11. "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12. "Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch
13. "The Giant Of Illinois" - Andrew Bird
14. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. "When The Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. "Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew

The National's Dessner brothers curate new Red Hot compilation

In conjunction with WORLD AIDS DAY on Monday December 1, 4AD have announced the official release date, complete list of participating artists and cover art for the upcoming release Dark Was The Night.

Dark Was The Night will be released in Australia on February 14th, 2009. The album is produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, and John Carlin - founder of the Red Hot Organization - is the album's executive producer. Dark Was the Night comprises 31 exclusive tracks on double CD/triple vinyl and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease, and that music is a great vehicle to raise money for and awareness of it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot and Dark Was the Night is the 20th release.

The complete list of artists (in alphabetical order) on the album is:
Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Seregeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

Dark Was The Night will be out through 4AD/ Remote Control on February 14, 2009.