Yo La Tengo - live on WFMU

Recorded live in Jersey City, NJ 3/15/03

Notes

Digitally transferred to CDR by me from borrowed FM->DAT master (thanks Rich!). This year's session didn't seem as lively as usual; YLT had played the night before in Texas and had come to the station straight from the airport. A few technical snafus during the show didn't help the mood: you can hear the band playing "Heroes" and "Gloria" in the background during the fundraising at one point, thinking they were live (a crying shame, "Gloria" sounds like it was pretty good).

"Scissors" is very nice. Nifty guitar solo in "Don't Worry Kyoko".

I requested "Hold Your Head Up", which they played a pretty hair-raising version of (James emits a seasick-sounding "ooh" near the end). As it turned out, I was also one of two people who requested "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates, a fact mentioned repeatedly and with great consternation by James in his spoken-word "Nuclear War" commentary. This was probably my favorite part of the whole set: it's the end of the show, the band is exhausted, and where they usually do a final medley of snippets of the songs people asked for but they didn't get around to they now only seem to have the strength to play a subdued version of "Nuclear War" while James thumbs through the requests and comments on them. The call-and-response style of the song is preserved -- Ira and Georgia wearily repeat after James, sometimes with great reactive emphasis (James was apparently making this up as he went).

Below are excerpts from James' narration. Not the same without the music, but hey (imagine a subdued "Nuclear War" in the background). Many laughs from the assembled throughout, particularly at the "paragraph" breaks:

	i don't know
	this song by the breeders
	i don't know
	this song by the breeders
	it's not the one that goes "awooo"
	so i don't know it

        "walk away renee"
        you got too many chords
        you got too many chords
        you don't need those chords
        there's like 900 chords
        that's 895 too many
      
	"any song
	by the flaming lips"
	got too many chords
	got too many chords
	nice production
	good words
	not loud any more
	nice and quiet
	won a grammy	
	got a beard
	snappy dresser
	too many chords
      
        pet sounds
        pet sounds
        pet sounds
        man doesn't wanna hear
        "sloop john b"
        you crazy
        best song on the record
        what's wrong?
        with "sloop john b"?
        what's your problem?
        with "sloop john b"?

        don't you wanna go home?
        I wanna go home
        I feel so broke up
        and I wanna go home
        but I can't go home
        there's like 5 more minutes left
        5 more minutes left
   
        "let's go away for awhile"
        doesn't have any words
        lotta chords
        
        did we already do
        "ducks on the wall"?
        did we already do
        "ducks on the wall"?
        did we?
        
        the perfect request
        perfectly worded
        "sex pistols...
        whatever."

        the sex pistols
        invented punk rock
	in the year 1981
	true story!

     (georgia: apparently this was a request) 
	ruffles have ridges
	ruffles have ridges
	ruffles have ridges
	ruffles have ridges

     (back to james)
	two separate people
	requested hall and oates
            ira: requested hall and oates?!
            georgia: hall and oates.
	two separate people
	requested hall and oates!
        i'll say it again
            georgia: hall and oates.
	_two separate people_
	_requested hall and oates_
	the same song!
            georgia: no...no!
        ain't that a bitch?
            ira: which song?
         
        your kiss is on my list (ira)
        yeah your kiss is on my list (james)
        your kiss
        is on my list
        and i can't go for that
           ira: no can do!
        and i can't go for that
           ira: no can do!
        no...
           ira: no can do.
           bruce: must be SCTV fans.
           ira: Chariots of Eggs, Chariots of Eggs.

        we don't know any songs by king kong
        king kong didn't know any songs by king kong
        that guy was funny though

	much as we like the babylon dance band
	we don't know any of their songs either
 	  georgia: not one!

Michael Edmonson (edmonson@sdf.lonestar.org)