Month: April 2003

 

Here we go! Spring is springing, we’ve just completed our first few weeks of touring, and the Yo La Tengo Glee Club Singers (see photo, with soundman/alto Mark Luecke at left) are ready for more. So many memories…so many great sets by Portastatic; three shows with the Sun Ra Arkestra’s Tyrone Hill, Dave Davis and Danny Ray Thompson sitting in with us; playing "Nuclear War" in New York with all-kid backup singers; a "Speeding Motorcycle" with Daniel Johnston in Toronto (from where we escaped with our health intact, so far); and the New York Knicks are rested and ready for next year’s playoffs. In a few days we’ll be overseas, touring for three blissful weeks in Europe and the UK, where no one shouts "Free Bird" at shows.

Almost time to stop typing, our ride to the airport is here. But before we go, we’d like to clear up a bit of blasphemy we perpetrated. First off, we had no idea the matzos in Boston weren’t kosher for Passover. Seriously. We make no pretense of being religious, but we’re all about the live and the let live–we weren’t trying to poison anybody. On the same train of thought, we want to thank email correspondent Scott Douglas who answered an extremely muddled question we posed on stage at the 930 Club in D.C.:

The answer to "Do Ash Wednesday and Passover always coincide?" is, "They never do." Ash Wednesday falls 40 days before Easter, and marks the beginning of Lent. Although the date varies, it’s always in February, which is why Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent on which, traditionally, people used up cooking oil not to be eaten during Lent) is always in February. You must have been thinking of Holy Wednesday, the Wednesday before Easter. (The follow-up answer is, No, this doesn’t always coincide with Passover, given how both holidays move throughout the calendar year. That said, it’s nice when the Jews and Gentiles have something in common, doncha think?)

Yes, that is nice. And it makes us especially happy we didn’t bring up Arbor Day at the Beacon Theater.

OK, thanks for coming and see ya soon,
YLT.

Don’t think for a minute we wouldn’t prefer to keep the news aspect of these updates heavily in quotes. It could be petty bickering with email correspondents or fake song titles from albums in progress–as long as we’re keeping you uninformed in the guise of doing the exact opposite, we’re satisfied. But sometimes that’s just impossible. Now is one of those times. What a week-plus it’s been.

First off, both Summer Sun and A Grown-Ass Man have been released, and we’re thrilled to announce that everybody who’s heard them LOVES them. Really–we never expected such unanimity, and we’re truly humbled by your appreciation.

We launched Summer Sun the only way (in retrospect) possible: with a beach-themed record-release party at NYC’s Other Music while the city streets were covered with inches of slushy gook too unpleasant to even term snow. Matador staffers handed out free beer (but only to those with two pieces of photo id). We took turns dj’ing, under the protective cover of brave Other Music employees while they shielded our heads and records from flying promotional beach balls. Georgia played "Teenage Riot" by Portuguese Joe. James played "Girl/Boy" by Aphex Twin. Ira played Richie Van’s cover of "Joy to the World." Then we went home.

A weekend earlier, by overwhelming demand, New York’s beloved noisemakers Salmon Skin reunited for a farewell performance at the brand new Sin-é, to wish drummer Dan Brown a safe relocation to Los Angeles. Founding members Jeff Cashvan and Steve Thornton were resplendent in wedding dress and electric suit respectively. Auxiliary guitarist Georgia Hubley was inaudible, causing particular disappointment to the gearheads in the audience (i.e. all of us) who were dying to find out how her guitar for the evening’s built-in effects worked. In a stunning development, the group actually managed to complete their set without being forcibly ejected from the stage or banned from future appearances, perhaps a first for the combo (Mr. Cashvan’s firecracker outburst apparently was deemed too little, too late). They will be missed.

The following evening, Hubley was back in the Ludlow groove, this time with her Yo La Tengo bandmates in tow. We made an appearance at Tinkle, the criminally underpublicized weekly comedy show hosted by Todd Barry, Jon Benjamin and David Cross. After a huge build-up that promised the premiere of a theme song we had written expressly for Tinkle, we came on stage and played "Tequila," to the comic consternation of our hosts. We left the stage, proverbial tails between our literal legs, only to return at the end of the night with a triumphant offering of "Batman (Tinkle)." Obviously, you had to be there. And if you’ve ever tried to get into Tinkle before, you know that that was impossible.

Are we really saving the best for last? Yes. Just hours ago, we convened at a Brooklyn recording studio to record the songs "Hedwig’s Lament" and "Exquisite Corpse" for a Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute record that will come out later this year on Off, and benefit the Harvey Milk School. Sitting in with the group, on lead vocals, was none other than Yoko Ono. We were there and we still don’t believe it. In between takes, Yoko regaled us with anecdotes about Elephant’s Memory and David Peel. (Did you know that Peel actually loathed marijuana? True story.)

Next stop: Columbus, Ohio.

And we’re on our way.