Outside Eyes Cease To Exist

Yo La Tengo @ McCarren Pool 8/24/2008

Yo La Tengo “Moby Octopad” – Even though it seems that they have settled into a familiar set-building pattern in the past few years, it can be hard to know what to expect from a Yo La Tengo show. So much of what they do depends upon their collective mood, and there’s always a chance they may want to be a bit withholding. Not yesterday, though — as you can see, they were being quite generous with their “hits,” and came to play a fun show for a large audience mainly comprised of people who…well, I’ll just say they weren’t hardcore Yo La Tengo fans and leave it at that, okay? As per usual, the main attraction of a Yo La Tengo gig is watching Ira Kaplan smack, strangle, beat and otherwise manhandle his guitars, but this set had the added bonus of featuring a brass section. The horns brought out the best in “Mr. Tough,” which can seem a bit hollow without them, and added a steamy, humid touch to “Moby Octopad.” I can’t tell you how pleased I was that they played the latter — it’s been my favorite YLT song for ten years now, and it never crossed my mind that I’d ever get to see it performed in concert. Its groove comes across very well live, but I was especially impressed by how well James McNew pulled off the high harmonies. (Click here to buy it from Matador Records.)

Fluxcast #8 – Time for a new episode. This one features music from Blur, Wu-Tang Clan, Clinic, and Lee “Scratch” Perry, among others. The tracklisting can be found in the metadata, or on the Fluxcast site later in the week.