Heart indeed

Yo La Tengo were always a fine indie band, but with the release of 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One' they became one of the finest bands of any era, period. This is a wonderful album that I would heartily recommend to any music fan who has ears (real ones!).

The most striking aspect of the album is diversity - diversity of musical style and sound, as well as lyrical diversity. Yo La Tengo are big music fans and have a broad range of interests and influences (see the album Fakebook for evidence). All are on display here. Each song is a little bit different from the others in terms of style and tempo, but all carry the Yo La Tengo trademark of power and grace.

I should perhaps qualify my use of the word power - when writing about Yo La Tengo, power doesn't equate to loudness per se, but rather an emotional charge that is carried sometimes by a wall of sound (the distorted and feedback-laden guitars of 'Deeper Into Movies'), sometimes by the voices (the beautiful harmonies that soar over the end stages of 'We're an American Band', the high point of the album), and sometimes by the silent bits (the space in 'Autumn Sweater'). To me, these are the moments that make music so special - that through their art and craft Yo La Tengo have reached out and made me feel something.

It should be noted as well that it was on this album that Yo La Tengo's music really came into focus; you can hear the elements of their style on previous releases, but this was their most fully realised work, a combination of those elements that really marks a progression for the band.

This album took a few spins for me to really hear it. It was worth the time.