On Summer Sun Georgia, Ira and James continue on their trip from feedback to silence. The noisy rock phase around May I Sing With Me seems to have been the purgation of the bad spirits. From that album (which I love) on Yo La Tengo have become riper, mellower and more mature with every new release. They have started fading out with their last album. It is amazing how quiet music can be intense. This is a waking up album instead of a falling asleep album like the predecessor. Music to listen to in the afternoon after the siesta, day dream music. My first real listen was going down to the Mediterrenean, to picturesque Collioure after a wine-drenched meal and an hour of afternoon sleep.

They are the archetype of a band to get old with. I think they make music for people the same age as them. Ira on guitar and Georgia on drums who share the vocals in turn have almost become a couple like Philemon and Baucis in the Greek mythology. They have found joy and contentment in pastoral soundscapes approaching ambient and jazz. James, the bassist and a multi-instrumentalist like the couple gives the solidity to the band. Like a chair, a band on three legs is more stable than on four.

The new album is a real grower. In the beginning it sounds pleasant but not very remarkable but then it grows and grows and grows and becomes a giant sunflower. With all the seeds falling down on the listener. The music feels like a feather touching the skin on its surface. It tickles the ears. Probably their most accomplished and refined album yet. Atmospheric, not demanding anything from the listener, not asking for attention, flowing without being wallpaper music. The album begins very relaxed and cool and then becomes warmer and smoother.

Geogia’s voice gets more and more expressive with each release. It has never been as sexy and tender as on this album. In the last song Take Care, an Alex Chilton cover, she gives me the shivers.

The other songs: It starts with Beach Party Tonight. Only sounds. Dawn is breaking. Little Eyes is Georgia breaking my heart by singing “you can only hurt the ones you love”. Nothing but You and Me is Ira begging his beloved to come back and wake up. Season of the Shark and Today Is the Day have the effects of an Irish coffee on me. When listening to the first one sung by Ira, I can feel the Irish coffee flowing down my throat and starting to warm my stomach. When Georgia starts singing on the second one the effect of the alcohol goes to the head. I get dizzy. On Tiny Birds James sounds as innocent as Nick Drake. Sad but wise. How to Make a Baby Elephant is a slow warm song with a jazzy flute. Georgia Vs. Yo La Tengo is Georgia with a fireworks on the drums, Ira with a rhythmic keyboard and piano theme and James doing some weird sounds on the synthesizer. Don’t Have to Be so Sad is like lying in the hammock. There is tension but there is support. We can stretch our limbs and relax. On Winter A-Go-Go Georgia is irresistible. I like it very much when the song changes speed suddenly. Stop and go. Moonrock Mambo is kind of dark and groovy. You could dance to it. Ira sings “I wanna be next to you” and he means it. Georgia hums at the same time. Gorgeous. Let’s Be Still is the longest and weakest song. Almost like a free-jazz session but too repetitive and predictable for more than ten minutes (maybe not, it is a beauty of a song though).

The biggest reproach I could make to the album is the cover. Looking at the ball though I am reminded of my juggling leather balls. Which have similar colour combinations. And which I really love. As I learnt juggling with them.

Live I am a little sceptical but still I won’t miss their concert at the Mousonturm in Frankfurt, on May, 20th. The tour with their last quiet album wasn’t so great, I found. Live I prefer them when they mix slow quiet and loud rocking songs.

Zuerst kam mir die Idee glaube ich beim Joggen in Brouilla. Meine Kondition war wirklich Scheiße und ich bin ziemlich geschlichen beim Laufen. Aber irgendwie hat es mir Spaß gemacht, langsam zu laufen. Das Abrollen der Füße zu spüren. Mich darauf zu konzentrieren. Laufen ist wie die Erde streicheln. Da muss man vorsichtig sein und acht geben. Sonst geht die zerbrechliche Erde in Stücke. Wenn fast hundert Kilo bei jedem Schritt auf den Boden prallen, dann könnte das schon passieren.

Heute dasselbe beim Gehen. Beim Gehen die ganze Aufmerksamkeit auf die Füße lenken. Ganz Füße sein. Die runde Bewegung des Abrollens der Fußsohlen. Das gedämpfte, sachte Auftreten. Fast so leicht wie ein Balletttänzer. Oder besser Ballettgeher. Ich glaube, ich habe heute ein zweites Mal Gehen gelernt. Es ist wie ein Wunder. Der Erde näher kommen mit dem einen Fuß und sich dann von ihr entfernen mit dem anderen. Eine dauernde Bewegung. Die zur Verschmelzung hinstrebt, sie aber nie erreicht. Fast wie endloser Sex. Nur besser.

I am tired of writing this blog. Not sure when or if I will come back at all here to write.

I really enjoy reading and discussing Adorno's Minima Moralia though. The reading group project is a great success. 85 people are participating. If you are interested, you can tell me here and I will make you a member of the community weblog. The Adorno aphorisms and discussions are in German though. Minima Moralia is one of the most fascinating philosophy books of the last 100 years. Together with Wittgenstein's Tractatus and Camus' The Myth of Sisyphos. The book is a crossover of the pessimism of Schopenhauer, the anti-system attitude of Nietzsche, the dialectics of Hegel and the criticism of capitalism by Marx. At the same time Adorno's style is that of a great poet. Very dense without one superfluous word. A treasury of wisdom and sad premonition.

The More Like The Moon EP which was given away in Australia with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot can be listened to at the Wilco home page here. It is available only for purchasers of the CD which has to be in your CD-ROM drive during the connection to the site I suppose. The songs can be either streamed as mp4 or downloaded as mp3s. Quicktime 6 is necessary. The songs list is:

• Canera
• Handshake Drugs
• Woodgrain
• A Magazine Called Sunset
• Bob Dylans 49th Beard
• More Like The Moon

Now if someone would please release the YHF Demos which Michael Goldberg praised so much. Or does any of my dear readers know where to download them without p2p?

The wisdom goof Graham C with a great improvised theory on ambientish music:

P.S. What I wrote at the end seems highly unrealistic. In case the waves would stop to roll when I was asleep I guess the reason would probably be something like the end of the world so that I would probably not wake up at all anymore. Whatever.

I Love Music thread of the day: TS: The Fall vs. Pavement. A quote:

Promise to myself. The next time I see a shooting star I will have a wish. This must be one of the most difficult things in life. Half a second to think of a wish. A response time which seems too short for me.

Yes only love can break your heart (Neil Young on After the Goldrush)

Tim from Traveler's Diagram has deleted me from his weblog link list. Somehow these little allusions that what I am doing here is not worth it are painful. Especially in the view that Traveler's Diagram is one of my favourite weblogs. The author has a very solid music taste with a strong predilection for Americana and is able to put that into words and he links to interesting sites and articles about culture and arts.

P.S. Apologies for this pathetic self-centered post. I have to admit that I try to condense the number of sites I link to as well. Whenever I delete a link there are two possible reasons. Either freshblogs does not have correct information on the page freshness or the site does not interest me anymore. Often blog authors which who post too much for me to digest are taken off the watchlist.

(footer by a participant in this very enlightening kuro5hin discussion on the reasons for the Iraq war).

P.S. Something I learnt from that discussion which I didn't know before. Hans Blix was the boss of the IAEA (international atomic energy agency) when Chernobyl exploded and even played down the danger after the accident. Two consequences. Mr Blix must be a good friend of the Russians and is not as neutral as I thought he would be. His expertise is shattered in my eyes. This Iraq war thing is very complex indeed.