Some Songs Considered

“Meet the Mets” – Yo La Tengo
(Words/music: Bill Katz and Ruth Roberts, available on Yo La Tengo is Murdering the Classics, Egon 2006) 

For baseball fans, opening day means several different things – the first true sign of spring, a renewal of hope for a new season, and the comfort of knowing that most nights there will be a baseball game to watch.  Even as my team, the New York Mets, don’t inspire an overwhelming amount of confidence this season, I’m glad to have them back as a regular part of my life for the next six months.  I’m looking forward to putting the game on the radio in the background while finishing my work or driving in the car, and maybe this team will surprise me at times.  If nothing else, at least summer is just around the corner. 

So in honor of opening day, I share Yo La Tengo’s version of the Mets’ theme song.  Yo La Tengo (who I wrote about in a baseball themed post last April as well – I’m so predictable) recorded “Meet the Mets” during one of their all-request stints in support of New Jersey’s WFMU.  Some of these covers – most of the bizarre and oddly charming ones at least – join “Meet the Mets” on the Yo La Tengo is Murdering the Classics collection.  The band members are Mets fans (and Ira Kaplan in particular knows his Mets history) and naturally turn out a faithful version of the song.  Thankfully, it’s a little sweeter than the somewhat tacky version that introduces Mets games on WFAN, and the giggles halfway through (plus the joyous declaration of “solo!”) only add to its charming and playful nature.  In a way, Yo La Tengo’s spontaneous fulfillment of a request mirrors my feelings for the upcoming season – I’m hoping the team makes it through respectably, and if not it’s probably better to laugh it off. 

More on Yo La Tengo: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Little Eyes” – Yo La Tengo
(Words/music: Yo La Tengo, available on Summer Sun, Matador 2003)

“Little Eyes” always sneaks up on me.  It starts with a series of innocuous beeps and long metallic tones before it locks into its groove.  From there, it continues along for a little more than four minutes at the same volume.  Other than the liquid-like guitar line bending throughout the song, nothing really stands out from the rest of the arrangement.  The drums stay fairly low key, Georgia Hubley sings in a near-whisper for most of the song, and the bassline moves along yet does so in a subtle way.  This is the kind of thing that if played in public wouldn’t turn too many heads.

Still, I have the entire melody committed to memory and could finish almost every line if you sang the first half of it for me.  It’s nowhere near my favorite Yo La Tengo track, yet I know it better than the majority of their catalogue.  The best guess I have is that it’s the net effect; if any part of the song were turned into the main attraction – whether it’s the vocal melody or a particular instrument turned up louder – it might be exposed in its isolation.  Instead, with its unassuming presence, “Little Eyes” lets its charms work subtly.  In a way, it’s an apt metaphor for Yo La Tengo as a whole, but I’ll leave that for another time.  For tonight, I’m content to call “Little Eyes” a team victory despite not having a superstar performance.

More on Yo La Tengo: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Sugarcube” – Yo La Tengo
(Words/music: Yo La Tengo, available on I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Matador 1997)

Maybe because I’ve always liked baseball, I’ve frequently thought of mixes (first tapes, then CDs, now playlists) as similar to baseball lineups (or, at least each side of a tape / half of a CD as a lineup).  I like to start with a solid “leadoff” track or two – ones that either feel right as an opening or keep the tempo moving along.  Then, the next few songs are the “power” songs – these are the ones that drive home the theme, command the listener’s attention, or are the ones I think the recipient will like the most.  Then, it’s time to wind down the side and “set up” the next side – these are maybe old favorites that deserve another listen or something I’m taking a chance on including.  It’s not a set formula, and it’s not how I make every mix, but I’ve found myself (even in the dead of winter) working in this mode to help put some structure into my mixes (and to help make the necessary cuts when I have 12 minutes of music and 3 minutes of space).

“Sugarcube” frequently finds its way into the middle of my mixtape batting orders.  Appropriately, Yo La Tengo (whose members earn bonus points for being Mets fans) took their name from an anecdote about communication miscues in the New York Mets’ outfield (and do yourself a favor and watch that video - it’s priceless and features the great Ed Kranepool).  It gains its muscle from the relentless fuzz that runs through the entire song.  However, it’s far more than an experiment in noise, as this tonal cloud bursts at the seams with melody.  The bass first lays claim to a melody (well, a counter-melody with the lead guitar), giving way to Ira Kaplan’s understated vocals.  Throughout the whole song, guitars squeal and bend but always retain their melodic grounding.  In many ways, this comes pretty darn close to “perfect” for me – it’s not afraid to be noisy and rough around the edges, but at the same time it’s intensely melodic and supremely catchy.  It’s the kind of song you could hear once and hum for days without realizing it.

I imagine “Sugarcube” as a gap hitting third baseman.  It prefers to spread its power out throughout the entire song, rather than swinging for the fences.  Instead, it’s this consistency that makes it a valuable asset to the lineup.  It might not make the big play with a big hook or inspired turn of phrase, but it’s consistent greatness makes it a perpetual musical MVP (as far as my mixes go).  It also earns extra credit for a hilarious video featuring Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, among others.

More on Yo La Tengo: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Ruler” – Marnie Stern
(Words/music: Marnie Stern, available on This is It… [title truncated], Kill Rock Stars 2008)

This afternoon, I finally got around to reading Georgia Hubley’s liner notes for her compilation in Merge’s twentieth anniversary SCORE! Boxset, and she starts with an interesting phrase: “I do not enjoy using words to describe what I like about music (or anything, really).”   She then, appropriately, writes a great essay that reveals what she loves (in a peripheral manner).  On a very basic level, I agree with her sentiment – nobody needs to justify why he or she likes something.  Taste is subjective and (as I’m finding) greatly influenced by personal events.  Still, I believe that words can and should be spent on explaining why we love specific things in music (and if I didn’t, wouldn’t that make this blog an exercise in futility?).   I don’t want to make someone like the same things that I like, and I think that sometimes we fall into that trap of trying to “sell” something through the written word.  However, I enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out the things that draw me to specific songs and articulate them in semi-coherent sentences – perhaps this is the writing teacher in me drawing the specific connection between writing and the thought process.   Perhaps if I could write songs as well as Yo La Tengo (and more on them another night), I wouldn’t feel this need to tell you, dear reader, about my favorite songs every day.  However, this is how I pay tribute to those songs that I love.

Back to Hubley’s introduction for a minute – sometimes words can’t accurately articulate the experience of hearing a song or seeing a band play.  Personally, I had that experience with Marnie Stern.   After reading reviews, interviews, and testimonials singing her praises, I was intrigued to hear what this “guitar prodigy” sounded like.  Even with these warnings of her furious playing, I was still surprised at the intensity in her songs.  The combination of her lightning quick finger tapping and Hella’s Zach Hill’s physical assault on his drum kit makes Stern’s songs sound like sonic thunderstorms.  I was impressed with In Advance of the Broken Arm, but I can’t say the respect and awe translated into genuine enjoyment – I found that my ears were tired by the time I reached the end of the disc.

“Ruler,” unlike anything on Stern’s debut, stuck with me.  By her second album, Stern learned how to harness her raw sonic power to serve her songs.  In the verses, Stern pushes full-steam ahead, letting the drums, her guitar, and several tracks of her high pitched voice stir together chaotically.  However, Stern pulls back slightly on the chorus by singing in a more relaxed tone and toning down the sonic onslaught (relatively speaking).  Where many of her earlier songs sounded like relentless storms, “Ruler” sounds like a well-developed aural hurricane.  Having a stronger structural arrangement, like a hurricane ready to reach land, makes “Ruler” that much more dangerous, and like the storms, the most dangerous part comes right around the eye of the storm.  Where many could hold out against Stern’s earlier songs, “Ruler,” as Stern’s lyrics suggest, overpowers anyone in its path.

Consider yourself warned, even if it won’t adequately describe what awaits when you press the “play” button.

More on Marnie Stern: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm