Matador Records
1996
Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo
About This Album
Making their debut in 1985 with a 45 that paired the group's own "The River of Water" with a take on Love's "A House Is Not a Motel," Yo La Tengo established their love of both the single format and the eclectic cover version from the get-go. Subsequent years produced a steady stream of between-album releases, tour-only singles, compilation appearances, and, of course, more memorable covers. Beginning in 1988, with the group on the cusp of unleashing their President Yo La Tengo album, Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo gathers 30 rarities, selected and annotated by the band itself, and divided into vocal and instrumental discs. John Cale's "Hanky Panky Nohow," the Velvet Underground's "I'm Set Free," and Beat Happening's "Cast a Shadow" are all spared by fairly faithful renditions. Elsewhere the group infuse Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" with new, anthemic life, play the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a surf instrumental, find themselves joined by a phoned-in Daniel Johnston for a radio performance of the singer's "Speeding Motorcycle," and nearly lose the reigns on a blistering live-in-studio version of Wire's "Too Late.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,3,4 and 9)

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Disc 2 (try track 8)

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