[photo from Ira’s Hanukkah Diary]
Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows are an embarrassment of riches, as everyone knows. There are the extended set times; the cozy atmosphere of Hoboken’s inimitable Maxwell’s; the kinship among a group of the band’s most hardcore fans; the special guests; the comedians. But amidst all of that, what still drives the fanaticism around these show is, ultimately, a band that can shapeshift like few others. Especially at these shows, when you go to see Yo La Tengo, you never know what you’re going to get. On Wednesday the 1st, we saw the lighter side of the band, joking and playing Elvis covers; on Sunday the 5th, we saw the noisy, aggressive rock band that followed a set by Mission of Burma. On this night, we got the musically erudite record geeks, the band whose influences are far-ranging and frequently obscure, offering up a host of amazing covers. We got Bob Dylan’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Shut Up” by obscure 60s garage-rock band The Monks, The Beach Boys’ “Little Honda” (which they have, over time, effectively made their own), “This Ain’t the Summer of Love” by Blue Oyster Cult, a (this time) successful version of Paul Simon’s “Red Rubber Ball”, one of my personal favorite YLT covers, “You Can Have It All” and many more. And for guests, we were equally rewarded: Wilco’s Mikael Jorgenson joined for several numbers on keyboards, Antietam guitarist Tara Key on several others, and, for the encore, the legendary Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, doing some of their own songs and more covers. The set closed with a stage full of the night’s musicians (plus comedian Eugene Mirman on theremin) covering The Fugs‘ nihilistic “Nothing.” It made for an ironic ending to a night that was all about affirmation and recognition: affirmation of the sheer joy and variety of music, and recognition of the rich diversity of artists that brought Yo La Tengo to this point.
I recorded this set with the Schoeps microphones and a stereo soundboard feed by the Maxwell’s staff. As with the 12/5 show, unfortunately we were not able to mix in an additional source from nyctaper’s Neumann mics, which is too bad. Nonetheless, the results are outstanding, as all of these shows have been. Enjoy!
Stream “I Wanna Be Your Lover”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y6644YLT9879/YLT-IWannaBeYourLover.mp3]
Stream “You Can Have It All”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y6644YLT9879/YLT-YouCanHaveItAll.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]
Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].
Yo La Tengo
2010-12-06
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJÂ USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Equipment: Schoeps CMC6/mk41+SBD>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: LOC, clamp to soundboard booth, mics at about 7.5ft, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample to 16/44.1)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [Total Time 1:45:12]
01 My Heart’s Reflection
02 Barnaby, Hardly Working [with Tara Key on guitar]
03 Styles of the Times [with TK]
04 Stockholm Syndrome [with TK]
05 Tears Are In Your Eyes [with Mikael Jorgenson of Wilco on keyboards]
06 She May Call You Up Tonight [The Left Banke] [with MJ]
07 banter
08 Shut Up [The Monks] [with MJ]
09 Avalon or Someone Very Similar [with MJ]
10 [banter]
11 If It’s True [with MJ]
12 You Can Have It All [George McCrea] [with MJ]
13 I Wanna Be Your Lover [Bob Dylan] [with MJ]
14 Upside Down [with MJ]
15 This Ain’t the Summer of Love [Blue Oyster Cult] [with MJ]
16 Little Honda [Beach Boys] with MJ and audience members]
17 More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (boogie version) [with MJ]
18 encore break
19 Red Rubber Ball [Paul Simon]
20 [banter]
21 Do You Remember That? [Amy Rigby] [with Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric]
22 I Get Out of Breath [The Turtles] [with AR and WE]
23 [banter]
24 Whole Wide World [with AR and WE]
25 [banter]
26 Nothing [The Fugs] [with TK, MJ, AR, Gil Divine, Mofungo]
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Yo La Tengo, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases from the store at their website [HERE].
Whoah, thanks a lot!
track 1 got corrupted?????
these are really great, thank you!
Love the “boogie” version of “More Stars” from this nite. That & “Little Honda” leading up to it are the most fun I’ve heard in awhile! Thanks again for all that went into making & sharing these recordings.
Thank you again nyctaper and acidjack,wonderful recordings of some amazing music.
Hey guys ! Thanks again !
Isn’t anyone interested in the mofungo set ?
I really enjoyed it !
btw, i’ve my tickets for this year’s hanukkah festival ; I know i’m lucky…