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In an indie-rock genre that demands originality, Yo La Tengo have defiantly flirted with life as the coolest cover band in the world (their 1990 all-cover Fakebook is a classic). Out of the attics and onto the two-CD Genius + Love come renditions of songs by Wire, John Cale, Beat Happening, the Urinals, the Velvet Underground (whom YLT depicted in the film I Shot Andy Warhol), Daniel Johnston (with Johnston providing lead vocals over the phone), and the Ramones (with an easy-listening version of "Blitzkrieg Bop"). In addition, the album features cuts from the band in all their moods and periods between 1988 and '95: the early dream pop ("Fog Over Frisco"), the Velvety dark minimalism ("Walking Away from You"), the disciplined Sonic Youth guitar noise ("Evanescent Psychic Pez Drop"), plus an entire second disc of instrumentals. Thirty tracks in all, Genius + Love may be the first rarities collection to satisfy the needs both of obsessive completists and of beginners looking for an accurate introduction to the group. *** Yo La Tengo
GENIUS + LOVE = YO LA TENGO
(Matador)
-- Roni Sarig
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