Nowadays it happens rarely that I go to a concert. One of the reasons is that I don't know anybody locally that is into the same music as me. But some of my friends in Chicago are still frequent concert goers. And sometimes I get lucky enough that my work visits coincide with a band playing at one of the venues around the city. Last year I got lucky that my friend had a spare ticket to see Sigur Rós live. Although I returned back home all filled with musical joy, I didn't go to any other concert since.
But this week I got lucky again. Yo La Tengo was in town! In my student days I had accidentally discovered them while watching a Hal Hartley movie. I just found out they are already making their perfect blend of dreamy tunes with utter chaotic guitar noise for 25 years. But their music is so timeless. The performance they gave for a small 500 people crowd at the Vic Theatre still felt like they are making great original music.
These days when I listen to the radio (mostly XFM) I have too often the feeling all music has been made already. All new music I hear is just a rehash of stuff already done. Much like MMOs, I guess. (Woohoo! I managed to pull in a MMO reference) Now I don't say Yo La Tengo are the saviours of modern rock, but being at a concert and be really pulled into their music does mean they do something right. Then again it could just be me getting excited about nearly every concert I go. But I think they really make some brilliant tunes worth listening too. It is one of those bands whose music comes very close to the way I am.
Their music works best if you hear a couple songs, or preferably an entire album, in a row. But would be hard to link here, and probably not that useful either. But I couldn't resist to post a few links.
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