There's something special about anything Yo La Tengo touches, and one could say that goes double for any cover they attempt. Famously adept at mastering nearly any track thrown at them during those annual WFMU fund-raisers, the band's now offered up a 6-song EP containing 5 covers. Called Sleepless Night, it's out now via Matador Records.
The press materials give a bit of necessary background on the birth of this one:
"The tracks on Sleepless Night were initially released as one side of an LP included within a limited-edition catalogue (published by LACMA and DelMonico Books/Prestel) for the LACMA exhibition, Yoshitomo Nara, the first international retrospective for the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959). A longtime YLT fan, Nara worked in collaboration with the group -- Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew -- to choose the EP's songs."
"Blues Stay Away From Me" opens the EP with quiet purpose, the Delmore Brothers classic put through some gentle paces here, before a quietly-surging run at "Wasn't Born to Follow" kicks off. The Byrds number is one of my favorites, and most known to many from its inclusion in Easy Rider (1969), and this version is very, very good. Next a cover-of-a-cover as the trio sinks into "Roll on Babe", made famous by Ronnie Lane but here eased into motion around a lovely Georgia Hubley vocal-line. The cut, along with the following Bob Dylan cover also anchored by Hubley, sounds like it was written just for this band and one marvels again at just what a fantastic group YLT have been for so very long.
A new one is next. "Burning", with a near-whispered vocal from Ira Kaplan, is really affecting. A supple bass-line from James McNew gives this an uneasy energy, but it's Kaplan's voice amid the deep production that sells it. If I hadn't already been a YLT fan the final song here would have made me one. "Smile a Little Smile" by The Flying Machine is one of my favorite songs of all time and I have to say that Yo La Tengo do it justice. Simple and affecting, the trio approaches this one exactly as a fan would expect, stretching out the AM Gold classic to fit their style, while retaining all the aching beauty of the original. A perfect ending to an essential EP.
Sleepless Night is out now via Matador Records. The download is only $4 so order here.
More details on Yo La Tengo via the official website.
[Photo: Matador Records]