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Yo La Tengo – Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs 1985-2003 (Matador) Released 21/03/2005

They will perform on the Other Stage...

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four and a half stars
 
‘Prisoners of Love…’ is the magnificent career spanning compilation from indie-rockers Yo La Tengo, a scintillating album jam-packed with irreplaceable musical treasures that will make your mouth water.
 
Since forming in 1984, the New Jersey band have gone from strength to strength earning much deserved critical acclaim for their unique combination of feedback-driven psychedelic rock and blissful folk-pop melodies.  Yo La Tengo are often compared to the legendary Velvet Underground as frontman Ira Kaplin’s talking-style vocals are frequently absorbed within a mist of mind-blowing instrumentation. This is, however, just a fragment of what Yo La Tengo are about, as the album perfectly demonstrates their wealth of musical miscellany through a journey of indie-rock, folk, and pop. 
 
On a whopping 3-disc deluxe edition, we are treated to an epic album, ranging from the bands first 7” ‘The River of Water’ on their own Egon label, to latter Matador classics like the shimmering ‘Tom Courtney’, melancholic acid-tripper ‘Little Eyes’, and the hauntingly beautiful pop lullaby ‘One Way To Fall’.  The album firmly sets itself ahead of your average greatest hits compilation as it is equally as raw and experimental as it is evolved and established, including a bonus disc of outtakes and rarities like the phenomenal ‘Autumn Sweater’, defiantly remixed by My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, and the wonderful acoustic version of ‘Decora’, the ideal song to wake up to on a hot summers morning. 

This is a truly great album by a great band, sending you into a world of starry-eyed melodies and mystified guitar-led anthems.  Spanish for "I’ve got it", Yo La Tengo needn’t say anymore – faultless.  

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