Fade

Around since the mid-80s, Yo La Tengo have been a constant on the indie horizon, working within their own framework and transcending scenes and trends with the greatest of ease. 'Fade' teams the band up with Tortoise's John McEntire who takes their hazy psychedelic pop to new levels with his economic production techniques. Not that this is a new direction from Yo La Tengo, but 'Fade' sounds more pointed than they have for a while, with jangly guitars soaring over dusty drums (McEntire's speciality) and just a smart hint of the kind of avant gardisms the band made their calling card. Sure they make pop music, but the reason Yo La Tengo have had the staying power to really make it work is that they imbue their compositions with complications, and those complexities keep you coming back time and time again.