Yo La Tengo - Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo (Black) Vinyl 2LP

Back again, this classic Yo La Tengo anthology of early rarities, outtakes and alt versions was originally released in 1996, and features covers of John Cale, The Velvet Underground, Wire, Daniel Johnston, The Ramones and Beat Happening. Issued between 'Electr-O-Pura' and 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One', 'Genius + Love =' draws a line underneath the Hoboken band's early career, fleshing out their canon with a few vital instrumentals and covers that remind us exactly where they came from. 'Demons' is one of the album's most notable inclusions, thanks to its appearance on the soundtrack to Mary Harron's 'I Shot Andy Warhol', where Yo La Tengo were cast as a Velvets-style rock band, but there's plenty more where that came from. Their cover of 'Speeding Motorcycle' includes a literally phoned in vocal from Daniel Johnston himself, and their version of the Velvets' 'I'm Set Free' - a live favorite that's also been tackled by Beck and Thom Yorke, and Brian Eno - is proof that they were picking up just where Lou Reed and co left off.