quasify

Yo La Tengo’s performance of a Jean Painlevé’s avante-garde film octet at the Coolidge tonight was alternately one of the most beautiful and jarring sonic and visual experiences I can remember. The video below (Brooklyn, 2006) is such a poor representation of the power and largeness of the show that I hesitate to even include it. This comes from movement five, L’Hippocampi, somewhere between the incredible edible sea urchins and the Love Life of the Octopus*.

The original soundtrack from the 2001 San Francisco Film Festival scoring of the set, The Sounds of the Sounds of Science, can be had direct from the band for $10. AZ points out that they have an unplugged set scheduled at MassMOCA on November 10th.

*Here’s the official Love Life of the Octopus track.

**Here’s why you shouldn’t buy a Blue Ringed Octopus after listening to the above.