Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics

In 2006, the band released Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics , a compilation of their live impromptu cover-song performances on the New Jersey freeform radio station, WFMU . As part of the station’s annual fundraising marathon, listeners who called in to pledge money to the station could request a favorite which the band then performed on the spot. In late 2007, the band began performing acoustically for “The Freewheelin’ Yo La Tengo” tour. Audiences were encouraged to request songs and ask questions which, Kaplan stated, the band tried to answer “in a strategic manner so that the answers to the questions will lead to the next song.”