I always look forward to a new album from Yo La Tengo. The New Jersey band's music becomes a part of my life in ways that other records don't, so I was thrilled when frontman Ira Kaplan, drummer Georgia Hubley and bassist James McNew stopped by the Afternoon Show on KEXP to perform songs from their new album, Fade.

Fade deals with the topic of saying goodbye, so it seemed fitting that the band was in town to play the closing night of Easy Street Records in Queen Anne — a beloved local store which had stood in our neighborhood for more than a dozen years.

When Kaplan quietly began the sublime "I'll Be Around," I didn't dare breathe, as Hubley and McNew provided a hypnotic backdrop to his delicate acoustic-guitar lines and hushed, plaintive vocals. You can listen to the whole performance on the KEXP blog.

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Source: NPR