Strange But True

In the ’90s, Jad Fair had five favorite bands and songwriters: Daniel Johnston,The Pastels, Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, and Yo La Tengo. It’s a good list,sure, but what’s most remarkable about it is that, in the course of a dozenyears or so, Fair made music with all of them in one form or another.Jad Fair has been prolific for half a century now, long before the Internetcould create a simultaneous and seemingly eternal archive of everythingsomeone with his predilections made. He’s been involved in several hundredtitles, at least, many of them out-of-print on tiny labels that do not existanymore. In fact, one of those collaborations that Fair made in the’90s_Strange But True, with Yo La Tengo_has been hard to find, despite itsstateside release on October 20th 1998, by Matador Records.For the first time, the album is being reissued on vinyl by Joyful Noise andBar/None.By the time Fair played a party with Yo La Tengo in the mid-’90s, they were allfriends, fans, and collaborators, having worked on or released recordstogether. When Fair suggested they all head into the studio, the trio bit. Theresult, Strange But True, is as wonderful, varied, and wild as some enormouslawn of native grasses. This collaborative album showcases the aritsts’ uncannyrange, bringing us back to a time when indie rock was still free to be as weirdand unruly as its makers wanted it to be.