The Divine Nine: Q / A with James McNew

ADAM: Thanks for doing our interview, James. How's life?

JAMES: Life's busy and kind of stressful these days. It's no fun when the rest of the world hates your country for something you don't even agree with - touring Europe should be interesting. I am very happy about spring springing, basketball and baseball seasons, and music, though.

ADAM: As a longtime, fiercely loyal fan of The Simpsons, I'll resist the temptation to just ask nine questions about that show. But I have to do at least one, and I'm sorry if it's a downer. Are the best days behind us?

JAMES: I'd hate to think that's true. The writing has changed over the years, but the show still makes me laugh an awful lot. As the show ages, the "Poochie" episode just seems more and more amazing. There's no question in my mind that it's the best show that's ever been on TV.

ADAM: April is a big month for you with new releases from both Dump and Yo La Tengo hitting the shelves and YLT hitting the road in the east. After all these years is there still a sense of trepidation with the tour and the new albums? Or has it settled into a comfortable routine?

JAMES: There's always a monstrous amount of preparation that goes into every show, let alone every tour and album. We take a lot of care to make sure we're happy with what we're presenting, so that can be fraught with various perils along the way. I think we're like that because we really love it. The comfortable routine of xeroxed setlists and songs timed to lighting cues would be a bummer. We like to keep it spontaneous.

ADAM: In listening to your songs and reading interviews with you, it seems pretty clear to me that you've got an enviable album collection. What's your preferred means of discovering new music?

JAMES: I hear music from my friends, mostly, we're constantly finding things we think the other would like. I also hear quite a lot of things I like on WFMU. The advent of this whole internet thing has been pretty helpful to

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