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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
 Posted - 02/07/2007 : 09:24:28
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Thanks Cass.
 I'd walk her everyday, into a shady place
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2007 : 13:12:32
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The SF Weekly Blogs.
LastNight: Sonic Youth Proves Ageless at the Berkeley Community Theater
Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 07:21:08 AM
“…After Gordon jumped into the crowd to dance out the end of "Eliminator Jr.," Moore greeted her with a huge, aw-shucks smile, as if after all these years she could still surprise him. …”
By Dan Strachota
Sonic Youth
July 19, 2007
The Berkeley Community Theater
Better Than: All the Smashing Pumpkins shows put together.
Download: Sonic Youth doing "Total Trash" in Barcelona, 2007; live footage of "Silver Rocket"; video of "Do You Believe in Rapture?"
You know how going home to see your parents makes you feel 16 again, no matter how old you are? Suddenly, you feel all your hard-earned independence slipping away, as they exert their control all over again. Eventually, you end up screaming insanely about how they can't tell you what to do anymore when they ask some simple question, like "Are you done with that salt shaker?"
Which is why I felt conflicted when my dad called me up and asked if I wanted not only to go see Sonic Youth play their 1988 opus, Daydream Nation, but hang out with them backstage in Berkeley. See, my dad teaches at an alternative school in Western Massachusetts. This year, he just happens to be molding the mind of one Coco, daughter to Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. My father, who hasn't combed his hair since the Reagan administration, who keeps his TV tucked away in the closet for those rare occasions when he rents a VHS tape, and who lives in a cabin in town so tiny it's barely on the map, is something of a hero to the coolest parents since John and Yoko. It's all rather bizarre.
I admit I hadn't paid much attention to Sonic Youth's last couple discs. But boy did I play the hell out of Daydream Nation and Goo when they came out, crushing majorly on the chaotic pop pleasures of tracks like "Hey Joni" and "Kissability." Naturally, I wondered how this reunion (band gets together with old album) would work, so I took my dad up on his offer.
Boy, I'm glad I did. Otherwise I wouldn't have had such cool '90s flashbacks. I'd forgotten just how metallic bands like Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and Jane's Addiction were at one time, carving out a new territory where heavy metal met indie rock. Sure, SY could toss out a gem like "Total Trash," with a riff that would serve Pavement and million other congenial college rock bands well, but they could also head-bang with the best of them. "Erik's Trip" and "Cross the Breeze" were aural thrashfests, dump truck pouring noise down on my head.
Gordon said later that when the band went back to the album to listen to their parts, they thought they were sloppy and too sprawling, but obviously they had reworked them considerably. The pop tunes I gravitated towards in the past sounded razor sharp, but it was the more expansive numbers that really shone, tracks like "Candle" and "Rain King" that bristled with new energy. Or maybe it was how the musicians didn't give some rote performance, like the Pixies reunion. They seemed genuinely interested in the songs and each other. After Gordon jumped into the crowd to dance out the end of "Eliminator Jr.," Moore greeted her with a huge, aw-shucks smile, as if after all these years she could still surprise him.
The same goes for the band's encore, which sadly didn't consist of the complete Sticky Fingers, as Thurston joked, but several numbers from SY's recent Rather Ripped LP. Still, the way the performers played vibrant, concise tunes like "Incinerate" and "Jams Run Free," I could see the quartet carrying on for another decade or two. Sonic Youth? More like the Fountain of Youth. Maybe it's something in that Western Mass water.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: Um, you know, that stuff about my dad.
Random Detail: Pavement's Mark Ibold, who was in Free Kitten with Gordon, played bass on the encore set.
By the way: The idea for playing Daydream Nation was conceived by All Tomorrow's Parties founder, for his Don't Look Back series. |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 10:17:07
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this is some fucking great news:
http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/artist.php?id=21
July 20, 2007
September 2007 and the summer shall wane and the leaves will glow their death state and school bells will peal forth dream desires and wild wishes and oh yeh:
ECSTATIC PEACE releases thurston "trees outside the academy”
It’s Thurston’s first solo outing since 1995’s Psychic Hearts. Of course, Thurston’s been releasing records here, there and everywhere mostly in the context of rowdy and rambunctious noise/improv escapades but this new one is killer diller SONGS! Unlike Psychic Hearts’ skeletal trio rock, this new jammer, 12 years post, has a far fuller bouquet of sonic depth and proves this Sonic dude to have a very real songwriting life outside of the legendary Sonic Youth (of which he is a founding figure, duh).
This newborn disc is 12 songs long. Thurston recorded primarily on acoustic guitar and bass, laying down the core of the tunes with drummer compatriot Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelly and violinist Samara Lubelski, a noted player from MV/EE and The Golden Road, Hall of Fame and other awesome gatherings as well as solo artiste.
Thurston grabbed John Agnello to record and mix the sucker after having a helluva good time with the bro from working on Sonic Youth’s 2006 killer Rather Ripped. They decided to work in Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis’ Bisquiteen studio (the top floor in J’s Amherst house actually) where Dino did their Beyond album. This worked out very nicely as it allowed Thurston to yell down the stairs every time he needed a shredding guitar solo and J would trundle up, plug in and BURN. Other guests on “trees outside...” are Christina Carter, she of Charalambides, and she of the most beatific, beautific voice on land, sea and air.
One track called Honest James has Thurston and Christina singing duet against a single acoustic guitar and it is a naked groove. The otherworldly Canadian musician Andrew Macgregor aka “Gown” plays some spectacularly understated and incredible guitar and Sunburned Hand of The Man’s John Moloney takes over the drum stool to absolutely flail on the pit snarling Wonderful Witches. And then there’s the 20 seconds or so of primal noise wave courtesy of American noise underground genius Leslie Keffer on Off Work.
Most of the tunes are lyric driven but there are a couple of majestic instrumentals like Trees Outside The Academy, which brings the album to a musical and breathless close. There’s also some weird cassette tape that Thurston found at his mom’s of him at 13 years old in the early 70s making some kind of sound-theatre. It’s kinda nuts, and it’s the last “hidden” track. Tracks like Frozen Gtr, The Shape Is In A Trance, Silver>Blue, Never Day and Fri/end (a theme song to the hippest TV show yet to be broadcast) will lead you in to a sparkling and heavy new world of Thurston’s heart, mind and soul.
Thurston Moore, for those of you just visiting planet Earth, has been playing music and liberating whatever ossifying standards rock n’ roll becomes threatened by since the late 70s when he walked the downtown jungle of punk/post-punk/no wave NYC and started the band Sonic Youth. Ever since he and the band have consistently stayed true to the authenticity and creativity of radical rock n roll idealism. From the experience of a life touring, writing, having a magical daughter with his amazing wife and partner Kim Gordon, Thurston has poured a heady brew into whatever speakers this new CD flows from. Take a sip, and pass it around.
Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore: gtr, bass, vox
Steve Shelley: drums
Samara Lubelski: violin
with: j mascis, christina carter, andrew macgregor, john moloney, leslie keffer
thurston
"trees outside the academy"
1. Frozen Gtr 4:06
2. The Shape Is In A Trance 4:39
3. Honest James 3:49
4. Silver>Blue 5:51
5. Fri/End 3:19
6. American Coffin 3:56
7. Wonderful Witches 2:24
8. Off Work 4:12
9. Never Day 4:01
10. Free Noise Among Friends :34
11. Trees Outside The Academy 5:50
12. Thurston@13 2:37
produced by john agnello and thurston moore
recorded and mixed by john agnello at bisqueteen, amherst ma, spring 2007
mastered by greg calbi at sterling sound
pas de bras pas de chocolat |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2007 : 12:39:44
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Contactmusic.com.
MOORE REGRETS FINANCIAL DISADVANTAGES OF SONIC YOUTH'S LONGEVITY
SONIC YOUTH rocker THURSTON MOORE regrets not disbanding his cult group 20 years ago - because they could have made a fortune if they'd reformed for a reunion tour. In the last few years, Moore has watched as contemporaries including Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. reunited to great acclaim and substantial financial rewards. And the 49-year-old admits he sometimes wonders how much money a Sonic Youth reunion tour would have made. He says, "The Pixies reunion was a real success, and Dinosaur Jr. seems like a big success, and both those bands play as good as they ever did. Mission Of Burma blew my mind when they came back. "But a band like us never did break up. Which was to our own detriment. "What would have happened if we did break up after (classic 1988 double album) Daydream Nation - or even after (1990's) Dirty - and had gotten back together two years ago? "You'd be interviewing me at the Chateau Marmont as I'm waiting for my limousine. We probably would have made so much money. "This was our biggest career faux-pas - not breaking up."
28/08/2007 02:08
Also see:
SONIC YOUTH
THURSTON MOORE
Click for the SONIC YOUTH Gallery
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Skatealex1
* Dog in the Sand *
1670 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2007 : 13:02:05
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lame, i do like them tho.
The Truth Is Out There |
Edited by - Skatealex1 on 08/28/2007 13:02:40 |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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Srisaket
= Cult of Ray =
Thailand
313 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2007 : 07:59:44
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Recent review from the Guardian:
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Sonic Youth
ABC, Glasgow
David Peschek
Friday August 24, 2007
The Guardian
As the 1980s drew to a close, rock music had become bloated and empty or, worse still, obsessed with a quest for authenticity, a spurious attempt epitomised by U2's gruesome Rattle and Hum, a foray into ersatz Americana. As corporate rock wheezed out a death rattle, however, a series of records from the underground reimagined what rock might be. Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, released in 1989 and now being played live in its entirety as part of the latest Don't Look Back season, came out at a time when New York's downtown art scene had been decimated by drugs and Aids, and America was groaning under a Republican presidency hostile to the arts. In the record's savage defiance endures the implicit divide between two different Americas.
Sonic Youth's roots are deep in New York's 1970s No Wave movement, when music and art bled into one another. They are a good deal older now - Lee Ranaldo's hair is almost totally white - but you couldn't tell from the way they bounce around the stage. As Teen Age Riot ends, Ranaldo, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon create gloriously brutal waves of feedback, rubbing their guitars over the amps, dragging them across the stage. If the Jesus and Mary Chain buried melody under beautiful noise, then Sonic Youth make beautiful melody out of noise. In some songs, they might almost be the New York Dolls. In 'Cross The Breeze, sudden shifts in pace knock the wind out of you and in Total Trash, Moore just punches the strings of his guitar with his fist. The songs' genius is in their fusion of good, old-fashioned riffing with experimental tunings and artful swathes of noise; somehow the sound is both brittle and big.
Despite Daydream Nation's brilliance, the night's most beautiful, affirming moment comes in the encore. Taking off her bass to sing lead on What a Waste from last year's Rather Ripped album, Kim Gordon whirls across the stage, dancing like a teenager, spinning around and around, arms flailing like a dervish. For some, the rock'n'roll ethos is live fast, die young. Yet survival - of productive relationships, of a vision, of a life - is much more radical. Sonic Youth, grow old, grow wise and dream on.
At the Roundhouse, London, on August 30-September 1. Box office: 0870 389 1846.
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7442 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2010 : 23:05:01
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Fun stuff... I'm listening to Daydream Nation and I'm blown away by it. Sonic Youth always were my favorite band, ever since high school, until I discovered the Pixies. I loved all their records - except DDN. For some reason it never clicked. And then yesterday I thought I'd give it another try, and guess what? It's as amazing as everyone says. I think I bought this CD in 1996 or something - It took me 15 years to appreciate it.
Denis
"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say." |
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Chris Knight
= Cult of Ray =
USA
899 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2010 : 01:39:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Carl
Contactmusic.com.
MOORE REGRETS FINANCIAL DISADVANTAGES OF SONIC YOUTH'S LONGEVITY
SONIC YOUTH rocker THURSTON MOORE regrets not disbanding his cult group 20 years ago - because they could have made a fortune if they'd reformed for a reunion tour.
Funny cuz it's true. And personally I don't begrudge anyone who makes good music for wanting to make a little moolah from it, which is why I never really looked down on the Pixies for "cashing in". I just keep listening to the old records and save my money for concerts I can actually afford.
SY are doing pretty damn good though. Their latest album made the US top-20...their highest charting album ever, despite just switching from Geffen/Universal to Matador Records. |
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Jose Jones
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1758 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2010 : 12:30:42
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quote:
Originally posted by vilainde
Fun stuff... I'm listening to Daydream Nation and I'm blown away by it. Sonic Youth always were my favorite band, ever since high school, until I discovered the Pixies. I loved all their records - except DDN. For some reason it never clicked. And then yesterday I thought I'd give it another try, and guess what? It's as amazing as everyone says. I think I bought this CD in 1996 or something - It took me 15 years to appreciate it.
Denis
"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say."
DDN made me woozy the first few times i gave it a try. somehow it eventually clicked, though, and i couldn't stop listening to it for a couple weeks. it's really something else.
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they were the heroes of old, men of renown. |
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ruzom
= Cult of Ray =
France
267 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 00:48:35
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| That's weird, Daydream Nation was the first album by Sonic Youth I REALLY loved(though I probably listened to it only twice)... Didn't care much about the others I listened a bit to, Dirty for example. I liked Sonic Nurse at the time of its release, never listened to it again since... but obviously, I don't know much about this band. Any recommendations? |
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velvety
= Cult of Ray =
Portugal
536 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 06:27:33
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| Get Sister. And then Washing Machine. |
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ruzom
= Cult of Ray =
France
267 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 16:25:50
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| Ok thanks Velvety, I'll do it! |
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Levitated
= Cult of Ray =
Chile
652 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2010 : 14:18:46
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| Yeah, Sister is awesome!! |
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Chris Knight
= Cult of Ray =
USA
899 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 03:42:22
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| Thirded. Sister is probably their best album, and it isn't super long (unlike Daydream Nation). |
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7442 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2010 : 09:03:47
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Yeah, Sister's the best.
Denis
"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say." |
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Sonic Youth
