Sonic Youth: Classic or Dud/S&D?

since the conclusion of that Elle interview ends w/ Rodham worship, and my last-ever SY show meeant enduring Thurston bumbling through some praise for Obama, my long-held belief that T and K are both fairly stupid people is confirmed.

now let's not pretend you're really LOOKING for confirmation, ever, from anyone, for that belief

I like much of the music they made together, but I always winced when either of them bandied about words like "bourgeois." Dunno if they're dumb, but they're definitely at their best when the music does the talking.

NO... MORE... PANTY... LINES

whooooaoAAAAA, do you think O'Rourkie left SY because of their sordid love triangle?? moved to japan so we wouldn't see his tears????

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/314731.1020.A.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOCuE_OLyr8

which one is the paraplegic?

that's sweet, kim and thurston seem dumb to you? who are they and who are you again?

to be less hostile, read some of kim's writing for artforum in the early 80s....NOT. DUMB.

not on pain of death, thx

i actually know some pretty smart Democrats. book smart anyway.

her article on glenn branca, "i only kill in my dreams" is very good, amirite morbs?

is there an easy way to track down her artforum stuff?

don't really think that kim and thurston saying positive things about obama or HRC can be read as an endorsement of droning or whatever.

i might have copies somewhere i can shoot you as pdfs...email me

Kim wrote an Artforum article in the mid eighties about rock idolatry that gets cited often.

http://www.fodderstompf.com/ARCHIVES/REVIEWS/gordonritz.html

https://twitter.com/KimletGordon/status/327131639018835968

so yeah it's gotta be prinz

Smash the HRMC

SACRED COW ALERT!
i don't think they are dumb, but thurston always seems kinda childish.
also, the couple's admiration of some specific underground art scenes during the years is narrow minded and sometimes pretentious in a broad minded kinda way,if you know what i mean.

the new poetry label thing for example, even with the "thurston stamp of approval" that some people bow to i guess, is a total wtf imo.

but thurston always seems kinda childish

yeah i recently saw 1991: the year punk broke for the first time and i thought thurston was hella annoying and childish. esp since he was like in his 30s when it was filmed

kim's always seemed smart as hell. no opinion on thurston, except that i like his music.

i don't always like what they like, but i feel like they are really generous people. with their time, helping bands, etc. i feel the same way about henry rollins. i don't listen to his music, but he does tons of other stuff out of fandom that he really doesn't have to do at all. i appreciate that. pre-internet, thst kinda attitude was great. you find out about so much stuff thru them. i don't think i've ever bought an ecstatic peace record, but just doing a label takes time and effort that most people can't be bothered to spare. (i like cheerleaders, basically. being a cheerleader of sorts.)

scott otm

Scott, you are Morbs' kryptonite.

VegemiteGrrl otm

It was the coolest thing ever that they were on a major label and they handled it so well. Didn't seem to change them much, but it certainly made life better for a lot of other bands. To what Scott said--they've always been great cheerleaders of a wide variety of music and in turn, the art scene in general. They never seemed to abuse the luxury of their position and it always seemed pretty earnest. And that they were married and had a kid and kept rocking the house down and living a somewhat normal life was inspiring to me on many levels. It's hard to negotiate the rock world as you age--especially their corner of it--but SY stayed pretty cool til the end. Like, 20 years of that.

also, i gotta say, living for 4 years in thurston country, i've never heard anyone say anything negative about those two. nothing. i mean maybe they wouldn't to me or whatever, but usually people let their feelings be known sooner or later. i know people who work for them and with them, and they really are the benevolent elders around here. thurston has always been really pleasant and fun to talk to whenever i've seen him. i love the feeding tube shop in northampton that my friend ted and also byron and thurston have set up and they definitely go out and are a part of things and are supportive. when coco was going to the school my kids go to K & T set up a sonic youth benefit show and gave the school a bunch of money. stuff like that. lots of stuff like that. (in general, moving to freakfolk counry was the greatest move of my life. these are my people here. creative nerds with zero chips on their shoulders. i thank my lucky stars every day.)

do you think he calls her princess when he fucks her?

creative nerds with zero chips on their shoulders

Love love love this description

Scott OTMFM. Lived for 10+ years in that area, and my experiences were that T&K were unfailingly kind, approachable, and generous. They did major solids for local endeavors/art spaces.

The super cheap house prices in the area that Scott links to occasionally keep getting into my head, making me think W.MA might be a place to relocate to someday.

tarfumes you still coming to the record show on sunday? think i got a keith moon promo 45 with your name on it.

Yes, will definitely be there! Especially now!

(picture sleeve?)

no, unfortunately. i can't even remember what song it is. my gift to you for showing up.

meanwhile, this is up the road from us in charlemont and i want it! but i already have a house. you could host whispery indie-folk shows there:

http://www.trulia.com/property/1044612503-165-Main-St-Charlemont-MA-01339#photo-1

Do you have an EXIT sign in your bathroom too?

also, the couple's admiration of some specific underground art scenes during the years is narrow minded and sometimes pretentious in a broad minded kinda way,if you know what i mean.

i feel i don't even begin to know what you mean!

who knows? i guess they could have done better? but how many did it for better and longer than sonic youth? who handled success better? they are not one of my favorite bands of all time but they are the ultimate success story of US underground rock, and they did it all without ever once feeling like they compromised anything artistically (even the artistic peaks and valley's seemed like it was of their own vision)

i mean ppl with legit ties to a scene as small and unpopular and abrasive and NYC centric art scene as fucking no wave are going to be in the rock n roll hall of fame right next to eric clapton, you watch

to say it's an unlikely story is such a massive understatement

otm scott and UMS and a lot of other ppl
also creative nerds w no chips seems ideal

ok so that's the branca article upthread...who was it again who claimed she/they weren't too bright?

but thurston always seems kinda childish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzC-KD-8fCc

1988 Kim Gordon Tour Diary!

http://www.saucerlike.com/articles.php?x=display&id=15

Atlanta, 9/16

On the drive from Athens to Atlanta there's this great Sno-Kone stand run by a six-year-old who offers a million different flavors -- poppy seed or corn dog, for instance.

...Thurston is really hung up on having to protect women, must be his upbringing.

Boston, 10/18

At our first gig in boston about four years ago, Conflict editor Gerard Cosloy, Forece Exposure's Jimmy Johnson, and this drunken fan-boy were just about the only ones there. During the first song the fan-boy picked up this broken drumstick that had flown onto the floor and threw it back. It speared into my forehead. At first I thought it had bounced off Thurston's guitar. Shocked, I didn't know whether to cry or keep playing, but then I just felt incredibly angry. It took a long time to resolve that incident, 'cause it really made me feel sick, violated, like walking to the dressing room after a set, having some guy sat, "Nice show," then getting my ass pinched as I walk away.

I blamed it on the music for a while, because it did draw fans who really want to see you hurt yourself. It's not that I don't share similiar expectations; there's beauty in things falling apart, in the dangerous (sexual) power of electricity, which makes our music possible. But what was once a hazy fantasy has since clarified itself. I don't want my blood to be entertainment.

and lol at the "secret message". v sonic youth.

want that sno-kone stand to still exist. but the kid would be 30 now. that's like a million in snow years.

i think excerpts from that tour diary were in Sassy! Magazine when I was in high school -- one of those formative experiences.

it was also reprinted in the excellent Rock She Wrote anthology iirc

I always winced when either of them bandied about words like "bourgeois." Dunno if they're dumb, but they're definitely at their best when the music does the talking.

you have a genius and a sex maniac living together
Taking lots of drugs and, and fucking all day

Probably the smartest/wisest thing he could do at this point:

Were you surprised by Kim's recent interview in Elle in which talked about your marital problems?

I'm not gonna talk about it. There's no aspect of that I will ever talk about.

And that's it.

lol at this

What do you make of current indie rock, like Vampire Weekend, the National or Spoon?
I'm totally open to it.

sort of funny that no one in the band will say that sonic youth is over and done with...