best Sonic Youth album of the '00s

cool! i'm glad to hear it, and yeah lee's absense wouldn't make much sense since there are obviously two guitars and the guitar parts fucking kiiiilll.

Experimental Jet Set is a biiiig favorite of mine. Yes, their "punkiest"--their version of lo-fi bedroom pop. "Screaming Skull" is a particular fave: love the full-on Rolling Stones groove they get into at the end. Also love "Androgynous Mind" and "Bull in the Heather" and "Skink."

i love y'all and all but NYC G&F is the best of SY's 00s albums by about a thousand miles? it might even be their best album? what is with you people.

um..who said that?

i always find the criticisms of NYC G&F a little baffling: there's no songs and some of it sounds a bit embarrassing — they never wrote good 'songs' & they're always embarrassing

like, the chorus to anti-orgasm is the campest thing on record this year surely

The thing about NYC G&F is that besides containing an amazing opening track, it's at least sonically (ha) interesting all the way through. The others in this poll are awfully forgettable. So it's not that I exactly love G&F, but it's the one I keep listening to with interest. The others make ok background and that's about it.

Also, production on G&F is radically better than the others, probably due to extra band member.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS), so it wouldn't surprise me if I relistened to WM and thought it was more than that.

No no, I get that. What I don't get is why you'd avoid listening to it if you think it'll be better than you presently recall it to be.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

really curious to see how many votes the (probable) bottom 2, NYC Ghosts and The Eternal, get.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Still don't get the Sonic Nurse love, but whatevs.

man, "New Hampshire"! "I Love You Golden Blue"! "Unmade Bed"! "Dripping Dream"! it's a great album.

totally happy w/ these results, although i'd like to think that in time The Eternal will be thought of as better than Rather Ripped.

This poll got way more voters in general than most. no surprise I guess, but still.

I thought I wld be the lone NYC ghosts voter.

i had a feeling it would have a decent lil voting bloc, especially since it's kind of counterprogramming to put it up against the 4 albums after it

results more or less otm

i voted for nycbff. i'm not sure i stand by my reasons tho.

this is kinda interesting commentary about these albums:
http://music.newcity.com/2009/06/23/preview-sonic-youthvic-theatre/

Some could argue that shortly after 1992’s fantastic “Dirty” the band consistently churned out mediocre work, until 2000’s “NYC Ghosts & Flowers,” which was just bad. The following “Murray Street” and “Sonic Nurse” saw the band in mediocre territory again, and then “Rather Ripped” sparked them back into contemporary relevancy.

I don't think "interesting" is the word I'd use to describe this commentary.

The "mediocre" rating for Murray Street aside, I agree with that statement pretty much.

Even if you agree, "they were great and then they were mediocre and then they were bad and then they were mediocre and now they're great again" is about as far from "interesting" as commentary gets.

yeah, and "contemporary relevancy" .... ZZZZZzzzzz

How can The Eternal be a "return to form" if Rather Ripped had already "sparked them back into contemporary relevancy"?

ha! you guys are interested . . .
btw they rocked the shit at the vic last sunday night
rather ripped a silver rocket!
and played my favorite part of daydream nation: the sprawl > 'cross the breeze

damn! reverse the order maybe? voted for NYCG&F--their most gorgeous work ever, sonically speaking--just to spite pitchfork, basically. but pretty much love 'em all to one degree or another. i really dig Lee's "bad" beat poetry, even. and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Bad Moon Rising is their worst ever, fwiw.

waht

yeah yeah yeah, i know. but "DV '69" aside i don't really get that one. Walls Have Ears smokes both Bad Moon Rising and Evol, imho.

There is a great version of Death Valley '69 on Walls Have Ears, yeah.

But Brave Men Run, I Love Her All The Time... no?

they're ok but nothing revelatory. i much prefer the "Flower"/"Halloween" 12" myself.

there are 3 songs on bad moon rising: side A, 3/4 of side B, and "death valley 69"

the first 2 songs are awesome

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

I love "Brave Men Run" and the bonus tracks, and "Death Valley" is a lot of fun live, but yeah Bad Moon is way down among my 2 or 3 least fave SY albums. But then, I'm not a huge fan of the pre-Shelly stuff and my favorite release from that era is Sonic Death.

and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Well, I agree with you on "Karen Koltrane."

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

no problem.

murray street: 7 songs, half epics, jim o'rourke