POLL YR. IDOLS: The official SONIC YOUTH RESULTS thread!

That was "Stairway" for fans in the 90s iirc.

Ha, I wonder if the Kim-Thurston LOVE IS DEAD split has caused a slight recoil from "The Diamond Sea". Too scared to listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover of it, how is it? Always thought Beat Happening's "Indian Summer" was the indie "Stairway", heh.

Voted for these:

97. Computer Age (57 points, 4 votes)
93. Anagrama (60 points, 8 votes)
87. (TIE) Genetic (72 points, 6 votes)
84. NYC Ghosts & Flowers (79 points, 6 votes)
67. Making the Nature Scene (106 points, 7 votes)
66. Drunken Butterfly (107 points, 7 votes)
65. Kissability (108 points, 7 votes)
64. The World Looks Red (108 points, 8 votes)

i dont think anything i voted for has shown up yet which makes sense cuz everything i voted for is super awesome so obv lots of other ppl voted for it too

im going to be mildy disappointed if teenage riot doesnt win this

Etc, you may be onto something there.

For me the issue is Thurston's vocal. When I was younger I dug it - the yearning, the dreaminess, the starry eyed wonder, etc.

That was when I was 18. At 36 I wish TM would shut up and let the music do the talking.

Re diamond sea

It's like 90% instrumental. (Only made the middle of the ballot btw, and nostalgia was pushing it that high.)

Etc, you may be onto something there.

About "Indian Summer" or the impact of the breakup? Because the former was a joke, right?

That 10% vocal was enough to keep it off of my ballot.

I had 'Unmade Bed' really high on my ballot — number five, I think. I was surprised I wasn't the only one that voted for it, honestly. The rest of my top five are probably pretty standard picks.

Lot of other stuff I voted for has already showed, as well. Seven things so far, if I'm recalling my ballot accurately.

man it's nice to hear "Chapel Hill" again, I always forget how good this song is because it's not in the sweet spot of very favorite Dirty songs.

i always figured "Unmade Bed" would do decent because it was the lead single off a well regarded album, and also just really good. feels like a 'lullabye'-ish "Diamond Sea"-style later Thurston song that's just nice and short and perfectly structured.

I wish "Chapel Hill" had a better chorus.

Al otm

When I reviewed SN I made that same point about "Unmade Bed"

Nothing from Sister, Murray Street or The Eternal has placed yet right?

― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:11 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nothing from A Thousand Leaves yet either. kind of wondering if it'll have a really minor presence in the tracks poll relative to the #4 rank in the albums poll.

Sister, on the other hand, will probably have every song but "Hotwire My Heart" in the top 50, which is pretty badass.

Hits and Wildflower will place for sure

just you wait, some dude

Ill lay odds on Antenna or Massaging the History

One of the pubs in the village that I live in (there are 2 pubs, right across the road from each other) has some Sonic Youth on their jukebox (I normally drink in the other one, but SY tempts me over now and again). They have Teenage Riot, Into the Groove(y), Sugar Kane and Plastic Sun.

None of those made it onto my ballot, perhaps because I'm always kind of annoyed by the selection for some reason (I usually put on TR). Why Plastic Sun? Of a million better choices...

i hope "Wildflower" does well, i love that song and see it as a major turning point toward their sound in later years, but cut it from my ballot at the last minute. "Hits" and "Massage" were good live but i never really loved either and would be kinda surprised if they placed.

man i just noticed "Jams Run Free" next to "Free City Rhymes" in the countdown, awesome

Fellow SY-heads, I need help with something that's been driving me nuts for a couple of weeks. Who is on the left in this photo from the Goo Demos cover?

http://www.coposlouchame.cz/foto_obaly/748071.jpg

It's some tv personality of the 70s, but I have completely forgotten her name. Part of me thinks she's a talk show host from that era.

Ha, that jukebox selection would annoy me too.

I actually like the vocal part on "Diamond Sea" well enough. Thurston's singing is what it is but I don't think it's especially bad on that track. The melody is quite simple and identical to the lead guitar melody but is pretty memorable imo, compared to "Sugar Kane" or "Hits of Sunshine". So I don't mind the YYYs' version. I still think the instrumental parts of "Diamond Sea" are pretty well-done, even if I wouldn't rank it as their most impressive work anymore. If I were to be really critical, the feedback shredding at the end probably goes on a little longer than it needs to.

Re sloppiness in "NYC Ghosts and Flowers": the intonation feels a bit off too. But clearly they were really precise before (e.g. on DN) and since (on the next two albums). So it was probably intentional: interesting to think about what they were going for. Someone suggested Pavement/GBV above. But also, it was at this time that Branca was telling players not to tune precisely (or to play in precise time) with each other. And this track seems like one of their most overtly Branca-influenced tracks.

man "Tokyo Eye" leading into "Making The Nature" scene is beautiful, they're like distant cousins

the little breakdown in "NYC Ghosts" in the 3rd minute with Steve doing the 4 snare hits, that feels kind of weak/sloppy to me (timing is inconsistent, once or twice he only does 3 hits). the crescendo later in the song feels clumsy too. he's never been a flawless drummer and often i think it suits the material but there are times like that where i think it kinda blows the mood and wish they'd done another take or punched it in.

fucking LOVE thurston's "the diamond sea" vocal: lyrics, tone, delivery, the whole thing. the other day i listened to it while driving through low hills in a light rain w occasional sunbreaks. lonely miles, gray-green and glowing. could not help becoming one w the sound and moving out across the sky. the car looked like a tiny thing from up there, this weird metal ant driven by a sad chunk of monkey meat.

btw Gavin thanks so much for doing the Spotify playlist. i noticed it's missing "The Wonder," you should be able to add it, it's its own track on the remastered Daydream Nation (the same one you pulled "Rain King" and "Providence" etc.) from.

Love the passage that begins around 8:00.
xpost

"The World Looks Red" is so nuts, classic 'how the fuck do they even get guitars to sound like that?' song

Love the passage that begins around 8:00.

and the way it builds up starting around 11:00

all of it

Yeah, I just listened to the whole thing and it all still works for me.

The thing that gets me about NYCG&F is Lee's vocal, during the crescendo. Kind of yelling against a gale, the switching to long, haunting sung lines. Just works really well for me.

http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/060.jpg
60. Society is a Hole
Bad Moon Rising, 1985
(115 points, 7 votes)

voted for that one, seems real

http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/059.jpg
59. Eliminator Jr.
Daydream Nation, 1988
(119 points, 9 votes)

http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/058.jpg
58. Green Light
Evol, 1986
(120 points, 6 votes)

Stoked "Eliminator Jr."'s showed up, great abrupt album closer. POOR BOY! RICH BOY! POOR RICH BOY COMING RIGHT THROUGH ME!

btw Gavin thanks so much for doing the Spotify playlist. i noticed it's missing "The Wonder," you should be able to add it, it's its own track on the remastered Daydream Nation (the same one you pulled "Rain King" and "Providence" etc.) from.

Ah, I think I added that from a different version of DN (UK Spotify has two or three listed) which must not be available on the US. I'll change it when I get in from work. 'Anagrama' is missing from Spotify altogether although the other three tracks from that EP are.

'Green Light' is one of my favourite songs on my favourite album, it still didn't make my top 30. One of the many 'catchy in spite of itself' Sonic Youth songs.

http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/057.jpg
57. The Burning Spear
Sonic Youth, 1982
(124 points, 7 votes)

TOO LOW. Their best bassline?

Just trawling around YouTube looking for live performances of this, and came across this cover by Thee Oh Sees(!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwEWBZBVgkE

Wow, that's actually pretty good! Very faithful to the original.

First jump of more than 10 points:
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/056.jpg
56. Kool Thing
Goo, 1990
(135 points, 7 votes)

wow, quite low for "Kool Thing." if we only did a top 50, i'd definitely be thinking that's next the entire time.

definitely happy "Eliminator Jr." made it, always my favorite part of the Trilogy. does that mean "Hyperstation" is the most popular part and still to come, or it's the least popular and missed the top 100? i really have no idea which is more likely.

As a very low-level Sonic Youth fan I didn't vote in this but Kool Thing would have been Top 10 for a dilettante like me. First SY song I heard iirc. Sounded like the cover of Goo come to life.

does that mean "Hyperstation" is the most popular part and still to come, or it's the least popular and missed the top 100? i really have no idea which is more likely.

The former imo.

I voted for "Green Light". I don't buy into the romanticism as much as I used to but it's still always a pleasure to hear this: it has energy, a good hook, and a great atmosphere and the dissonant breakdown is fantastic.

http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/055.jpg
55. Titanium Exposé
Goo, 1990
(136 points, 7 votes, 1 #1)

Man, I would never do this to a guitar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAsgPdvyMAo

P cool performance though. That's the tour where I saw them do "Burning Spear", although iirc they weren't nearly this aggressive when I saw them.

Better sound and video, though no putting down guitars and whacking them on the stage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1YVPanmh0Q

I didn't vote for anything from the first EP but this might have made a top 50.