another song that really benefited from professional knob twiddling
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 May 2013 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
My #3! Completely amazing song.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
...to me there is nothing half-power or "decent" about it. I find it to be an example of a band operating on a supremely high level, and indeed one they would not have been likely to achieve without all of the experimentation they went through from EJSTNS to NYCG&F. I see it as the culmination of an extremely fertile period ... but the payoff is essentially a song like "Rain On Tin". To me it is joyous, surprising ... really well crafted, and pretty singular in their catalogue as it existed up to that point. It is so comfortable in its own skin, which maybe doesn't sit so well with some folks, but the craft and ease with which they pull it off in no way diminishes the forward momentum and, to me, totally crushing group dynamics within the song/performance. I guess it just changed my perception of what kind of excitement SY could give me forever, and made me reexamine and appreciate those albums that preceded and of course those that directly followed it largely cause of its mightiness. Lastly, it just really set me down the road of thinking that there may never be a band like Sonic Youth again...
― grandavis, Friday, May 17, 2013 8:25 AM (3 minutes ago)
great post! i don't feel half as strongly abt "rain on tin", obv, but i'm glad you got/get that much out of it. maybe that sounds snarky, but i mean it sincerely, treeship style. for me, the equivalent late-period SY jams are "hits of sunshine" (to an extent), "i love you golden blue" and "turquoise boy": songs that couldn't have been produced by an earlier version of the band, that redefine and reinvigorate their art for the new century, and that stand confidently with their best, imo.
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 15:37 (eleven years ago) link
Thanks Contenderizer, you sum it up much better than I did (and way more succinctly). It really is cool that SY does the same thing for so many folks with completely different songs as their "example" of what gets them there.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:42 (eleven years ago) link
"Theresa's Sound World" is a great example of why I think that Kim Gordon is a great bass player. So simple but just perfect in the way her lines carry the song forward.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
The slides she does are always something I find to be super-cool.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:47 (eleven years ago) link
My number 1!http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/009.jpg9. MoteGoo, 1990(401 points, 21 votes, 1 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:52 (eleven years ago) link
just flew in from dreamland, and boy am i on fire
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 15:56 (eleven years ago) link
maybe my favorite SY lyrics, interspersed w baffling gib
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
"Mote" is one I don't quite understand the supreme love for (granted I voted for it at #22). The lyrics are cool, sure, and I guess that is a big appeal, but musically it never did nearly as much for me as other Lee songs. Anyone feel like summing up their love for this?
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:01 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/008.jpg8. Kotton KrownSister, 1987(412 points, 21 votes, 2 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:03 (eleven years ago) link
Theresa was in my top 10! Rad rad tune!
re: Mote, for years and years I always thought it was, "I am Alice, that cute child" instead of "I am airless, vacuum child" but Mote is kind of the bridge between early Lee and late Lee...
xp Kotton Krown was in my top 15!
― smartphones - the government's secret weapon against ILX (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:04 (eleven years ago) link
Nice to get a couple 90s tracks in the top 10 before the mid/late 80s onslaught sets in. "Mote" is fine but def not Lee's best song by a long shot.
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:04 (eleven years ago) link
Mote is their least-subtle Dinosaur Jr tribute. Borrows heavy elements from Mascis (verses) and Barlow (chorus).
It's an accessible blend of classic rock and alt-rock.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:05 (eleven years ago) link
Oops duh I forgot the obvious 90s track still to come
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:06 (eleven years ago) link
Is Kotton Krown the only song where T&K sing in unison?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:07 (eleven years ago) link
Interestingly the top 10 will have closing tracks from 4 albums. They sure knew how to end a record.
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:08 (eleven years ago) link
Wonder if "Cotton Crown" will be the only top 10 song I didn't vote for?
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
Had no idea that "Creme Brulee" was so loved
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:12 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/007.jpg7. Death Valley '69Bad Moon Rising, 1985(415 points, 23 votes, 1 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
the only time I ever took their early death porn seriously
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:16 (eleven years ago) link
Not sure I voted this one high enough at #12, but of course figured it would be a lock for top 10. Another song that I prefer live versions of, despite the lack of Lydia Lunch. Album version just isn't as ferocious though.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:18 (eleven years ago) link
album version is plenty ferocious though
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:20 (eleven years ago) link
"Mote" is fine but def not Lee's best song by a long shot.
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, May 17, 2013 9:04 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, May 17, 2013 9:05 AM (13 minutes ago)
contrarywise, it IS lee's best song by a long shot (my #3 vote), and "genetic" is their least-subtle/interesting dino jr trib
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:22 (eleven years ago) link
Lonely panda girl singing baout Death Valley 69
― shantalla (seandalai), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:22 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/006.jpg6. 'Cross the BreezeDaydream Nation, 1988(463 points, 23 votes, 1 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:23 (eleven years ago) link
Big surprise.
I WANNA KNOW
― Euler, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:23 (eleven years ago) link
xp kotton krown was my #9, still a great song, i love its sluggishness and how it slowly embraces cacophony in the second half before getting back to the theme. the first three minutes must be about the most tuneful on sister.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:24 (eleven years ago) link
'Cross the Breeze is the DN track I voted for. Just such a massive and relentless song, by far the best on Daydream Nation.
― silverfish, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
My #5 and highest (exclusively) Kim song! Musically this song does almost everything I like about SY in one song. Just love the progression of it.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:29 (eleven years ago) link
And yeah, totally relentless! Never seems like a 7 minute song to me.
I took a look into the hateIt made me feel very up to date
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:30 (eleven years ago) link
it's hard for me to say exactly why "mote" hits me so hard. in part, it's the soft cloud of vocals and gtr fuzz/production wrapped around this furious percussive maelstrom. the energy of it is so intense, it pins my ears back every time i hear it, and i can't think of another sy track where the integration between musical & lyrical suggestion is so tight & evocative.
i often think of evol having this quality of a warm, half liquid bundle of fur and flesh wrapped around a thicket of twitching razors. you hold it in your hand, and it feels soft, soothing, bruised in a way, but also gentle. every once in a while, though, a blade will whisper out and cut you. the feeling of the album is of having something like in your body always - purring, aching, cutting.
"mote" is similar, but also very different. it's soft, yearning, almost comforting, but inside is this furious engine, a rocket blasting through the haze. it's like tripping for the first time: beautiful but overwhelming, awesome, a bit scary. the drumming is incredible. and it's hook after hook after hook. shit, maybe it should have been my #1.
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:32 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/005.jpg5. Teen Age RiotDaydream Nation, 1988(519 points, 24 votes, 2 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
!
― Salt Mama Celeste (donna rouge), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
wooooowww – thought this was #1!
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:35 (eleven years ago) link
for some reason i thought "'Cross The Breeze" had already placed so i hadn't factored it into my assumptions of what the top 10 would like. i guess "White Kross" didn't make it at all?
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:35 (eleven years ago) link
i'm hoping so hard for a "Shadow of a Doubt" upset right now
satisfactory, given that it had to be top 5
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:35 (eleven years ago) link
which will be the four remaining songs? i have no clue. i wanted to put nic fit as my number but in the end i only put it at #10, it's the highest rated song left on my ballot now.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:39 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, my #13, though I think it deserves top 10 for sure (for the riff alone ....) Top 5 I am fine with, but I knew at least two of the songs left would beat it, at least on ILM. Thanks for not letting me down btw.
Also, thanks for the "Mote" thoughts Contenderizer. Doesn't sway me, but I totally get the feeling you are describing, and yeah, EVOL is like an album long meditation on it.
― grandavis, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
i wanted to put nic fit as number 1...
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.melson.nl/ILM/sypoll/004.jpg4. Shadow of a DoubtEvol, 1986(656 points, 28 votes, 3 #1)
― ArchCarrier, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
Let's not guess the songs please! Maybe we will be surprised?
Shadow of a Doubt would have been my #1.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:41 (eleven years ago) link
nah there is no suspense about the top 3 if you think about it for a minute
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:41 (eleven years ago) link
i am definitely in suspense about the order, though
― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
i know for sure what 2 of them are
― Salt Mama Celeste (donna rouge), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
cool results, lotsa twists. I voted Brave Men Run (never realized it shared initials with Bad Moon Rising), and Kotton Krown was my #1.
― Flat Of NAGLs (sleeve), Friday, 17 May 2013 16:42 (eleven years ago) link