Thought you were making up some Sonic Youth lyrics.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 18 October 2020 21:22 (three years ago) link
just listened to their debut for the first time. the music feels very Glenn Branca-esque, plus hand percussion. I really like the cover image.
― Dan S, Sunday, 18 October 2020 23:03 (three years ago) link
It was on Glenn's label.
― dan selzer, Monday, 19 October 2020 04:00 (three years ago) link
Ignore the first part of that.
No way, that was exquisite, I wouldn't change a word of that. Not how I remember the place but love the idea of pretentious jazzwankers having to set foot in the X-Large boutique on Lafayette to buy their Cooler tix.
― Deflatormouse, Monday, 19 October 2020 08:02 (three years ago) link
Evol and Sister have hit Bandcamp
https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/evol
https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/sister
That's all the 80s full lengths and I think the only studio things not on Bandcamp now one way or another from the decade are Kill Yr Idols and Into the Groovey.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 November 2020 16:49 (three years ago) link
If you could re-sequence/revise the track list for one Sonic Youth album, what would it be and how would you change it?
I’m going with Washing Machine, an album that’s near to perfect but slightly half-hearted about its desire to be psychedelic.
Here’s what I’d do:- cut “Junkie’s Promise”- cut “Panty Lies”- merge “Becuz” and “Becuz Coda” into a single song- would I cut “Skip Tracer”? Maybe- replace the 19:35 version of “Diamond Sea” with the ~25 minute long version from the CD5- Bliss out
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 12 December 2021 18:29 (two years ago) link
Skip Tracer is p psychedelic for me, w/Lee's free city rhymin'. And I love Junkie's Promise and Panty Lies, but that long version of Diamond Sea is bliss. I had a hunger back in the days of Napster to find every live version of that song I could and try and mix them into an epic symphony of feedback.
― Enjoy the brighter sounds of Analog on CD (stevie), Sunday, 12 December 2021 20:10 (two years ago) link
they finally put up a 1995 show on their live archive — it smokes. https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-austin-1995
Oh and hey, I interviewed Steve Shelley about said live archive. Some cool insights, stories, etc. He talks about wanting to do a Washing Machine boxed set and it sounds amazing. seems like Lee wants to do something similar with "Diamond Sea" ...
https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/11/30/sonic-youths-steve-shelley-selects-10-gems-from-the-bands-archive/
― tylerw, Monday, 13 December 2021 00:08 (two years ago) link
cut "Skip Tracer"??!? also I don't often like Kim's spoken / grunt songs but "Panty Lies" is perfect.Washing Machine is brilliant, it's A Thousand Leaves which needs some attention.
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:14 (two years ago) link
Yeah, nevermind re “Skip Tracer”. For whatever reason I always compare it to “Saucer Like” (which is far more enjoyable) but Lee’s lyrical swinging is crucial.
I sure hope that box set happens, thanks for posting that Tyler!
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:19 (two years ago) link
wow thanks Tyler! great stuff
― chaos goblin line cook (sleeve), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:20 (two years ago) link
That 1996 “Diamond Sea” blew my mind
Matt, what would you change about A Thousand Leaves?
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:51 (two years ago) link
Rob Sheffield in the blue 2004 Rolling Stone album guide proffered a version of ATL I have no problem with, and I love the album.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:56 (two years ago) link
Sheffield's suggested edit of ATL is brilliant. I tried it and it sounded perfect, like one of my very favorite Sonic Youth albums.
― birdistheword, Monday, 13 December 2021 01:27 (two years ago) link
(If anyone wants to try it, you basically remove every track with Kim on lead vocal - nothing against Kim, I love what she brought to the group, but in this particular case, it really creates a perfect album to cut out those tracks.)
― birdistheword, Monday, 13 December 2021 01:28 (two years ago) link
There are good things on ATL but overall I feel like it's too unfocused and jammy. Probably not the right attitude but I like their propulsive and rhythmic work more, e.g. the band only hit high gear when Steve joined, for my money. I do like their experimental side too but sometimes it feels a bit indulgent rather than challenging.
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 13 December 2021 01:30 (two years ago) link
ATL the album is on the right side of the jam boundary for me, but the ATL tour was drowning in jam
― Vangelis fleadh (seandalai), Monday, 13 December 2021 21:40 (two years ago) link
I really wish some of these archival treasures on Bandcamp were getting physical releases too. I've bought some of them and will likely continue to do so, but some of this stuff deserves to be around in another format too. I mean, I get it, but anything like this being hosted primarily on one digital platform only gets me nervous about just how long into the future this stuff will be relatively easily accessible.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 13 December 2021 22:08 (two years ago) link
XP Jon 1000%
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 13 December 2021 22:33 (two years ago) link
bird/word: whoa because ATL is *such* a Kim record. But it is also too long. I will check it out, because even as a long time fan I've always had a hard time with that one. (But then, I put NYC Ghosts and Flowers in their top five, so ....)
― three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 02:04 (two years ago) link
I’d buy more of these live sets if I could buy them on CD.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:38 (two years ago) link
atl is the best sy record, i will never stop claiming this
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:44 (two years ago) link
you basically remove every track with Kim on lead vocal
no way
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link
Shelley mentions some (potential) physical releases in the AD interview: a Wylde Ratttz LP that is in the making, not sure if the many Stooges songs they've recorded in rehearsals will be included, sounds like that's more of a long term wish. Then there's some talk on a Washing Machine box that he'd like to be able to get together. But yeah, nothing specific for the live sets, unfortunately. I'd sign up for a cassette series!
― willem, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:49 (two years ago) link
you can get a CD of this show — a few other things on the merch page, I think? https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-berlin-2009
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:49 (two years ago) link
Washing Machine set sounded incredible, hopefully they get to do it. He said there was a little hold-up with Universal, which still has the rights, I guess.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 15:50 (two years ago) link
ICYMI here's a look back at Sonic Youth at the onset of their storied career
https://humanparts.medium.com/street-noise-unearthing-sonic-youth-893f19ecb22f
hey
― Busy Bee Starski (m coleman), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:07 (two years ago) link
steve pressed up vinyl copies of Live In Chicago a couple months ago, the packaging was sweet.
― Enjoy the brighter sounds of Analog on CD (stevie), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:38 (two years ago) link
ICYMI here's a look back at Sonic Youth at the onset of their storied careerhttps://humanparts.medium.com/street-noise-unearthing-sonic-youth-893f19ecb22fhey
Loved this, Mark
― Enjoy the brighter sounds of Analog on CD (stevie), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:42 (two years ago) link
xpost - thanks tyler, looks like that Berlin set is the only one of the archival releases on CD, but that's a start! the merch page is mostly catalog and SYR physical releases.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:43 (two years ago) link
same, thanks
― chaos goblin line cook (sleeve), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:21 (two years ago) link
xp yeah, it'd be cool if they did something like a CD boxset of the Rarities collections. And I'm all for bypassing vinyl when it comes to this stuff, generally — I probably wouldn't buy a ridiculously expensive 5LP live release, but I'd buy a $16 2CD show.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 23:43 (two years ago) link
Nice piece, m coleman
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 04:08 (two years ago) link
where did rarities 3 go? not on Bandcamp anymore?
― StanM, Wednesday, 15 December 2021 19:22 (two years ago) link
Huh, yeah, it is gone. That was the only non-live entry so far, correct? Wonder if there was a rights issue somewhere down the line.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 19:52 (two years ago) link
What’s the consensus on “Tunic”? I feel like it was initially received in reviews at the time (which i remember as mostly being cranky about them moving to a major) as being too on the nose. But man, the frantic guitars in the intro, the rushed beat and that “You aren’t never going anywhere” chorus are all pretty mind blowing. And the lyrics are actually kind of perfect* – both subtle and over the top, which somehow seems appropriate. *Other than the reference to seeing (who I presume is) Dennis Wilson in heaven, as he didn’t die until later that year.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 16 December 2021 05:14 (two years ago) link
Tunic is pretty much a perfect song to me, the roaring sea of perfectly burred guitars, Kim drifting through it in a trance, haunted by the Carpenters, its seeming casualness and the void of horror beneath the surface.
― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 16 December 2021 05:55 (two years ago) link
and I loved your article Mark! Sent it to friends too.
Too bad. The acoustic Starpower version is still on YouTube though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYZ1lil80Rk
― EvR, Thursday, 16 December 2021 08:48 (two years ago) link
"Tunic" was what initially attracted me to SY as a kid in '90. I'll not hear a word against it.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 16 December 2021 10:07 (two years ago) link
“Tunic” works really well if you imagine it soundtracking a post-Robocop dystopian cyber cop film
― Standard Liege & Lief (Master of Treacle), Thursday, 16 December 2021 10:17 (two years ago) link
I didn't want to buy into "Tunic" at first because of the lyrics, if that is what NTI is getting at, but ultimately ended up getting drawn in all the deeper because of that, the effect being like a Douglas Sirk movie (hi Todd Haynes) where at first I want to laugh at or feel superior or most likely just keep the characters at arm's length, until I am totally relating to them and full-strength feeling their pain.
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:49 (two years ago) link
To make another unwarranted film reference, I recently read a pretty good Karen Carpenter bio called Little Gir Lost or something like that, and the story ending up having a Rosemary's Baby-like quality, Karen trying, mostly with the help of Phil Ramone and his wife Karen Kamon, to escape via her solo album, but then being thwarted at every turn.
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:54 (two years ago) link
Little Girl Blue, not lost.
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:55 (two years ago) link
Ok good, because “Tunic” was kind of blowing my mind. The part where she is disappearing as the titular article of clothing spins around her arms and legs reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the West melting – intentionally or not it’s an incredible (and indelible) image. What a tune.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:55 (two years ago) link
I really like the music on "Tunic" but the lyrics seem pretty trite to me, which is hard to overlook when they are spoken and foregrounded.
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:58 (two years ago) link
She was in a disastrous marriage at the end too, prior to which it seemed family members and record company types would meddle in her romantic relationships.
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 12:59 (two years ago) link
It's hard to argue with the fact that the lyrics are kind of artless and it almost feels like to cheating to say "But it's a real story!" but there it is. It's kind of a True Life version of "The Gift."
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 13:01 (two years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/magazine/karen-carpenter-s-second-life.html
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 13:33 (two years ago) link
SY version of "Superstar" for easy reference:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y21VecIIdBI
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 December 2021 13:45 (two years ago) link