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

i def understand how it might be hard to get into the track when it's hyped as their ultimate moment, but its tight otherworldliness totally blew me away when discovering it in my teens

one way you know it has some surreal romantic weight - m83 totally jacked the climax for "don't save us from flames"

daydream nation was just a perfect sndtrk for the election of Bush I.... i remember listening to it on a Walkman daily as i strolled down 8th Avenue to work.

Ranaldo is also my fave band member.

of the 20x or so times i saw em play, first was on a bill w/ the Minutemen i think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzPsMalV8ns

first hearing the shift at 3:28 was a real "oh no you didn't" moment

I go back and forth w "Schizophrenia"; when I first got into SY and couldn't find anything earlier than DN at the record stores in the malls, it was def a quality older cut. But as I became more exposed not only to their catalogue, but to more music in general, I kind of thought of its uptempo hookiness as sort of bland. But some time in the last couple of years I watched the performance of it at the beginning of The Year Punk Broke, and that reinstated some of that initial strangeness of the song for,me. But I still left it off my ballot...

I do think that as hooky guitar rock goes, it has a really interesting structure--it has no chorus, which is weird, but weirder still is how easy it is to almost forget that, how complete it feels without one--and really builds and develops in unusual ways. The instrumental , which is most of the song, is put together so that the melody/noise ratio is carefully modulated, so as to ratchet up or dissipate tension as needed. The song doesn't seem longer than it is or shorter, but with the amount of stuff they do and ideas they pack in there, it feels like it should be longer. And again, all of this moves so effortlessly that it is easy to take it for granted, as in my aforementioned sniffiness about the song. Taken apart, the diff't components of the song feel very left-field, but put back together, it makes perfect musical sense. But then, that's p much late-80s SY in a nutshell...

i like the idea of hearing schizophrenia as "bland uptempo hookiness"

oh man did morbs vote? would wanna see that ballot

xpost like it's their "that thing you do!"

my first exposure to several of their '80s classics was the performances in The Year Punk Broke and i sorta wish it wasn't, don't think that's the best way to hear those songs

anybody confused by thurston's future midlife crisis needs a supercut of his bits from that

cutting off his bits is not the answer, i don't think

hiyo

oh man did morbs vote? would wanna see that ballot

― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Saturday, May 18, 2013 8:11 AM (13 minutes ago)

I don't think he indulges in such piffle as the artist polls.

I do think that as hooky guitar rock goes, it has a really interesting structure--it has no chorus, which is weird, but weirder still is how easy it is to almost forget that, how complete it feels without one--and really builds and develops in unusual ways. The instrumental , which is most of the song, is put together so that the melody/noise ratio is carefully modulated, so as to ratchet up or dissipate tension as needed. The song doesn't seem longer than it is or shorter, but with the amount of stuff they do and ideas they pack in there, it feels like it should be longer. And again, all of this moves so effortlessly that it is easy to take it for granted, as in my aforementioned sniffiness about the song

OTM. Also, it's worth emphasizing that none of the sections ever come back again after they move on to something new, which is what makes it possible for them to fit so much into 4 minutes! Often, that sort of thing could lead to a really messy composition but they manage to make everything flow in a way that feels organic.

my first exposure to several of their '80s classics was the performances in The Year Punk Broke and i sorta wish it wasn't, don't think that's the best way to hear those songs

Ha, that film put me off Sonic Youth for years - a friend's girlfriend put it on for a group of us, this was in about 1995 when we were in our total grunge backlash phase, we couldn't have been less interested. I've still not seen in full.

I think that was my first exposure to them too.

I saw it in 1997 and was already a fan. At the time, I was almost embarrassed by how dumb Thurston acted and thought the live footage of Sonic Youth was pretty unininspiring except for "Expressway". I thought they were being total asses when they had a chance to do something great for a wider audience, out of sheer arrogance and contempt. Later I thought they were maybe just nervous and awkward about suddenly being on a big label and being in front of bigger audiences than they were used to. After the discussion of T&K's wealth on the other thread, I've been thinking that they were phoning it in for a quick cash grab when it came to things like this and half-assed compilation cuts.

Did someone at Geffen honestly think that Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr had anything to do with punk breaking?

Maybe it's better than I remembered though.

i mean the title of the movie was definitely tongue-in-cheek, and picked out before it ended up being kind of true. don't think DGC was very involved with the movie at all, i kind of imagine if Nevermind and everything hadn't happened they might not have bothered putting out the VHS.

the goofiness of the movie and of their '90s half-assed compilation cuts seems very of a piece with Thurston's Master Dik-era goofiness, that's one place where i feel like major label money didn't change them at all.

That makes some sense. Honestly, I don't remember it that well. Maybe I'll watch it again.

fave tracks (1-30)

the diamond sea

starpower

wildflower soul

shadow of doubt

total trash

skip tracer

kill yr idols

disappearer

the sprawl

brother james

green light

the burning spear

sugar kane

karen revisited

kotton krown

pattern recognition

expressway to yr skull

catholic block

teen age riot

dirty boots

schizophrenia

tom violence

mote

macbeth

stereo sanctity

death valley ‘69

hey joni

little trouble girl

rain on tin

into the groovey

fave albums

evol

washing machine

sister

daydream nation

murray st

fave album cover - goo

fave band member - lee renaldo

side projects

thurston moore - demolished thoughts

free kitten - sentimental education

lee renaldo - scriptures of the golden eternity

Sentimental Education was a wild record

in the choose-yr-own-aesthetic-adventure narrative of SY’s career, here’s this month's preferred arc (would like to know who else slotted Inhuman at #1, but I'm not sure I need to ask):
1) Inhuman
2) Death to our Friends
3) Brother James
4) Shadow of a Doubt
5) Brave Men Run
6) Schizophrenia
7) Death Valley ‘69
8) I Dreamed I Dream
9) Flower
10) Starpower
11) Society is a Hole
12) Kill Yr. Idols
13) She’s in a Bad Mood
14) Protect Me You
15) Making the Nature Scene
16) Shaking Hell
17) I’m Insane
18) Beauty Lies in the Eye
19) Pacific Coast Highway
20) Macbeth
21) Youth Against Fascism
22) JC
23) Fire Engine Dreams
24) Loop Cat
25) Side2Side
26) Panty Lies
27) Peace Attack
28) The Neutral
29) Jams Run Free
30) What A Waste

1) Confusion is Sex
2) Bad Moon Rising
3) EVOL
4) Kill Yr. Idols
5) Sister

band member: KG
cover: BMR

oh yeah my top 5 albums were

1. Sister
2. Sonic Nurse
3. Washing Machine
4. Goo
5. EVOL

Big drop between 1 and 2

sleeve, there's the excellent gila monster jamboree vhs documenting a show from 85 in the mojave desert
http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/vid2.html
― today's tom soy yum, mean mean thai (Spectrist), Sunday, May 12, 2013 5:37 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Holy shit, this is fantastic (on you tube)

Croup!!! Sonic Nurse!

I'm still baffled by White Kross not making the top 100 when everything else from Sister placed so high. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

i cut "white kross" fairly early on and never looked back. it's a classic, no doubt, but not any moreso than most of the rest of the album. my favorite attack-mode track from sister = "stereo sanctity", and i felt i had SY as a noise-punk force of nature p well covered elsewhere w "kill your idols" & brother james".

overall, i'd call it luck of the draw more than an outright dismissal

yeah nearly every sister track made it so would guess its absence is due more to ppl putting a limit to how many tracks from sister they'd vote for than any judgment on the track itself. would guess w/ a different voting scheme in place, one where say ppl ranked every single sonic youth track it would've placed in top 100. curious what albums had the most ballot representation, if there were any ballots w/ no tracks from sister or daydream nation, etc. i know there were stones ballots that didn't have any exile tracks.

Great answers re: "Schizophrenia", cheers. The Kim/Thurston vocal tradeoff def. feels more organic than "Teenage Riot"'s prelude/main act structure (maybe reinforced by them skipping Kim's parts when they play it live) - Sister also has "Kotton Krown" which has unison-y vocals, and I guess a similar appeal (not really knowing Sister's rep, I would've guessed "Catholic Block" would have come in second, though I guess both that & "Silver Rocket" didn't place as highly as my expectations).

This cover is great btw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ZXr9uAolI

Trawling around the 'net looking for Sonic Youth covers - combination of SY's sounds being hard to easily replicate & SY's lyrics often sounding really, really dumb when not carried by Kim/Lee/Thurston's attitudes or w/e mean it's slim pickings - the Faint & the Go! Team provide game reinterpretations of "Mote" & "Bull In The Heather" respectively, Cat Power's "Schizophrenia" sounds exactly as you'd imagine it, the Elf Power "Kotton Krown" turns the freakout into a 60s quasi-raga ... I'm quite taken with this alt-country "The Diamond Sea" by Cuff the Duke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbE9nTMrnXU

Gutted, can't seem to find the Young@heart Choir version of 'Schizophrenia' on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDUOpcic0jE

I was at a wedding over the weekend so missed the end of the poll - very interesting. Of course, if you asked me now it would be an entirely different list; does anyone actually have a favourite SY song? Anyway, here's my ballot:

1. Washing Machine
2. The Diamond Sea
3. Wish Fulfillment
4. I Love Her All The Time
5. Shadow Of A Doubt
6. Expressway To Your Skull
7. Hoarfrost
8. Schizophrenia
9. Beauty Lies In The Eye
10. Kotton Krown
11. Mote
12. NYC Ghosts & Flowers
13. Kill Yr Idols
14. JC
15. I Love You Golden Blue
16. She Is Not Alone
17. Skip Tracer
18. Shaking Hell
19. Wild Flower Soul
20. Green Light
21. Antenna
22. Walkin Blue
23. Radical Adults lick Godhead Style
24. Slaapkamers Met Slagroom
25. Unmade Bed
26. Sweet Shine
27. Blink
28. Genetic
29. Sympathy For The Strawberry
30. Anagrama

Five Favourite Albums
1. A Thousand Leaves
2. Sister
3. Evol
4. Dirty
5. Washing Machine

Favourite Sides etc.
1. lee Ranaldo - From Here To Infinity
2. Thurston Moore - Psychic Hearts
3. Lee Ranaldo - Dirty Windows

Favourite Band Member: Lee

Least Ugly Album Cover: Murray Street

Lastly, it just really set me down the road of thinking that there may never be a band like Sonic Youth again, and perhaps they are utterly singular even now, in regards to maintaining a quality and consistency to their catalogue over as long a stretch of time as they have. They never stopped putting out records that didn't suck (in my opinion of course, but at this point I at least like to love every damn one of them) for pretty much 30 years, which is truly just nuts.

grandavis sounding presidential here

― j., Friday, May 17, 2013 5:20 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol read it aloud in an Obama voice

― trick paddy pollars (some dude), Friday, May 17, 2013 9:58 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hah, this is great. If you guys knew how far my speaking voice was from "presidential" and Obama-like it would be even funnier.

It is pretty tough to re-read some of my comments sometimes. There are very good reasons I do not write about music much, and glad there are so many others here that do it well. Going to still be listening to a ton of SY for the next week or so.

Speaking of which, for all you "Mote" fans check out this live version from 2004 (with O'Rourke), which smokes! Band is totally feeling it. Segues in a really fast and pretty good "New Hampshire". They were so good live on this tour, wish I had seen them more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_1krnCvRE

I was away over the weekend as well. Cool roll out - Diamond Sea is way too high:

1.. Disintegration Notice

2.. Sugar Kane

3.. Silver Rocket

4.. Teenage Riot

5.. Superstar

6.. Paper Cup Exit

7.. Rain On Tin

8.. Schizophrenia

9.. 100%

10. Death Valley 69

11. Expressway To Yr Skull

12. Starpower

13. Stones

14. Total Trash

15. Inhuman

16. Cotton Crown

17. Eric's Trip

18. Cross The Breeze

19. Candle

20. Hot Wire My Heart

21. Reena

22. I Love Her All The Time

23. Shadow Of A Doubt

24. Antenna

25. Tom Violence

26. Ghost Bitch

27. Poison Arrow

28. Do You Believe In Rapture?

29. The Diamond Sea

30. Genetic

yeah as the poll went on i was like "Diamond Sea doesn't need to be in the top 10 but i can understand it" to "hmm wow top 5" to "top two? get the fuck outta here"

Disintegration Notice?

i didn't think i was going to make diamond sea my number one but for some reason it felt right, possibly because i can't help but hear these ballots as setlists and #1's a closer

Missed the grand finale as well, but caught up to the thread and love how it turned out, especially since "fan faves" like Cotton Crown and PCH and Theresa's Sound World all cracked the top 20. Always felt Theresa was a classic from the first time I heard it, glad to see others feel similarly. It really benefits from the sleek production, in the same measure that Inhuman works with its swampy, humid production. I've rated that as my #1 for years, it'll never change. It totally sounds like steam rising off of an overworked mesh of gears to me. I think I read somewhere that someone spilled a can of Coke on the masters for Confusion is Sex, and ever since then I've loved hearing it all as a rotten, sticky mess. Certainly my fave LP of theirs by a mile. Happy to see Lee is Free almost make the top 100!

inhuman
hyperstation
the diamond sea
schizophrenia
total trash
she's in a bad mood
i love her all the time
the sprawl
lee is free
pch
brother james
protect me you
shadow of a doubt
titanium expose
madonna sean and me (aka expressway to yr skull)
eliminator jr
i dreamed i dream
the world looks red
cotton crown
society is a hole
the bedroom (aka the destroyed room)
providence
beauty lies in the eye
teen age riot
sugar kane
macbeth
jc
sweet shine
theresa's sound world
tunic

I completely agree with contenderizer about the first half of "Mote". The noisy instrumental section, however, never really seems to go anywhere and doesn't justify its length for me (and I'm a "Diamond Sea" fan). However, this is almost reversed in that live version! Ranaldo either didn't pull off or changed the melody, which was a big part of the song's appeal. However, that noise interlude is fantastic, with real motion, and segues so effortlessly into "New Hampshire". And the version of "New Hampshire" is great! They really work that coda. Such tight players by that point. Know where that clip is from?

Yeah, Lee's vocals are a little shaky, but I find the music all around great (and yeah, the segue specifically is really tight). I do not know where the show is, but there are at least a few other clips from it on Youtube. It is dated, so you can go onto the SY site and find the archive for the show I imagine.

On the rare occasions Lee sang two songs back to back, it was usually "Mote" segueing into "Hoarfrost," which was awesome

Shit, sorry, thought it was dated but was wrong. Seems like they opened with Pacific Coast Highway, so that might help. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f_bb7iVfak&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Shit again. That video was already posted upthread (maybe even by you ....)

Disintegration Notice?

huh! Yeah. Hadn't noticed that - I'm pretty sure my first place vote was picked up correctly despite my lack of care.

Seems like that show is 08/04/04 -- Montreal, PQ @ Metropolis, as it is the only show from 2004 where they do a "Mote-->New Hampshire" and a "Pacific Coast Highway" where they would have come from offstage and gone right into it (it was an encore, not an opener).

Set list:

I Love You Golden Blue
Empty Page
Pattern Recognition
Unmade Bed
Paper Cup Exit
Bull in the Heather
Stones
Mariah Carey
Mote
New Hampshire
Dude Ranch Nurse
Brother James
--
PCH
Sugar Kane
--
Making the Nature Scene