Sonic Youth new album "Rather Ripped"

Call me crazy, but this is the album they should have released after "Daydream Nation" (first album on a major label, "alt rock" breaking through on the radio, why not?)

Matos, thanks for the tip on the meters' funk, it's anything but rigid.

Shelley sometimes reminds me a bit of Anton Fier with the bu-bu-ba, bu-bu-ba thing, which might be part of why a lot of recent SY reminds me of Chatham + vocals, which never seems quite as compelling as turning Branca into pop. I'm thinking you could probably sneak Die Donnergotter past a lot of casual SY fans these days, something that couldn't have happened in '87.

!

(Surely not as spazzed out?)

Fowley wasn't *always* spazzed out...there's this hyper-aware "rock and roll voice" thing going on on some of his more straightforward stuff that's very similar to the current SY vocal style. It's probably always been there, but seems to be increasing. Or maybe it's just that the vocals are so far forward on this one.

I could picture Cecil playing along with a rock band - he'd just kind of do his thing and the band would do theirs - sort of like the duo concert (later released as a record) he did with Mary Lou Williams where she was playing boogie-woogie and stride stuff while Cecil pounded away with the cluster chords and chromatic runs.

i dunno how i feel about this record.

Yes, thats what "jams run free" sounds like!

I haven't seen a confirmation of this yet, but when I first heard about it a couple days ago I was immediately reminded of how bad Free Kitten was. Please, music gods, do not let this happen.

SORRY! I COULD NOT RESIST!

Why don't you think instead of how awesome he was in Pavement?

"1979" always reminded me of the song "Psychic Hearts" by Thurston Moore.

no."goo" was their last great album.

Reading all these Rather Ripped impressions, AND, waiting for June 13, is a wonderful experience! Thank you all.

Cecil taylor RULES, OK? :)

Darren Skuja

"As long as the squares write stuff like that you know you must be doing something right" -- Fred "Sonic" Smith onstage circa 1978

Incinerate
Sleepin' Around
Do You Believe In Rapture
Pink Steam
Shakin' Hell
Rats
Pacific Coast Highway
Stones
Turquoise Boy
Lights Out
Sunday
Brother James
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Making The Nature Scene
Or
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Mote

They haven't done "Sunday" since the NYC Ghosts + Flowers tour, "Shakin' Hell" hasn't been around since maybe 1985 as far as I know, and it's strange that they only did one of Kim's new tunes. "Mote" and "Brother James" are high up on my list of songs that I'd like to see them do (both are pretty common, but I've never seen them), so that's rad.

i've always felt they avoid their recent material too much live.

Wait, you mean the most recent oldies, right? Because they always play most of/all of whatever is the newest record in any given show since Evol. I figure they cut the most recent material because they play it to death every show for a year or two, and they might just need space from it before coming back to it again. In the case of NYC Ghosts, that album wasn't popular, so I think that played a role in why those songs (except for a few rare performances of "Nevermind") were not played on the Murray Street or Sonic Nurse tours. However, all of the Murray Street songs except for "Sympathy For The Strawberry" and "Radical Adults..." were played on the Sonic Nurse tour - "Empty Page" and "Rain On Tin" quite often.

i guess it's 'washing machine' and 'thousand leaves' that i miss the most. might have something to do with their gear being stolen (sadly).

Matthew, since you're the expert on this, what are my chances of actually witnessing "Teenage Riot" or "Titanium Expose" on this tour?

"Teenage Riot" is one of the most common oldies, and I figure your chances are fairly good. However, it was pretty common on the Sonic Nurse tour, and so it might be less common this time around. I figure they might switch back to "Silver Rocket" or "Candle" for a Daydream-era Thurston tune. "Eric's Trip" is extremely common, if you're into that one.

Commonly (and less commonly) played oldies in the past few years include: "Bull in the Heather," "Skip Tracer," "100%," "Sugar Kane," "Drunken Butterfly," "Kool Thing," "Mote," "Teenage Riot," "Candle," "Silver Rocket," "Eric's Trip," "Kissability," "Schizophrenia," "Catholic Block," "Pacific Coast Highway," "White Cross," "Cotton Crown," "Expressway To Yr Skull," "Tom Violence," "Shadow of a Doubt," "Brother James," "Making The Nature Scene," "Inhuman," "The Burning Spear," and "She Is Not Alone."