Sonic Youth new album "Rather Ripped"

also, i do hope they play neutral on the tour. it's definitely my favoirte cut on the new disc. there's something "fresh" sounding, whatever that means, about it. it's really uncluttered and kim doesn't seem to be trying too hard. that sex-kitten thing is very unbecoming for someone her age and she doesn't really do that on the new one at all. and that's just one reason why they still matter. they never became parodies of their early-90s years.

has there been any indication of which song, if any, has been picked to be the single from RR?

how weird that bull in the heather was the single from ejstans? there are far more hookier songs on it.

"Jagged Brain"?

Sigh....7 more weeks then.

still, i'd say it's more radio-friendly than bull, even if it has more sonic youth elements in it. isn't the point of a single to try and lure more people to buy the record? to me, starfield and, point taken, self-obsessed are more accessible: guitars still conforming to sy's noise aesthetic but scrubbed clean a little bit. even that delay or phased guitar loop on starfield is a riff. then again, those distorted harmonics on bull are riff-y. opinions..like assholes..yadda yadda.

ir·rev·er·ent (?-r?v'?r-?nt)

adj.

1. Lacking or exhibiting a lack of reverence; disrespectful.
2. Critical of what is generally accepted or respected; satirical: irreverent humor.

I didn't know that! Thanks!

If you scan down, they put up lyrics to two forthcoming b-sides, both of which seem pretty fascinating to me.

wow, new b-sides, when's the last time they released b-sides that were non-album songs and not instrumentals or covers? the last I can remember is the Washing Machine-era "My Arena".

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12679452/

haha

Does this jibe with the sound on the rest of the new album?

-- Alex in Baltimore (shipley.a...), May 9th, 2006.

I have a version of "Starpower" w/ Thurston doing vocals. Kim on vocals obv more interesting.

Took a listen to RR; tho it sounds warmer + pleasing, more focused than any recent SY thing I've heard, I'm not too sure if it will stick to the ribs. That's all, please resume spamming of thread...

warmer + pleasing, more focused

this is my take as well, i am really into the rapture song although this:

"do you believe in rapture?" is good, but it'd be better if it ended with like kim getting rapturized and thurston being all like, "whaaaat? you promised!" and kim shouting tearful wailing "i'm sorry, i tried to save youuuuu...." as she and coco are borne aloft on pillowy wings.

is one of the funniest things I have read around here in months.

It's not a super-dynamic album.. it definitely has a consistent tempo and volume... which is perhaps the point. Granted, I came into the store halfway through the album, so I maybe I missed a raucous first half...

Consonant vs dissonant jangle and weave propelled by postpunk anti-groove; some noise. Basic tunes subservient to breath and rasp. Psychedelic, at least with Windows Media Player automatic mind-melt videos; other forms of mind-melt may work too. Obvious - from the same recipe as the last two albums, just diced into shorter chunks (seasoned with some hooks and changes even more finely aged) but who else will make it? Save for dumbass bar-band rocker "Sleepin' Around" and some singsong fatigue (tracks 9-11 -> "What would happen if they spent as much time on the vocal lines as on the guitars?": listeners worldwide), tight. "Do You Believe In Rapture?" = "Heroin" in harmonics, with drums in time. Other searches: "Rats," "Jams Run Free".

Then there's this clanger:
Another objectivity aid is consensus, as indicated by record guides, online compendia, and of course critics polls.

I mean, for at least 10 years consensus on VU and Sabbath was that they sucked donkey balls.

(awaits 200+ posts)

I'm not being flip. The taste vs judgment argument is someting I raised in my blog last night, and it's a conversation I'm having with a friend as I'm typing this.