best Sonic Youth album of the '00s

Ooooh, good poll. I'd have to think about this one for awhile. They've had a great 2000s, far better than their 90s.

some food 4 thought:

NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000)
104th in Pazz & Jop
3 1/2 stars from Rolling Stone
2 1/2 stars from Allmusic
0.0 from Pitchfork

Murray Street (2002)
20th in Pazz & Jop
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
9.0 from Pitchfork

Sonic Nurse (2004)
37th in Pazz & Jop
3 1/2 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
8.5 from Pitchfork

Rather Ripped (2006)
12th in Pazz & Jop
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
7.5 from Pitchfork

The Eternal (2009)
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
6.8 from Pitchfork

murray street>>>>>>sonic nurse>rather ripped>new york city ghosts & flowers>the eternal

have only spun the eternal a few times but def think it's SY weakest alb since experimental jet set, and possibly the most unattractive sounding rec they've ever made - a real letdown

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:18 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I agree w/ you on the rank of all these except The Eternal, which I've only listened to a couple times but already am pretty sure I like more than Rather Ripped (but then Experimental Jet Set is one of my favorites, go figure).

Thats what I love about Sonic Youth, you can never really count on any kind of consensus.

I don't mind Murray Street at all (especially its brevity), but it sounds like a rough draft for its successors. At the time it was a return to the concision of Goo and Dirty, galvanized by ten years' worth of experiments.

murray street ftw

Might be my fave SY album, period.

thats what I love about Sonic Youth, you can never really count on any kind of consensus.

^^^^. A friend says they went downhill when Steve Shelley joined.

That person does too many drugs.

first half of Murray Street is perfect. Combine that with the best tracks from Sonic Nurse and you got yrself an album!

(i like the other 00s albums, but I think that stuff is my fave)

however, the Brakhage SYR release is awwwwwwesome

tylerw otm

Nineties SY vs Oughties SY should be a good poll.

that would be a toughie. i need to revisit thousand leaves ... never really decided whether i liked it or not.

I love it – my favorite of the nineties albums – but in the wrong mood the contemplative and screechy parts don't gel.

This poll is a really hard one. But voted for Sonic Nurse., which has one of my favorite Lee Ranaldo-tunes, Paper Cup Exit. Also, Peace Attack has one of their better instrumental crescendos.

All in all I agree that the 00's were a much better SY-era than the 90's. They seemed really inspired.

Haven't heard The Eternal yet, but I'm willing to bet that I'm gonna like it.

I like SN and RR a lot, but possibly RR just pips it for being more concise and hooky.

thousand leaves has some amazing moments, but is kind of dry and hard to love as a whole, i find.

Isn't that the story of lots of failed SY albums?

This is between Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped for me. Am leaning toward the latter.

A friend says they went downhill when Steve Shelley joined.

― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:49 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That person does too many drugs.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:51 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

ha, guilty on both counts

I wouldn't say steve shelley caused them to go downhill (my favorite sy alb is EVOL after all) but the timing was right

^^ suggest ban

nah they just became (or started becoming) a different band when shelly joined, that's all

unfortunately it was a band I didn't like

not for lack of trying either

can't count how many times I spun daydream nation and goo trying to figure out whether it was them or me

I finally decided things weren't going to work out between us

so the only album I've heard in this poll is rather ripped

you went back for a quickie, didn't you

murray street, hands down. havent heard the eternal yet though.

yes! our original relationship was so hot I can't stay away

but as of late our trysts just leave me feeling used and unfulfilled

xp

I'm with Edward here - they peaked on Bad Moon Rising, though Evol is so close it is hard to pick. Very slow decline for a few years, then the wheels fell off.

I've heard two of these '00s albums - NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Rather Ripped - and didn't find either remotely interesting.

I remember when Sonic Youth used to be the most far out weird thing I listened too. This wasn't in the 00s.
It's probably me more than the band. Voted Sonic Nurse, without much conviction. I like them all.

Sonic Nurse is the best thing they've released in the past 20 years. All good albums to some degree, though.

Sonic Nurse>>Murray Street>>>>>NYC Ghosts & Flowers>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Rather Ripped, which is why (along with "Sacred Trickster") I'm dragging my feet on hearing The Eternal.

Rather Ripped is the first album where I really wondered why they fucking bother

yeah? i like Rather Ripped. Maybe a bit slight? But pretty enjoyable.

I like Rather Ripped less and less every year, and "Sacred Trickster" does nothing for me, but The Eternal is overall pretty solid and I'd reccomend it highly to someone that likes Sonic Nurse.

I think on the Rather Ripped thread I called it Rather Tepid. Just seemed like they were going through the motions.

Strangely, I'd still see them live, as they've never failed to put on a good show. Just can't be bothered to follow their studio work.

Weird, I think of Rather Ripped as kind of a pinnacle, taking the same basic formula of Sonic Nurse and whittling it down into these great three- or four-minute gems. The Eternal sounds more like a band going through the motions to me.

MURRAY STREET, PEOPLE (that's what i voted, anyhow)

with Rather Ripped a close second

xpost Too slight for me. I liked the direction they were going with O'Rourke, and without that groovier bottom and prettied up guitars you just had past-prime pros with shitty voices writing by-the-book "songs" as if that was ever what they were good at.

this is all between Sonic Nurse and Murray Street, and it's not a easy pick. every track on MS really sticks out and has a way of its own, where SN is more this thick, sprawling monster all the way through.

can't say that i dislike Rather Ripped or The Eternal but it's still very remote to me that anyone would pick either of them here. then again, like said, that's part of the charm with this band

xp

Yeah I'm not sure how their one album of the decade that actually sounds different from the others is "going through the motions." You might not like it but I think you have to recognize it as an attempt to shake things up a little.

I would have really liked rather ripped if the material was on par with the tone, everything sounds great but they are playing absolutely nothing

Rather Ripped is the first album where I really wondered why they fucking bother

apparently you have never heard experimental jet set trash and no star

people sure are weird

experimental jetset is my go-to album for evidence of sy not giving a frig

NYC G&F sounds pretty different from the rest, n/a! That and Experimental Jet Set sound like patchwork goof-offs, and their peaks did more for me than anything on Ripped.

Does Gerard Cosloy still run the show at Matador at all? I thought it was pretty LOL that the dude who said in Spin he was tired of SY in 1988 would be signing them 20 years later.

I like EJSTANS! I mean, yes, it was the first one I ever heard, so I have some sentimental attachment, but I think it's a pretty interesting album -- lots of echoey space, acoustic guitar, etc.

yeah I don't like the whittling down on RR because for the most part they were whittling away the best parts of the 2 previous albums. the average track lengths for these albums really bears out the fact that i like the longer tunes:

NYC Ghosts - 5:17
Murray Street - 6:31
Sonice Nurse - 6:17
Rather Ripped - 4:19
The Eternal - 4:42

No.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS), so it wouldn't surprise me if I relistened to WM and thought it was more than that.

Yeah I understand what Alfred is talking about completely...in my mind WM is one of their lesser records and there are a few songs I dislike, or at least dislike the idea/memory of, but when I actually put it on it's very listenable. Same goes for most of the SY albums I wouldn't rate very highly.

Murray Street - Great record until Lee shouts "Karen!"...

It's a shout-out to Len's "Steal My Sunshine"

Re-listened to NYC Ghosts and Flowers today for the first time in years and it's even more of a pile of shit than I remembered. Otherwise, the band has been utterly fantastic this decade- I guess I'll vote for Murray Street but it's really a coin toss.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS)

it's the best! the songs are short and striking, really wild but not too noisy. the noise is used actually pretty differently than in their other stuff, really going for contrast and jarring transitions rather than texture or throbbing weirdness. lee had quit the band for the album, and while usually that would suck thurston and kim just wrote way better songs than they usually do and it totally makes up for it. it's the most "punk" SY album i've heard and definitely one of my favourites.

Re-listened to NYC Ghosts and Flowers today for the first time in years and it's even more of a pile of shit than I remembered.

yeah I did not dig this when it came out

Murray Street got my vote ... then Rather Ripped ... then Sonic Nurse ...

while i'd like to say samosa's post is OTM and we should totally continue discussing Jet Set more when i do the 90s thread after this one, i should point out that this

lee had quit the band for the album

is rong, i'm pretty sure. afaik, he quit briefly during the making of Dirty because of "Genetic" being cut from the album, but was back to tour that album and record the next one -- just happens that he doesn't sing on any songs on Jet Set. he's credited in the liner notes and there are photos of him all in it, etc.

cool! i'm glad to hear it, and yeah lee's absense wouldn't make much sense since there are obviously two guitars and the guitar parts fucking kiiiilll.

Experimental Jet Set is a biiiig favorite of mine. Yes, their "punkiest"--their version of lo-fi bedroom pop. "Screaming Skull" is a particular fave: love the full-on Rolling Stones groove they get into at the end. Also love "Androgynous Mind" and "Bull in the Heather" and "Skink."

i love y'all and all but NYC G&F is the best of SY's 00s albums by about a thousand miles? it might even be their best album? what is with you people.

um..who said that?

i always find the criticisms of NYC G&F a little baffling: there's no songs and some of it sounds a bit embarrassing — they never wrote good 'songs' & they're always embarrassing

like, the chorus to anti-orgasm is the campest thing on record this year surely

The thing about NYC G&F is that besides containing an amazing opening track, it's at least sonically (ha) interesting all the way through. The others in this poll are awfully forgettable. So it's not that I exactly love G&F, but it's the one I keep listening to with interest. The others make ok background and that's about it.

Also, production on G&F is radically better than the others, probably due to extra band member.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS), so it wouldn't surprise me if I relistened to WM and thought it was more than that.

No no, I get that. What I don't get is why you'd avoid listening to it if you think it'll be better than you presently recall it to be.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

really curious to see how many votes the (probable) bottom 2, NYC Ghosts and The Eternal, get.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Still don't get the Sonic Nurse love, but whatevs.

man, "New Hampshire"! "I Love You Golden Blue"! "Unmade Bed"! "Dripping Dream"! it's a great album.

totally happy w/ these results, although i'd like to think that in time The Eternal will be thought of as better than Rather Ripped.

This poll got way more voters in general than most. no surprise I guess, but still.

I thought I wld be the lone NYC ghosts voter.

i had a feeling it would have a decent lil voting bloc, especially since it's kind of counterprogramming to put it up against the 4 albums after it

results more or less otm

i voted for nycbff. i'm not sure i stand by my reasons tho.

this is kinda interesting commentary about these albums:
http://music.newcity.com/2009/06/23/preview-sonic-youthvic-theatre/

Some could argue that shortly after 1992’s fantastic “Dirty” the band consistently churned out mediocre work, until 2000’s “NYC Ghosts & Flowers,” which was just bad. The following “Murray Street” and “Sonic Nurse” saw the band in mediocre territory again, and then “Rather Ripped” sparked them back into contemporary relevancy.

I don't think "interesting" is the word I'd use to describe this commentary.

The "mediocre" rating for Murray Street aside, I agree with that statement pretty much.

Even if you agree, "they were great and then they were mediocre and then they were bad and then they were mediocre and now they're great again" is about as far from "interesting" as commentary gets.

yeah, and "contemporary relevancy" .... ZZZZZzzzzz

How can The Eternal be a "return to form" if Rather Ripped had already "sparked them back into contemporary relevancy"?

ha! you guys are interested . . .
btw they rocked the shit at the vic last sunday night
rather ripped a silver rocket!
and played my favorite part of daydream nation: the sprawl > 'cross the breeze

damn! reverse the order maybe? voted for NYCG&F--their most gorgeous work ever, sonically speaking--just to spite pitchfork, basically. but pretty much love 'em all to one degree or another. i really dig Lee's "bad" beat poetry, even. and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Bad Moon Rising is their worst ever, fwiw.

waht

yeah yeah yeah, i know. but "DV '69" aside i don't really get that one. Walls Have Ears smokes both Bad Moon Rising and Evol, imho.

There is a great version of Death Valley '69 on Walls Have Ears, yeah.

But Brave Men Run, I Love Her All The Time... no?

they're ok but nothing revelatory. i much prefer the "Flower"/"Halloween" 12" myself.

there are 3 songs on bad moon rising: side A, 3/4 of side B, and "death valley 69"

the first 2 songs are awesome

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

I love "Brave Men Run" and the bonus tracks, and "Death Valley" is a lot of fun live, but yeah Bad Moon is way down among my 2 or 3 least fave SY albums. But then, I'm not a huge fan of the pre-Shelly stuff and my favorite release from that era is Sonic Death.

and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Well, I agree with you on "Karen Koltrane."

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

no problem.

murray street: 7 songs, half epics, jim o'rourke