pipeline or mote
― Zeno, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:27 (fourteen years ago) link
Mote Mote Mote
― Beanbag the Gardener (WmC), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Gonna have to agree with everybody else and say "Hey Joni."
― Cunga, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:35 (fourteen years ago) link
Soto is OTM about him, too
man he is on less songs than i thought he is on
'skip tracer'
lee's "bad Beat poetry" is better than anyone else in the band's "bad Beat poetry"
― thomp, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:37 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, no: Moore sticks to slogans-plus, while Kim filters Germaine Greer through back issues of Artforum.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Can't decide between "Mote" amd "In the Kingdom #19" which I love for its cinematic feel.
― lolsbury hill (Trayce), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Actually "Wish Fulfilment" is pretty lovely too. Lee always did a line in sad melodees better than Thurston did.
my ranking:
Eric's Trip > Skip Tracer > Genetic > Hoarfrost > Hey Joni > Karen Revisited > Pipeline/Kill Time > Unwind > What We Know > Mote > Wish Fulfillment > Saucer-Like > I Dreamed I Dream > NYC Ghosts & Flowers > Karen Koltrane > Rain King > Paper Cut Exit > In The Kingdom #19 > Rats > Lee #2 > Walkin Blue
― ronnie james cio (some dude), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:44 (fourteen years ago) link
went pipeline/kill time narrowly over eric's trip and genetic
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:49 (fourteen years ago) link
karen revisited over wish fulfillment, genetic, and rain king.
― ian, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 00:50 (fourteen years ago) link
"Mote" took it BECAUSE of the four minutes of noise at the end!
Word.
― \\00// (SeekAltRoute), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:19 (fourteen years ago) link
"Mote" would have taken it if not the for the four minutes of noise at the end = throwing a bone to Lee (duh)
Moore sticks to slogans-plus, while Kim filters Germaine Greer through back issues of Artforum.
Soto = national treasure.
Lee's very easily my least fave of the three voxers. But oddly enough, he sings my two fave songs on Daydream Nation (if Trilogy doesn't count). So I'm voting for "Hey Joni" today and "Rain King" if I get another vote.
Even if isn't a dialogue with the most famous Joni
But there's definitely a way in which the most famous Joni haunts the song. She's one of the things we have to put behind us.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:20 (fourteen years ago) link
you think Lee had to convince other members of the band to indulge him with a long noisy coda?
― ronnie james cio (some dude), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:25 (fourteen years ago) link
There's a sense in which he Keeps The Band Real by reminding them of their boho past.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:27 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost um, that's not what throwing a bone to him means
But yeah keeping it real (ugh) is about the only function his noise bullshit serves (besides disfiguring good songs/albums).
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:32 (fourteen years ago) link
again..."his noise bullshit"? Thurston and Kim songs don't have any long noise sections?
― ronnie james cio (some dude), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:39 (fourteen years ago) link
o_O
pure wrongness
― Beanbag the Gardener (WmC), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I accept him, like George Harrison in his band, as part of the Sonic Youth Experience; he coughs up at least one song per album that pushes past my visceral biases. I mean, the band is not the same without him.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:44 (fourteen years ago) link
fuckin the future
― Julio Afrokeluchie, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Is Julio Afrokeluchie Dave Queen?
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:53 (fourteen years ago) link
I like Genetic a lot, but I think it's going to get overrated a bit due to the whole "Kim and Thurston leave the best song off of the album" thing.
I think Kim actually has the better vocals on I Dreamed I Dream (wish she'd stayed with that approach instead of descending into suck-dom) so it's hard to give that to Lee.
I'm just going with the best song on this list, from arguably their best album, so Pipeline/Kill Time.
― dlp9001, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:59 (fourteen years ago) link
hey joni
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:05 (fourteen years ago) link
though this whole list of songs is going to make a killer comp -- i love LEEEEEEE
that should probably read: this whole list of songs is going to make a killer, slightly repetitive comp
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:07 (fourteen years ago) link
guys eric's trip is so much better than hey joni!
― in tranny mariah (Matt P), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:07 (fourteen years ago) link
some dude otm
― in tranny mariah (Matt P), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:08 (fourteen years ago) link
dunno, i think it's that super cool ending on Hey Joni that seals the deal for me ... one of the top Sonic Youth-y moments for Sonic Youth!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:09 (fourteen years ago) link
First of all,
"I mean, the band is not the same without him."
Totally, he is just a fucking great guitar player, so regardless of whether you like "his" songs or not, he is a huge part of what makes this band great. Just so many great Lee moments on almost any SY song. But, this is the Lee vocal poll, I guess, so really difficult for me. Would change all the time, but if I really go with my gut gotta say it's "Hey Joni." Just so good. All the Washing Machine songs are great, he was certainly on a roll from that record through Sonic Nurse (if having one or more songs a record can be considered a roll, but it would make a really good record if you combined the songs from the records from that span). Gotta say the biggest surprise when I gave Sonic Nurse a listen again after a long hiatus was "Paper Cup Exit," stuck out to me as maybe the best song on that record.
― grandavis, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:20 (fourteen years ago) link
A disproportionate number of my favourite SY songs are Lee's. I picked Hey Joni, but that could have easily been Mote, Wish Fulfillment, or any number of others. He doesn't get a lot of songs per album, but I think he tends to make his song or two really count.
― Totally gay for Obama (j-rock), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:22 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, I don't think that Lee is really the "noise guy" of the band -- a lot of his lead guitar stuff is super-melodic, psychedelic grooviness.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:31 (fourteen years ago) link
this is the toughest poll of all
― da croupier, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 07:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Voted Paper Cup Exit.
― Marty Innerlogic, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 09:36 (fourteen years ago) link
fuck me. could have gone with at least 13 of these. went with "Eric's Trip" in the end, probably 'cause it's the very best track (maybe) on their most overrated album ever.
― Ioannis, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 09:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Pipeline or Wish Fulfillment probably my fave tracks of his.
don't really get the noise blame he gets here either (it's Sonic Youth for chrissakes), his songs usually sounds pretty good even before i've had my coffee. like tylerw said, he's often a bit groovier and more adventurous player
― sonderangerbot, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
We'll know there when we get there.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:18 (fourteen years ago) link
this is some seriously wrong shit, even for ILM!
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:20 (fourteen years ago) link
So it goes.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I give most of the credit for the trippiness of ATL, though.
thanks for letting us know
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:27 (fourteen years ago) link
You're welcome, hoss.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:29 (fourteen years ago) link
^this
but I think "the bridge" might be my favorite lee song
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:32 (fourteen years ago) link
oh believe me, there'll be a Lee side projects poll at some point
― swag me to hell (some dude), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh we believe you!
Actually, let me clarify this so Mr. Que doesn't run out of heart pills. I'm really only talking about "Mote" and "Karen Revisited" here. I'm well aware that noise plays a rather, um, crucial role in Sonic Youth. But in those two instances, it diminishes the songs/albums. I think I've made it pretty clear that I love Lee. So, deep breaths.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i think it's wrong to assume that just because Lee sings a SY song that the "noise bullshit" is his
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:19 (fourteen years ago) link
where is the LOVE for PIPELINE?!
not only a great Lee song, but great production and DRUMS.
― Zeno, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:21 (fourteen years ago) link
SY should call their next album "NOISE BULLSHIT"
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:22 (fourteen years ago) link
just a reminder:
who is the best songwriter in Sonic Youth?Message BookmarkedBookmark Removed?
Poll ResultsOption Votes Lee 28 Thurston 24 Kim 14
― Zeno, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:23 (fourteen years ago) link
who is the best songwriter in Sonic Youth?
― Zeno, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:24 (fourteen years ago) link
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:19 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
otm esp because that SY book makes a big deal about how they write all their songs by jamming until the music is done and then deciding who does the vocals. don't know if this was always their process but it definitely has been for all the recent ones.
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:25 (fourteen years ago) link
used to think he was the best songwriter evah or something
'it sounds crazy' but by hit-rate there can't be (m)any better
― Rockcrit from the Tuoms (nakhchivan), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:07 (thirteen years ago) link
^ OTM
― contenderizer, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:13 (thirteen years ago) link
tho tobin sprout hit a similar average on those early GBV records
(faultless 2nd bananas poll)
― contenderizer, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:14 (thirteen years ago) link
seems like spiral stairs would fit in there, but he is far from faultless
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:15 (thirteen years ago) link
I would jump off a building and hoped I landed on Spiral Stairs.
― Gus Van Sotosyn (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:16 (thirteen years ago) link
i dont even know which songs he wrote
― Rockcrit from the Tuoms (nakhchivan), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:18 (thirteen years ago) link
generally speaking, the ones he sang ... two state, hit the plane down etc.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:19 (thirteen years ago) link
well he wrote pavement songs so i'm not sure he's going to be challenging schubert and arthur lee
― Rockcrit from the Tuoms (nakhchivan), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:23 (thirteen years ago) link
unexpected tag team
― contenderizer, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:25 (thirteen years ago) link
the Lennon-McCartney of art-suck?
― Gus Van Sotosyn (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:25 (thirteen years ago) link
are schubert and arthur lee faultless second bananas?
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:26 (thirteen years ago) link
art suck could be your life
― contenderizer, Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:27 (thirteen years ago) link
arthur LEE, not arthur SUCK...! God, clean out yr ~ears~
― Ned Rag & the Evil Olive Gardens (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 30 December 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
thanks for that comp!!! lee is the best!!!
― pretentious: based on the album 'what happened?' by emeralds (diamonddave85), Thursday, 30 December 2010 22:08 (thirteen years ago) link
i def wouldve chosen 'hey joni' on this poll cuz its my favorite SY song
― pretentious: based on the album 'what happened?' by emeralds (diamonddave85), Thursday, 30 December 2010 22:10 (thirteen years ago) link
karen I & II are so perfect, beautiful and sad
― Nedrag "Neđa" Mijatović (nakhchivan), Thursday, 30 December 2010 22:14 (thirteen years ago) link
i made a Lee mix a few years ago, cool to see someone else's and some small ways the sequencing is similar (especially opening with Mote/Hoarfrost): http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2006/08/sonic-youth-notorious-rockin-lee.html#comments
― hann am0n tana (some dude), Thursday, 30 December 2010 22:18 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah hooray and thanks. tried to get this together inspired by his thread but foiled by mp3 lack.
― Snop Snitchin, Friday, 31 December 2010 01:43 (thirteen years ago) link
home from dinner and listening to the comp. lost the sequencing importing it to ituens, so i'm just running it sequentially. wanted to note that the drum break before the second verse of "pipeline", about 1 minute in, is one of my all-time favorite musical moments. bum ... ba BOOM ba ksh ksh (pause) crak boomboom BAM BAM! so rad.
― contenderizer, Friday, 31 December 2010 04:24 (thirteen years ago) link
hokay, so i listened to all the lee is free songs, and they are some great, but it was somewhat disappointing to find that the somewhat disappointing post-dirty dropoff that i once thought i noticed still seems to exist. at least in and among the lee songs. i'd hoped it was mere figment and that i'd be blown away, chagrined chet-like at what i'd then failed to understand. but no.
of the songs i knew, i still dig "skip tracer" and the thousand leaves cuts, still loathe "nyc ghosts & flowers", and "rats" is awesome (but much better than most of RR, iirc). biggest surprise was the relative excellence of "karen revisited" and the eternal tracks (great drum recording). reservations aside, i guess i need to pick up the last 4 albums and really spend some time with them. rather ripped is the only one i've heard from front to back...
― contenderizer, Friday, 31 December 2010 06:22 (thirteen years ago) link
'pipeline' is sucha rad fukken song man
― A ‰ (Lamp), Friday, 31 December 2010 06:36 (thirteen years ago) link
fukken a
― contenderizer, Friday, 31 December 2010 06:40 (thirteen years ago) link
No problem on the mixtape, you're all most welcome.
The Manchester gig I caught in December wasn't so hot unfortunately. I wasn't really feeling the setlist and the band seemed under-rehearsed (Catholic Block took three attempts to get right!).
Still, the encores ruled.
Sonic Youth - Manchester Academy - Dec 30th 2010
1. No Way2. Sacred Trickster3. Calming The Snake4. Tom Violence5. Walkin Blue6. Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)7. Poison Arrow8. Anti-Orgasm9. Antenna10. (I Gotta A) Catholic Block11. Stereo Sanctity12. What We Know13. Massage The History
Encore
1. The Sprawl2. Cross The Breeze
1. White Cross2. Death Valley '69
― Barnaby, Hardly, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 13:32 (thirteen years ago) link
haven't seen them in so so long. have to make the time next time they're around.
"i dreamed i dream" got fukken shafted in this poll. one of their very best songs. half regret voting for "mote" now...
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 13:42 (thirteen years ago) link
no votes for "Saucer-Like"?????????????????? besides that wack beat poetry shit in the middle, that's one of SY's most thrilling and creepy songs.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 29 April 2017 00:10 (six years ago) link
"Saucer-Like" is great, one of the reasons I love that record. Still hard to vote for it over the other classic Lee tunes though.
― grandavis, Saturday, 29 April 2017 20:07 (six years ago) link
Would put it over "Skip Tracer" though (even though I also like "Skip Tracer" a lot ....)
― grandavis, Saturday, 29 April 2017 20:08 (six years ago) link
My picks
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2019 01:36 (five years ago) link
Hoarfrost is an unexpectedly low key and beautiful choice, from one of my favorite Sonic Youth albums
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 January 2019 01:52 (five years ago) link
We'll know wheeeeeennnn
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2019 02:01 (five years ago) link
it's so good
― sleeve, Saturday, 5 January 2019 02:02 (five years ago) link
Skip Tracer is my #1, glad to see it listed. Great song, kind of scary.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 5 January 2019 04:59 (five years ago) link
"Rats" v. underrated Lee cut.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 5 January 2019 05:44 (five years ago) link
I remember liking Pipeline/Kill TIme but I think Eric's Trip was the first time I thought of Lee Ranaldo as a distinct entity within the band
― Dan S, Saturday, 5 January 2019 05:55 (five years ago) link
same!
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link
even on "Hoarfrost" I thought at first that Moore sang it.
His solo records have been outstanding. It doesn’t sound anything like Sonic Youth. It’s much more melodic. Almost like classic rock.
― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 5 January 2019 16:22 (five years ago) link
Crazy that "Genetic" only ended up with 2 votes. It was on the My So-Called Life soundtrack (which should be polled!)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 5 January 2019 16:30 (five years ago) link
he grew up as a deadhead xp
― global tetrahedron, Sunday, 6 January 2019 20:30 (five years ago) link
Great Lee video (we need that SYR with Nels Cline!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVMo4F2H0dY
― EvR, Sunday, 6 January 2019 22:16 (five years ago) link
"Wish Fulfillment" is such a sad song. Like something Thalia Zedek would have written.
― timellison, Sunday, 6 January 2019 22:20 (five years ago) link
Skip Tracer is so good.. the production on Washing Machine is stellar, I never really recognized its shortcomings (lack of bass?) ... i didn't realize Lee had such a strong presence on Unwind, it's not so obvious / apparent. a friend of mine once recorded (himself singing) a short parody of Ranaldo's vocal delivery--it's pretty spot on. Haven't kept up with Lee's recent output, he seemed to get a bit hackneyed (similar to Thurston), recycling bits of his old recordings for some of his more recent free-form sound work, but i can't really speak on the recent song-based stuff
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Monday, 7 January 2019 00:15 (five years ago) link
Eric’s Trip made me think about music a little differently when I heard it in high school - like, I’d heard a few Somic Youth songs, and had even seen them live at this point (touring Murray St at a festival), and I got that they incorporated noise, but what I’d heard was the jams in the middle of songs (or just slamming their guitars against the amps during Karen Revisited). Eric’s Trip was the first song I’d heard where the noise seemed to actually propel the song, and it didn’t conform to the way I thought about proper songwriting at all, but I immediately loved it.
― JoeStork, Monday, 7 January 2019 03:14 (five years ago) link