Sonic Youth

[xmd 5a]

One of the best, most creative and influential bands ever. Their 80s output (including the highly underrated and awesome debut EP) is untouchable and there are gems to be found throughout their 90s-00s work too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQ46a0Mf_k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Ck5kSEfgw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4yM7lvlZ-0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbFS8Fet0MI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk0tKWqus4E


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOi9Vem4sc

I could go on all day posting videos. Just buy every damn album - you'll not regret it.

Unfortunately the band is "ending for a while", but Thurston and Lee have some cool recent solo albums out.

Ciccone Youth and Free Kitten discussion welcome too.

[andre78]

They performed what appears to be their last concert over here in Brazil last november... though I have to note that they're not at the top of their game anymore ( they looked somewhat tired of some songs ), it was really noisy, fast and fun... pretty much what you'd expect from SY live. Honorous way to say goodbye, everyone said and I quote.

Thurston also played with Kurt Vile over here last week, check it out ( text in portuguese, but there's a couple videos ): http://popload.blogosfera.uol.com.br/2012/04/13/sao-paulo-12-de-abril-de-2012-thurston-moore-no-cine-joia/

[henryeatscereal]

Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo played in Mexico City a few weeks ago, the show was great but no Sonic Youth obviously (the good thing is that i saw them with Youth a few years ago), it's such a shame but given Thurston and Kim's divorce i dont think the band will reunite, if that's the case i still have their albums to remind me of this awesome band.

And i know nobody asked but here's my top 5 SY albums:

1. Confusion is Sex / Kill Your Idols
2. Evol
3. Daydream Nation
4. Rather Ripped
5. Goo

(But all their albums rule)

[frankie teardrop]

http://media.nowpublic.net/images//c4/d/c4d4392f922d47e5edeec333e731a5f8.jpg

clear favorite.

[Space Suicide]

I have tried for many years to like this band after numerous listens. Only song that has ever caught my ear and attention was Bull in the Heather. Other than that, that's it.

[aggroculture]

I have tried for many years to like this band after numerous listens. Only song that has ever caught my ear and attention was Bull in the Heather. Other than that, that's it.

This. I find them boring and tuneless: a kind of meandering generic indie rock. I really don't get what the fuss is about.

[Highly Psychological]

Sonic Youth i always found a really weird thing, the group was never really about melody. It always sounded like they were trying to create some sort of structure, I could never figure out what the structure was about....some sort of psychedelic, avant garde noise, punk rock collage, designed to blow your mind....with this group you kind of have to stand back to listen to them, and observe the shapes and sounds they were creating with the guitars and effects, sometimes the sounds were mindblowing and plunged you into submission, but they were fleeting and A LOT of the time it was meandering and boring too. I found if i tried to figure out where they were going or what they were doing i just got frustrated, but if i detached myself and just listened to the of sound as a whole it could put you in a trance.
Each track when they were at their peak usually had at least 10 seconds of interesting sounds, only on a few tracks did i feel they reached that place and fully realized what they were trying to get at...Death Valley 69 being one of them.

A big thing i could never get past with this group was their weedy voices. I could never stand Thurston's or Kim's voice. They potentially had this sort of epic sound and they had these two dorks on the microphone!! Gets in the way on the majesty of it all !! Sort of was always a massive missing link for me.
I do agree they are overrated and its a group i found a real strain to listen to. The only record i would put on for pleasure would be EVOL a certain darkness to the structure of sound they were creating there. I dont understand what Pitchfrok were thinking calling Daydream Nation the best record of the 1980's.
I expected to fall in love with them instantly the way I did with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Black, or the Pixies.

I dont think Sonic Youth sound anything like the other 80's alt rock, or Shoegaze bands they sometimes get labeled with, it was real underground No Wave inspired experimental noise.
I know they introduced a more conventional melody structured sound in the early 90's but mostly it felt to me more of the same.
A frustrating yet at times interesting band.

[allegro]

I didn't "get" them until I saw them live. They were an AWESOME live band, seen 'em at least five times and they were great every time; be it a small club, or an outdoor amphitheater, or a festival, always great. Watching Thurston attack his guitar with a FORK for 15 minutes when they opened for the Stooges (at the Stooges first reunion, in Detroit) was awesome. Daydream Nation LIVE in its entirety at Pitchfork Fest was a religious experience.

We will miss them lots. 1981 - 2012 RIP :-(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3c3LjbCvis

[piggy]

This is a band I've been meaning to get into since I was a teenager. I've been checking out some sound clips lately, and it seems like there are only about 3 songs per album that grab me, but I'll probably buy a couple of albums soon. Their noisier, more atonal stuff is not up my alley, but the more melodic and/or psychedelic stuff kind of is. It makes me wish they had a best of album (aside from that Hits Are For Squares thing) so I could get a good dose of their more straightforward songs.

[allegro]

The noisier atonal stuff is not something you sit and listen to, it's ambient noise, it's not meant to be listened to in the same way as, um, not-noisy music.

Daydream Nation really is a classic, and a lot more, um, poppy than EVOL, and perhaps for the current-day listener who has a different perspective than a listener from when that album was released, it may require a few listens and, again, I don't think it's something you sit there intently listening to while wearing headphones, waiting to be able to sing along or something (although, people DID sing along at shows, heh). Sonic Youth isn't exactly Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music."

[henryeatscereal]

I divide Sonic Youth between their most accesible albums like "Sister" "Daydream Nation" "Dirty" "Goo" and "Rather Ripped" and the ones that need a lot of time to digest like: "Confusion is Sex" "NY Ghost & Flowers" and "Bad Moon Rising" and "A thousand Leaves"

[xmd 5a]

So this is a thing...

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2012/06/22/chelsea-light-moving-thurston-moore-burroughs-mp3/

[henryeatscereal]

So this is a thing...

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2012/06/22/chelsea-light-moving-thurston-moore-burroughs-mp3/
I liked the track it's a bit more straightforward and heavier than SY but has Moore's signature all over it, seems like he's using ideas he was saving for Sonic Youth, still such a shame they are disbanding (or not?)

[Sutekh]

Some bizarre news to get this one rolling; Thurston joins a black metal band
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=177552

[sayyosin]

Whoa....I was not expecting this. I'm really interested in hearing them. O.o

[xmd 5a]

^ Relevant to my interests. The comments on the article are pretty facepalm worthy though. Thurston = "Hipster emo douche", LOLWUT?

BTW:
www.echoingthesound.org/community/threads/880-(RIP-)-Sonic-Youth (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/threads/880-%28RIP-%29-Sonic-Youth)

[Sutekh]

Blabbermouth comments are either hilarious or terrible, only the comments by handofsutekh are any good (because he in fact has a massive cock and more records than john peel - true story).

Mate of mine (band the name of godhunter, have a look) says TM has released LPs by BM bands in the past... Interesting

[PooPooMeowChow]

The comments on the article are pretty facepalm worthy though. Thurston = "Hipster emo douche", LOLWUT?

I literally shut my laptop and had to lay down after reading that,
kids these days make me wanna shoot up a Batman movie.


........(Too soon?)

[trollmanen]

I literally shut my laptop and had to lay down after reading that,
kids these days make me wanna shoot up a Batman movie.


........(Too soon?)

Yeah, probably too soon. Leave that stuff at Blabbermouth.

Pitchfork had a news story from a day or two before this news from Lee saying that they're working on some archival material for release, including a possible deluxe reissue of Sister and some concert footage from each album. I'd love a reissue of Sister, probably my favorite album of theirs.

[xmd 5a]

The prospect of archival material makes me very giddy. Seconding the Sister love, although the favourite album crown seems to jump around a lot for me between all of the releases from the s/t EP to Daydream Nation (inclusive).

Also, any way this thread can be merged with the old one I made that I posted above?

[LaneSax]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TJl_9a6dp4g

[GulDukat]

New Sonic Youth Rarities Album In/Out/In Announced (https://pitchfork.com/news/new-sonic-youth-rarities-album-in-out-in-announced/)

Five songs recorded during the 00s.

[GulDukat]

Every Sonic Youth album ranked. (https://www.spin.com/2022/03/best-sonic-youth-albums/?fbclid=IwAR1IQUQy76IUwCzVxjZsfpXx4sr4Em33GTxORBKI xKJDyE86oh-Yz9DZuSQ)

[imail724]

Interesting timing on this thread revival. I've liked the albums from Bad Moon Rising up to Dirty for years, but never ventured outside of that period. The past few weeks I have been working my way through all the rest. Just started NYC Ghosts this morning. Love this band! Wish I had gotten the chance to see them live before the breakup. I wonder what the chances are of Thurston and Kim putting their personal stuff to the side one day down the line and getting the band back together, at least for a tour.

[Mister Squishy]

Nice to see Murray Street get some love! I'd have to put Sonic Nurse above it, though; by then I feel like you can hear Jim O'Rourke settling in as part of the band. Amazing record. Love Rather Ripped too.

I love Sonic Youth, but reading this list makes me realize how many of their albums I've never heard (Experimental Jet Set, Washing Machine, NYC Ghosts). Don't think I sent The Eternal for more than a couple spins either, for some reason. Maybe cuz I was bitter I declined seeing them live on that tour for some reason... My only chance, squandered.

What the hell, let's do it:

5. Murray Street / Rather Ripped
4. Evol
3. Sonic Nurse
2. Daydream Nation
1. Sister

[Mister Squishy]

Interesting timing on this thread revival. I've liked the albums from Bad Moon Rising up to Dirty for years, but never ventured outside of that period. The past few weeks I have been working my way through all the rest. Just started NYC Ghosts this morning. Love this band! Wish I had gotten the chance to see them live before the breakup. I wonder what the chances are of Thurston and Kim putting their personal stuff to the side one day down the line and getting the band back together, at least for a tour.

The 2000s albums are awesome imo. Curious to hear your first impressions of any of those post-Dirty ones.

[GulDukat]

The 2000s albums are awesome imo. Curious to hear your first impressions of any of those post-Dirty ones.

I still need to listen to In/Out/In, which was recorded between 2000-2010.

[henryeatscereal]

Nice to see Murray Street get some love! I'd have to put Sonic Nurse above it, though; by then I feel like you can hear Jim O'Rourke settling in as part of the band. Amazing record. Love Rather Ripped too.

I love Sonic Youth, but reading this list makes me realize how many of their albums I've never heard (Experimental Jet Set, Washing Machine, NYC Ghosts). Don't think I sent The Eternal for more than a couple spins either, for some reason. Maybe cuz I was bitter I declined seeing them live on that tour for some reason... My only chance, squandered.

What the hell, let's do it:

5. Murray Street / Rather Ripped
4. Evol
3. Sonic Nurse
2. Daydream Nation
1. Sister
"Rather Ripped" is great, not sure why nobody likes it, i really like "Washing Machine" too..

5. Washing Machine
4. Goo
3. Daydream Nation
2. Sister
1. EVOL

[Zimbo]

God I miss seeing this band live! My list is quite different than when I started listening to them in the early 2000's (namely, Sister wouldn't have been on my list) Here is my list:

1) Sister
2) Rather Ripped
3) Daydream Nation
4) Washing Machine
5) The Eternal

(Dirty or Experimental Jet Set... would've been on that list instead of sister)

[henryeatscereal]

God I miss seeing this band live! My list is quite different than when I started listening to them in the early 2000's (namely, Sister wouldn't have been on my list) Here is my list:
I'm glad i got to see them live before they broke up, actually i catch them live in the "Rather Ripped" tour and they opened with "Incinerate", awesome!

I don't think this band is ever reuniting, Kim is really bitter about how it all ended.

[Zimbo]

I'm glad i got to see them live before they broke up, actually i catch them live in the "Rather Ripped" tour and they opened with "Incinerate", awesome!

I don't think this band is ever reuniting, Kim is really bitter about how it all ended.

I first saw them on Rather Ripped, too. Then at Pitchfork when they performed Daydream Nation cover to cover, and finally for The Eternal. Also, saw Thurston (same Pitchfork) perform with Yoko Ono. An utterly bizarre and out of body experience.

I don't blame Kim. But I am a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan so i don't like her shade toward Billy. Thurston was a cheater, sad.

[GulDukat]

Saw Sonic Youth in 2006. Too drunk to remember. Wish I had gone sober.