Sonic Youth Release 2 Vintage Texas Concerts and Texas-Themed T-shirts to Raise Funds for Women’s Choice
In response to alarming restrictive legislative measures against the women of Texas (and increasingly elsewhere) seminal NYC leading musical lights Sonic Youth have announced plans for new releases on their Bandcamp and store to fundraise for Fund Texas Choice (https://fundtexaschoice.org/) and the Abortion Support Network (https://www.asn.org.uk/) on Friday, November 5th.
On that day, the band makes two vintage live sets available in full, from the Austin Music Hall, Austin, Texas from 1995 (on the post-Lollapallooza ‘Washing Machine’ tour), as well as a gig in Dallas at the Gypsy Tea Room (‘Rather Ripped’ tour) in 2006. These classic, previously unreleased shows go up for stream and download on November 5th, with 100% of their proceeds to support the two causes.
Also, three new Sonic t-shirt designs will be made available: two from Texan photographer/friend of the band/author of the recent ‘Texas Is the Reason’ book Pat Blashil , and a third tee featuring a variation of Richard Prince’s “Dude Ranch Nurse” artwork. The first Blashil tee features a photo from their Austin/Continental Club ’85 gig, the second features pro-femme lyrics from their song “Flower” coupled with various photos of assorted women from the 80’s Texan punk scene. Proceeds of both of these will benefit the causes as well.
In its posthumous state, Sonic Youth have dedicated great energy in making previously unreleased sounds available to their fanbase. Historically, their trailblazing cross-country tours of back to the mid 80’s consolidated their independent/artistic stance with many formative Texan bands and artists, including the likes of the Butthole Surfers, Big Boys, Daniel Johnston, and Meat Joy. The enduring support from Lone Star state fans for SY warrants a favor returned specifically for this state’s fanbase, and in broader scope, Sonic Youth support a national and world community where abortion is embraced as health care and a human right.
LOST HIGHWAYS exhibition
A selection of drawings from my ongoing Lost Highway series opened at Karma Bookstore, NYC on February 25, 2023. Limited 48 pg catalog also available.
In Virus Times – released November, 2021
muterecords: @leeranaldo has announced details of a new vinyl and digital release, In Virus Times, out 12 November 2021. 🌹 Listen to an excerpt & pre-order HERE.
In Virus Times is an instrumental acoustic piece in four parts, written and performed by Lee Ranaldo, stretching over one side of vinyl. The b-side is an etching drawn by Ranaldo, and the cover is by Brazilian photographer, Anna Paula Bogaciovas. The limited transparent turquoise vinyl edition comes with an art poster, signed and numbered by Lee Ranaldo.
Ranaldo explains, “This recording began on an evening in September 2020, stuck at home in lower Manhattan during the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic as we came out of a deadly summer. A heightened sense of anxiety stemming from the then-upcoming US Presidential elections as well as the virus seemed to pervade all aspects of life, for myself and everyone I knew. Its minimal quality reflects the sense of ‘motionless time’ that many of us felt.”
CHURNING OF THE OCEAN: Lee Ranaldo/Jim Jarmusch/Marc Urselli/Balazs Pandi album release second album
A second collaboration between guitarists Lee Ranaldo and Jim Jarmusch, with rhythm section Marc Urselli and Balazs Pandi, released on Trost Records, June 2021.
NAMES OF NORTH END WOMEN
LEE RANALDO AND RAÜL REFREE
released FEB 21, 2020 on Mute Records UPCOMING DATES BELOW
NAMES OF NORTH END WOMEN is the first official collaboration between Lee and Raül, following their work together on ELECTRIC TRIM, ACOUSTIC DUST and LIVE AT ROUGH TRADE EAST. Now billed as a duo, the pair struck out in some new directions, furthering the studio experiments begun on ELECTRIC TRIM. Combinations of modern electronic and old-school analog sounds, plus gamelan instruments and other eclectic percussion, mark the winds of change. Co-lyricist from Electric Trim, Jonathan Lethem, is again on board as well. Friend Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux) is featured on one track; package artwork by Jessi Reeves and Bradley Kronz. LP + CD come with 2-sided poster/lyric sheet.
NAMES OF NORTH END WOMEN – tracklisting:
Alice, Etc.
Words out of the Haze
New Brain Trajectory
Humps (Espiru Mix)
Names of North End Women
Light Years Out
The Art of Losing (featuring Hayley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux))
At The Forks
WORDS OUT OF THE HAZE:
LIGHT YEARS OUT:
camera: Anna Bogaciovas, Fred Reidel
image processing: Matt Schlanger
Lee Ranaldo/Jim Jarmusch/Marc Urselli/Balazs Pandi album released A new collaboration between guitarists Lee Ranaldo and film director Jim Jarmusch, with rhythm section Marc Urselli and Balazs Pandi, recorded this album in early 2019. Released on Trost Records, May 2019.
Live Album Recorded At Rough Trade East out on Mute, 14 December 2018.
Electric Trim Live at Rough Trade East, recorded at the London record store in October 2017, and mixed by Raül ‘Refree’ Fernandez. The album depicts an intimate solo acoustic performance, the first UK date on an extensive Electric Trim solo tour before Ranaldo returned in early 2018 with the Electric Trim Trio. INFO
“It was cool to have the first Electric Trim show be in an intimate setting. I came over to Europe on a promo trip and did the show at Rough Trade East in London, and a rooftop session in Paris a few days later… I’m so proud of this group of songs, they are so much fun to play, and they were still fresh at this moment – I was discovering them, stripping away all the arrangements to the simple, sturdy songs themselves with just a voice and a few acoustic guitars.”
Electric Trim Live at Rough Trade East – which features artwork by long time collaborator Richard Prince – marks the end of touring and releases for Electric Trim as Ranaldo returns to the studio to record its follow up.
Listen to two tracks from the live album, ‘Last Looks’ and ‘Circular (Right As Rain)’
‘ELECTRIC TRIM’ ALBUM RELEASED ON MUTE RECORDS, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
My latest record, Electric Trim, was released Sept 2017 on Mute Records. So happy that this long-standing, artist-centric label is releasing my new LP, which I’m very proud of. It’s one of the best things I’ve done. Many friends have helped in the making of it, including my co-conspiritor Raul Refree, Nels Cline, Sharon Van Etten, Kid Millions, Alan Licht, Steve Shelley and Tim Luntzel. Most of the lyrics were written in collaboration with author Jonathan Lethem.
More info, album art, photos, etc is HERE. ROLLING STONE ARTICLE on ELECTRIC TRIM.
“HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM “, a film documentary about the making of the record, continues to screen at festivals and is now available to watch HERE. TRAILER HERE. Latest screening information available HERE.
LIVE SOLO ACOUSTIC IN VIENNA 020316 FULL CONCERT VIDEO (& PRINT INTERVIEW):HERE
ART EXHIBITIONS:
MINSK-Johan Tahon in collaborations with Lee Ranaldo, Gerhard Hofland Gallery, Amsterdam. Sept 7 – October 5, 2019. As part of a ‘show within a show’ Lee will exhibit Lost Highway drawings and a vinyl record sculpture, and perform at the opening on September 7. INFO
RECENT RELEASES:
AMBIENT LOOP FOR VANCOUVER, limited edition 500 copies release, a hypnocic and lyrical 54 minute ambient composition featuring Alan Licht, Christian Marclay and William Hooker, previously only available as part of the special 10th anniversary edition of the book Road Movies. Put this on repeat for a few hours, a few days, a year or more. Available SY SHOP and thru IMPORTANT RECORDS SITE.
LEE RANALDO CONDUITE L’ORCHESTRE INHARMONIQUE DE NICE, limited edition 300 copies vinyl album of Lee’s Nice residency of 2014 working with the ad hoc “untrained orchestra” at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts à la Villa Arson in Nice, France. Lee conducted the performance here which was recorded live at the Villa Arson. Worth the price of admission for “Louie Louie” alone! INFO. VIDEO. ACOUSTIC DUST, our album from Barcelona acoustic studio sessions from April 2013, is OUT NOW on Spanish label El Segell. Full-band acoustic versions of songs from both BETWEEN THE TIMES AND THE TIDES and LAST NIGHT ON EARTH as well as choice cover songs by Sandy Denny, Neil Young and The Monkees. www.elsegell.com
THE HIRED HANDS A tribute to Bruce Langhorne and in particular his soundtrack album for Peter Fonda’s film The Hired Hand. INFO.
ARTIFACTS (OF YOU), a flexi disc w cover also by Lee, part of Joyful Noise Recrodings 2015 flexi series (SOLD OUT). INFO.
SHIRLEY INSPIRED, Lee contributes a cover of ‘The Plains of Waterloo’ to this triple-vinyl release celebrating the work of the British folk singer Shirley Collins on the occasion of her 80th birthday, and as a fundraiser for a film about her career, ‘The Ballad of Shirley Collins’. Earth Records (Record Store Day release). INFO.
Two New Seven Inch Single Releases: Lee Ranaldo/Tim Rogers split single
Tim Rogers (from Aussie band You Am I, that Lee produced in the 90s) and Lee did covers of each others songs for a single (and d/l) in support of S.L.A.M. Program (“Save Australia’s Live Music). It’s expensive, yes, but it’s a benefit item for a good cause…
info here: http://slamrally.org/donate
Lee Ranaldo and The Dust: acoustic 7″
Acoustic covers of Neil Young’s Revolution Blues and Sandy Denny’s Bushes and Briars that we recorded in Spain last April. A taste of the acoustic album The Dust should have ready for release by early summer. This is on the new-ish label of Primavera Sound, El Segell.
The only info on it we can find right now is this: http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/pro…ell-93629.html
Albatross:Lee Ranaldo Band feat. J Mascis appear on ‘Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac’ performing ‘Albatross’, originally a Peter Green led instrumental by Fleetwood Mac/1969 that inspired The Beatles’ Sun King. Hear the record at Soundcloud or via your favorite digital supplier or record store.
LAST NIGHT ON EARTH DEMOS AND REHEARSALS 2XCD RELEASE:
New Double CD: The Rising Tide (Last Night On Earth Demos and Rehearsals). This limited edition package (1000 copies) collects alternate versions of some of the songs from the Last Night On Earth LP, in some cases in multiple versions. CD1 collects band rehearsals, while CD2 has Lee’s solo acoustic demos and a 25 minute instrumental version of The Rising Tide as well. This collection is exclusively available at live shows during 2014, but there are also some available at the SY store, HERE.
Limited Edition LP and 7″ Records (1000 copies ea): Between the Times and the Tides TOUR LP(demos) and SEVEN-INCH(ALTERNATE MIXES of album trax) are now for sale at shows–and available in the SY store. Info HERE.
Lee’s new poetry chapbook, “How Not To Get Played On The Radio”, now out on SoundBarn Press. more info HERE. Available at SY Online Store HERE.
July 2012: Glacial “On Jones Beach” Full length album of Lee’s trio with Tony Buck and David Watson. LP only, comes w d/l card w extra material. Three Lobed Records. INFO HERE.
OTHER STUFF: AMERICAN JUKEBOX Lee and David Amram wrote introductions for Chris Felver’s new book AMERICAN JUKEBOX, photographs of musicians (including Lee, Kim, & Thurston…).
Lee has a track on the Three Lobed Records all-guitarists recordstore day release “Eight Trails, One Path.”
Lee is also featured on a new Poetry CD by poet-musician David Amram.
Steve and Brazilian musician Paulo Kishimoto will present Aspirin-Mint radio show Fridays at 12:30pm ET (13:30 in Sao Paulo, Brazil) weekly on Veneno.live internet radio platform which also hosts a show by legendary DJ Brian Turner. Aspirin-Mint will broadcast Fridays at 12:30ET (and then be archived) at Veneno.live.
The New Untitled Show with Tim Prudhomme (of fuck) and Steve airs on WYXR.org 91.7FM in Memphis, TN on the first and third Monday of every month at 10pm ET/9pm CT – shows are archived at wyxr.org
Steve along with booking agent/friend Steve Shepherd present DJ For A Day (on the third Tuesday or very month at 5pm EST) on gimmecountry.com. Steve and Steve will also be text/chatting at gimmecountry.com during the 2-hour program. New shows broadcast monthly on gimmecountry.
EVOL guitar straps and new EVOL tees now available at both SY stores.
Sonic Life (black) skate decks now available at the SY Euro webstore.
A Sister puzzle is now available at both SY webstores, the Sonic Youth winter knit hat is back in stock at both SY webstores and now comes in 3 colors – brown and gold, green and gold and black and white. Visit the US store or visit the Euro store.
The Euro webstore also has Dirty baseball caps, Nurse skate decks and Washing Machine skate decks.
A good snapshot into the Sonics’ live state of mind circa 2000 in the form of a sprawling, and often exploratory set of some standards and five tracks from their recently-released NYC Ghosts & Flowers. While not pleasant to invoke the infamous gear theft in California prior to that album’s birth, it’s somewhat important for perspective here. The creation of the album not only inspired recommission of guitars that hadn’t been dragged out in a long time (as well as breaking in new gear), but the band’s creation process itself became revamped in a way definitely reflected in the twisting, expansive record. I always kinda thought of it as a big ball of twine, with all the individual components being dense yet leaving great space for its players; Jim O’Rourke’s studio aid evolved into him joining the live lineup here allowing often for Kim’s guitar figures to factor more into the equation. When Lee announces at the top of the set “we’re gonna take our time tonight and play real slow and long,” ensuing opener “Schizophrenia” swirls more delicately than some of the roaring ’87 initial live versions, though throttlers like “White Kross” and “Brother James” stoke up the usual fire and add additional blast with the expanded lineup.
Rarities 3
Volume 3 of Sonic Youth’s Rarities series features unreleased and hard-to-find studio recordings, mostly instrumental. This collection spans from the group’s first Peel session – recorded remotely from NYC – to demos and rehearsals for our final record, The Eternal. Booklet includes notes by Steve Shelley and front cover photo by Stefano Giovannini.
Live in Torino 1987
Our Sister lp was released on June 1st and by June 4th we were on tour and somehow joined by hero Iggy Pop for our London Town & Country encore. This show a few weeks later, was recorded nearly halfway through our Summer tour of Europe on June 21, 1987 and our only Italian concert of 1987’s journey. Italy would grow to be one of our favorite places to visit and it still is to this day.
Rarities 2
Volume 2 of our Rarities, here consisting mostly but not exclusively of tracks from the 1980s, and mostly found scattered across a series of obscure 7″ singles and the like. See individual song notes for the when and the where. Included booklet contains all notes and 2 photos from 1985 by Leslie Fratkin at CBGB.
Live in Denver 1986 – excerpt from Brian Turner’s notes :
An all-ager-rager in Denver; I am so glad this one is up cuz my late ’80s live-tape-swapping-obsessive self has always been hopped up about this 1986 gig. It was right off a Europe run and a week later flat-splat into a summer Evol USA tour, SY were kicking around in a hot van gigging everywhere, coast to coast and back with the likes of Saccharine Trust and Dinosaur.
Rarities 1
The first in a series of rare recordings selected from various out-of-print and hard-to-find compilations. This collection begins in 1982 at The Kitchen in NYC (with James Sclavunos on drums), journeys through the 80’s and 90’s and ends in 2009 at Bad Bonn Festival in Switzerland. Track by Track notes by ss.
World Trade Center Benefit 2001:
Some brief notes by LR: Thurston Kim and I all lived downtown, and our studio on Murray Street was downtown. In fact pieces of one of the engines landed on the roof of our studio building, that’s how close we were. The events of 9/11 were traumatic for so many, and too close for comfort for some of us. Many people were doing heroic work around the clock in the aftermath. This benefit show at The Bowery Ballroom was literally put together in a weeks time, shortly after we regained access to the studio and our gear.
Live In Bremen 1991 – bootlegged on vinyl twice in the 90’s and featured as part of the soundtrack to The Year Punk Broke documentary – finally the band’s audio source is released in it’s entirety.
Also search for new Text of Light recordings featuring Lee; and a Strange Fruit 7″ from 1983 with previously unreleased bonus tracks and a new Gata Pirâmide EP both featuring Steve at https://vampireblues.bandcamp.com/
Perspectives Musicales – Live At Cat’s Cradle 2000 – on an off night from opening for Pearl Jam in 2000, Sonic Youth presented an evening of solos/duos/group improvs/poetry/noise and a complete SY song-set at beloved venue Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC
Live In Irvine 1990 – Goo-era multi-track recorded and mixed by Aaron Mullan and Steve Shelley.
Live At Brixton Academy 1992 – London show during the Dirty Tour – broadcast by the BBC and widely-bootlegged but never from this complete audio source.
Live In Yugoslavia 85/87 – 2 partial sets recorded in 1980’s Yugoslavia and originally broadcast by Student Radio in Yugoslavia.
Melbourne Direct – direct-to-lathe recording from 2004. Four improvised sides with Steve, Jim, Lee and Thurston. Originally released as a limited edition 2xlp.
Blastic Scene Live In Portugal 1993 – Blastic Scene was recorded live at Sonic Youth’s first ever concert in Portugal, at a bull-ring in Lisbon, in July 1993. SY had not yet recorded the songs that would make up EJST&NS but previewed several new songs nightly on the Summer 1993 European tour. This recording was released in Portugal in 1995 and a portion of the limited pressing was offered to SY fans via Sonic Death fan club.
Live At All Tomorrows Parties 2000 – In conjunction with the 20 year anniversary of NYC Ghost & Flowers, Sonic Youth Archive has released All Tomorrows Parties 2000. Sonic Youth’s first show in 2000 was by the invitation of Mogwai and ATP to play the debut ATP Festival in Camber Sands Holiday Camp in E. Sussex, UK. Playing a mostly instrumental set of new songs from the upcoming NYC Ghosts & Flowers and the only performance of a new 23 minute song then known as “New Drone” and later to become “J’accuse Ted Hughes” on the 12″ SYR7. All Tomorrow Parties 2000 is available here
Thurston has several Bandcamp pages w Thurston Mooore Group and Thurston Moore pages featuring unreleased and rare group and solo recordings.
Lee has been posting rare and hard to find recordings of his on Bandcamp
Kim, Alan Licht, Jim O’Rourke, Chris Corsano and Tim Barnes have posted the sole live 2003 show by their group The Supreme Indifference.
newly released: Strange Fruit7″ from 1983 with previously unreleased bonus tracks and two new Gata PirâmideEP, and a demos single both featuring Steve
The Wylde Ratttz (Ron Asheton, Thurston, Steve, Mike Watt, Don Fleming with vocalists Mark Arm and Sean Ono Lennon) have released their long-lost LP and several singles with more to be released.
also via our EU store here with funds going to United for InterCultural Action (the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants, refugees and minorities.)
Food for thought: the upcoming election is a serious pivot point for the U.S. and it is alarming how many past lyrics remain timely, including those from “Youth Against Fascism”. Combining these two ideas is a concept brought to us by our friends Three Lobed Recordings and graphic designer D. Norsen – the result is this new shirt design cobbled together from vintage SY artwork that we could have just as easily made in 1992. These shirts are only available for purchase through Wednesday October 28 and will be printed shortly thereafter. There are no plans to run this design again beyond this special window. All net proceeds from the sale of these shirts less manufacturing costs will be split between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the “Get Mitch Or Die Trying” fund via @votesaveamerica . Both of these funds are focused on trying to push the control of the US Senate back into Democratic hands in an effort to better control judicial nominations and legislative priorities. We will be donating once a week during this sale period to get funds into the hands of these entities as quickly as possible during these important races. A huge thanks to our friends at Tannis Root and Bingo for helping administer this endeavor. Thanks for looking and please register to vote, making a voting plan, and vote!
(Get Mitch or Die Trying is a tandem fundraising effort curated by Vote Save America, the one-stop shop for shop for all the information and tools you need to get informed and get involved in 2020. Vote Save America is a project of Crooked Media.)
Sonic Youth Washing Machine and Sonic Nurse skate decks now available to order via our Euro webstore + US webstore. These beauties are made from Canadian Maple and hand screen printed in Leeds. We have limited stock of 8″ and 8.5″ boards currently in production, head to the store to grab one today!
New SY Bremen 1991 poster reproduction and download of concert added to our webstores:
Digitally printed replica poster of Sonic Youth’s show at the Aladin in Bremen on 8/27/1991 during The Year Punk Broke Tour plus digital download of the show, new Goo Flip Flops, and circa 1990 repro Kool Thing Tees (some of the proceeds going to cristicalresistance.org ). Available at both SY webstores.
A large selection of vintage SY posters now available at our US Store.
Also Sonic Nurse masks, Nurse Tees, silver mylar Goo tote bag, SY vintage posters, vintage t-shirts, a cassingle and SY Live in Berlin 2009 2xcd now available at our webstore.
From our Euro webstore:
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Goo we have expanded our collection of shirts and merch in our European store! The iconic Goo design now comes in Spanish, Arabic, Russian and as a facemask. Kool Thing Tee w part of the proceeds going to Critical Resistance recently added.
Recently unearthed, Sonic Youth’s first concert in Portugal recorded Live at Campo Pequeno Lisbon, Portugal July 14, 1993 will be making its way to Youtube in its entirety. The show was filmed by Zé F. Pinheiro with audio mixing and mastering by João Paulo Feliciano and Rafael Toral. Sonic Youth members Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley will be chatting with fans during the initial stream of the concert on YouTube on July 10th at 3pm EST. https://youtu.be/hUcShyAarjw
35 years ago, under a full moon in the Mojave Desert, Sonic Youth made their West Coast debut at Desolation Center. Travel back to the Mojave to see where desert festivals began. Featuring rare performance footage from Sonic Youth, The Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Einstürzende Neubauten, Redd Kross and more.
The Sonic Youth Live in Berlin 2xcd from October 2009 is now available at the SY webstore and the SY Euro webstore.
Sonic Youth are selecting concerts from throughout their history and making them available at Sonic Youth Live Archive on bandcamp and nugs.net.
June 7, 2001 Olympia Paris, France
March 5, 1993 The Warfield San Francisco, CA
August 20, 2004 Orange Peel Asheville, NC
May 22, 1987 City Gardens Trenton, NJ
November 3, 1990 Crawford Hall, Irvine, CA
May 28, 1998 Veterans Wadsworth Theatre Los Angeles, CA
November 5, 1988: Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL USA
December 13, 1988: CBGB’s, New York, NY USA
August 17, 2002: Metro, Chicago, IL USA
August 22, 2007: ABC1, Glasgow, Scotland
October 21, 2009: Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany
August 12, 2011: Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, NY USA
Video available:
August 22, 2007: ABC1, Glasgow, Scotland – The band perform Daydream Nation in it’s entirety live in 2007 and filmed by Lance Bangs.
We’re happy to see our friend Stuart Swezey continue to show his excellent film Desolation Center around the country.
CANCELLED – March 19 Desolation Center/Daydream Nation Double Feature Hot Springs, AR – Pocket Theatre 7pm/8:45 pm All Ages – Valley Of the Vapors/Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Desolation Center director Stuart Swezey and Steve Shelley in conversation after the films. Tickets Here
Daydream Nation: A Sonic Youth Concert Film by Lance Bangs will be shown in it’s entirety at the Pocket Theatre.
Sonic Youth : NYC and Beyond
As a fixture of the New York music scene for 30 years, Sonic Youth performed in New York City innumerable times, and served as ersatz cultural ambassadors for the city when traveling. As part of the 2019 Rooftop Films programming, Sonic Youth will present a New York-specific collection of film and videos from their private archives. Much of the material to be presented is completely unseen, threaded together with a few items which are out there in the public knowledge but here presented from the best source available to the band. A panel discussion featuring Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, archivist Aaron Mullan, and writer Byron Coley will follow.
Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth released their sixth album Daydream Nation on October 18,1988. The album was an immediate critical success. Robert Palmer wrote in Rolling Stone that it “presents the definitive American guitar band of the Eighties at the height of its powers and prescience”. Time has not dimmed the album’s lustre: It was selected to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2005, and in 2013 Consequence of Sound declared “the record simply rules.”
In celebration of the album’s 30th anniversary, Sonic Youth, in conjunction with the Hollywood Theatre, filmmaker Lance Bangs, and SY archivist Aaron Mullan, will present a program of Daydream Nation-related films on October 20th. Two are rarely-screened archival pieces from 1989, in brand new restorations. Lance Bangs will also present excerpts from his new concert film of the band performing the album in its entirety in Glasgow in 2007. A few unseen gems from the band’s archives will round out the bill.
Put Blood in the Music 1989 Dir. Charles Atlas (SY Edit): Charles Atlas’s first major recognition came for his work with Merce Cunningham as the company’s filmmaker-in-residence from 1978-1983. From this pioneering work establishing the field of ‘Dance for Camera”, he went on to make the faux Cinema Verite Hail the New Puritan for BBC4 about the Scottish dancer Michael Clark, featuring music by Glenn Branca, Bruce Gilbert (of Wire), Jeffrey Hinton, and the Fall. Then Atlas was approached by the Irish writer David Donohue, asking him to do a movie about music in New York.
CHARLES ATLAS: This was really the first documentary that I made. For me, I’d done a lot of pieces for television, art pieces. And I knew about the downtown New York music scene, having worked with Merce Cunningham, John Cage and Rhys Chatham and also knowing Glenn Branca.
I really wanted it to be green screened and I really wanted to have New York backgrounds, but we didn’t have time to go around shooting against New York backgrounds. So I had separate days to shoot New York backgrounds. I wanted to mix it up, and have it be really visually busy, like New York. A lot of people ended up copying the “interviewees against green-screened backgrounds” idea.
I knew that I was editing it, I wasn’t making it for someone else to edit. So I told the Director of Photography “It’s too boring to have the talking heads static like normal. Just do whatever you want. Make it interesting” and then I had to work with what he did.
I kind of wrote it by editing the clips of the people, which was something I then did in subsequent work. I’ve been criticized for not letting people speak the way they do in documentaries, with pauses. But I still had an American sensibility, even though I was working a lot in Europe, and I wanted things to change. I didn’t want any dead air at all. I
We thought of a lot of different people to feature in the documentary, but I really wanted to do people who I thought would do well as television personalities; who would talk about their work in an engaging way. In retrospect it’s really quite star-studded, Hal Wilner and Karen Finley, in addition to the people already mentioned. It was really about downtown art, and the whole downtown music scene, and we just had to choose some people to represent that. I thought it was at a really critical moment for Sonic Youth. We went to great expense to record live performances, because I wouldn’t dare ask them to mime to playback. But then shortly afterward they signed with Geffen and there they were…
It was also the moment before the band had really gotten their press image totally together. Thurston was already like a late-night talk show host, but when they went more mainstream they got that part of their stuff together more. So it was interesting, because it was quite real. And I was quite naïve, in that it was really only later that I realized how complicated band dynamics are.
Daydream Nation Dir. Lance Bangs 2018 Lance Bangs’s new Sonic Youth concert film “Daydream Nation” presents the band performing the titular double album in Glasgow on August 21st and 22, 2007. Bangs blends HD footage shot in Glasgow with fragments of personal Super8mm and 16mm from his archives of Sonic Youth over the decades.
Sonic Youth performed “Daydream Nation” in its entirety less than 20 times during a 2007 tour, often at festivals or outdoor venues. This document captures one of the few indoor club performances; a setting SY member Thurston Moore always claimed was the type of venue for which the songs were written. Glasgow had been a great city for the band’s tours, and the live sets shown in the film received a 5 star review in the Guardian.
“Daydream Nation” the film features multitrack audio of this material with a fidelity beyond any 1980’s documents, and offers a performance of this material by musicians who are simply more experienced and more adept with their instruments. The joy of the band and the audience are a sight to behold; the band and the fans joined together in celebration of this landmark album (10/10 NME, 10/10 Spin Alternative Record Guide, 5 Stars in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, 10.0 in Pitchfork, A from Robert Christgau in The Village Voice)
We Sing A New Language: The Oral Discography Of Thurston Moore – Released On March 13
“We Sing A New Language” represents the first attempt made to draw together and comprehend the solo and collaborative works of Thurston Moore, outside of the Sonic Youth. Through the testimony of 170 friends and fellow musicians, the book describes the stories and inspirations behind over 200 releases Thurston has been featured on. The book features an extensive section detailing the biographies of the participants and the most extensive published discography of Thurston’s works yet seen http://smarturl.it/TMSingNew
Thurston’s new book “Stereo Sanctity: Lyrics & Poems” (Ecstatic Peace Library/Rough Trade) is out and available exclusively at Rough Trade and is their “Book of the Month”.
http://roughtrade.com/events/2015/10/1566
The Best Day – Thurston Moore – LP/CD
Listen to a stream of The Best Day now at NPR in N. America or at The Guardian in Europe.
Out now the latest solo album from Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore, ‘The Best Day’. Recorded in London with his new band — featuring guitarist James Sedwards (Nøught), bassist Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) and SY drummer Steve Shelley, ‘The Best Day’ is a staggeringly confident, expansive work, one that not only rivals much of Moore’s past work, but also suggests his relocation to England has inspired a creative rebirth of sorts. Keep in mind, we’re already dealing with one of the harder working, prolific characters in modern music, rock or otherwise. Listen to the song ‘The Best Day’.
Steve appears on recent records by the artists listed below :
J.P. Shilo – Invisible You cd/lp J.P. Shilo (Hungry Ghosts/Rowland S. Howard/Blackeyed Susans /Mick Harvey) launches his highly anticipated solo album – INVISIBLE YOU – with a stellar band that includes Sonic Youth‘s Steve Shelley, ex-Bad Seed Mick Harvey and bassist Glenn Lewis.
Sick Gazelle – Odum lp
Harmony Rockets with Peter Walker lp
Emma Tricca – St. Peter lp/cd
Riviera Gaz – Connection lp/cd
Mark Kozelek – solo cd/lp [Caldo Verde Records/Rough Trade]
Spectre Folk – Vol. 4 (with Pete Nolan, Peter Meehan, Aaron Mullan & Mark Ibold) cd/lp
Lee Ranaldo – Electric Trim cd/lp
Cinnamon Tapes – debut record by Brazilian singer/songwriter Susan Souza produced by Steve and featuring Paulo Kishimoto and Emil Amos – cd/digital
Vampire Blues, Steve Shelley’s record label after running Smells Like Records for 20 years, celebrates the release of two new lps this July 31 : Spectre Folk’s ‘The Ancient Storm’ and Chris Lee’s ‘Bury the Kings’. Both records to be released as vinyl LPs (with download cards) and as digital downloads. Steve produced the Chris Lee LP and plays drums on both of the upcoming LPs. The first Vampire Blues release was a 7″ by Hallogallo 2010, a group assembled by legendary Neu! guitarist Michael Rother with Shelley + Aaron Mullan. Later in 2012 Vampire Blues will release ‘Disappears in White/Light’, a collaboration recording with two Chicago groups: Disappears and White/Light along with Steve Shelley. Vampire Blues records are available via Revolver USA/Midheaven.com and here at the vampire blues web store
Check out Spectre Folk’s ‘Please Come Home’ video from – The Ancient Storm.
Spectre Folk’s ‘The Ancient Storm’ LP is the first full-length by Pete Nolan (of Magik Markers) along with Peter Meehan, Aaron Mullan (of Tall Firs) and Steve Shelley. The 6 song LP comes with a free download card that includes 5 bonus songs not on the LP.
Chris Lee’s ‘Bury the Kings’ LP is the 4th full length by Chris Lee. The LP was produced by Steve Shelley at Sonic Youth’s Echo Canyon studio and features Chris on vocals and guitar backed by David Nagler on keyboards, Aaron McClellan on bass, Joey McClellan on guitar and Shelley on drums.
To order either LP from Midheaven, click here and here.
Matador Records is excited to announce that it will release Sonic Youth’s live album, Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008 on June 7th, 2019. Initially sold as a bonus item alongside the 2009 release of the band’s final album, The Eternal, the live recording will now be available on streaming services and as a stand-alone physical package for the first time ever. Culled from their show at Battery Park’s River To River Festival, the setlist spans the band’s 30-year career.
To celebrate the imminent release of Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008, the live version of “Bull In The Heather” is now available to stream HERE. Coinciding with the full release of the live album on June 7th, The Eternal will be 25% off on the Matador webstore.
Tracklist:
1. She Is Not Alone
2. The Sprawl
3. World Looks Red
4. Jams Run Free
5. Hey Joni
6. Silver Rocket
7. The Wonder
8. Hyperstation
9. Bull in the Heather
10. 100%
11. Making the Nature Scene
Rock n Roll Consciousness is the new record by Thurston Moore inspired by radical love and the energies of the challenged soul of Mother Earth/Nature in direct resistance.
The music is decidedly charged by the force of positive action and a great true love where the feminine/masculine come together in new and fluid unions of beauty and light.
Thurston has written songs on Rock n Roll Consciousness inspired by the friendship of musicians with whom he’s been working since 2014: Deb Googe (of My Bloody Valentine, Snowpony) bass, James Sedwards (Nøught, Chrome Hoof) guitar and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth, Crucifucks) drums. The entire album was recorded with producer Paul Epworth (Adele, The Pop Group) at The Church studios in Crouch End, London and mixed by Randall Dunn (Marissa Nadler, Earth) at Avast! in Seattle, WA.
The recording focuses on this particular group’s instrumental strength, beauty and promise after two solid years of touring since 2015’s critically acclaimed The Best Day album.
These new songs are a wild step forward in their expansive, anthemic and exploratory investigation and herald of love between angels, goddess mysticism and belief in healing through new birth.
“Exalted”, with lyrics by poet Radio Radieux, is an unfolding and emotional journey in homage to sacred energy and exaltation — a drug-infused visit from sacred womyn, sibyls, prophetesses, oracles, + goddesses reclaiming consciousness.
“Cusp” is a springtime charging, propulsive singing, moving march of noise and layered harmonics with a feeling of Sonic Youth mixing in with My Bloody Valentine. Radio Radieux’ lyrics with background vocals by Deb Googe that call into play the bliss of total love where all dangers subside and creative power engages the trans-mind energy of now.
“Turn On” is a pop-sonic poem to holy love both intimate and cosmic — a patient, yet driving song opening space for more illustrious lead-guitar extensions by James Sedwards.
“Smoke of Dreams” focuses on the contemplative mystery of life-defining time travel where Thurston recalls a New York City where spirits informed artists seeking poems of beatitude and sonic prayers of joy and wild wonder.
“Aphrodite” is a strange and heavy no wave rocker in salutation to the icon of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. The song lists tools beyond the consciousness, electric guitars, the power of mind, imagination, will and intention to practice magick. Thurston sings of spells and possession as he and James pick up energies from string sorcery in true group seance. Steve Shelley takes the power of the symbolic in actual shimmering cymbal resonance and Deb Googe’s bass moves through a mesmeric psychic shaping — all in service to the mystic song.
Rock n Roll Consciousness is a new and exhilarating chapter for Thurston Moore and promises to be a creative highpoint for anyone interested in his legacy of avant-garde music and writing, as strong a statement as anything he has recorded these last three decades with Sonic Youth, the band he founded in 1980, to the solo work he has produced from 1995’s Psychic Hearts album to the Beck produced Demolished Thoughtsalbum of 2011 as well as the myriad of collaborations and completely outside-the-margins recordings on a litany of labels (as featured in author Nick Soulsby’s new investigative book We Sing A New Language – The Oral Discography of Thurston Moore) – serious and precocious and strangely accessible.
Thurston Moore Group will commence touring springtime 2017 with the line-up of James Sedwards, Deb Googe and Steve Shelley in USA, UK, Europe, Asia and beyond.
1. Exalted (11:54)
(music: Thurston Moore / lyrics: Radio Radieux)
2. Cusp (6:33)
(music: Thurston Moore / lyrics: Radio Radieux)
3. Turn On (10:18)
(music and lyrics: Thurston Moore)
4. Smoke of Dreams (6:04)
(music + lyrics: Thurston Moore)
5. Aphrodite (8:08)
(music: Thurston Moore / lyrics: Radio Radieux + Thurston Moore)
Thurston Moore
Rock n Roll Consciousness
Recorded by Paul Epworth
at The Church Studios, London UK
2015
Mixed by Randall Dunn
at Avast! Recording Co., Seattle WA USA
2016
Mastered by Jason Ward
at CMS, Chicago IL USA
2016
Thurston Moore – guitars, vocals
James Sedwards – guitars
Deb Googe – bass, background vocals
Steve Shelley – drums
Body/Head’s (Kim Gordon +Bill Nace) new 2xLP/CD/dl ‘Coming Apart’ is out now on Matador . Listen to ‘Coming Apart’ here. Stores that carry Body/Head are here. ‘Coming Apart’ is also available at Matador , iTunes & Amazon
Visit the official website for Body/Head (Kim Gordon & Bill Nace).
Body/Head premiere “Actress” from their upcoming album “Coming Apart”
Une Danse Des Bouffons (The Jester’s Dance) is a new short film by Marcel Dzama starring Kim Gordon and Hannelore Knuts. Premieres Sept 5th at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.
Kim and Bill Nace discuss their new Body/Head LP at FuseTV
Body/Head, Kim Gordon and Bill Nace’s improvisatory guitar duo, are playing several dates this fall in support of their Matador debut album, Coming Apart, available for pre-order HERE.
With 2016’s October 14th re-release of Experimental, Trash and No Star, A Thousand Leaves, and NYC Ghosts and Flowers – UMe concludes reissuing the entire nine-album DGC/Geffen Sonic Youth catalog – which ranges from 1990’s Goo to 2006’s Rather Ripped – remastered from the original stereo analog master tapes on both high-grade vinyl and a variety of HD audio formats (including 192kHz 24-bit, 96kHz 24-bit and Mastered for iTunes). All vinyl album releases include a digital download card for 320kbps MP4 AAC audio.
Previously released are Goo (1990), Dirty (1992), Washing Machine (1995) and the 12” single of “The Diamond Sea,” Murray Street (2002), a double-vinyl LP edition of Sonic Nurse (2004) and Rather Ripped (2006).
2. Theme with Noise
3. High Mesa
4. Unknown Theme
5. Wolf
6. Scalping
7. Theme 1 (take 4)
The slow-burn sounds of Sonic Youth’s 1986 rehearsals to score Ken Friedman’s spooky highway film Made In USA are yet another mile marker in the band’s long and varied existence, now being issued as Spinhead Sessions (named for the North Hollywood studio used). Home to SST label productions of roster acts like Black Flag and Painted Willie, these jams were built upon for a later full-on (and quite different) soundtrack production, but the rough sketches herein find the band taking time out to dig in and hunker down with some truly new and introspective sound worlds, taking inspiration and queues from viewings of assorted film excerpts that were in production. It was basically a brand new way of working for Sonic Youth, albeit a challenging one, under the auspices of major Hollywood film production overlords, routing their way into the world of soundtrack scoring. And it all comes at a key time and place.
It’s no secret that 1986 was a transformative year for the band in many ways. The gravitation to the beloved SST stable, in addition to Steve Shelley, now drumming, certainly gave Sonic Youth a renewed vigor and vocabulary. They were already an international touring machine, and gaining considerable steam with critics (now even spinning the heads of detractors who had dismissed their arty Downtown boho sensibilities prior to ’86’s Evol). Their cultdom with fans had concrete roots by this point, and the influences that were swarming in the band’s orbit marked an exciting time, where almost any trajectory seemed possible, and they were going for it.
Friedman’s film worked on a relatively darker frame for a mainstream Hollywood flick; characters played by stars Chris Penn and Adrian Pasdar made a journey cross country that started out in Centralia, Pennsylvania, an real-life, anthracite coal producing town that had to relocate all its residents due to a decades-long, inextinguishable underground fire. The Sonics passed through this haunted-looking locale on their next tour after the sessions, and are pictured on the sleeve standing amidst smoldering embers. For the sounds they made at Spinhead, this image seems a fitting mental picture. Guitar harmonics billow like smoke, heavily reverbed drumming and shimmering cymbals echo from what sounds like the bottom of a deep mine. Thurston described the construction of “spindly, twisting rhythms and quiet rushes of noise and melody”. Indeed, it seemed like a new light on interaction within the band, one where wordless interplay between Ranaldo, Moore, Gordon, and Shelley would itself be spotlit on future Peel Sessions and a number of the band’s later SYR releases.
After these rehearsals, later development of their Made In USA soundtrack took place at Hit City West (where Motley Crue once recorded) and found Sonic Youth dealing with the direction of applied producers, maybe a little less-informed about their vibe than Phil Newman and their soundman Terry Pearson, who manned the board at Spinhead. Eventually film editors fluffed up the movie’s proceedings to make it more teen-friendly and less foreboding, and cut a bunch of key mood ingredients from the final product (including music). A complete document of SY’s work in that studio appeared in 1994 on a Rhino issue of the Made In USA soundtrack. Despite Sonic Youth working within some new and alien conditions, an exciting footnote is that they were actually approached for this project after an entire score by The Outlaws was rejected for not fitting the film’s mood! Indeed, Hollywood and art rock make for strange conspirators.
Regardless, this newly born Spinhead Sessions release is here and once again defines Sonic Youth in a raw and engaging state of discovery at a terrific time. Is it a missing link between the complex crafted cavernosity of Evol and the frayed-electric powerline sizzle of Sister? Yes and no. It’s an entirely unique animal, a meditative album where you can soak in the template of tapping overtones, sedate explorations of new chords, even sounding at times like AMM trying to play the VU’s Sweet Sister Ray bootleg or something similar. It’s trademark Sonic Youth at the core, and in an unfettered, dreamy state and a time, there and gone like smoke.
—Brian Turner, WFMU Music Director, Jersey City NJ
CD/LP/digital editions of Confusion is Sex, Sister, EVOL, Bad Moon Rising, ‘Sonic Youth’ (CD/2xLP), Daydream Nation (2xlp/ CD) and Ciccone Youth are all available now via the band’s own label distributed by Revolver/Midheaven.
Both editions of Bad Moon Rising will include extra tracks: Halloween, Flower and Satan is Boring (extra tracks on a download card w/ the LP).
Both editions of EVOL include bonus song Bubblegum (Bubblegum is on a download card w/ the LP).
A DVD edition of Screaming Fields of Sonic Love w/ bonus material will be available in 2017.
In August 1985 Sonic Youth were touring across the states following the
release of their recently released LP ‘Bad Moon Rising’. This performance
from August 11, 1985 at Chicago’s Smart Bar was recorded on 4-track
cassette. This live recording consists of much of Bad Moon Rising and early
performances of Secret Girl + Expressway to Yr Skull later to be released on
EVOL, as well as a rare never before released live rendition of Kat ‘N’ Hat.
Mixed and mastered by the band from the original tape source for this double
LP edition w/ download card (or CD or digital edition) along w/ liner notes by Gerard
Cosloy and Sonic Youth engineer Aaron Mullan and photos by Pat Blashill and
Steven Koress and released by Sonic Youth on their own label, Goofin’
Records and distributed via Revolver USA.
An excerpt from the LP’s liner notes: “Having now listened to this tape maybe 100 times, I can say this: it’s a killer show. The material was mostly released on the studio album Bad Moon Rising. The album is brilliant, but the material is also so visceral and improvisatory that it greatly benefits from the additional perspective offered by a live recording. Kim’s vocals, more detached on the album, are fierce here. Sheets of feedback insanity on the album which I always assumed to be lucky studio accidents turn out to be actual parts that Lee and Thurston can re-create at will. The album was recorded with Bob Bert on drums, but this show was one of the first after Bob left and Steve took over. Bob’s primal stomps doubtlessly propel the studio versions, but hearing these parts as interpreted by Steve’s systematic pummeling, illuminates the crucial transition to the Evol and Sister albums and beyond. We do get a taste of Evol too, with an early performance of ‘Expressway To Yr Skull’ and the first known live performance of ‘Secret Girl,’ plus an instrumental version of the rarely performed, and never released, ‘Kat ’n’ Hat.’” —Aaron Mullan, Feb. 2012
Thurston Moore had his 1960 (circa) Fender Jazzmaster stolen from the Best Western in Philadelphia (501 N 22nd St) last night 12-12-12 around 12 midnight. It’s Thurston’s iconic Sonic Youth black Jazzmaster with all the stickers on its body. Here’s a couple of photos. A police report has been filed. Please email us if anyone tries to sell this relic to your store, it would be appreciated. Please forward to other guitar stores you may know in the area.
more added: it has a Mastery Bridge, and the pickguard has been changed so stickers might be different. it’s a 1960 serial#41927
Yoko Ono, Kim and Thurston announce their new album, YOKOKIMTHURSTON, is now available everywhere. Download it from iTunes here.
KIm, Thurston and Yoko Ono have released ‘Early in the Morning’ a one-sided 10″ vinyl featuring a Yoko etching on the flip side, packaged in a clear plastic sleeve in a limited edition of 1000. Proceeds to benefit ASHINAGA Tokyo Rainbow House for orphans of the Japanese tsunami. Available here at the sonic youth webstore.
For the first time, 1991: The Year Punk Broke will finally make its debut on DVD on September 13, 2011. All footage has been fully restored with audio re-synced and remastered in uncompressed PCM stereo under the supervision of Sonic Youth. The DVD is available for order now at SY webstore and at amazon.com.
Filmed a month prior to the release of their breakthrough album Nevermind,1991: The Year Punk Broke also includes footage of Nirvana unknowingly on the cusp of leading a massive cultural movement as they performed “Smells Like Teen Spirit,“ “Polly” and “Negative Creep.” Also featured is Dinosaur Jr.’s live versions of “Freak Scene” and “The Wagon” and Babes In Toyland’s brutal performance of “Dustcake Boy”. 1991: The Year Punk Broke is also packed with 65 minutes of bonus material, including the previously unreleased featurette “(This Is Known As) The Blues Scale” featuring over 40 minutes of additional live footage of Sonic Youth performing “White Kross,” “Eric’s Trip,” “Chapel Hill” and “Inhuman” plus a rare Nirvana performance of “In Bloom.” Other extras include live rough cuts of “Mote” and “Flower,” the original movie trailer, and “Broken Punk” — a 2003 panel discussion Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and Filmmaker Dave Markey.
1991: The Year Punk Broke was recently screened at Cinefamily in Los Angeles, CA July 23 at 6:30pm as part of the annual Don’t Knock The Rock Festival. Director David Markey was present for a Q + A after the film.
In conjunction with the release of 1991 The Year Punk Broke on DVD is Sonic Youth’s Hits Are For Squares, previously available only through limited outlets. Hits Are For Squares was released on CD on August 23, 2011 – a collection of songs from Sonic Youth’s career selected by a diverse group of artists, actors, directors and musicians whose own progressive and unconventional style is akin to the freestyle expression of Sonic Youth’s music. The artisans handpicked by Sonic Youth include Catherine Keener, Beck, Mike D, Radiohead, Portia De Rossi, Diablo Cody, Allison Anders, Dave Eggers and Mike Watt, Eddie Vedder, Michelle Williams, Flea, Gus Van Sant, David Cross, Chloe Sevigny, and The Flaming Lips. Also included is the track “Slow Revolution” written and recorded for the original release. Find Hits Are for Squares at the SY webstore.
Sonic Youth’s live version of ‘Rain on Tin’ recorded live at Neil and Pegi Young’s The Bridge School Benefit Concert in Mountain View, CA will be released on the 25th Anniversary CD Edition of ‘ The Bridge School Concerts’ on October 24th.
Other artist to appear on the CD are Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, CSNY and The Who.
Leah & Lee will stage the musical+visual performance ‘contre-jour’(<em>against the light</em>) in the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The duo will enter into a dialogue with Brion Gysin & Ian Sommerville’s ‘Dream Machines’, which are on view in the church for the entire run of the Biennial.
info <a href=”http://www.contour2011.be/newsletter/september_2011.html”>HERE</a>.
The Glacial Trio–Lee Ranaldo/David Watson/Tony Buck–will perform a rare gig in NYC at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, Sept 26th, 8pm. More info here: http://bk.knittingfactory.com/event-details/?tfly_event_id=58097
Also on the bill will be Man Forever (Kid Millions/Brian Chase/Emily Manzo/Richard Hoffman/Shahin Motia) and a trio of Knitting Factory Brooklyn presents Magda Mayas, C Spencer Yeh and Okkyung Lee. Come on out!
Thurston and Lee, each in duet with longtime friend from Marseilles, guitarist Jean-Marc Montera. Thurston and JMM recorded 1997 in NYC, Lee and JMM recorded 2010 in Marseilles. info here.
Lee will perform solo suspended guitar phenomena to accompany Buster Keaton’s classic film “COPS” at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts, in Urbana-Champagne, Illinois on Sept 9, on a bill alongside Marc Ribot. info here.
both Lee and Kim have works in a show curated by Dead C. guitarist Michael Morley currently on view 11-27 August at Auckland, NZ’s rice and beans gallery. go here for gallery info, here for Michael’s blog catalog.
A special broadcast this Saturday at 10am on Durham, NC’s WXDU 88.7 will feature the complete box set of ‘Not the spaces You Know, But Between Them’. In addition to broadcasting the full box set, we will also air interviews and play the bonus material that accompanies some versions of the set.
Sonic Youth have an LP side on ‘Not the Spaces You Know, But the Spaces Between Them’, a 4x LP box set from Three Lobed Records. The side features two cuts: ‘In & Out’ was recorded in Pomona, CA in early 2010. ‘Out & In’ is an unheard 13-minute shredding studio jam from 2000 with Jim O’Rourke on bass.
The other artists with sides are: Sun City Girls, Steve Gunn, Mouthus, Comets on Fire, Charles Speer & The Helix/Wooden Wand, Eternal Tapestry, and Bardo Pond.
Only a few boxsets still available and can be ordered from Three Lobed .
Watch for a few more box sets to become available here.
Thurston was interviewed and performed live for Le Blogoteque.
‘Demolished Thoughts’ cd/lp/digital is now available everywhere and here iTunes. Limited edition of BLUE VINYL is available via indies/direct. ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is streaming in it’s entirety at NPR and also via the Guardian. The Benediction video is here.
On May 24 Matador released ‘Demolished Thoughts’, the 4th solo album from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore (5th if you count 1998′s ‘Root’) and the first to be produced by Beck Hansen. Recorded in Los Angeles and Northampton, MA this past autumn & winter, with a title culled from The Faith’s “It’s Time”, ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is an equally beautiful and brooding work ; while there’s more than a few tonal similarities to some of your favorite Moore compositions from years past, the execution this time around is nothing short of staggering. No disrespect to 1995′s ‘Psychic Hearts’ or 2007′s ‘Trees Outside The Academy’ is intended on our part when we promise ‘Demolished Thoughts’ burnishes Thurston’s rep as a classic songwriter in ways we never anticipated when this album was first being talked about last year.
In addition to Moore’s guitars and vocals, other players include violinist Samara Lubelski (she of prior Moore recordings and touring, her own solo works, Metal Mountains, Hall Of Fame, Tower Recordings, Metabolismus, etc.), harpist Mary Lattimore (also heard on Kurt Vile’s latest), bassist Bram Inscore, drummer Joey Waronker and Beck.
Ben Estes Kim Gordon Rick Myers Flying Object, Hadley, MA.
15th July – 14th August 2011
The fibers of the page became pronounced. Lit another cigarette, crossed my legs, and settled back. Shadows cast by its pages became as prominent as the words. Bravo, another wall collapsed… all the loving attention I’d need. How about we all undog this hatch and get the hell outta here. The sun threw no shadow at its feet, near the edge of the motionless flat water, where at the same spot the same small wave welled up and broke. 94 minutes of total astonishment. A dislocating picture; similar to a white background cut into innumerable little rectangles, or a rising fog that begins to mix with the slow dissipation of gun smoke. According to its most favorable calculations, it brims with bracing humor and ravishing romance – but there are also haunting shadows, luxuries no longer expensive… that alone makes it a keeper. If you pretend to understand, you will find yourself among its ambiguities – liberated from all rigid structures… Like some great rusted amulet fallen from the belt of a demi-god picking cigarette butts up off the ground. A miracle. Pitch perfect. Much beauty found most difficult. At low tide it remains extremely modest, strewed like the leather sides of trunks and briefcases, wet and shining in an electric glare in the naked mud. Kids no doubt have better games to play. An attack upon action, glancingly funny. Genuinely graceful, looking like the yellow of that longest lasting rose. It becomes difficult to determine whether you are turning its pages towards or away from you, the body, a giant gray spot on the concrete road. A sad creature. Offered it a job. Our very life probed. It has only happened once, but once is enough… If you get bushwhacked on this don’t come cryin’, and I’ll try not to tell you I told you so. Victory emerged. An early death, a group example that then included nature barely slanting backwards, a blackish surface of pretended gentleness, spoken without anger between extremities like a crushed corpse. Only at the end of its cycle could a few sounds, distorted by the distance, be heard again, served up for us to look upon. Take thought tonight… A boy about 10 years old, wearing a yellow turtleneck sweater and tight blue denim pants, turned his face upward and to the right. Diffuse yet powerful in its mystery, with no allusions to a moral order. A good-time universal anxiety. Inks absorption into the page becomes evident, reads like a detective story or a thriller, except that there was no reason for it to stop. The next step is to find a way to project this as a sensual stream of energy. You couldn’t be a true woman if you didn’t fear such things. Oh to live the exquisite life! An adventure of comedic proportions unseen since I was six years old. Once it gave itself a name it seemed impossible to kill it. Do not be deceived… The letters dislocate themselves from each other and from the page. Like pretend virginity, it tortures a little, then cascades forth – unsentimentally gushing about with purposeful abandonment after the first half calculates discipline and restraint.
Smalltown Superjazzz is proud to to rerelase the debut album by Diskaholics Anonymous Trio. The album was released 10 years ago on the now defunct Crazy Wisdom/Universal label, and the album has been unavailable since then.
Thurston Moore – guitar
Jim O`Rourke – synth, computer
Mats Gustafsson – tubax, tenor sax, french flageolet
The album features three long improvisational tracks: “Three Collectors of Bird Note”, “Totally Gump (Gump Completist)”, & “Yellow Label Silence”.
Kim is part of a group show called ‘On Shuffle’ at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery at 540 W26th in New York. The other artists in the show are Billy Childish, Kalup Linzy, Ryan McNamara, Tony Oursler, Dave Muller, Dario Robleto and Stephen Vitiello. According to the gallery: “On Shuffle presents works by these interdisciplinary underground cult figures in various mediums, which use and reference music, including sound, performance, painting, mixed media and video.” The show runs July 6-August 19.
A new collaboration between guitarists Lee Ranaldo and film director Jim Jarmusch, with rhythm section Marc Urselli and Balazs Pandi, recorded this album in early 2019. Released on Trost Records, May 2019.
A Sister puzzle is now available at both SY webstores, the Sonic Youth winter knit hat is back in stock at both SY webstores and now comes in 3 colors – brown and gold, green and gold and black and white. 
“
