When I first heard that Jim was becoming a full-time member, I was a bit disturbed. Not because of my feelings about Jim, but because I was skeptical of any fifth member joining the band. That said, I believe Jim brought a new dimension to the band, but it's hard to say. I don't know how the songs were written, so how would they have been different had he not been there? Who knows? How would the production have been without his input? What I do know is that both records with Jim on board were noty only excellent, but different than anything that preceded them.

Now that it's done, I am kind of happy to see the band back in their "classic" lineup.

oh ha ha, i do not know if i agree with you or not on that post, you make very very good points, but besides all that, i laughed really hard when i read this line, and im still coughing.

Jim, gastr del sol, love the freakouts and the crazy covers with the japanese midget old dude, remember that one
shit, this is like some crazy xiu xiu shit!

that song about the leather\daddy and his butthole is crazy!

man i ma intoxicated on the new stufffff

jim was part of the songwriting process during the murray street and
sonic nurse sessions and was a great addition to the youth. his bassline
on "plastic sun" alone justified his inclusion.

Man, I gave Jim a plate of Corn Muffins to paint my chicken coop. And he NEVER DID IT!!! PAINT MY CHICKEN COOP!!!!!

please don't compare Jim O'Rourke to that douchebag. Jim is a great songwriter. The two SY albums he worked on were great. So what if he didn't completewly transform SY's sound. He was just a friend who jumped in the band for a few years. I thought he added a lot of nice element to the SY sound. He was an interesting addition to the band. It's not the end of the world since SY and Jim parted ways. Although Rather Ripped wan't nearly as good as Murray Street or Sonic Nurse. Jim is really talented. Sonic Youth will continue and we will love them. But for now, SY has the great loveable Mark Ibold of Pavement-fame to work with!

Jim Rocks!!!

Dunno, in my opinion his guitar work on album is great.. his contribution to Rain on Tin both live and on record is amazing, just to mention an example... but i understand what you meant ( you did not diss jim or his talent ).

not sure if he really teached sy something about texture noise... or
maybe i've got to listen to CIS and the early years one more time. i
can see the avant-garde stuff/electronica and german muzik but...

true, that comparison was a low blow.

I like sonic nurse best, then rather ripped, then murray street.

sonic nurse (which was gonna be called sonic life) is a fucking amazing album

I enjoyed Jim being in SY but I'm not going to whine about his moving onto Japan to do movies I would welcome anyone SY sees fit to add to the bank.
I enjoyed watching Jim live and I've enjoyed seeing Mark on this last tour SY ROCKS !!

Best Jim moments:

bassline to Disconnection Notice --> sooo simple but soooo good, perfect compliment to guitars

Karenology freak out --> 'loop cat' section is Jim at his finest.

Plastic sun bassline - stated

I don't know much about what he's doing on Sonic Nurse...

I like all that stuff, but his best SY moments were on SYR 3: Invito Al Cielo (though arguably they were two sepperate entities working together at that point.) His contributions to SYR 4 were amazing too. And he was was a major part of why I love NYC Ghosts & Flowers (arguably an SYR album with vocals that they somehow snuck past Geffen but not the pop music critics of the world who cried foul.) He definitely offered tons to the group as a full on collaborator, switching around on three instruments (lets not forget his awesome synth touches) live, and the member of the band who spent the most time working on mixes at Echo Canyon for every record he was on (as the echo cam continually used to show.) Honestly, I wonder if the loss of their home studio had something to do with his decision to depart - I don't think he worked with them anywhere else on recordings.

That said, I'm fine with him moving on and the "classic" line-up getting back to work. I even like Rather Ripped o.k., though I hope they remember the sonic part of their roots a bit more on their next outing. They probably will, as they tend to follow their more "accessible" records with ones that are bit noisier.

wasn't he just sleeping on the couch all the time? :D

Jim was fine I suppose but I prefer “classic” Sonic Youth. Murray Street is my least favorite Sonic Youth album.

That picture has officially made Jim jump from high in the 'Men who I think are attractive' list to 'men who I would seriously consider bumming, in spite of my being entirely straight' list. In this he joins the ranks of Prince, Timberlake and Blixa Bargeld. Good work Jim!

I like SY with Jim. I like SY without him. He brought some things. He took some of those things away. Life goes on, I guess.

Jim is a babe. I wouldn't need to be bereft of limbs or in a persistent vegetative state if he wanted me for half a threeway, that's for sure.

Ditto.

I'd only do him if he wore the bunny suit.