Plus we've got to do something while we're at work

;)


This is the first place I come to when I enter the interwebnets.

he played Prague yesterday. here's short footage of his performance from czech tv.

http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/kul...-nejlepsi-den/

I don´t like negativity (it seems internet really is the place for people who can´t handle their inner negativity, just threw their inner shit into others face). But of course everybody has right to say their true opinions, also if they don´t like the music their favourite artists have made. It´s just the way how you do it.

To me it seems some people here have expectations for SY they just can´t ever fulfill again...

That is true Mortte. Expectations are hard to meet, but maybe if someone had spoken up loudly enough Paul McCartney would have spared the world his 80's output.... ha!

I love all the sonic youth, all of them to a fault.

Do you really believe if you keep on complaining here SY will make the masterpiece you want?

I wasn't "offended" & I don't think the band is above criticism. I think Lee is & always has been uninteresting & that Steve is irrelevant. But do I go in every Lee thread & talk about how much he sucks? Do I pop into the Sleater-Kinney thread to talk about how much those sell outs continue to suck? No because obviously what they do just isn't for me. "This sucks & everything they've done since X is not up to Sonic Youth standards" & "these people are creatively incapable of making brilliant music by themselves" is not discourse, it's hubris. Goodbye!

I believe nothing. Sonic Youth is in the rear-view mirror of musical history and has been now for a couple of years.

I can't believe that fans of a band that built it's entire early rep on negativity, chaos, dissonance, anger, and screeds about murder and psychotic people get upset when someone says that this record sucks, or that the previous song sucks, or whatever.

Long Live the Butthole Surfers........dada is you, dada is I.

Sad, I think everybody´s need to believe in something...

I disagree at least a bit. What you said is true about three first SY-albums, but after that I find a lot of positive vibes, at least from music. And these are very positive lyrics:
STARPOWER
Spinning dreams of Angel wings
Torn blue jeans in a foolish grin
Burning down in the night
So cool and so right
Starpower Starpower Starpower over me

She knows how to make love to me
She knows how to love
Close My Eyes and think of you
Everything turns black to blue
Starpower Starpower Starpower over me

to me "belief" is a blind acceptance.

I do not follow that mind-set.


I do see the beauty in SY's chaos and dissonance and anger and rage and focus on the dark side of humanity in it's early work. I also love the joy and peace and beauty to be found in their more uplifting music. I love it all (except for that fucking horrible "just a kitten" song, and 3/4 of EJST&NS)

My thing is that Thurston most of all always has seemed like a contrarian to me, someone, like me, who enjoys stirring the pot and showing how seeing the world through just one set of eyes only shows you a specific lie, and that it is best to see as many of these "lies" as possible to learn from the whole and to see the absurdity of it all.

SY as a collective were true artists to me, exploring all aspects of existance in their sounds and lyrics, and giving voice to things which so many people keep dormant, or choose to ignore in their quest for a "perfect life."



My favorite Sonic Youth song is Genetic (followed very closely by Mote)
GENETIC

LET ME TELL YOU EVERY THOUGHT THAT I'VE COME TO
WHEN I THINK OF ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU DO
I CAN'T SEE IF YR THE ONLY ONE, IT'S HARD TO SAY
AND I THINK IT'S ALL THE SAME TO ME TODAY
I CAN SEE YOU TWO
IF I COULD JUST SEE YOU THIS ONE TIME
I SIT ALONE
EVERYONE'S AT HOME
I SEE IT, I BELIEVE
SOMEHOW I KNOW IT'S TRUE
YR GENETIC KISS TO ME
I'LL LIVE INSIDE OF YOUI HAVE HEARD IT SAID BEFORE:
IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN
HAD IT DRILLED IN SINCE A KID, IT MAKES MY HEAD SPIN
NOW I'M LOOKING FOR THESE THINGS THAT I CAN'T FIND
THOUGHTS JUST COME AND GO, SWIRLIN THROUGH MY MIND
FIRST IT'S ME AND YOU
THEN IT'S HIM I'M THINKIN OF
WE SIT ALONE
NO-ONE ELSE AT HOME
I TASTE IT, I FEEL
AND NOW I KNNOW IT'S TRUE
YOUR GENETIC KISS REVEALS
I'LL LIVE INSIDE OF YOU...
* * *
HEY BABY, IT'S YOU I'M THINKIN OF
HEY BABY, WHO DO YOU LOVE?
DON'T WORRY, BABY, I'M WATCHIN EVEN AS YOU SLEEP
LET ME WHISPER SOME THINGS FOR YOU TO KEEP:
THERE'S NO PERFECT IDEA
THERE'S NO PERFECT FATE
JUST LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS
SOMETIMES A LITTLE TOO LATE
SO KEEP YR EYES WIDE OPEN
AND KNOW WHAT YR MADE OF
REMEMBER: FIRST THOUGHT: BEST THOUGHT
TRY TO STAY IN LOVE
HUSH.

do you find all the Rain on Tin riffs tired, or comforting?

You put here things I search all the music. I think greatest music is always dark or at least sad, but there is also something light & bright. That´s the reason why I haven´t ever liked Swans, it´s just too dark to me with no relief nowhere.

Comforting.

I am unable to rep this, so a picture must suffice.

The Best Day lyric chapbook can be purchased here:

http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/88638

Show me insightful discourse about Sonic Youth on this forum that's happening NOW and I'll post more about buying this band's records, listening to them obsessively, supporting their creative oeuvre 200% and letting them influence the way I listen to and appreciate music in general over the years. Way before I had even reached legal age to be precise.

Also, I think you must have missed a few of my previous posts where I defended Sleater Kinney's last record before reformation too, but I don't blame you, with so much to learn about the same 90s bands discussed on this forum ad nauseam, who has the time to get a better picture of other forum members' taste, sense of humour or temperament?

I can rep Jenn.

i thought i wouldn't like this record. when i heard detonation, i thougth it was (and still is) complete utter garbage, and i kinda agree that most post sy solo stuff isnt good either (especially lees stuff - sorry to offend anyone here!) - but i fuckin love this one, and it surprised me the most!
Grace Lake is a masterpiece.

Did some motherfucker actually say Steve fucking Shelley is irrelevant??? IRRELEVANT?!?!

Precisely. Steve Shelley is a dream drummer for any bands I can think of. I read somewhere a long while ago that what makes him great is his ability to switch from Led Zeppelin to Dead Kennedys, or something along those lines. I couldn't agree more.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to SuchFriendsAreDangerous again.

I've recently seen Chris Corsano doing similar things with Vibracathedral Orchestra live where his style would morph from loose abstraction to kickass punk punctuation, which was brilliant to hear.

Steve is the heart of sonic youth, he's what turned their no wave noise into music, and anyone who had the privilege to chat with him at shows find he is possibly the nicest guy in any band youll ever meet! Shit, Steve introduced me to Lee! When I ran into him again at the backdoor of a show we couldnt get in we tried to talk him into guest listing us but he said he didnt want to diss anybody already on the list. He still kicked woth us talking about music for several minutes and he told us good luck sneaking into the show. We did manage to sneak in and when we saw him again at the backdoor (we got kicked out for sneaking in so we were back at the backdoor listening) he asked us, "did y'all get in?" And he fist bumped us all excited when we told him "fuck yeah!" Steve is the shit yo

He's dam hot too

Of course Steve is not irrelevant, he´s as important as those other three to create unique SY-sound, but as a drummer I think he´s quite basic drummer. Lot better than Bob Bert of course, but I think Jim Sclavunos is the greatest drummer that has been in SY. Also I haven´t heard anything interesting from Steve outside SY.

BASIC DRUMMER???
ever heard SYR 3? thats probably the best drumming on earth ever.

i mean yeah, there are better drummers of course, but steve's faaaar faar from basic.

I´ve got all SYR`s (my favourites are 1,2,3,6,7&9). Yes, Steve does very good percussion working in 3 and also in 7. He´s as skillful at improvisations as other SY members are with their equipments. And of course he´s lot more versatile than for example some Dave Grohl but anyway he´s not Bill Bruford or Neil Peart or even Jim Schlavunos.

Neil Peart is an ENEMY of ROCK AND ROLL.

Two Dollar Guitar - Train Songs

They're prog drummers, it's a strange comparison to make

I think we were talking about great drummers. Steve was earlier compared to John Bonham and D.H Peligro. Well comparison to Bonham is not bad, but he certainly isn´t as talented as Peligro. To me it´s quite the same what music drummers are playing, you can hear if somebody´s got talent & somebody is just normal basic, but good drummer.

Yes, this is great! Sounds me something between Sy Made In Usa & John Parish Screenplay. Some tracks sounds also little bit Tom Waits...

I think it was an Italian journalist who was describing his playing but I am pretty sure he wasn't comparing him to Jon Bonham as such, what he meant is that he has a great ability to do more traditional rock drumming combined with the primitiveness and impulsiveness more commonly associated with punk time-keeping. That shows he's a talented drummer, and you can hear it on a number of Sonic Youth songs. Dirty is a record which I think is a great example of that. For one reason or another it seems like a much maligned record by Sonic Youth purists but to me it's always sounded like their ambition to be accepted as a rock band showed they could do it in a way that Nirvana or Soundgarden couldn't. A big achievement, partly ruined for me by the continuous whinging of music nerds who need to chill out and spend more time with their own record collections.

Check out Crucifucks with Steve at the drums. Great band.

Yeah Dirty is a great all the way through

I have listened Crucifucks. It didn´t change my opinion about Steve as drumplayer. Just listen Schlavunos playing in (She´s in a) Bad Mood. I don´t believe Steve could have ever played like Jim (I think SY haven´t played that tune after Bob, here´s Bob Bert-version, you can hear the difference although sound quality is real bad):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5S7kTcbjLc

I really like Steve´s playing (I think he´s "craftsman of rock" like Bonham, Bill Ward, Nick Mason, Phil Rudd, they all really make music rock, but they very rare do anything suprising or real exciting) but I just can´t say he belong into greatest drumplayers of the world. It was very great to hear Smart Bar Live also that reason Steve played in it, BMR-songs just are in that much more dangerous! But on the other hand I like also a lot Bert-version of BMR, its darkness & kind of weird serenity.

I have always loved Dirty, some Finnish journalist said when it came it beat thousand Nevermind & Superunknown, I agree with him!

The last two comments here are pretty spot on.

btw, strange article/interview w/ Thurston in latest New York magazine. Kinda focuses on that junk involving his personal life matters (well stuff that happened 2-3 years ago) and just two mentions on the 'The Best Day'...

 

(by the way great ending of "Pretty Bad" with his new band few days back and really good quality video as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVidqC03cng)