SYR4: Goodbye 20th century piece of genius or utter crap?
 

Okay I seem to be the only person (apart from pitchfork...less said the better!) that likes this album. Personnally if it wasn't for this record I would have not gotten into John Cage and Steve Reich. So I own this record a lot. What other band in the world would have the guts to do something like SYR4?

very underrated in my opinon
so you´re not the only one who likes it

and there are more people on this board who enjoy it
there was a thread on the old board about SYR 4 where most of members talked very good about it

very impressive work..
i got it in about a month of its release, and i have been enjoying it ever since..

very personal experience, profoundly layered and detailed..
SYR4 is probably one polar end to the spectrum that is my musical taste...

I've yet to hear any of the SYR albums *bows head in shame*

Really didn't like it, though I got to listen to some Steve Reich (wich I appreciate).
The Pauline Oliveros track worked for me.
The James Tenney didn't get me on CD but was really fine when they played it live in Paris.

"Goodbye 20th Century, Goodbye Tallent" -Thurston Moore quoting NME, from that ATP festival documentary on Channel 4.

<500 Posts YAY

it is a great album and great tribute to some of the 20th centuries great american composers that went out on a limb

I don't know if it's genius or crap. I just know I freaking love it.

It bothers my teenaged son, though. Even when I listen to it on headphones, he complains. Especially during that mike-swinging cut--says it drives him nuts.

It's an interesting listen. It's not a record that you can just pop in yr cd player and just hang out to. It's more of a think-piece. Something artistic that needs to be understood. You can't hear the music, you have to listen to it.

i say it's genius

i would say it's the most experimental thing they've done... some of it has a weird, broody, menacing atmosphere... some of it is quite light and sparse... it is quite whimsical and spontaneous... i got it when it came out, i would have been 15 years old... i wouldn't say i was hugely into it right away but i sort of understood it and was intrigued by it... it seemed so esoteric and fascinating to me...

All in all I think it's pretty damn good. It's probably my least favorite SYR if I had to pick....Having Never Written a Note for Percussion is the shit. A really interesting project.

It's a real "challange to the ears" kinda album. once every few months i put it on and trying to find its beautyness.. i think it was a week ago when i heard it the last time.. the first track sounds way experiemental at first glance, but to tell you the truth.. it's kind of a dull number.
so sy4 is sonic youth's most john cage ambitionism-like record to date but i'm not a big fan of it.

I like it although I listen to the debut live 4/1/99 Bowery Ballroom performance more. Gent is okay.

I'm not 100% keen on the track selection, but it'd very good nonetheless.

This is a more difficult album for 'mainstream SYers' (to coin a phrase) to appreciate because it leaves behind the rock sensibilities we associate with SY and enters the seemingly unbound realm of modern classical music.

To appreciate this album in context, you must recognise that SY are merely performers, or interpreters, of other people's music on this album. 'Mainstream SYers' are used to the band's own compositions, with the occasional rocking cover thrown in, which ultimately belong in the rock or punk field, even though they inhabit the little area way out beyond the left field of the outer edges of that field. The performances on SYR4 are classical, with different rules or ideas to be explored or broken.

There's a lot going on in SYR4. All the artist involved are considered to be some sort of genius in their own right, each piece of music relevant for different reasons.

Now, just because most of the artists are considered to be geniuses or, well, artists, does not mean you have to like the recording.

If you don't like it, you don't like it, and just cos all the pieces are written by well-regarded geniuses or artists or whatever, and even though it's performed by our beloved SY, it's still a difficult album.


cbeattie

I really like it, and also found out about cage through its credits. I think it would be much better though to see it live.

I really liked it at the time, and I wasn't that aware of some of the names on three...

It's not genius though. It's a brilliant, outstanding gesture, and something that utterly solidifies their connection to the contemporary stuff, and as far as taking their fans to new places, there's not a band of their stature, ever, who have made such a brilliant move.

However, relative to a more 'tutored' group doing a lot of the things, I don't think it's that great. There are better, far, far better recordings of the pieces by Cage, Tenney and Wolff. Especially the Cage pieces, they just do not by any means have the subtlety to pull off this kind of stuff.

Nonetheless, a wonderful idea and very well delivered considering they're an untutored rock band (albeit one of more the errant of rock bands in operation today).

Rather Ripped it ain't. I like a lot of it, especially the Steve Reich one, as it brought my attention to his stuff, but I don't think i've listened to the entire two disc set more than twice. The shorter SYRs are a bit more digestable.

It's my favorite SYR, so I say genius.

Speaking of John Cage this is a video from BBC4 of a televisied performance of 4'33'....rather interesting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KAPDBs603Y

yes, it's very arty project on their own label. i remember when i knew about syr 1-4 existence and knew it only from internet and couldn't get them anywhere around i've lived that time. wanted to hear them so much. later, when i finaly bought syr4 as first of their syr series and played it i wasn't really impressed. than few months later listening to it again and find it's beauty, it's not easy every day listening, but it big and good experimental album even compare to the other syr vol. yeah, i'd say it must be big artictic experience to see it live. also i'm not suprised by first reaction of audience on that atp performance in london, hehe...just imagine.

its a piece of sheer art genius. its not a boogie all, hit frenzy or riff spectacular. its a beautiful collection of soundz. end of arguement!

SYR *** is genius

SYR 4 is genius

Having Never Written A Note For Percussion, Four6, Six, Pendulum Music... They are fantastic.

I just think that Voice Piece For Soprano (and maybe Piano Piece #13) shouldn't be there... But the rest is awesome

An interesting read about "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion" (James Tenney) 9:09

About the music

William Winant:

"[Sonic Youth] and I decided to do work by contemporary avant garde composers that we could all learn together. I chose most of the pieces and had Lee Ranaldo contact some of the composers and collect scores from the various publishers. I knew I'd have to find things that would work with these specific people and their instruments, either as a solo, quartet, quintet, or sextet. I chose graphic scores with open instrumentation and varying degrees of indeterminacy written into them. Plus, between myself, Jim O'Rourke and the composers who were at the session -- Takehisa Kosugi and Christian Wolff -- we were able to explain how the compositions were supposed to work.

"[Among the pieces we recorded was] James Tenney's Having Never Written a Note for Percussion from his postcard series. [Tenney] had all these compositions for solo instruments that were musical analogs of Zen koans, musical questions to ponder that would bring enlightenment. The one we did was originally for solo percussion, which I orchestrated for the band." ... more

I like the fact that they released such an 'out there' album. Some of it is excellent, other tracks are a bit too 'experimental' for me. It's better than SYR5 imho.

It's a stunning vinyl package!

I love a lot of the pieces on there but for the most part its meh.

& I find it hilarious that pitchfork gave it an 8.5 & NYCG&F a 0

It's at least as good as Master-Dik

What's up with the "dig ancient threads" thing?
Btw, all of their SYR releases are boundary-pushing records, they are a really brave band for putting out such recordings.

It's down to the fact that 'noobs' like to have their say. 'Noobs' have been told in no uncertain terms to search for old threads, rather than start a new thread that might replicate an old one.

this is one of their best albums!

ahah, well done

Genius. +- and Having Never Written a Note for Percussion blew my mind when I heard them for the first time. After seeing the 'sheet music' for them my mind was blown further.

Well, if it's utter crap, then one must conclude that virtually all of their SYR and side-project material over the past 15 years or so is utter crap, too.

'Pendulum Music' is my personal favourite. It works best on the CD version, coming right after little Coco's take on Yoko.

i'm gonna listen again tomorrow.

I got this right when it came out. And I had no idea what to make of it. Except "Piano Piece," which I liked right away. Maybe cuz of the video. Then slowly over the years I sort of read more about the pieces, gave the album more chances, and just tried to dig in. Now I like and appreciate it quite a bit. But it's still pretty low on my SY ranking list. I'd probably say it's my least favorite SYR. (Yes, including 5 since I've slowly learned to enjoy that one a LOT actually). But there's a lot of good stuff on SYR4. Except fucking "Pendulum Music" which is so obnoxious to me.

It's wonderful.

I just bought it on vinyl at long last.

I love this album, but I gotta say that the coolest thing about it is thinking that some kid who's only heard, like, Rather Ripped will randomly find this album and buy it and be like "What the FUCK?"

That makes me smile.

I would say that most of us have had a "WTF" moment with Sonic Youth ;)