Dirty Appreciation Thread
 

Who else loves the pseudo-grunge, noise-pop hookfest that is Dirty? And I mean the Sonic Youth album... :)

I do. I didn't when it was released, though. I was beginning to go through my grunge backlash phase, and I really didn't get into this one right away like I did with Goo. Years later, though, I replayed it and fell hard for it.

It's a great album. I love 100% & Sugar Kane, and bunch more stuff.

appreciated!
sort of.

hate

10 being love it to death, 1 being hate it to hell, I'm a 9.5.

First time I heard 100%, then Swimsuit Issue, and Theresa's Sound World, I knew I was in love. If I had the chance to thank Messers Lee, Kim, Thurston and Steve for anything; it would be for Dirty... :) It's still completely different and unique now, 14 years after the fact. Of course, it might be nostalgia for me, but even if it is, there really are some good pop hooks on that album. Even more so than Rather Ripped, actually...

i generally just think the music is horrible, it has nothing to do with the production.

I like it a lot. For a while after i got it, it was my favorite SY album. But that changes quite often. I really like Purr.

I think it's the second best SY album, RR being the best.

Of course Sonic Youth loved the production, or else they wouldn't have picked up Vig for Expirimental Jet Set. The fuzz is amazing! The only problem with dirty is there is alot of filler and it doesn't play well as a whole album like Goo, Daydream Nation, and pretty much every album before it. Cut down a few of the tracks and slip on Hendrix Necro and Genetic and it would have been better.

im stuck in the middle. I like some songs on it but a lot of the record i dont like. I think SY does a better job when they re-do the songs live now (100%, Sugar Kane, Drunken Butterfly, Dirty Boots, Wish Fullfillment). Dirty is one of the only SY I cant listen to the whole way thru and I've tried numerous times.

I'll always have fond memories of both "Dirty" and "Experimental Jet Set" 'cause those were the albums that got me into SY as a wee lad. I'll never forget seeing the video for "Bull In The Heather" when I was about 12 or 13 and the impact it had on me. I actually already had "Dirty" prior to that but I didn't really start getting into it until after I saw the "Bull In The Heather" video and got "Experimental Jet Set". I ended up falling in love with both records and the rest is history.... Anyway, "Dirty" isn't my absolute favorite SY record but I think it does contain a handful of really great songs ("100%", "Theresa's Sound-world", "Drunken Butterfly" and "Sugar Kane" immediately come to mind). Then again I think pretty much ALL of their records contain a handful of really great songs! :)

Butch Vig is now my least favorite person on the planet. He has produced three of the worst albums of all time (Dirty, Jetset, Nevermind). And he's in that awful band Garbage.

Butch Vig, you are now on my "dead to me" list.

Thanks, Butch!

dirty rules

Dirty was the fourth SY album I bought and was the second most accessible listen for me, first being Daydream Nation. I wasn't anywhere near as into Evol or Goo at the time, so Dirty got a lot of exclusive play on my stereo for quite some time. Now after owning everything, I'd probably put it in the middle somewhere, possibly my 8th or 9th favourite, but when I put it up against a lot of other hard-rock/grunge/punkish records, past and present, it stands the test of time as a great collection of songs. I hesitate to say great album because as several others have stated, it is fractured at times. I could go on about exclusions and whatnot, but I still love Dirty, and in fact listened to it in the car this morning on the way to work-- I hadn't heard it in nearly a year.

Two thumbs up.

Yeah, Nevermind is definitely one of the worst albums of all time. I think you are getting a little carried away there. It's hard to take anything you say seriously.

Kim dreaming about kissing neil young is enough to make dirty a classic

I've always felt that Dirty fills almost exactly the same part of the Sonic Youth canon as is filled in The Fall's case by The Infotainment Scan. Both are among the band's most accessible work, both are often less popular with long-term fans, but both contain a lot of absolute top-quality and memorable songs, and should be placed in the the respective band's top three LP's. It's no bad thing that amongst the more challenging works comes something much more instant and catchy - the popularity of these songs live is testament to that, and I for one consider that (in both cases) it's the variety of styles over time that is a vital part of the bands' enduring legacy and ability to keep me transfixed.

The 'mainstream' sound is a fallacy to some extent, in my opinion - it's only mainstream by comparison with some of their other works. I guarantee that my friends are just as bewildered by Youth Against Fascism or Drunken Butterfly as they are by other SY stuff.

Orange Rolls, Angels Spit lets the LP down, I think. It's not bad, it's just that it feels like an interpolation on this LP. Which is a great shame, because even with that song this LP ranks very highly.

It starts wonderfully, with the feedback. Good job in a way, as all of that feedback srves to remind you that this isn't the straight-laced rock LP that some would have you believe. The way people talk sometimes, you'd think that 'Dirty' is an attempt at Green Day-style populism, which it is certainly not.

100%: very nice juxtapositioning of feedback and rock song. Obvious single choice.

Swimsuit Issue: Kim's opener on the LP. Good social rant, hits the nail on the head in my opinion.

Thersa's Soundworld: not one of my favourites on the LP, and for a while I skipped it, but now I realise that it's a well-placed and well-constructed piece that fits in nicely.

Drunken Butterfly: the first classic. A great song, truly, full of energy, desire and burning noise. This is reflected, I think, in the quality of live performances of this song.

Shoot: Theresa's Soundworld and Shoot provide an important function on this LP ie they sandwich the maniacal intensity of Drunken Butterfly with something more mellow. This is pne of my favoured trsacks on the LP, nice ending.

Wish Fulfillment: not one of Lee's best, but good enough.

Sugar Kane: I sometimes wonder if two or three SY songs would have worked better as instrumentals. THis is one of them. It's still very fine though.

Orange Rolls, Angels Spit: Um, I don't know what to say. It's never worked on the LP, to my mind. Good live though.

Youth Against Facism: I love it, it's way under-rated in my opinion. Right from the start it thumps along majestically, good lyrics, great noises, very energetic and confrontational. Lee's performance in the video is great.

Nic Fit: overall, no thanks.

On The Strip: the first of the GReat Sonic Youth Double on this LP, On The Strip has great tune, great lyrics and vocals, and that wonderful instumental part. The post-instrumental part is all the better for it, too. Fantastic.

Chapel Hill: the second of the GReat Sonic Youth Double, I think this song gives us Thurston's most accomplished vocal performance on record - rarely has a voice been so well suited to a song. Great tune too. A non-SY friend
recently commented that the inntro bit is reminiscent of the theme from the TV series 'Jim'll Fix It' - it is a bit, but it rocks too well for that to matter.

JC: Cool, nice lyrics.

Purr: the kind of song that one can't help feeling probably had an influence on other bands. Probably a really accomplished piece, from an analytical point of view. But I'm just guessing about that, really.

Créme Brûlèe: energetic and fun, a nice way to sign off. I can never tell if I like this one more than I should, or if I cleverly appreciate a hidden jewel!

'Dirty' is probably my second favourite SY LP, for all that lists mean. It's a rock clssic, no doubt.

Orange rolls and angels spit is probone of my favs on the record cause it's so energetic!
And nic fit is weird... but nice!