Sonic Youth Gossip - Why didn't Lee sing any songs on Experimental Jet Set?

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- - Why didn't Lee sing any songs on Experimental Jet Set? (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=110775)

Why didn't Lee sing any songs on Experimental Jet Set?

The songs where Lee takes on lead vocals are my favorite SY songs, so I was bummed when I found out Lee doesn't sing on EJSTNS.

Otherwise it's a decent sequel to Dirty. My favorite song on it is "Screaming Skull".

Lee was upset that Genetic was cut from Dirty and neglected to a b-side, so he decided not to contribute anything to Jet Set as a result.

It's my least favorite SY album, and no Lee songs definitely hurt it more.

Didn't he come close to quitting the band around that period?

Yeah, I even recall a quote somewhere that said he was pissed it was left off in favor of more Kim songs, actually.

The fact he doesn't have any songs on the album may have had an impact on the relationship between the band members at the time, but I am a fan, not a member of Sonic Youth, and the record sounds great to me without his songs. His playing is also great on it, so what's the big deal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

well put and agreed.

Because duh, he already knew that record sucked

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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Because duh, he already knew that record sucked

Yeah, sounds about right. He made the best songs on Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves afterwards. :)

One of the most underrated Sonic Youth records in my opinion, it has its own suburban pseudo grunge art rock feel and I also had a quasi religious experience listening to it whilst being high for the first time as a teen.

cuz that record sucks and lee has great taste

Quote:

Originally Posted by whorefrost

I also had a quasi religious experience listening to it whilst being high for the first time as a teen.

Funny you should say that (well, not the stoner part, but bear with me ;)) - Matthew Simms, the "kid" who's been a member of Wire since 2010 mentioned it as an important formative influence. From Read & Burn: A Book About Wire (highly recommended, by the way):

Quote:

Simms's familiarity with Wire wasn't encyclopaedic. "I had the first three records," he says. "I wasn't a super-fan. I didn't know them inside out. The first time I read about them was in Mojo, when the first three albums were reissued [in 2006]." However, an appreciation of Wire did run in the family. "My dad had the seven-inch of 'Outdoor Miner'," says Simms. "He bought it when it first came out."

Simms's audition took place on April 28 2010 at Ritz Studios in Putney. He'd been sent a list of seven tracks to prepare: 'Lowdown', 'Comet', 'Silk Skin Paws', 'Boiling Boy', '106 Beats That', 'He Knows', and 'The 15th'. A few tips were also included. The advice for 'Comet' was: "Main thing is knowing when to stop!" and for '106 Beats That', he was cautioned: "The chords are a bastard!" A closing instruction read: "Also surprise us with one thing of ours that we've forgotten" — the idea being that he should choose a song and then 'teach' it to the band, as [Margaret] Fiedler McGinnis had done with 'The 15th'. "I suggested 'Map Ref.'," remembers Simms, "which I think was a surprise for them. I picked it because it was one of my favourites."

Talking about his preparation for the audition, Simms emphasises that he wasn't just concerned with knowing how to play the songs. "I made sure I knew how they worked, but I also made sure I had the right sounds." This interest in sound, as much as technique, was something he had developed early on, as he began to learn his instrument. "When I was really young, and started playing the guitar, the first record I really got into was Sonic Youth's Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star, which my dad gave me when I was about 12. It was a big influence — showing that the guitar could be something more, that you could get all sorts of sounds out of it. That's the side of the guitar I really like." This focus on sound was something that immediately registered with the band. "Even before he started playing at the audition," [Colin] Newman recalls, "he was preparing to play a song, and Graham [Lewis] said, he's like we were when we were younger."

Still think Experimental is the worst SY album, but that doesn´t mean it´s bad album. I was just very disappointed it when it came. I thought then SY is over to me, but I got it back when Washing Machine came. But this whole thing has nothing to do with Lee, Lee is not singing in CIS or BMR and I have always think they´re better than Experimental.

The sound on EJSTNS is better than Dirty's.

Ironically this record produced the closest thing to a hit single sonic youth ever had...

Ironically it's my least favourite song on this strange and magical record

i just listened to the record again, and well i think 'get over it already'.
i mean, of course i relate to the meh-ness that it caused when it was first released and the disconnection that most of us felt, might even still have it in the back of my mind when i think of it, but frankly its a fine album and have reached to that conclusion only some time after the release.

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Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

this strange and magical record

yeah

^yeah

captures a certain aesthetic that goo and dirty failed to hit. dirty hinted at it, but goo was agonisingly dry. like an alternate vision of pop.

"When I was really young, and started playing the guitar, the first record I really got into was Sonic Youth's Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star, which my dad gave me when I was about 12. It was a big influence — showing that the guitar could be something more, that you could get all sorts of sounds out of it. That's the side of the guitar I really like."

Thanks for posting this. This is exactly my relationship to the record as well. A young 15-16 year old punk kid just learning to play guitar, and this record absolutely shifted everything about the way I viewed music and shaped my future development.

Like many my age at the time, I basically got into them because of Nirvana. I saw the video for "Bull," and had just read Nirvana's bio. Hearing Cobain mention them several times, and seeing Steve drumming with that maraca, I decided to pick up the album. I could not believe some of the things I heard. "What is all this feedback and amp noise doing on a record? Oh wait...crap...they are using it rhythmically as a song element?" Mind...blown... "Songs are supposed to have 'notes' and structure, right? What is this 'Androgynous Mind' doing then, and why do I love it so much?!?! Was that a random pick scratch?" Hearing the intro to "Starfield Road" for the first time as a young teen, and the feelings of sheer excitement and wonder it gave me, that is something I will remember until the day I die.

I totally understand where a lot of people are coming from with the hatred though. Being a bit older and already a fan, I could see where this album was possibly a bit of a let-down. Or even just discovering it later and comparing it to their full catalog. I just felt a need to respond and give it some love though, because it certainly holds a very special place in my heart.

I think it's terribly underrated.
I don't mean it's one of their best, but it's better than most people are willing to give it credit for.

It may sound simplistic compared to other SY LPs, but there are LOTS of fine ideas and experimentation (duh!) with rhythm and "noises".

Steve's drumming on "Bone" is amazing.

"Skink's" mid-section and overall "mood" is something loop-worth.

I think most people dismiss it because its tracks can sound repetitive. I like repetition. Rhythmic riffs, noises, drum hits.
There's lot of it in this record.