Sonic Youth
Murray Street
2002, DGC
Preachin' to the choir and I don't care...
MURRAY STREET was the first "leak" I ever heard. It was weird. Having and loving and knowing an album months before it was released. It felt like the future. And it was in a way. It was a whole new weird post-9/11 America. Not long after the record's release I faced an anxiety issue and made a trek with some friends to drive the 5 1/2 hrs to NYC to run wild in the streets. We browsed recordstores in the early morning hours, but first made the pilgrimage to Ground Zero and the hop-skip-and-jump to knock on the door on Murray Street. Nobody answered. This same Summer I would see the band twice. And hug Thurston.
Not only for the sounds contained within (which is more than enough) but also for the complex lineage of associated memories and feelings triggered -- MURRAY STREET is my favorite album of the 2000's.