'KIM'S CHORDS' ON ITUNES


The song 'Kim's Chords', available previously only on the Japanese version of the 'Sonic Nurse' CD, is now available worldwide as an exclusive itunes download.

WILL MISS YOU MUCH, BOB QUINE

Mike Watt had the following to say about the passing of Bob Quine:

I'm just back from ireland w/iggy and found out about this sad news regarding bob quine's passing. I'd like to say his playing was really inspiring and wild. lee ranaldo had me record a version of dylan's "visions of johana" thirteen or something years w/him and who was on guitar (besides lee)? none other than bob quine! steve shelley was on drums. well, me and d. boon first heard him on richard hell's "blank generation" single and very much were blown away (as w/the other guy on guitar, ivan julian and of course, richard hell himself) - made a huge impression on us. it was a trip to get to both spiel and play alongside him that day at wharton's in nyc - I must've asked a million questions (all foamed-up) but he was so nice to me. he played righteous too. I heard he was kind of belig but he was nothing but a gentleman to me and the other cats there. it's a great memory for me to look back on. he told me that day the first guy he saw on electric guitar was buddy holly. that was trippy.

Richard Hell's thoughts on Bob Quine are available here.

Mike Watt's thoughts on anything and everything are available on his hoot page.

SY ON TOUR: AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE

Sonic Youth are off to Australia and New Zealand for a whirlwind whip with J Mascis in tow. Tickets for all of these shows are on sale now. Check www.ticketek.com or the venue for tickets unless otherwise noted.

June 15 - Canberra A.N.U
June 17+18 - Sydney Enmore Theatre
June 19 - Brisbane Arena
June 21 - Fremantle Metropolis (Buy tickets at 78's, Beat, Planet or Mills)
June 23+24 - Melbourne Forum
June 26 - Auckland St. James

After Australia, Sonic Youth will tour this summer as part of the Lollapalooza 2-day festival. The line-up can be seen at the Lollapalooza website. Sonic Youth will also be playing a select few shows of their own on days off during Lollapalooza. These shows are beginning to be announced. The complete Lollapalooza dates are in orange below, with updated non-Lolla shows in black.

7/13 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
7/14 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre
7/15 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
7/17 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
7/20 San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheatre
7/21 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theatre
7/22 Ventura, CA Ventura County Fairgrounds
7/23 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues- Mandalay Bay
7/25 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue (former Bricks)
7/26 Englewood, CO Coors Amphitheatre
7/28 Minneapolis, MN The Quest
7/29 Tinley Park, IL Tweeter Center
7/30 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
7/31 Columbia, MO The Blue Note

8/2 Clarkson, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/4 Montreal, QUE Metropolis
8/5 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre
8/6 Ottawa, ONT Capital Hall
8/9 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
8/12 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post
8/13 New Haven, CT Toad's Place
8/14 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
8/15 Portland, ME State Theater
8/16 New York, NY Randall's Island
8/18 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center
8/21 Atlanta, GA Turner Field
8/24 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Centre


Tickets are already on sale for several Lollapaloozas as well as non-Lolla shows and more are going on sale soon. Check the calendar page for more info on specific shows.

After the final Lollapalooza, SY will head to Europe for a select few shows. Dates for this tour are:

8/26 Geneva, Switzerland Victoria Hall
8/27
Paris (St. Cloud) Rock En Seine
8/28 Oudenaarde, Belgium Feest in Het Park
8/30 Amsterdam Paradiso SOLD OUT
9/1 Glasgow Barrowland Tickets
9/2 London Brixton Academy
9/4 Bologna, Italy Independent Days Festival

SOLO ACTIVITIES

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Text of Light, the improvising ensemble whose rotating cast includes Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, Christian Marclay, DJ Olive, William Hooker, and Ulrich Krieger has a full length CD out June 7 on the Starlight Furniture Co. label.

The Text of Light group was formed in 1999 to perform improvised music during screenings of films by Stan Brakhage and other American avant-garde filmmakers from the 1950's and 60's. The three tracks on this CD come from live performances at New York City clubs Tonic and the Knitting Factory, as well as Anthology Film Archives in NYC.

The disk will be available through Revolver.

Lee and Jim also have an recent trio release with Carlos Gifonni on Antiopic Records. The 3" CD is described this way by the label:

Recorded 31 August 2003 at North Six, Brooklyn NY, USA This is the first release in Antiopic's Live Series.

A seething, screaming set of power electronics and guitar with hardly a moment's pause for air, this recording finds the trio of Carlos Giffoni (computer, synth, guitar), Lee Ranaldo (guitar, firebell) and Jim O'Rourke (synth) in devastating form. This is classic free bombast, alternately sounding like a "rock band" interpretation of Merzbow's Rainbow Electronics or a punk update of a Musica Elettronica Viva session. The instantly identifiable Ranaldo/Sonic Youth guitar sound is joined by blurting digital scree and analog filter abuse, melding to create a heavy tidal rush of ecstatic cosmic noise. The bliss of the set is confirmed by the Brooklyn audience's joyful reaction at the close.

WE WANT THE AIRWAVES


While in Seattle to perform at the Showbox, Sonic Youth will also appear live on KEXP. The performance will be live at 12:30pm on July 14 and will stream online.

Then on July 19 the band will perform on the Late Show with Craig Kilbourn on CBS.

Sonic Youth will play on Late Night with Conan O'Brian on Wednesday, July 7.

In anticipation of the release of "Corporate Ghost", MTV2 will air a half-hour special June 6 on the Subterranean program.

Then Sonic Youth will perform on the Tonight show with Jay Leno on Wednesday, June 9.

The next day they will perform live on the Morning Becomes Eclectic program on KCRW. The program also streams online starting at 16:00 GMT.

While in Australia and New Zealand, Sonic Youth will appear on several radio programs.

On June 18 at 10 in the morning, Kim and Thurston will appear on the National Youth Radio Network for an hour of interview and guest DJ duties. This will be broadcast on Triple-J radio, a link for an online stream can be found here.

June 21 at 3pm Kim and Thurston will be interviewed on RTRfm in Perth.

On June 24 Thurston will play records and be interviewed at 3:30 on RRR FM in Melbourne. Check out the stream.

Then on June 25 Kim will be on National Radio, on the Deep End program. The program airs from 8:30-10:30.

Lee and Thurston will appear live on 95B FM in Auckland at noon on June 26 for an interview and guest DJ stint. This will be available as an online stream.