Thurston and his Groop will headline an Ecstatic Peace! showcase during the South by Southwest music festival Friday March 14 at the Mohawk in Austin, TX. Two stages of bands will be featured. Northampton Wools (Thurston and Bill Nace) kick off the action at 8pm. While in Austin, the Groop will also play Roky Ericson's Psychedelic Ice Cream Social at Threadgill's 5pm Thursday March 13 and at the French Legation Saturday March 15 at 4:30. Also on Thurs 13th, Thurston and Steve Reich will have a panel discussion at Room 18ABC. More infos.

SONIC YOUTH #1

The soundtrack for the movie 'Juno', containing Sonic Youth's rendition of the Carpenters' 'Superstar' was the #1 record in America for the week of Jan 30 and remains in the top 10 for the week of Feb 23. The band also features in the movie as an element of the plot. You can watch the Superstar video directed by Dave Markey here. The song can be heard as part of the streaming mix tape via the link above.

KERZE

The Gerhard Richter painting 'Kerze' which was used for the cover of Sonic Youth's 'Daydream Nation' album was auctioned on Feb 27th for 8m GBP. The Independent newspaper reports that "Kerze takes a timeless romantic symbol and brings it powerfully up to date. The candle itself alludes to the "fragility and mortality" of human experience - a theme accentuated by the application of Richter's "blurring" technique in which he would take a small dry brush to soften the wet paint." The full article is available here.

DAYDREAM NATION 2xCD DELUXE EDITION #1 REISSUE OF 2007 IN ROLLING STONE, SPIN, AND HARP

The Daydream Nation Deluxe Edition released in 2007 has been hailed by Rolling Stone, Spin, and Harp magazines as the #1 reissue of the year. Rolling Stone previously declared DDN as one of 'The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.' The record was also honored as one of the first 200 albums chosen by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Recording Registry for their historic, cultural or aesthetic importance. The two-disc set has been issued by Geffen Records and features bonus tracks, new liner notes, and unseen band photos. A super-special 4-disc vinyl set issued by the band's own Goofin' imprint is available here. More Information and the complete tracklist is here.

THURSTON MOORE GROOP LIVE EP PLUS FRI/END VIDEO PLUS LIVE FOOTAGE

Thurston has released an iTunes exclusive EP titled "Live from SoHo" . Recorded in October at the Apple Store this release offers a unique take on nine songs from Trees Outside the Academy and Psychic Hearts as performed by the band that includes Steve Shelley, Chris Brokaw, Samara Lubelski, and Matt Heyner. The song 'Fri/end' from Trees Outside the Academy has a video available for viewing here. Live footage of the Groop performing "The Shape is in a Trance" at the Knitting Factory can be seen here

OSCILLATION III

Both Lee and Thurston (as one-half of The Bark Haze with Gown) are participants in Three Lobed Recordings' new "Oscillation III" CD subscription series. The Bark Haze and Ranaldo material is all new, previously released material. Subscriptions will be available directly from Three Lobed and are accompanied by eight additional discs of new material (Magik Markers, Bardo Pond, Jack Rose, GHQ, Michael Flower Band, Tom Carter, Howlin' Rain and Vanishing Voice). Info.

SONIC YOUTH RECORDS DYLAN SONG FOR TODD HAYNES FILM

Sonic Youth has recently recorded a version of the rarely-heard Bob Dylan song 'I'm Not There' for the Todd Haynes movie of the same. Recording was done at the band's own studio with Engineer John Agnello and Aaron Mullan assisting. Lee has also recorded a group of Dylan songs for the film and soundtrack with a group consisting of Tom Verlaine (gtr.), John Medeski (organ/keyboards), Tony Garnier (bass) + Steve Shelley (drums) and guest vocalists including Verlaine, Stephen Malkmus, Karen O, Eddie Vedder and Mira Billotte. The soundtrack album is out now and includes the SY cover of 'I'm Not There' and many of the Lee recordings.

HELLO FROM THE AMERICAN DESERT

Lee has a new chapbook called Hello From the American Desert available from Silver Wonder Press. The book features spam-inspired poetry from 2004-07 and has cover art and inside illustrations from Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets. Info at the publisher's site and an explanatory article here.

SONIC YOUTH MADE IT OK TO...

A poster designed by JDK Designs for the Sonic Youth show at South Burlington, VT's Higher Ground club last summer is featured in the November 2007 issue of Communication Arts. This issue, the magazine's 48th design annual, highlights the best design work of the previous year. JDK created the poster . Its design was meant to serve as an invitation to Sonic Youth's fans to express their own thoughts and emotions about the band. The poster was printed in six different colors; red, pink, green, blue, dark blue, and brown. All six versions were handed out at the end of the show and fans were encouraged to write personal statements about how the band had affected their lives. A selection of posters, along with fan responses, can be seen via this link.

SONIC LIFE 1988-07

Portland photographer Rodger Bridges has penned this recollection.

THURSTON INTERVIEW BY LANCE BANGS AVAILABLE ONLINE

Thurston tours Lance Bangs around his archives in a three-part interview at vbs.tv.

ROADHOUSE

Columbia Records Japan, under the advice of Jim O'Rourke, has released The Roadhouse Sessions Vol. 1. The record is a studio session by the Thurston Moore Group from Sept. 2002. It features the same lineup as Live At Tonic (Wally Shoup, Paul Flaherty, Thurston Moore & Chris Corsano).

GUITAR HERO III

The Sonic Youth song 'Kool Thing' is included in the video game 'Guitar Hero III'. No word yet on whether the player is in the role of Lee or Thurston. Also included are cuts by the Sex Pistols, ZZ Top, Foghat, and Lacuna Coil.

Sonic Youth have completed their run of Daydream Nation shows in the USA. Shots of the LA and New York shows are at ecstaticpeace.com. Photos from Chicago are on the Paste Magazine site.

RATHER RIPPED VIDEOS

Seven videos for four songs from SY's latest 'Rather Ripped' are now available for viewing on the sy.com video page. Director Braden King brings videos for 'Do You Believe in Rapture?' and 'Reena' from footage shot at CBGB's this summer. Director Claire Denis offers a video for 'Incinerate' and 4 alternate videos for 'Jams Run Free.' Enjoy.

RIVERS OF HOPE GUITAR ORCHESTRA

The Rivers of Hope Foundation is putting together a 30-guitar orchestra for street children in Hoi An, Veitnam as part of their ongoing work to bring the arts to orphans and street kids. Mike Watt passed along the info, which you can check out at riversofhope.com.