Hi everybody -- you're probably all used to my annual updates by now, but I thought I'd share my vision for the site's growth as I anticipate it over the rest of the year (which is, of course, subject to change).
CONCERT CHRONOLOGY - this is pretty much up to date for 2008. Once the inevitable summer tour in support of "The Eternal" is underway, I find it unlikely that I'll be able to update the set lists on a nightly basis, but I do want to make them available to those who are curious, so I've started a thread at the official sonicyouth.com bulletin board where I hope people will post set lists from each show as they're available (and I encourage you to browse the bulletin board for extensive discussion of each show as well as all things sonic). I still want any information from 1981-2008 that you can share, particularly set lists, pictures, etc, and I generally add these in mass updates at one or two points in the year. I also want to continue to add more 'quotes', which I find entertaining (but may be the only one), and to add notations to each yearly page to indicate which shows have set lists, pictures, or quotes. I tried this on the 1991 page and would be curious to hear any feedback as to whether this looks too cluttered or if it helps when searching the site for pages that actually have specific data.
DISCOGRAPHY - also pretty much up to date for 2008. Obviously I'll have a few 2009 releases to add, and a small backlog of submissions that I received since I finalized the last update, but this will probably come towards the end of the year. I'm hoping people have had a chance to see the new 'Merchandise' section and I encourage you to contribute anything you think is missing and belongs there.
GEAR GUIDE - this will be the next update. I anticipate there being 2 major updates to this guide in 2009 - the first will come in the next couple of months, and will be mostly cleaning up the existing information. So many of the images are literally me taking pictures of a frozen VHS still on my tv screen 10 years ago, and I'm pretty sure I can replace 95% of this stuff with DVD-quality frames. There's also a handful of new guitars used since 2007, and a backlog of information submitted by readers that contains some cool surprises. So, that will go into update #1. Update #2 will rely on "The Eternal" tour heading west and me having another opportunity for hands-on access to SY's gear, which should hopefully yield the same photographic exposé you've come to expect from previous tours.
SONG DATABASE - i'm going to wait to update this until after 'The Eternal' and all related tracks have been released. Also added will be 'I'm Not There', 'Slow Revolution', and any other tracks released since the last update. The first/last performance notes will all be updated, as well as information from the "Daydream Nation" deluxe edition.
TAB ARCHIVE - ah, the outcast. Once I get the tuning info for the new material, it will be added immediately, but I'll be waiting for the eager ears of rabid fans to decipher their fresh riffage. I used to really enjoy working out the new albums as soon as they were available (and often long before, via live versions) but now I find it gets too clinical and distorts my enjoyment of the songs, so I don't expect I'll be working too much on them. That said, if people start submitting tabs (and I always welcome them!) for any songs old or new, it could inspire me to match their offers with some work of my own. I know there's tons of songs that still need upgrading or revising, and some that need to be done from scratch. I'd also really like to get that non-LP tuning guide lookin' pretty sometime soon, but it's not my highest priority (clearly).
THE FIVE COMBINED - some call it "Dig This!", some call it "Original Folk Blues", some call it "Hyperstation", most just call it "Mustang" (which annoys me to no end, but I guess I can't blame them) -- the five sites combined have always been intended to function as a voltronic unit of sonic devastation, but I pretty much learned all I know about html a decade ago and don't see myself finding time to ever learn how to make everything database-driven, so hopefully everyone's content with things being a few clicks away rather than every song title in the Discography or Concert Chronology linking directly to the Song Database, and fancy shit like that. That said, I do have one new feature that's been in the back of my mind for a while and is slowly moving forward, and while it won't exactly be a brand new site, it'll be a combination of elements from all five to provide a unique look at, well... y'all will have to wait and see. How long you'll have to wait, I'm not sure, but fortunately we'll all have a new record to keep us occupied for the next few months...
Thanks for always coming back!