TELLUS 18 TRACK
   
Originally Released on:

TELLUS #18 compilation

also appears on:

  • n/a

Line-up:
SY w/ Mike Kelley

Lyrics

instrumental

Track length: 13:21 (on compilation) 35:01 (in Sensational Fix exhibit)

First Known Performance: n/a
Last Known Performance:  n/a

NOTES:

  • On December 5th 1986, Sonic Youth backed Mike Kelley at the Artists Space in NYC, basically providing sound effects and instrumental accompaniment to his piece "Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile". Kelley recited an hour-and-a-half poem he wrote and dramatized with the help of actress Molly Cleator while SY droned in the background.
  • An excerpt from this performance was released on the Tellus #18 compilation. It's basically the final 13 minutes of the performance, from roughly halfway through page 8 until the end, which is nearly four and a half minutes of SY making a racket after the final words (or, in Kelley's words, "the band plays a crescendo").
  • Supposedly a 35-minute recording is part of the 'Sensational Fix' exhibit, and Mike's entire script (with music cues in the margins) is replicated in the Sensational Fix book, with a picture of the performance.
  • Mike Kelley is an old friend of Kim's and also did the artwork for "Dirty".