SYR 1
A bold new frontier, January 22, 2000
Reviewer: A music fan from New York

The first track, "Anagrama," may be a succinct summary of all that SY has done right with their last two albums, Washing Machine and 1000 Leaves. And when the drums finally kick music never sounded more glorious and frightening. Move over Zarathustra.

But contrasting the ethereal high of 'Anagrama' is the blatent and loud closer. The final track, "de corrosion," does just that. It is a maelstrom of flanged noises: pick scrapes and squeals, light snare, and even the perennial distorted rock chord. Are we looking at a taxonomy of sonic possibilities? Are these sounds to be taken as field studies for something more glorious? The flanger never sounded so fresh.

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SYR 2
GOOD OLD SONIC NOISE, March 25, 1999
Reviewer: A music fan from Iceland

Sonic Youth don´t let anybody down, and this (almost)instrumental recording proves their magical powers to create noise which seems to be going nowhere, sound brilliant. If you aren´t a hardcore Sonic Youth fan, this might be an excellent record to expand your horizon a little bit. But prepare yourself mentally!!! This is guitar mutilation at it´s best.

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SYR 3
Stockhausen, Davidovsky, Varese,.....Sonic Youth?, August 3, 1998
Reviewer: A music fan from Austin, TX

After over 15 years of releasing some of the most intense and challenging rock albums of all time, Sonic Youth seem ready to take their first serious steps away from the constrictive realm of rock music and into the more free world of modern art music. Taking their cues from Stockhausen, Miles Davis, Varese, Frank Zappa, and Brian Eno, Sonic Youth have here created some of the most esoteric music released by a rock group in years. Structures of surprising delicacy and grace reside in the spaces created by Steve Shelley's elegantly reserved drumming, and the guitar noodling has never sounded more convincing. Believe!

amazingly abstract sonic exploration, October 14, 1998
Reviewer: A music fan from Rochester, NY

Sonic Youth's third piece in their postcard series goes even deeper into sonic exploration than the first two, and anything the group has ever done together before. Jim O'Rourke joins the group as they experiment with different instuments and tonal structures over the course of over an hour. One of the best purchases I've ever made.

Not pop, thank goodness, September 26, 2001
Reviewer: squibix from Lexington, MA USA

This album is worth buying for Kim Gordon's trumpet playing alone! Her style on the horn owes alot to her vocal method: calm, world-weary and quietly amused. That's how it sounds to me, anyways. Jim O'Rourke also plays on the record, and his presence lends it a few more non-guitar sounds than are heard on the other early SYRs--and with that a bit less guitar sound--but especially on the third track the electronics blend wonderfully with what the other Sonics are doing. Note: this isn't really a pop record, and if you expect it to be you'll probably be disappointed. But if you're in the mood for 50 minutes of beautiful sounds and slow yet inevitable development, this is the record for you. And it rocks quite a bit towards the end, too.

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SYR 4
Amazon.com

Wildly influential four-piece Sonic Youth have self-released their version of a tribute to the 20th century: two discs of noisy interpretations of modern, experimental classical scores. The group has chosen composers whose works leave a great amount of innovation open to the performer. This chance-embracing approach--typified and in some senses originated by John Cage--is one of the crucial turning points of "new" music. What's great about this CD is that it demonstrates the freewheeling, decidedly unserious spirit behind this music, essentially combining the legacies of punk rock and out-sound. In addition to three late works by the chance-loving Cage, there are pieces by current Merce Cunningham collaborator Takehisa Kosugi, minimalist giant Steve Reich, "deep-listening" drone lover Pauline Oliveros, and Fluxus founder George Maciunas. Longtime collaborator Wharton Tiers, the young everything-ist Jim O'Rourke, and even some of the composers themselves join in on these exercises. The result is messy, fun, and anarchic, with occasional revelations (notably James Tenney's "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion"). It's not a disc to play all the time, but it is a challenging, enthused record that ideally will point listeners toward some of the most vital music of the last half of the last decade of the second millennium. --Mike McGonigal

Goodbye 20th Century, December 13, 1999
Reviewer: Dec880@hotmail.com from New York, New York

Goodbye 20th century is the fourth installment of Sonic Youths self produced EPs, and in a way it deserves its title. Lately Sonic Youth has been getting more and more experimental, and this album, is basically them acknowledging the centurys best artists, and thier influences on SY and popular music. This album is a definate must have for avid SY fans, but the occaisonal listener may not enjoy it as much, and may wish to stick to thier SST recordings instead. SYR4 Also sees SY teaming up with many of the artists on the album to help produce it. Which only adds to the charm of the record. If this is Sonic Youth saying goodbye to the 20th century I cannot wait until the next one, and the mysteries it will hold.

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SYR 5
A masterful piece of experimental noise, October 13, 2000
Reviewer: Matthew F. Watters from Seattle, WA USA

I'm not sure why this record has elicited so much confusion and mixed critical response: fans of Sonic Youth, who are surely aware of Thurston Moore and company's longstanding interest in avant garde jazz and experimental music, shouldn't be all that surprised by this record. That said, a rock record this isn't. However, as the cover art (with its Japanese characters) tends to imply, anyone who might be attracted to Japanese noise artists, as well as to experimental or improvisational music that treads a fascinating line between ambient and industrial (with dream-like vocals from the perpetually cool Kim Gordon) will find much to appreciate in this album's intricate and atmospheric improvisations. Like great free jazz, it isn't necessarily background music, but (unlike some others have commented) I find much of this album quite beautiful: for me, it was love at first listen. (To those who have bought and enjoyed this album: you might also enjoy the CD by Hoahio, on the Tzadik label, on which three Japanese women experiment with everything from pop songs to Japanese folk to pure sound sculpture and improvised noise, with similarly fascinating results.)

new goo, September 12, 2000
Reviewer: Funkmeister G (see more about me) from Sydney, Australia

I went to the shop to pick this up after it had been delayed a week & had to decide between the cd or the more expensive vinyl & chose the latter because it just looked better. When I took it home it was a double 45rpm 12"s which was interesting, longer than 1 album but not quite a real double. It opens w/ Olive's Horn, a jazzy/dubby instrumental, certainly sounding different to typical SY sounds. International Spy could maybe be a hit if it wasn't on a 'side-project' record which only attracts the obsessive fans like myself, Kim sings "I spy into yr ear" over hip beats. There's a song What Do You Want? where she breathes her own name over familiar chords & strangely enough it works quite well indeed. We Are The Princesses is not a Free Kitten type pop stomper but more noise jammy & tracks like Mushroom something & Paperbag/Orange Laptop are extended jammy explorations in sound. After the horror/boredom that was Goodbye 20th Century the SYR series has redeemed its good name w/ this fairly enjoyable & funky set, which just happens to be Kim's 1st solo album except that it's as a trio, being unfamilar w/ DNA, I can just say Ikue Mori is a damn fine drummer & also as my 1st exposure to DJ Olive I was quite impressed, coming from the same school as the excellent DJ Spooky tha' Subliminal kid [who has collaborated w/ Kitten & also Thurston]. I recommend this album to fans of Sonic youth, free jazz & [intelligent varieties of] hip-hop.

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