It's a funny thing- over the years since Daydream Nation came out I've fluctuated in my appreciation of Sonic Youth. Working backwards from
Daydream Nation threw up lots to enjoy (Bad Moon Rising, EVOL, Sister) and then
forwards as well but with more mixed results. I loved Goo but there are swathes of
their albums from the 1990s and 2000s I missed and was fine about missing. I
bought and enjoyed NYC Ghosts And Flowers and Murray Street but completely
missed and still haven't heard Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves (both
highly rated I think). I sometimes think they seem like style over substance
but when they hit the target they hit it good and proper.
Thurston Moore doesn't come out
of Kim Gordon's 2015 autobiography Girl In A Band too well and he can come
across as bit worthy on punk documentaries. I saw him play with his group in
Manchester last year. I'd gone along on a whim in a way and was glad I did. It
looked interesting, the venue is a former garage across the road from
Strangeways prison, MBV's Debbie Googe plays bass in the band and his Spirit
Counsel album last year was a good if infrequent listen. His cover
version of New Order's Leave Me Alone had pricked my attention too, a really
good take on the song. Sometimes maybe you're just more in tune with things
than at other times. Three weeks ago I posted his lockdown release, a nine
minute instrumental for three guitars called Strawberry Moon. Last week
Thurston announced the release of an album recorded back in March, just before
lockdown hit. By The Fire has Debbie on bass and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley on
the drums on some songs plus Jon from Negativland. In advance he put out this
single, Hashish. According to Thurston the song is 'an ode to the narcotic of
love in our shared responsibility to each other during isolation'. The opening
guitar drones and atonal picked notes followed by the thumping drums and wasted
vocals are exactly what you'd expect from Thurston Moore and if this
had been a few years ago I could easily have shrugged and moved on but right
now they are hitting the spot completely.
5 comments:
I always had a very up and down view on Sonic Youth but this is good. When they were on form they were great, but at other times, well let's just say they didn't do it for me. Kim Deal's book was indeed illuminating and Thurston really isn't portrayed in a good light at all is he? Generally I enjoyed the book, although some American punk/indie types can often come across as unbearably worthy "I'm actually an ARTIST" types, which is a bit irritating. Kim Gordon does this, as does Patti Smith.
Yep, agreed. Patti Smith comes across as insufferable and indier- than- thou in many books/interviews. I thought Kim's book was a good read- I read it back to back with Viv Albertine's though and Viv's was superb.
Read Patti Smith's Just Kids about her and Mapplethorpe and it irritates and impresses with her artier-than-thou attitude in equal measure; they'll spend all their money on a book of Greek Orthodox stained-glass, claiming "the spiritual sustenance we received was more important than food" which made me wince with the pretentiousness of it, but then they're stealing stale bread from dumpsters round the back of bakeries, so they meant it. I guess sometimes you have to believe it in order to live it.
Oh yes, Viv Albertine's books are both superb. The first one is great on her musical rebirth/comeback but the second one has the most visceral discription of a fierce and bitter argument I've ever read, and it was all true apparently. Made for painful but fascinating reading. She's a brilliant writer.
I feel bad saying this because Sonic Youth are one of those bands you are supposed to like (although more don't than you think), but I might have some difficulty coming up with 10 songs I love enough for an ICA. It would be close. I will say this about Thurston Moore. He has good taste in music... as evidenced by his participation in the documentary Teenage Superstars. Having said that, in the Thurston vs. Kim debate, I choose Kim.
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