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SuperNintendoChalmers · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:38 pm **Posts:** 4388

Lee's band is good live. The album was pretty good too, nothing mindblowing, but I got some milage out of it.

Alan Licht is great.

VinylGuy · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am **Posts:** 4187

yeah i found it a little bit boring..i mean i won´t be listening to it again i think.

washing machine · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:19 pm

Lee's probably the guy in the band that I respect the most, but his solo album sort of left me feeling the way Lee-centric SY mixes I've made in the past have. There's a sort of same-y feel to it all.

VinylGuy · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am **Posts:** 4187

washing machine wrote:

Lee's probably the guy in the band that I respect the most, but his solo album sort of left me feeling the way Lee-centric SY mixes I've made in the past have. There's a sort of same-y feel to it all.

that´s right...i think the guy i respect most of SY is steve shelley. Amazing drummer, and it seems he doesn´t attract any kind of drama...reminds me of Chad Smith in the RHCP...the quiet drummer.

spenno · **Posted:** Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:19 am

Pre-order and sound samples here: http://www.midheaven.com/item/smart-bar ... c-youth-cd

Quote:

“The ideal archival offering would meet a list of criteria: it should be an unreleased and sonically compelling recording of an amazing performance, which not only sheds some light on the known Sonic Youth catalog for the serious aficionado, but also captures the attention of the general fan. It’s a pretty tall order, but I think this tape from Chicago 1985 fits the bill…. [I]t’s the earliest live multitrack of a Sonic Youth show known to exist.

“Having now listened to this tape maybe 100 times, I can say this: it’s a killer show. The material was mostly released on the studio album Bad Moon Rising. The album is brilliant, but the material is also so visceral and improvisatory that it greatly benefits from the additional perspective offered by a live recording. Kim’s vocals, more detached on the album, are fierce here. Sheets of feedback insanity on the album which I always assumed to be lucky studio accidents turn out to be actual parts that Lee and Thurston can re-create at will. The album was recorded with Bob Bert on drums, but this show was one of the first after Bob left and Steve took over. Bob’s primal stomps doubtlessly propel the studio versions, but hearing these parts as interpreted by Steve’s systematic pummeling, illuminates the crucial transition to the Evol and Sister albums and beyond. We do get a taste of Evol too, with an early performance of ‘Expressway To Yr Skull’ and the first known live performance of ‘Secret Girl,’ plus an instrumental version of the rarely performed, and never released, ‘Kat ’n’ Hat.’” —Aaron Mullan, Feb. 2012

spenno · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:30 am

I stumbled onto this on YouTube today, it's a fun watch:

"Hey!...INCINERATE."

Sonic Youth playing an unannounced opening set before Magik Markers in Paris to preview the soon-to-be-released Rather Ripped material.

As time's worn on, I'm not particularly bummed out that Sonic Youth ended when they did. If anything, I feel as though they might've hung on one album too long. Rather Ripped was a late-period triumph, yet I'd have no hesitation in calling The Eternal my least favourite Sonic Youth record: for the first time in their career, it felt like they were spinning their wheels.

While it undoubtedly features more advanced songcraft than some of their earlier noise-based material and is more concise than the oft-misfiring experiments of NYC Ghosts + Flowers (which I still enjoy an awful lot), it's just not as interesting. It feels like Sonic Youth trying to sound exactly like Sonic Youth since they can't think of anything else to do. I don't know, perhaps the threads of Thurston and Kim's creative and personal lives were already beginning to slowly unravel by that time - or perhaps they just reached a portentous end of the road, having explored every possible nook and cranny of their sound.

Either way, those videos are a really enjoyable watch: the band seem so energised to be playing their new stuff in front of a small, appreciative (and very surprised) crowd.

VinylGuy · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am **Posts:** 4187

i still have to find what´s good in Rather Ripped...it was a huge letdown coming after a record like Sonic Nurse.
and yes, The eternal is only ok...i havent listened again since it came out.

Kevin Davis · **Joined:** Wed Aug 25, 2010 6:37 am **Posts:** 3819

I love "Rather Ripped" too. I find myself reaching for it surprisingly more often than many of their other discs.

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:21 am

I missed Lee and Allen Licht tonight in Houston, playing over some Stan Brakhage films. This one really hurts, guys.

Quote:

Saturday, September 22, 7:30pm
Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, 2201 Preston, Houston [map]

Lee Ranaldo (New York): guitar
Alan Licht (New York): guitar
Ulrich Krieger (Los Angeles): saxophone, electronics
Tim Barnes (Louisville): drums

$15 general admission | $10 for members of Nameless Sound and Aurora Picture Show | 18 and under, free!

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:23 am

On the plus side, seeing Lee Ranaldo upload little pieces of Houston for all of the instagram world to see is an adventure in and of itself.

spenno · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:32 am

That's a shame, Reid.

Guys, Pink Steam is pretty much perfect.

I just wish John Agnello hadn't produced Rather Ripped (also: The Eternal, his mixing of Lee's solo LP, the recent Dinosaur Jr LPs, etc.) - they all sound like someone's placed a blanket over the speakers. Everything is a muffled, boxy thud.

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:42 am

That's a good way to put it. Why do you think that a band that is so infatuated with sound would think that muffled is a good move?

SuperNintendoChalmers · **Joined:** Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:38 pm **Posts:** 4388

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Rather Ripped. In fact, I think its in my car's deck right now. Pink Steam is great.

Its a good record. But coming from someone who never really "got" Sonic Nurse but loves Murray Street.

Go Figure.

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:47 am

Weird. I've always consider Nurse one of their more accessible records.

spenno · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:52 am

Ugh, Murray Street.

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:57 am

Not even Karen Revisited, eh?

spenno · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:01 am

Oh, Lee's SY songs are immune from my petty derision.

VinylGuy · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am **Posts:** 4187

im listening to rather ripped tomorrow just for you guys.

washing machine · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:05 am

Murray Street does have a very lopsided feel to it, but I'm not sure I would cut anything out (not even Plastic Sun.) It might be an interesting experiment to retrack the album. I may try that.

spenno · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:05 am

VinylGuy wrote:

im listening to rather ripped tomorrow just for you guys.

I hope it's a pleasant experience.

Those are some fine tunes.

I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth

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