Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:55 am
AnalLog
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:40 am Posts: 25451 Location: 111 Archer Ave.
Spenno, I think I'm going to throw on NYC Ghosts & Flowers before bed tonight. It's been too long since I've listened to that album, and probably never with much of a critical ear.
Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:52 pm
AnalLog
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:40 am Posts: 25451 Location: 111 Archer Ave.
Listened to NYC Ghosts & Flowers last night. It's better than I remember it being and yet still a very challenging listen. It was easier for me to get into it in when I was in my early twenties. I was much more into the story of the album (and Kerouac, and Ginsberg, and Burroughs, and O'Hara) than the album itself, and so I easily forgave everything that now irks me about the songs.
There are a lot of great ideas on here that just get wrecked once the words are sung. With the exception of Free City Rhymes, which has all the makings of a near perfect Sonic Youth song for me, the lyrics on this album distract me from the gorgeous guitar arrangements. The chemistry that Lee and Thurston bring to a nice simmer in these songs is often destroyed by a cheesy line like "hipster stare, what was it anyway?" or "froze me with his Jesus gun."
It's harder for me to ignore than it used to be, and unfortunately that's what I think of when I try to recall what an album like NYC Ghosts & Flowers sounds like from memory. Luckily when I do put the album on, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how much I like the guitar arrangements and Shelley's understated drumming.
Musically, it's a sound that I wish that Sonic Youth would have explored more. The whole thing comes across as a cold stretch of an industrial part of town, but then small moments of beauty pop up throughout. I've always liked Jim O'Rourke's touch on this album.
I guess overall, it's mid-tier Sonic Youth for me, but close to the top-tier group.
Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:28 am
Master of Meh
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 11:00 pm Posts: 13226 Location: Adelaide, AUS
Thanks Reid, I enjoyed reading that. I agree that it isn't quite top-tier SY, but it's a really interesting diversion into some areas the band haven't often ventured. I like it a whole ton more than Murray Street, that's for sure.
Thurston just posted this on Facebook, bummer:
Quote:
We brought our bags into the Best Western 501 North 22nd Street Philadelphia, PA and cymbal bags and two fender jazzmasters in hardcases and set them beside the couch in the bar/lounge which we sat on to watch the hurricane Sandy benefit event. At some point the TV went out and we went to the bar to deal with it and while there someone snatched one of the gtrs - the black one w/ all the stickers. Their was only like 6 people around besides us, it was after midnight. And McCartney should've sang Negative Creep, Floyd The Barber - anything to show how Nirvana is as legacy a zeitgeist band as Beatles, Stones, Floyd and way more significant than Coldplay with or without Stipe. Boo.
Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:59 am
Master of Meh
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 11:00 pm Posts: 13226 Location: Adelaide, AUS
Oh, I need to mention: totally agree that O'Rourke worked in SY very well.
Mark Ibold was terrible, should've stuck with being a four-piece after Jim left (as they did for the recording and early shows in support of Rather Ripped). I love Kim's bass playing in SY, Ibold's style was just a poor fit: too much lazy groove, not enough pumping skronk and blurt.
Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:40 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am Posts: 4187
spenno wrote:
Oh, I need to mention: totally agree that O'Rourke worked in SY very well.
Mark Ibold was terrible, should've stuck with being a four-piece after Jim left (as they did for the recording and early shows in support of Rather Ripped). I love Kim's bass playing in SY, Ibold's style was just a poor fit: too much lazy groove, not enough pumping skronk and blurt.
YES!!!
Exactly! Jim really improved the band in their search for "noise music"...he gave them a whole new ground to experiment and make music. Mark Ibold...i dont understand why they choose him to play with them, he didnt have imput in their songs and live..it was just lifeless.
Post subject: Re: I'm starting to really dig Sonic Youth
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:09 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:23 am Posts: 4187
washing machine wrote:
Is this your first time, friend?
in 10 years maybe...came out happy from that swim. Weird album, kinda down tempo but still there are some great moments, not only Sunday, but i love Wild Flower Soul, Hoarfrost and Heather Angel.
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