Red Mosquito

Birds in Hell wrote:Oh, I know, I was being facetious; it's just a mystery to me exactly why people find hipsters (or the idea of hipsters) so maddening.

The only thing I really care about "hipsters" or why i would call someone such a thing is one who looks down on others for their music tastes. or think that their tastes in music is so fucking awesome they dont giv a shit what you listen to.

I have a few friends like that.

however- i also have friends who think im a hipster. So whatever the word means i dont know and dont really care. I was just jesting around last night.

Long live music and shit

So...who likes Sonic Nurse? Lets discuss how insanely great it is.

Or...maybe how overlooked / not appreciated Rather Ripped is.

darth_vedder wrote:So...who likes Sonic Nurse? Lets discuss how insanely great it is.

Or...maybe how overlooked / not appreciated Rather Ripped is.

Sonic Nurse is a top 5 record for SY. Its just perfect...has the perfect amount of noise and melody.
The last great record from them.

Strat wrote:I was just jesting around last night.

Oh, me too.

Strat wrote:Long live music and shit

Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped are a great couple of records.

I don't like the production on Rather Ripped very much, O'Rourke's input was sorely missed in that regard. To be honest, I don't know if I've heard any record John Agnello's worked on that doesn't sound to me like someone's placed a heavy blanket over the speakers; there's no high end or definition, it's like listening to a worse-for-wear cassette tape. The recent Dinosaur Jr LPs suffer similarly. Perhaps it's a sound that appeals to people who've spent their working life standing too close to squealing guitar amplifiers, but it doesn't work for me.

Anyway, here's some videos of the band previewing the Rather Ripped songs at a secret appearance in Paris in 2006. Particularly enjoyable for me is seeing them play these songs as a four-piece (which is how the songs was written and recorded) prior to Mark Ibold joining for the main touring behind the album.




I'd like to think we're not yet at the end of the road for Sonic Youth, though if we are it's not like anyone could complain - they had a very good run, so to speak.

Strat wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote: one who looks down on others for their music tastes. or think that their tastes in music is so fucking awesome they dont giv a shit what you listen to.

I'm a bit guilty of this. I knows what I like and spend the majority of my existence avoiding, vapid, stale, un-interesting music. But I know a lot of great people who listen to crap music. So what? As long I'm not subjected to too much of it, who cares. Content of character and all that, ya know?


Back on track. I could never get into Sonic Nurse, it bores me to tears.

super nintendo chalmers wrote:I could never get into Sonic Nurse, it bores me to tears.

That's exactly how I feel about Murray Street, which is (almost) universally loved. A Thousand Leaves too, though that has its moments.

Let's forget The Eternal ever happened.

Yeah, and I love Murray Street. Go Figure.

I picked up Eternal when it came out and never got around to playing it. Well, maybe like half of it once. Shame.


I do think Rather Ripped is great though.

super nintendo chalmers wrote:Yeah, and I love Murray Street. Go Figure.

I picked up Eternal when it came out and never got around to playing it. Well, maybe like half of it once. Shame.


I do think Rather Ripped is great though.

The Eternal...i love it when it came out...a few months later i forgot it was released. Weird album.

darth_vedder wrote:So...who likes Sonic Nurse? Lets discuss how insanely great it is.

Or...maybe how overlooked / not appreciated Rather Ripped is.

I love both albums--I've never heard "The Eternal" but I prefer both of the above to "Murray Street" by a pretty wide margin.

I really need to resume my Sonic Youth excavation.

Thurston Moore is playing a tour of solo shows in tiny pubs here..should i go?

I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, but is there a clear distinction between Thurston and Lee's guitar lines on Sonic Youth albums?

Ever since Kevin Davis asked me in the guitar tone thread, I've been listening to Sonic Youth and thinking about it. My natural inclination is to guess that Lee can be heard on the left channel while Thurston can be heard on the right, but that's really just based on their stage setup. I also tend to think that Lee is, in a loose sense, the more traditional of the two players, but again, that's just an educated guess.

Over the years of fandom, I've never really taken the time to notice individual guitar lines in their songs. Most SY compositions sound like one big, layered, homogeneous animal to me.

Anyone have any solid details? Spenno?

im becoming a fan of their SYR releases.

surface the north wrote:I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, but is there a clear distinction between Thurston and Lee's guitar lines on Sonic Youth albums?

Ever since Kevin Davis asked me in the guitar tone thread, I've been listening to Sonic Youth and thinking about it. My natural inclination is to guess that Lee can be heard on the left channel while Thurston can be heard on the right, but that's really just based on their stage setup. I also tend to think that Lee is, in a loose sense, the more traditional of the two players, but again, that's just an educated guess.

Over the years of fandom, I've never really taken the time to notice individual guitar lines in their songs. Most SY compositions sound like one big, layered, homogeneous animal to me.

Anyone have any solid details? Spenno?

You've pretty much figured it out.

From Dirty onwards (I think), they generally did mix Lee in the left channel and Thurston in the right. From memory, I think this was a result of Thurston listening to soundboard tapes of their shows on the Goo tour where their sound guy had mixed them that way (corresponding to what was happening on stage, obviously) and he liked it so much that he wanted the same approach on their studio recordings too.

The pre-Dirty stuff is less defined, so it's not as easy to tell. Since they're both playing in alternate tunings, and often notes in unison, it's not always easy to tell whose part is whose. I couldn't definitively say which bits are always Lee and always Thurston either, at least not without giving it some further thought and research. Their styles compliment each other so well in SY.

dimejinky99 wrote:Thurston Moore is playing a tour of solo shows in tiny pubs here..should i go?

Sure, why not?

I regret skipping the Thurston show here last year, by all reports it was excellent.

I get called a hipster all the time (by co-works, mosty) because I live in Brooklyn (and love it; though I don't live in Williamsburg) and I wear a porkpie hat (from time to time).

Also, I really dig Sonic Youth. But that has nothing to do with anything. I just like them. So...

Birds in Hell wrote:

surface the north wrote:I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, but is there a clear distinction between Thurston and Lee's guitar lines on Sonic Youth albums?

Ever since Kevin Davis asked me in the guitar tone thread, I've been listening to Sonic Youth and thinking about it. My natural inclination is to guess that Lee can be heard on the left channel while Thurston can be heard on the right, but that's really just based on their stage setup. I also tend to think that Lee is, in a loose sense, the more traditional of the two players, but again, that's just an educated guess.

Over the years of fandom, I've never really taken the time to notice individual guitar lines in their songs. Most SY compositions sound like one big, layered, homogeneous animal to me.

Anyone have any solid details? Spenno?

You've pretty much figured it out.

From Dirty onwards (I think), they generally did mix Lee in the left channel and Thurston in the right. From memory, I think this was a result of Thurston listening to soundboard tapes of their shows on the Goo tour where their sound guy had mixed them that way (corresponding to what was happening on stage, obviously) and he liked it so much that he wanted the same approach on their studio recordings too.

The pre-Dirty stuff is less defined, so it's not as easy to tell. Since they're both playing in alternate tunings, and often notes in unison, it's not always easy to tell whose part is whose. I couldn't definitively say which bits are always Lee and always Thurston either, at least not without giving it some further thought and research. Their styles compliment each other so well in SY.

My mind is at ease. Thank you, Spenno.

Now that we've sort of established who is playing what, does anyone care to take a stab at what some of their favorite Lee or Thurston guitar lines might be?

This one's always fun.

Wait, people don't like The Eternal? I think its better than Rather Ripped.

WtOB? wrote:Wait, people don't like The Eternal? I think its better than Rather Ripped.

I like Rather Ripped loads more than The Eternal, but neither record is heavy on the sort of dreamy, meandering interplay that came along with the albums they recorded with Wharton Tiers or Jim O'Rourke. I tend to place them low on my list of favorites for that reason. The Eternal does have Antenna, which I really like for some reason, but nothing else on it really moves me.