Red Mosquito

Gordon separated from Moore in 2011, and Sonic Youth have drifted to a halt. "It's hard to say when the life of a band starts and stops… but playing music together is an act of trust. When that's broken, it's impossible to continue."

A typical Sonic Youth interview featured Moore waxing philosophical while Gordon, in sunglasses, sat by his side, nearly silent. Aloof, remote, and intimidating are often used to describe her. After decades in the public eye, it seemed like this was the way things would always be. Then, in the fall of 2011, Gordon and Moore announced they were separating. The news called into question the future of Sonic Youth and devastated legions of music fans. Jon Dolan, one of the flintiest rock critics around, began a piece for Grantland about their breakup with this plaintive cry: "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"I can understand people being curious," Gordon says when I ask her about all the attention she’s gotten since the split. "I’m curious myself. What’s going to happen now?"

It’s late afternoon on an unforgivingly cold winter day in New York City. Gordon arrives a few minutes early at Sant Ambroeus, the understated West Village restaurant she chose for our meeting. She’s wearing eyeliner, a black-and-white-striped sweaterdress, and cognac-brown boots. I find myself dissecting her look so I can copy it later; such is the immediacy of her style. It would be rude to say Gordon doesn’t look her age, which is 59. That’s a line reserved for those who are desperately trying to appear young. There is nothing desperate about Kim Gordon. When the subject of dating comes up, I’m not surprised to hear that younger men are vying for her attention, though the couple is not yet divorced.

"We have all these books, records, and art and are getting it all assessed; that’s what is taking so long," she says after ordering a glass of rosé. But both have moved on. Among her suitors are a restaurateur, an architect, and an actor. "It’s just weird," Gordon says of navigating new romance. "I can’t tell what’s normal." And Moore has regularly been seen with the same woman, fueling the rumor that his affair helped doom their marriage. "We seemed to have a normal relationship inside of a crazy world," Gordon says of her marriage. "And in fact, it ended in a kind of normal way—midlife crisis, starstruck woman."

Some years ago, a woman Gordon declines to name became a part of the Sonic Youth world, first as the girlfriend of an erstwhile band member and later as a partner on a literary project with Moore. Eventually, Gordon discovered a text message and confronted him about having an affair. They went to counseling, but he kept seeing the other woman. "We never got to the point where we could just get rid of her so I could decide what I wanted to do," Gordon says. "Thurston was carrying on this whole double life with her. He was really like a lost soul." Moore moved out. Gordon stayed home and listened to a lot of hip-hop. "Rap music is really good when you’re traumatized," she says.

The first few months were rough. "It did feel like every day was different," she recalls. "It's a huge, drastic change." But slowly things improved. She adjusted to the framework of semisingle parenthood. (Coco, their only child, is now a freshman at a Chicago art school.) Gordon kept their colonial filled with friends—a musician, a poet, and Moore’s adult niece, with whom Gordon has remained very close. "Sometimes I cook dinner and just invite whomever," she says of her improvised family life. "Everyone helps out a bit with the dogs. It’s a big house. It’s nice to have people around." Things were stabilizing. Then Gordon was found to have a noninvasive form of breast cancer called DCIS. "I’m fine; it’s literally the best you can have," she says of her diagnosis, which required a lumpectomy. "I didn’t do radiation or anything, but I was like, Okay, what else is going to happen to me?"

Birds in Hell wrote:Sonic Gossip.

http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/celebri ... th-profile

A typical Sonic Youth interview featured Moore waxing philosophical while Gordon, in sunglasses, sat by his side, nearly silent. Aloof, remote, and intimidating are often used to describe her. After decades in the public eye, it seemed like this was the way things would always be. Then, in the fall of 2011, Gordon and Moore announced they were separating. The news called into question the future of Sonic Youth and devastated legions of music fans. Jon Dolan, one of the flintiest rock critics around, began a piece for Grantland about their breakup with this plaintive cry: "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"I can understand people being curious," Gordon says when I ask her about all the attention she’s gotten since the split. "I’m curious myself. What’s going to happen now?"

It’s late afternoon on an unforgivingly cold winter day in New York City. Gordon arrives a few minutes early at Sant Ambroeus, the understated West Village restaurant she chose for our meeting. She’s wearing eyeliner, a black-and-white-striped sweaterdress, and cognac-brown boots. I find myself dissecting her look so I can copy it later; such is the immediacy of her style. It would be rude to say Gordon doesn’t look her age, which is 59. That’s a line reserved for those who are desperately trying to appear young. There is nothing desperate about Kim Gordon. When the subject of dating comes up, I’m not surprised to hear that younger men are vying for her attention, though the couple is not yet divorced.

"We have all these books, records, and art and are getting it all assessed; that’s what is taking so long," she says after ordering a glass of rosé. But both have moved on. Among her suitors are a restaurateur, an architect, and an actor. "It’s just weird," Gordon says of navigating new romance. "I can’t tell what’s normal." And Moore has regularly been seen with the same woman, fueling the rumor that his affair helped doom their marriage. "We seemed to have a normal relationship inside of a crazy world," Gordon says of her marriage. "And in fact, it ended in a kind of normal way—midlife crisis, starstruck woman."

Some years ago, a woman Gordon declines to name became a part of the Sonic Youth world, first as the girlfriend of an erstwhile band member and later as a partner on a literary project with Moore. Eventually, Gordon discovered a text message and confronted him about having an affair. They went to counseling, but he kept seeing the other woman. "We never got to the point where we could just get rid of her so I could decide what I wanted to do," Gordon says. "Thurston was carrying on this whole double life with her. He was really like a lost soul." Moore moved out. Gordon stayed home and listened to a lot of hip-hop. "Rap music is really good when you’re traumatized," she says.

The first few months were rough. "It did feel like every day was different," she recalls. "It's a huge, drastic change." But slowly things improved. She adjusted to the framework of semisingle parenthood. (Coco, their only child, is now a freshman at a Chicago art school.) Gordon kept their colonial filled with friends—a musician, a poet, and Moore’s adult niece, with whom Gordon has remained very close. "Sometimes I cook dinner and just invite whomever," she says of her improvised family life. "Everyone helps out a bit with the dogs. It’s a big house. It’s nice to have people around." Things were stabilizing. Then Gordon was found to have a noninvasive form of breast cancer called DCIS. "I’m fine; it’s literally the best you can have," she says of her diagnosis, which required a lumpectomy. "I didn’t do radiation or anything, but I was like, Okay, what else is going to happen to me?"

Geez, poor Kim.

WtOB? wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:The mood on that final South American tour must've been pretty icy, to say the least.

VinylGuy wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:The mood on that final South American tour must've been pretty icy, to say the least.

The argentinian show was incredible...but yeah there was a tension...the band wasnt talking, and both of them seemed very into the music itself.

Musically, it was an amazing show.

WtOB? wrote:

VinylGuy wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:The mood on that final South American tour must've been pretty icy, to say the least.

The argentinian show was incredible...but yeah there was a tension...the band wasnt talking, and both of them seemed very into the music itself.

Musically, it was an amazing show.

I think this is one of their last shows. They aren't interacting at all but still sound amazing.

darth_vedder wrote:I was just listening to Sonic Nurse this morning, it's such a good album. I'd go as far as saying it's maybe top 3 SY albums, it's that good. I "Pattern Recognition" so much.

TheDapperGent wrote:

WtOB? wrote:

VinylGuy wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:The mood on that final South American tour must've been pretty icy, to say the least.

The argentinian show was incredible...but yeah there was a tension...the band wasnt talking, and both of them seemed very into the music itself.

Musically, it was an amazing show.

I think this is one of their last shows. They aren't interacting at all but still sound amazing.

They did sound great at that show, they slayed Tom Violence.


Sonic Youth is one of those bands that I will listen to obsessively for a week or two before hiding them away until the time is right again.

VinylGuy wrote:

darth_vedder wrote:I was just listening to Sonic Nurse this morning, it's such a good album. I'd go as far as saying it's maybe top 3 SY albums, it's that good. I "Pattern Recognition" so much.

Sonic Nurse is amazing...the last great record they made.

Birds in Hell wrote:I think Rather Ripped was excellent.

The Eternal not so much.

verb_to_trust wrote:What do we think of Murray St.?