Sonic Youth is fuckin amazing!

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

This is a rambling 7:25am pre-coffee thought digression, but do you guys feel as though your musical taste or aesthetic is something cultivated, like slowly adding to an increasing pile of knowledge over the years, or is at heart at something more ethereal and innate?

I'm fascinated by the science and psychology of taste, but I also find that the more I try to explain my own, the more confused I become. I absolutely feel that my tastes are cumulative, and that in general over the years my capacity for music appreciation has been somewhat geometric -- like, the more music I consume, the more music I feel equipped to consume, if that makes sense -- but I also sympathize with that desire to engage with a sort of central "essence" that music which I respond to intellectually or empirically or even emotionally doesn't always tap into. When I was young and first learning about music, I was only capable of responding to things that hit at that most profound level, but as I got older I found that that ephemeral "sweet spot" was something of a moving target, and that one of the fruits of trying unsuccessfully to engage it would be the discovery of lesser -- to use a psych term that sounds equally sexual -- pleasure centers. There is probably some psychological sense behind why, as an adult with a lot of responsibilities who is expected to maintain a modicum of emotional equilibrium from day to day, I don't engage exclusively with music that is capable of completely cutting through to my core in whatever way any given work might. But beyond those fairly vague ideas, I get pretty lost in the corridors of my own mind. And I don't get the "Disintegtration Loops" either.

[darth_vedder]

Well, I guess I'm in the minority with Diamond Sea.

Again, I don't hate it, and the first 6 minutes are top notch SY, but it's like the Energizer Bunny, and keeps going. It's too much for these ears, and I can think of a lot more SY songs I'd rather hear.

Thanks for all the feedback team.

So, speaking of feedback, what's the consensus on NYC Ghost & Flowers?

[Kevin Davis]

So, speaking of feedback, what's the consensus on NYC Ghost & Flowers?

I think it's generally looked on as one of their weaker records but I really dig it.

[darth_vedder]

So, speaking of feedback, what's the consensus on NYC Ghost & Flowers?

I think it's generally looked on as one of their weaker records but I really dig it.

Yeah, most online reviews I read are generally unfavorable, and that was my impression as well upon my first few listens. It has now been about 3 years or so since I've listened to it, so looking forward to re-listening.

I think I really liked "Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)", but I don't really remember the rest.

[tragabigzanda]

[Birds in Hell]

The title track is

[washing machine]

Where's Reid?

I live forever in this thread and in all of your hearts, E.H.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

I haven't, but I'll keep an eye out for it!

[Kevin Davis]

As part of my annual holiday music haul I got the "Spinhead Sessions" disc that came out earlier this year and gave it a good listen on the headphones before bed last night. I loved it. For those who've heard it all, where does this rate alongside their other ambient/experimental side releases?

[darth_vedder]

Well, I ended up liking NYC Ghost & Flowers more than I remember. I can see why it's not considered top shelf SY, but nonetheless there are some solid songs.

Liked a lot:

Free City Rhymes
Renegade Princess
Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)

Liked:

Side2side
StreamXsonik Subway

Verdict still out:

Small Flowers Crack Concrete
NYC Ghost & Flowers

Didn't like:

Lightnin'

[washing machine]

As part of my annual holiday music haul I got the "Spinhead Sessions" disc that came out earlier this year and gave it a good listen on the headphones before bed last night. I loved it. For those who've heard it all, where does this rate alongside their other ambient/experimental side releases?

That whole Sonic Youth Recordings catalog is worth exploring, but there are some releases in that lineup that are nothing like what you hear on Spinhead Sessions. A lot of that stuff feels like they are exploring the deepest, darkest corners of their feedback and percussive tendencies. For an extreme example of what I'm talking about, look no further than SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century, which pays homage to and covers a variety of 20th Century avant garde composers. (Kim Gordon covering Yoko Ono? Enter at your own risk...)

My personal favorites in the SYR series are 1-3, though 1 & 2 are much more listenable than 3. I believe they were all recorded during or around the same time as A Thousand Leaves, and you hear a lot of ideas from that album being fleshed out on those three, such as a really nice instrumental version of "Snare Girl" and a few notes that would become "Female Mechanic" and "Heather, Angel." SYR 3 is practically an LP length sound check of "Contre Le Sexisme."

I'm not too familiar with the later SYR stuff like the Stan Brakhage Concert, the Merzbow collaboration and J'Accuse Ted Hughes, but I remember some of it being pretty abrasive and long-form.

Spinhead Sesions feels closest to SYR 9: Simon Werner a Disparu and also maybe a little bit of SYR 1. Each of those are full of fragments and fully realized dreamlike passages, with hints of those same sort of melodic ghosts that weave in and out of some of the best moments on their proper albums.

[washing machine]

Well, I ended up liking NYC Ghost & Flowers more than I remember. I can see why it's not considered top shelf SY, but nonetheless there are some solid songs.

Liked a lot:

Free City Rhymes
Renegade Princess
Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)

Liked:

Side2side
StreamXsonik Subway

Verdict still out:

Small Flowers Crack Concrete
NYC Ghost & Flowers

Didn't like:

Lightnin'

"Hey, did any of you freaks here ever remember Lenny? I can't remember his last name..."

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Kevin Davis]

As part of my annual holiday music haul I got the "Spinhead Sessions" disc that came out earlier this year and gave it a good listen on the headphones before bed last night. I loved it. For those who've heard it all, where does this rate alongside their other ambient/experimental side releases?

That whole Sonic Youth Recordings catalog is worth exploring, but there are some releases in that lineup that are nothing like what you hear on Spinhead Sessions. A lot of that stuff feels like they are exploring the deepest, darkest corners of their feedback and percussive tendencies. For an extreme example of what I'm talking about, look no further than SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century, which pays homage to and covers a variety of 20th Century avant garde composers. (Kim Gordon covering Yoko Ono? Enter at your own risk...)

My personal favorites in the SYR series are 1-3, though 1 & 2 are much more listenable than 3. I believe they were all recorded during or around the same time as A Thousand Leaves, and you hear a lot of ideas from that album being fleshed out on those three, such as a really nice instrumental version of "Snare Girl" and a few notes that would become "Female Mechanic" and "Heather, Angel." SYR 3 is practically an LP length sound check of "Contre Le Sexisme."

I'm not too familiar with the later SYR stuff like the Stan Brakhage Concert, the Merzbow collaboration and J'Accuse Ted Hughes, but I remember some of it being pretty abrasive and long-form.

Spinhead Sesions feels closest to SYR 9: Simon Werner a Disparu and also maybe a little bit of SYR 1. Each of those are full of fragments and fully realized dreamlike passages, with hints of those same sort of melodic ghosts that weave in and out of some of the best moments on their proper albums.

Hey, thanks Reid! Happy new year, buddy!

[darth_vedder]

Well, I ended up liking NYC Ghost & Flowers more than I remember. I can see why it's not considered top shelf SY, but nonetheless there are some solid songs.

Liked a lot:

Free City Rhymes
Renegade Princess
Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)

Liked:

Side2side
StreamXsonik Subway

Verdict still out:

Small Flowers Crack Concrete
NYC Ghost & Flowers

Didn't like:

Lightnin'

Really glad you enjoyed this (certainly more than I do). But now I'm even more confused as to how you could dislike The Diamond Sea so much

I don't dislike "The Diamond Sea", I just feel 14 minutes of it is pretty useless. For the first 5 minutes or so, the song is fantastic. I mean, look, I like SY feedback outtros and whatnot, but 14 minutes is just ridiculous. Wankery at it's finest. The song should have ended around the 7 minute mark and it's be top shelf. The fact that it goes on and on for another 7 minutes is just stupid. They don't even do anything. It's like the same thing for 14 whole minutes, I'm baffled as to how people can defend that. I don't mind long songs, but this just skips ridiculous and goes to plaid.

[VinylGuy]

You shouldn´t listen to the version in The Destroyed Room then.

[Birds in Hell]

You shouldn´t listen to the version in The Destroyed Room then.