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Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

nytimes.com

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Re: Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

#22
post #5

I've been listening to Sonic Youth since Evol. Their live sound got better as they aged, which doesn't happen for a lot of bands. This show from Austin City Limits in 2011, months before they broke up, captures it pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8VLwh1Na0 An underappreciated aspect of Sonic Youth is the drumming of Steve Shelley. He kept many of the discordant songs together and provided a driving beat…

Same, but I didn't get to see them live until Daydream Nation. Those shows were a lot of fun, but yeah, I was only catching the end of that, but earlier shows were... noisy. It took them a while to get art-rock inaccessibility-as-cred out of their system. Or maybe Moore is just really self-indulgent. Or both.

You never know what will happen, but after reading _Girl in a Band_, I don't think Deal is interested.

Re: Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

#23
post #2

Huge Sonic Youth fan, albeit a younger one. I caught the tail-end of their career in my HS/college days, c. 2003-2010. I can't think of an equivalent band today that has the kind of stature they had at the time in the indie scene. Part of what I loved so much about them is the number of free shows they put on. I can always pin the year that I saw them in Prospect Park at 2010, because the iPhone 4 had just been relea…

Damn we were at the same show dude. That was a great one. Saw them two other times in the northeast a year or so before that one and man they (did :/ ) put on a hell of a show.

Random side note, saw Kim Gordon at a book signing in Brooklyn like 10 years ago (iirc post-Sonic Youth), and man she was looking rough unfortunately and was really out of it. Guess the whole situation she and everyone was dealing with took a bad toll :/

Re: Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

#25
post #6
post #2

Huge Sonic Youth fan, albeit a younger one. I caught the tail-end of their career in my HS/college days, c. 2003-2010. I can't think of an equivalent band today that has the kind of stature they had at the time in the indie scene. Part of what I loved so much about them is the number of free shows they put on. I can always pin the year that I saw them in Prospect Park at 2010, because the iPhone 4 had just been relea…

Saw them first in 2004 with my brother. Wolf Eyes opened, my brother ended up leaving because he was sick. It was my first “real” concert. I’d been listening to music heavily by then, we’ll into indie, but being poor and 17/18/19 it was hard to see live music. I’d been to others concerts small and big (Closing Olympic Ceremonies) - but that one cemented my love for live music, and I got really into the local scene af…

Damn, Wolf Eyes?? That's a name I haven't heard in a minute. Man, miss the days of the sounds of Black Dice, Sightings, Load Records, and the likes

Re: Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

#26
post #22
post #5

I've been listening to Sonic Youth since Evol. Their live sound got better as they aged, which doesn't happen for a lot of bands. This show from Austin City Limits in 2011, months before they broke up, captures it pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8VLwh1Na0 An underappreciated aspect of Sonic Youth is the drumming of Steve Shelley. He kept many of the discordant songs together and provided a driving beat…

Same, but I didn't get to see them live until Daydream Nation. Those shows were a lot of fun, but yeah, I was only catching the end of that, but earlier shows were... noisy. It took them a while to get art-rock inaccessibility-as-cred out of their system. Or maybe Moore is just really self-indulgent. Or both. You never know what will happen, but after reading _Girl in a Band_, I don't think Deal is interested.

I have a Dutch import of a live Sonic Youth club show from Amsterdam in the mid 80s. It's practically unlistenable. I get that their crucible was art/punk/experimental/psychedelic but it would be some years before they put away the power drills and lava lamps and got down to being a solid live rock band.

Their studio efforts from the early era were better IMHO.

Re: Thurston Moore Revisits His Sonic Youth

#27
post #2

Huge Sonic Youth fan, albeit a younger one. I caught the tail-end of their career in my HS/college days, c. 2003-2010. I can't think of an equivalent band today that has the kind of stature they had at the time in the indie scene. Part of what I loved so much about them is the number of free shows they put on. I can always pin the year that I saw them in Prospect Park at 2010, because the iPhone 4 had just been relea…

Damn we were at the same show dude. That was a great one. Saw them two other times in the northeast a year or so before that one and man they (did :/ ) put on a hell of a show. Random side note, saw Kim Gordon at a book signing in Brooklyn like 10 years ago (iirc post-Sonic Youth), and man she was looking rough unfortunately and was really out of it. Guess the whole situation she and everyone was dealing with took a…

Kim is fine, she is not "rough" by any means. Thriving actually, from my IRL interactions.
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