Click here to talk about the next Sonic Youth album - The Eternal

6/6/09

01 Sacred Trickster
02 Anti-Orgasm
03 Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)
04 Antenna
05 What We Know
06 Calming The Snake
07 Poison Arrow
08 Malibu Gas Station
09 Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
10 No Way
11 Walkin Blue
12 Massage The History

they need to stop now

Can't wait.

they need to stop now

― someone who seems to only rep for ghastly prefab autotuned pop (The Brainwasher), Friday, February 13, 2009 3:52 PM (16 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

. . . says someone who seems to only rep for ghastly prefab autotuned pop

also Jaymc OTM

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/o2015188.jpg

smells like Rather Ripped pt. 2 (same producer at least)

Not that I didn't like Rather Ripped, I just feel like that aren't really advancing their sound anymore and that at this point they're treading water....

"Massage The History," eh?

smells like Rather Ripped pt. 2 (same producer at least)

hooray!

Murray St is the last one I really like, I've never bothered with the SYR stuff, should I?

no

anti orgasm- calming the snake - massage the history...
sexy!

last three SY albums have been three of their best, and they CERTAINLY have advanced their sound. if they release ten more albums as good as nurse or rather ripped, ill buy them all.

but i mean OBV id say that!

I just feel like that aren't really advancing their sound anymore and that at this point they're treading water....

I think they've increasingly refined it over the last couple of albums, but that's been a good thing: they're sharp and focused and writing really great songs.

yeah "rather ripped" was good, I'll take more of that thanks

I totally agree. Goo and Dirty seem like a dress rehearsal for the fully realized three- and four-minute songs on the last three albums; the textures also assimilate what they learned on A Thousand Leaves and NY Ghost and Flowers.

Loved Rather Ripped. Psyched for this.

at least one thing's for sure:
the artwork is great, as oppose to Rather Ripped

haha, just about to say: "Any word of cover artwork. It always seems weird that Tony Oursler never featured on any of their covers."

John Fahey did the new artwork!!!!

whoa?

anyone have an image link?

it's their best artwork since Goo imo

http://cdn.stereogum.com/img/thumbnails/posts/sonic_youth-the-eternal-album_art.jpg

Noice.

the fahey painting is ok but the cover design is pretty shitty imo. i'm pumped for the album though, rather ripped was their best album in years

i do like the dash in "sonic-youth" though

it looks like goatse

I'm totally pumped about this album -- didn't like Rather Ripped as much as the 2 before it, but my general feeling is that, to paraphrase Keith Moon, Sonic Youth are still the best Sonic Youth-style band in the world, so as long as they want to make records I will listen to them.

It's kind of funny to read Thurston's recent interviews where he talks about how excited he is to get off Geffen and how constricted they felt making the last few albums...like wtf, they lasted on a major label about 10 years longer than almost any comparable band had, and gave up any hope of getting on the radio like 5 albums ago. I find it hard to believe they were trying to appease record execs with Sonic Nurse or NYC Ghosts & Flowers, or that they're really going to do much differently, musically or otherwise, with Matador.

the rather ripped LP art was awesome! (i agree, the CD art was good but not great)

the fahey painting is ok but the cover design is pretty shitty imo

it looks like goatse

lol do you guys realize that it's supposedly from a series of painting fahey made with his butt?

sorry, i am egregiously undereducated on the subject of john fahey asshole art

like wtf, they lasted on a major label about 10 years longer than almost any comparable band had

I was going to say, the only other one I can think of with a run approaching that was Stereolab on Elektra.

Mark Ibold is apparently being credited as a full member of the band now.

hey i'm no fahey sphincter aficionado myself, i just happened to read the interview in the new Blender where Thurston mentioned the origin of the cover art

08 Malibu Gas Station

This was my dad's occupation the last time I saw him when I was 3.

Anyway, carry on.

fahey sphincter aficionado

^ username anyone? ^

looking forward to this -- I just got Rather Ripped last year and really like it. Actually might like 00s SY more than 90s SY. Maybe.

Rather Ripped fans: You all know you're mental, right? kthx

Sonic Youth are still the best Sonic Youth-style band in the world

I totally disagree!

what's wrong with Rather Ripped? Might be a bit low-key, but I like that ...

Sundar, who else would you nominate? I mean I guess it all depends on how broadly you define "Sonic Youth-style band," but still, I feel like for all their influence they're still in a category fo their own.

Mark Ibold is apparently being credited as a full member of the band now.

I thought that looked like Ibold in the promo photo in a magazine I was flipping through the other day.

Rather Ripped surprised me with how good it was, making me realize I'd just been settling and pep-talking myself about SY for years when I really shouldn't have been. More like that one, plz!

I don't think RR fans are mental per se but I don't really get the enthusiasm, do y'all think it's dramatically different from or better than the 2 before it? It feels like such a continuation (but not improvement on) the sound of those albums to me.

Not that I didn't like Rather Ripped, I just feel like that aren't really advancing their sound anymore and that at this point they're treading water....

― someone who seems to only rep for ghastly prefab autotuned pop (The Brainwasher), Friday, February 13, 2009 3:55 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

um i had to say this, like saying "candyman" three times in the mirror..but..isn't this attitude sort of....rockist?

weird, sounds totally different to me ... shorter, peppier songs with parts more approximating "hooks" and choruses. i was pretty bored by murray street, sonic nurse, and i feel like there's another one in there i've completely forgotten about

RR is a continuation yes, but a marked improvement.

I guess it all comes down to songs, though. Unlike Sonic Nurse and Murray Street, there's not a single moment of RR I don't like.

I'd say SY's 00s output is more enjoyable than their 90s output.

Rather Ripped was enjoyable, cruisin in the car summer tunes in way that I can't say about the bulk of their output. That's a good thing.

So yay to The Eternal.

yeah maybe this is just a personal preference thing...to me the best of SY's later records are the ecstatic instrumental sections of 7+ minute jams like "Rain On Tin"...i don't really look to them for shorter, peppier songs with "hooks," although they did excel at those at one point earlier in their career.

the Blender article did mention one song on The Eternal being 8 minutes long, though, so there'll be at least one surefire jam for me.

rather ripped is fukkin great

btw this seems like a good candidate for another IMM tribute album

yay more SY summer jamz

03 Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)

^this is just so "sonic youth" it makes me puke haha

(loooooooool at the username)

xp lol yes

some dude, i'm with you, i think the 00 epics surpass the 90 epics. listened to RR the other day and i like most of it, but it's not very memorable.

looking forward to this a lot, for mark ibold and the thurston remarks mentioned about the "freedom of being on a indie label again"

whoever called goo/dirty songs "sketches" for what SY are up to now = insane i/t brane. i think they're making very pleasant music these days, and the laid-back jams are exceptional, but the songwriting is much less interesting & memorable. plus i miss the jagged, angsty, headfucking rockaroll shit (but that's just me)

Wonder if they'll sell more now that they're on Matador? Would not be surprised.

Cover reminds me a lot of Imperial Wax Solvent.

..which is good

painting is cool, regardless of whose ass hairs it incorporates, but the "framed by white text in black stripes" thing doesn't work for me. i mean, it looks okay, solid design, but it's also kind of dull/flat/ordinary.

but i can't decide. there's also something very satisfying about it.

There was talk elsewhere of it being in a similar vein as Michael Gira's Young God art (up until recently, anyway). I can get behind that, but I would've gone another way with the typeface.

xpost don't you mean sASStisfying?

johnny fever OTM - basic design is very similar to OG young god house look, but less 80s clenched, foursquare. more i look at it, the better i think it'll look LP size, and the only problem i'm having is the big-on-top, small-at-the-bottom thing

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/swanssndtrks.jpg

young god = better font

i like the font sy used for washing machine, though

young god font = more "correct", but almost too much so. effect is right on, but kinda inert, too. washing machine font was perfect, but mostly cuz it was a picture of a font. i'm starting to think i like use of a more questionable font, makes the final result less stable, more indeterminate

I'm surprised there isn't a band called FONT yet (despite the lack of googleability).

(allmusic lists an empty stub for a "World" band called Font. But no history = no exist. That's all I could find)

washing machine font was perfect, but mostly cuz it was a picture of a font.

i was referring to the font used for the spine, track titles on the back, etc. i like the font because of it's "less determinate" quality.

iirc (don't have a copy of Washing Machine handy), it was just Helvetica Light or some variation thereof.

^ this. it's another perfectly serviceable and totally correct font that doesn't inject any tension into the design

topics discussed on ilm threads, in order of most frequent:

1) sociology
2) poll position placement
3) hipsters
4) strawmen
5) hipster strawmen
6) links to blogs
7) cover art
8) font
9) music

lol

10) bacon

yes, it's surprising there isn't more discussion of music in this thread about an album that hasn't been released yet

actually, my post had nothing to do with this particular thread and more to do with ilm threads in general, hence my not calling it "topics being discussed on this sonic youth thread"

sorry i got confused because you posted it in this sonic youth thread

i don't really know why i'm defending this shit, i hate ilm as much as anyone

1) sociology: hipsters
2) poll position placement: tbd
3) hipsters: check
4) strawmen: hipsters
5) hipster strawmen: check
6) links to blogs: countdown...
7) cover art: goatse
8) font: "indeterminate"
9) music:

here's #6.............http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2009/02/12/coming-june-9-sonic-youths-the-eternal/

10) gear whinging that discussing the author, audience, social context, creation, or packaging of a piece of music isn't really talking about the music maaaan

that's #11

do keep up

my bad

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/thumb/6/6b/ItchyScratchyLemonade.png/250px-ItchyScratchyLemonade.png

i like their earlier fonts better maaaan

CALOTO, as opposed to CALBOTI

"‘The Eternal’ features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston, and Lee...

Intrigued. Always loved "Kotton Krown" for the co-vocals and wondered why they never tried it again.

(Could it be that harmonies are for pussies?)

I wonder if they mean songs where all 3 sing lead? because there are plenty of songs where both Thurston and Kim sing lead, Thurston and Lee both on "Unwind," and a lot w/ all of them singing in unison (especially on NYC Ghosts).

I'm looking forward to hearing this. They've had a great run as of late. They make better records in the 2000s than they did in the 1990s. If we were to chart their decades/album career path on a graph, it would be a V shape.

Since it will be said, I'll be the one to say it: I hope 'Poison Arrow' is the ABC cover. I love that song.

Yeah, I've been waiting all day for someone to make that totally obvious comment. Sonic Youth and ABC, peas and carrots.

"Anti Orgasm" is the track Kim Gordon will sound like she's being fucked, right?

Rather Ripped mostly just sounded like ordinary MTVU-ish shaggy guitar pop to me, but not done especially well. Doesn't have most of the elements I like about SY (or about shaggy guitar pop!). With some exceptions, I generally don't think that straightforward pop/rock songs showcase the band's strengths (which IMO do not include tuneful singing or songcraft in any traditional sense).

Sundar, who else would you nominate? I mean I guess it all depends on how broadly you define "Sonic Youth-style band," but still, I feel like for all their influence they're still in a category fo their own.

It certainly depends, and I'm probably pretty broad (to a point many would find silly) with my definitions, but I pretty much think that most artists working with any of the ideas SY work with are doing more interesting things with them right now. For psychedelic indie sludge, I'd rather listen to Oneida or Dead Meadow. For Branca-ish guitar meltdown in a rock context, I'd rather listen to a Mick Barr project. For epic shoegazing, I'd rather listen to Alcest or Caina. For finely crafted avant-guitar compositions that still rock, I'd rather listen to the Nels Cline Singers; Bill Frisell for ones that are more pretty than rocking, etc. I'd probably even find, say, Deerhoof a more interesting band now.

Sonic Youth do have their own idiosyncratic sound despite all this though, even if it's just a product of their limitations.

(I'm probably burnt out from listening too much for too long, honestly.)

so do live versions of any of the new songs exist anywhere?

I remember when I was younger being such an obsessive SY newsgroup/mailing list nerd that I heard a bunch of live recordings of the A Thousand Leaves and NYC Ghosts songs before the albums were out, and ended up being really unsatisfied with the studio recordings for that reason (or maybe not just for that reason? I still don't think those albums feature particularly good performances/production even when I like the material). I'm kinda glad I've been hearing the last few albums in more of a vacuum where I can take them on their own terms.

I'm so stoked that Mark Ibold is now an official member of Sonic Youth; it's like your dopey uncle finally passing the bar or something.

lol. i guess Kim's just so into playing 3rd guitar at this point that they're always going to have a 5th member on bass from now on?

If "Slow Revolution" (the one xclusif from the Starbucks comp) is an indication of The Eternal, this will be awesome. (Granted, "Slow Revolution" is mostly an instrumental.)

fifth member should be dj olive (lol trip hop)

With Michael Duane back in NY (I think) and Ibold bassing for SY, this is the best shot at a Dustdevils reunion that I can imagine. Someone send a plane ticket to Australia.

Didn't hear the last two but I feel ready for new Sonic Youth. Fahey's arsehole art is a subject of great personal interest to me but unfortunately I can't find any information. Tour would be good.

I'm in the excited crowd.

Apart from it being a Fahey arse-painting the cover is dull though.

this site's pretty dope - http://sonicyouth.utkonos.org/lossless/

Did that St@rbuck's comp ever actually come out? I never saw a single copy in any store I stopped in. I'm not a daily coffee fiend, but I stopped by often enough to assume I'd have seen it at some point.

Ha, did I know you in alt.music.sonic-youth days, some dude?

maybe! I know there was one other person on ILM a couple years ago that remembered me from there, can't remember who but I don't think it was you (IIRC my screenname was "hotel opera" and i signed my posts "al").

jvc, it was only available in "New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C."

Dunno if that extends to the entire metropolitan area of each of those cities, but if not, then that might explain it. (I'm most of your Starbucks visits are in the suburbs.)

*I'm assuming most...

Unfortunately they are, that must explain it. I don't think I would have shelled out $16 or whatever for the one unreleased track, but I was wondering why I never came across it.

Malibu Gas Station (feat. Ludacris & Jeremy Piven)

free live record when you order the eternal, sounds pretty cool

For the curious (and those who wish to mock), here's where the "leaky lifeboat" reference comes from in Gregory Corso's poem "For Homer," written, I think in the '80s or early '90s.

For Homer

by Gregory Corso

There’s rust on the old truths

-Ironclad clichés erode

New lies don’t smell as nice

as new shoes

I’ve years of poems to type up

40 years of smoking to stop

I’ve no steady income

No home

And because my hands are autochthonic

I can never wash them enough

I feel dumb

I feel like an old mangy bull

crashing through the red rag

of an alcoholic day

Yet it’s all so beautiful

isn’t it?

How perfect the entire system of things

The human body

all in proportion to its form

Nothing useless

Truly as though a god had indeed warranted it so

And the sun for day the moon for night

And the grass the cow the milk

That we all in time die.

You’d think there would be chaos

the futility of it all.

But children are born

oft times spitting images of us

And the inequities

millions doled one

nilch for another

both in the same leaky lifeboat

I’ve no religion

and I’d as soon worship Hermes

And there is no tomorrow

there’s only right here and now

you and whomever you’re with

alive as always

and ever ignorant of that death you’ll never know

And all’s well that is done

A Hellene happiness pervades the peace

and the gift keeps on coming…

a work begun splendidly done

To see people aware & kind

at ease and contain’d of wonder

like the dreams of the blind

The heavens speak through our lips

All’s caught what could not be found

All’s brought what was left behind

Wow, it took about 50 seconds of the "montage" of that album to convince me that I never need to hear it. Thank you, montage.

really? ah, well, I liked the way a lot of those snippets sounded ... maybe a little throwback to Goo-era stuff? Trashier?

I stopped the mashup about 30 seconds in because I realized it was ruining my future experience with the songs.

I think a "montage" of an album would have to be the worst possible way to exposed to it for the first time and I will never ever listen to one.

esp sonic youth

wow, that sonic youth montage sure sounded like a sonic youth montage. i can't imagine anything sounding more like a sonic youth montage than that. nary a surprising, unexpected or atypical sound, pure sonic youth montage through and through. recognizable from a mile away. glad geffen can't force them to make a bunch of experimental bullshit anymore. they can do Daydream Nation VI: The Voyage Home without interference from douchebag label types who demand albums have "novelty" or some such distinguishing factor.

Ha, if anything, I almost think you're being generous, croup.

I hear next time they're just going to release the contract to the public and put the album in a filing cabinet in Northampton.

haha

da croupier u mad

the montage sounds awesome - like rather ripped, but with dirtier,fuller,and even poppier sound that goes back to the early 90's Dirty days.
smells like fun.

Fuck, they couldn't wait to get off of Geffen so they went to ... Matador?

Unbelievable.

I put down the cash for the pre-order... $40 for the LP !! (With an MSRP of $50!!)
Last record ran for $15, this better be some deluxe shit.

PROMO IS HERE...ALREADY!

where'd you preorder? through matador?

matador pre-order not open til april 28 if i understand correct

leak? leak? leak????

buyearlygetnow.com has a list of local stores where you can order. I got it at 1234GO in Oakland. Anyway so far all they're giving out is the mini-mix preview of the album, which I couldn't properly download anyhow. April 28 is the date they're letting BEGN listen to a stream of the full record. So far, dud.

You also get an exclusive Live LP recorded at Battery Park on July 4th 2008 (and a free poster) with the Buy Early Get Now pre-order remember, as well as the access to the early stream of the full album, hence the highish price.

£21 for the CD, £28 for the LP versions in the UK.

first listen: most self-indulgent disc in a good while, not sure if that's a good thing or not yet

leaked.
sounds pretty great.
like Rather Ripped, but with thicker sound - which is better!

Concerned by "thicker sound"description; Rather Ripped sounds wicked?

Ripped was good, but here it seems that they took the same ideas, and developed a bit further.

ok, i tried...
happy april fools day...

i wuz fool't. plz leak!

getting better the more i listen

and sorry, not leaking, this shit's watermarked with my name

saw this sonic youth doc/concert movie last night, it's awesome and it made me excited for a new album.

I saw that a few months ago at a sneak preview in Austin, was pretty "meh" for me and I'm a huge fan.

so what is it? a doc about the band by teenagers, or just a concert movie? both?

mostly concert movie, with some brief interview snippets between songs and about 10 minutes of bullshitting with the band after the show.

what did you like about it? i'm only a casual fan, so it's not like i've even seen them live before.

Today i saw a leak around

a doc about the band by teenagers

OTM.

Granted it was mostly concert footage, but was pretty poorly organized and not very engaging.

Strange. There's a leak that is unmistakeably Sonic Youth (it's certainly Kim Gordon singing on a couple of tracks, though the rest could be them just improvising stuff), but it's not the album that's sampled here: .

interesting article from Simon Reynolds on the artist as consumer re: The Eternal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/apr/07/sonic-youth-underground-influences

Yeah the idea of Sonic Youth simply putting out generic SY album 1,2,3....no one needs that,surely. Where's the next Goo-esque cool t shirt design going to come from? Massive black marks for '5th member' influence - O'Rourke, Ibold.

Once upon a time Sonic Youth were funny people from New York who had the key to castle irony and sang about people much more famous than themselves. They should put Lung Leg on their next album cover.

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2009/04/20/sonic-youth-first-mp3-secret-show-in-london/

Good song. I can't get over how short it is.

i just keep staring at that Edward Figaro post wondering what to make fun of first

haha, me too

don't know, it is strange to me the incredibly high standard some people hold this band to, as though at this stage in their close to 30-year career, they should be releasing some kind of game-changing record. For me, a new Sonic Youth record is like a new Neil Young record. Is The Eternal going to be as incredible as their masterpieces? Probably not. Am I going to enjoy the hell out of it? Totally. Because I like Sonic Youth.

tylerw crazy OTM. In fact, the Neil Young comparison is great for me, in that Sonic Youth has earned a spot like Neil's in my mind - in that I'll buy any new able unheard because I've loved so much of their previous material.

the quietus crews opinion is now online : here

i clicked on that link, read the first paragraph, then remembered why i shldnt click on any quietus links

The song descriptions and lyrics quoted in that article sound astoundingly like Kim Fowley in the 70's. I know they covered him, but sometimes I wonder just how many KF albums they actually have.

John says: They built a monorail linking Idlewild to Manhattan in 2002. An expressway to getting out of your skull. It towered over Gotham but a fatal accident meant it ran pretty much empty for the first few months of 2003. Ride the snake, said fat Jim. No pain, no gain, said Revolting Cocks. What does AirTrain sound like? I don't know. I was always too afraid to get on it. Ride the Claus Dinger highway baby. Kim Gordon sounds deranged. Nights out in Manhattan. A Piet Mondrian grid, seen from the air. Sleek lines. Brake light red. Street light yellow. White Light. White Heat.

Ugh quietus, wtf?

don't know, it is strange to me the incredibly high standard some people hold this band to, as though at this stage in their close to 30-year career, they should be releasing some kind of game-changing record. For me, a new Sonic Youth record is like a new Neil Young record. Is The Eternal going to be as incredible as their masterpieces? Probably not. Am I going to enjoy the hell out of it? Totally. Because I like Sonic Youth.

Thank you. i'd say Murray Street was a game-changing record. what do people want them to go electronic or something?

what do people want them to go electronic or something?
^
that would be awesome, i'd love to hear SY's version of trans

well, they did cover "Computer Age" ...

I got about one paragraph into that Quietus article and had to stop. Horrifically overwritten.

the key to castle irony

well you could say 'the whitey album' was their dance album

good tight energy and guitar playing in that song,sounds like something out of Dirty,but Kim Gordon's songs are-as always in the last 20 years or so-too obvious, boring,even annoying.

Chris, you got farther in that article than I did!

well you could say 'the whitey album' was their dance album

― Michael B, Thursday, April 23, 2009 9:34 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i always wondered about the creation of that album, whether they were messing with drum machines really heavily or just sampled a bunch of stuff i don't recognize or what

i think it was them messing around with drum machines/loops/etc. Don't know if there's actually much sampled stuff. Could be wrong though.

Kim Gordon sounds deranged. Nights out in Manhattan. A Piet Mondrian grid, seen from the air. Sleek lines. Brake light red. Street light yellow. White Light. White Heat.

i will never understand rapturous writing about SY voices.

The Eternal according to Sonic Youth:

Sacred Trickster
Out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads.

Anti-Orgasm
Inspired by the story of Berlin 60s model/activist Uschi Obermeier and the gang at Kommune 1. Free love, dominance and submission, and other political states-of-confusion.

Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)
The NYC beat poet Gregory Corso once referred life on Earth as a leaky lifeboat. This tune expounds on this rumination.

Antenna
Melodious ode to fleeting fantasy and unresolved desire with the sound of two analogue radios communicating the emotional action.

What We Know
Charging forth with a riff in reference to Sonics Rendezvous Band, Lee sings a triptych to identity and unity.

Calming the Snake
One of the first tracks written, musical references to the Dead C, the MC5 and Neu. Kim musing on visions of Death in painting.

Poison Arrow
Dedicated to the lust groove of Kevin Ayers where thoughts of love as pretty poison rejoice in surrealist deliverance.

Malibu Gas Station
An ode to the flash moment of the camera as you knowingly step from your SUV sans panties.

Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn
Flashing back to a wishful existence in the original Masque basement on N. Cherokee in Hollywood, crashing through lawns and garbage cans en route to the Canterbury/Disgraceland to jump up and down on beds with Helen Killer, Mary Rat and Trudi.

No Way
First song written for the album, with a nod to The Wipers of Portland, Oregon. A confrontation with the devil in his guise of temptation and staking a distinct place amongst the black legions.

Walkin Blue
Lee with his arm around yr shoulder, getting you through a seemingly impenetrable day of dread to a clear vision towards sweet foreverness.

Massage the History
The long way home, where blood rules the universe and time becomes myth.

Massage the History
The long way home, where blood rules the universe and time becomes myth.

Funny, that's the way I usually take home too!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QIdnmsC1Luk/SZg1HQgIoPI/AAAAAAAAAKc/9uVTcu_xEUQ/s320/the+eternal+-+sonic+youth.jpg

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/ad6659c8aa81f52ab6dc51d6ac954c05/82427.jpg

The bloody vortex of existence.

when will this fucker leak already

um

It leaked a few days ago

Aye, I had a listen to it this morning.

My post above was meant to have the cover of Disco Inferno's The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea, too. They're very similar.

mostly disappointing.
too straightforward-rock,almost no depth, and the songwriting is kinda weak and banal.
2nd half seems a bit better though.(thunderclap and walking blue are nice)

Haven't heard a note from this yet, but the prob I have with Sonic Youth (and not quite Neil Young)is that each Sonic Youth album increasingly feels like nothing more than "the next Sonic Youth record." Not really generic, and certainly enjoyable, but not any sort of "next step," either, just missing something compelling. I mean, I've liked the last few Sonic Youth albums fine, but Young, even on his fourth-ish decade of making music, still seems capable of releasing something truly galvanizing or ambitious amidst the missteps. I'm not sure which of the past several Sonic Youth albums I'd consider either of those things. The ones I haven't gotten into haven't been bad, just boring. Maybe my expectations are indeed too high, but, like, yes, the Dead, the Youth seems to be coasting a little, at least in the studio.

Last time I saw them live was very bad.

Kim consistently writes some of the worst lyrics in music.

Are we not asking too much with this 'step forward' thing? I mean, could we not simply enjoy 'the new Sonic Youth record' and not hope for another 'Daydream Nation' feel? Because I see the same reaction here in all the 'new album from classic band' threads.

Just listened. Did not expect or ask for step forward. Did not enjoy.

x-post Except that bands like Mission of Burma show it can be done, and if Burma can do it, I bet Sonic Youth can do it, too. I mean, I'm rooting for them!

sinking feeling during first two tracks, but after that I liked and liked. generally my favorite SY I dislike on first hearing fwiw.

"sinking feeling during first two tracks" - which are Kim's tracks btw +
"Kim consistently writes some of the worst lyrics" (and music imo)=

you are the weakest link.goodbye.

"could we not simply enjoy 'the new Sonic Youth record' and not hope for another 'Daydream Nation' feel?"

we could, if it was a good record, but it isnt.

i liked it, and i don't really like sonic youth

Thurston has the relatively better songs on this album ,i think

x-post Except that bands like Mission of Burma show it can be done, and if Burma can do it, I bet Sonic Youth can do it, too. I mean, I'm rooting for them!

I think there may be some differences in the two bands' recording histories that might be significant in what MoB has been able to do.

the question is, if sonic youth didnt exist,what would people think of this record,without the "burden" of their sacred cow name attached to it?

i would think this band really loves the electric guitar

I saw them live in Luxembourg on Saturday. The new stuff sounded great, but 'generic Sonic Youth', which pretty much reflects what people have said upthread about the new record. Cracking gig, though. Can't believe Kim Gordon has just turned 56!

would i like this if i really like rather ripped?

thurston's voice has really withered with time, hasn't it?

omar: probably not!

i like thurston's voice more than ever now; it has a convincing gravel where as it used to be a guy trying to sound punk, like a teenager. cf i'm not there, never light especially.

would i like this if i really like rather ripped?

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3:50 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

omar: probably not!

― Beatrix Kiddo, Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

oh that is a bummer :( i liked rather ripped

Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)

The NYC beat poet Gregory Corso once referred life on Earth as a leaky lifeboat. This tune expounds on this rumination.

The last two SY albums are among their very best. I don't expect Great Steps Forward from them -- I expect them to keep showing new wrinkles.

"what we know," lee's first song i think, is pretty sweet

I don't hate this on first listen, but I'm not sure it holds up to the last two, which struck the right balance between sparkling pop and relaxed groove. This feels a little more indulgent, which isn't a bad thing by any means, since I like their sound, but not quite as essential.

Thurston has the relatively better songs on this every SY album ,i think

Fixed, sorry guys.

i am seeing both sides of the disappointed generic sonic youth lp thing. it's like mogwai who release albums of mogwai songs and sometimes you wonder i they couldn't have written some better mogwai songs, picked better riffs to jam out and get louder on. some of the things on this record just feel too straightforward, like autopilot with autogenerated SY lyrics etc.

BUT then part of me thinks that maybe it's like a textural record and you'll learn to love the feel of it with time, like the second song when there are these varying bluntnesses and directnesses to the guitars, like it's more about the mastery of tone and inflection than about the songs themselves. will see how it grows.

the last song feels like it should be the first song of a different record.

They're on Jools Holland in a few minutes on BBC2.

"what we know," lee's first song i think, is pretty sweet

Not just sweet, but one of his better SY songs ever methinks.

yeah i just watched the clip of the Jools Holland performance on YouTube -- which was "What We Know" -- and that was pretty damn nice. Great song (first song of the record I've heard, I don't do "leaks".)

- 'what we know'
- 'sacred trixter'
- 'antenna'
- 'teenage rito'

from the Jools Holland show

I wish I could be
Music on a tree
Noise nomads and me
Levitating on the ground

Bahahahahahahaha.

there's really no reason for this band to be making this music in 2009, but "antenna" is a nice song

there's really no reason for this band to be making this music in 2009

The fact that I want to hear it is a valid enough reason, but it's not even just me thank goodness.

We can agree NYC Ghosts is better than this, right?

That applies to me, yes. But I happen to like NYC Ghosts & Flowers a great deal.

I'd say it's similar to NYC Ghosts in terms of self-indulgence, though first song aside I couldn't take that album

That clip of "What We Know" up above sounded great!

if there's a winner here, it's gotta be LEE - i can't remember the last time he had so many incredible songs on an SY album

i havent heard this album, but lee rules pretty consistently

WTF. I kind of loved this on first listen.

stream of the whole album.

just listening to anti-orgasm, the song inspired by uschi obermaier. this is pretty good, rather varied stuff. they are not charting any new territory here, they are inspecting landscapes closer which they have already visited.

leaky lifeboat (for gregory corso) is rather soft (lalalala-lala) and pretty pop for a sonic youth track. only 3 and a half minutes.

antenna is a really slow and quite beautiful ballad which could work as a lullabye. the noisy bits are very tame.

what we know, where lee sings, is a little on the heavy, gloomy, dark side. a welcome change from the light ditties before. dominated by guitars and bass.

calming the snake, more of the same classic sy noisy guitar structure cru with kim in yoko ono yelping mode.

poison arrow rumbles along. thurston's voice a little raspy, kim joins in.

malibu gas station starts like a hopper painting, just hanging on the wall. then it accelerates, kim sings. they find their groove. excellent piece.

thunderclap for bobby pyn.
thurston starts this with his sprechgesang. it gets a little dissonant in the second half. seems longer than it is (2'39").

no way.
even on auto pilot sy are more exciting than 99% of the other bands around playing their best songs.

walkin blue.
lee on vocals. he sounds a little like john and paul. sy in grateful dead guitar meandering mode.

massage the history.
an acoustic guitar. that must be a premiere. this doesn't sound like sy at all in the beginning. they prove that they can still reinvent themselves, that they are still no old farts. even kim sings in a sexy, soft way, she whispers and moans the words at the same time. the longest track, ten minutes. excellent.

heard it in tower recs in shibuya which seemed rather apt somehow (for personal reasons: found no new york there YEARS ago). was bopping along and even told my dad i was a fan of the band playing the music in the background. he of course didn"t even acknowledge what i said. hah

it's their most boring album since nyc ghost and flowers (which was even worse)

nyc ghost and flowers will always be redeemed because it has the best song they did since their glory years for the opening track.

Yeah, actually, I think "Free City Rhymes" is one of their best songs period. Everything they're good at - intricate guitar polyphony, epic builds to dissonant climaxes, pop vs noise, etc - actually comes together there.

I kind of tired of The Eternal after streaming about four times, ha.

it is the kind of record that gets pretty tired pretty fast. but the new songs still sounded really good live and I'm sure I will come back to this record in a while (like when it's out) and appreciate it more.

On first listen, it's definitely not as immediate and hooky as Rather Ripped; the songwriting is pretty standard Sonic Youth. But they've made some sonic adjustments that make some of the songs more interesting, such as increased emphasis on multiple vocals, which is really nice. "Walkin Blues" is definitely the highlight of the album for me, the only song that sounds like SY doing something a little different. Also like "Sacred Trickster" (except for the lame lyrics) and "Anti-Orgasm" a lot.

On first listen, it's definitely not as immediate and hooky as Rather Ripped; the songwriting is pretty standard Sonic Youth.

this is what i was thinking, too. i loved how hooky RR was, and was a little let down by this

So the new soundscan has the album debuting at #18. Their first Top 20 album! Though I'm sure they've sold just under 20,000 copies in a week before.

*feelin* the mediocrity of this album, hard. not that it's bad, it seems like they're solidifying their trajectory into goofy, riff-based tuneage. feels more alive than rather ripped. it almost feels like a weak malkmus album to me, but with very signature sy sounds. affecting songs: no way, calming the snake, sacred trixter, antenna

saw them live last night, super heavy on the new album and all those songs kind of killed live. although it was kind of a relief when they did white cross and tom violence.

er, not white cross. also, I left before the final encore where they did sprawl, so, my fault

AKM, are you an Oaklander? I agree that they made the new songs sound great.

yeah this album really kicks ass live, even the songs i had reservations about on record

yeah I was at the oakland show. kind of wish we'd seen the daydream nation songs in the encore but I saw that DN show last year so not a huge loss, and we had to get home. but the show made me appreciate these songs more; I still think they sound kind of weak on the album though.

I saw the 2nd show in D.C. on this tour and I wish there was more DN stuff (only 1 out of the 5 old songs, "Hey Joni"), since they never came anywhere near here with the tour where they played the whole album.

i'm even more psyched for tonight's show after reading your guys' posts about the fox show. but i think the new album is a great SY disc, though it did take about 6 good listens for it to begin to really grow on me

Here's the setlist from last night's show. Pretty typical of this tour as far as catalogue tracks.

Tom Violence
No Way
Sacred Trickster
Calming the Snake
Hey Joni
Anti-Orgasm
Walkin Blue
Poison Arrow
Malibu Gas Station
Antenna
Leaky Lifeboat
Massage the History
Stereo Sanctity

Encore:
What We Know
Shadow of a Doubt

Encore 2:
The Sprawl
'Cross the Breeze

woah have never seen "Stereo Sanctity" live, totally jealous

yeah that was excellent despite the fact I called it white cross a few hours ago. I suppose SY's catalogue is so deep, at this point, that it is impossible and unlikely that they are going to play even 1/4 of what I want to hear.

...until they do a "Live By Request" tour... to which I would not be opposed.

BTW highlights for me were "What We Know" and the seemingly endless (but hypnotic) Massage the History, which has been a household fave on the new one.

was massage the history the one with the thurston sitting down playing an acoustic? cuz that was awesome (I am awful with the names of SY songs)

Massage the memory.

Yeah, that was the one. I was in a trance. (xpost)

yeah "Massage The History" is good live -- at my show people actually starting CLAPPING to the rhythm at the very end when it was just Kim plucking out that slow guitar line, which was weird but kind of awesome

Anybody see the SF show last night?

i was there with a friend that was at the fox the night before. first thing he said about the previous night was that something was just not right with the sound at the fox. after the show last night he said the sound was 20X better. and the band is just a well-oiled machine. the best show i've seen this decade, if not ever. and i'm not just saying that. i love the "lows" that the addition of Mark I. brings; it really fills out their sound well, imo. the crowd was great, too, but there was extra excitement when they broke out Death Valley 69 and another early one for their second encore. there is a link common to the greatest NY bands(VU, Dolls, even the Ramones to an extent)- that capturing the essence of careening subway train - and i LOVE that.

i was there. how can they keep up with the double encores at this stage in their career? jesus

but yes the show was great- it was awesome to see them in a smaller club context instead of a festival like last time, such a traet

i don't understand what you mean by the double encore thing. they pretty much spend the bare minimum amount of time a band of their stature/catalog can spend onstage for a headlining show, and just happen to divide the encore into two encores; pretty much any other band with over a dozen albums and a rabid fanbase does longer shows and gets more out of encores.

it's not like it's all physically taxing to play guitars anyway

f u drum boy

sitting there on your throne the whole time

hey now half the time i stand up and wear a bass drum

do you ever wear the bass drum on dates, to impress ladies

y/n?

y

not sure if you were completely serious, some dude. but with all the enrgy and decibels SY put out, i'm completely satisfied w/ even just a 60 minute set. maybe becuz my ears are kind of old; more than 90 minutes of SY @ maximum volume is PLENTY (for me). i did enjoy a couple Grateful Dead shows a long time ago, but they are kind of the exception to my less is more rule

well, they played well under 90 minutes when i saw them and i kinda doubt they go much longer than that very often. a lot of bands their age or older tend to play at least 2 hours (admittedly usually in bigger venues, but still), and i don't feel like SY are so energetic that they're exhausting themselves onstage. not complaining at all, though, it was a great show, one of the best I've seen this year

honestly i don't think i want to see anyone play for more than an hour, and most bands could stand to stick to half-hour sets

last minute of malibu gas station is pretty good

Going back for seconds at the Fillmore in January. I'm still into this record enough to hear them play it again.

i kind of feel like a lot of the loops thrown by their post-2000 records involve having the bass playing be done by musicians, i.e. people who learned how to play the bass in other kinds of music than sonic youth music. i don't exactly want to denigrate kim gordon's playing, but it's always seemed to me like the least interesting part of the band. whereas a lot of the recent stuff seems to be most 'normal' (as far as their settling into groovy tuneful jamsmiths goes) where the bass is most prominent.

i've never really tried to get straight on who's playing what on all these records, though.

Disappointing end to the band.

Still an alright album, though.

xp - i dunno, it seems to me that they switched gears on a number of fronts between washing machine and nyc ghosts. they biggest change, it seems to me, was that they at least partially disengaged from the the alternative pop culture that they'd helped create. they'd never again even try to write a song like "kool thing" or "bull in the heather", wouldn't pull another "into the groove(y)". they didn't seem to be shooting for 120 minutes success anymore, were content to simply be sonic youth, existing in an art-rock bubble of their own design. at the same time, they de-emphasized the noise, angst and transgression that had once balanced and sharpened the pop flirtations. they may not have abandoned difficult listening, but they saved the outest stuff for peripheral releases (like the SYR series) and solo projects. plus all their voodoo shit got yoinked.

not saying you're wrong, just that there's factors.

I've always really enjoyed Kim's bass-playing, though I'm sure her move to third guitar might explain their ease with the jammier material that followed.

they biggest change, it seems to me, was that they at least partially disengaged from the the alternative pop culture that they'd helped create. they'd never again even try to write a song like "kool thing" or "bull in the heather", wouldn't pull another "into the groove(y)". they didn't seem to be shooting for 120 minutes success anymore, were content to simply be sonic youth, existing in an art-rock bubble of their own design.

What was left of that 'alternative pop culture' by 2000? How well did Sonic Youth even fit into it in the early 90s? None of those singles was a "Creep" or "Loser", let alone a "Teen Spirit"/"Jeremy". Afaict, releasing singles like "The Empty Page" and "Incinerate" and touring with the Black Keys probably showed about as much effort to engage with 00s modern rock as they showed in the early 90s. "Into the Groove(y)" was as peripheral as the SYR releases, surely.

I mostly agree with j. One interesting KG bass moment is the harmonics on "Secret Girl". She has some cool riffs on Confusion too, esp "Protect Me You".

This is the only meh post -2000 SY album.

I never really got into Rather Ripped or this one as albums but I like "Antenna" quite a bit. Maybe I should try them again.

well, i think the shift is most apparent between dirty & experimental jet-set on one hand and a thousand leaves on the other, and the latter came out in '98. i wasn't saying that they they were ever hitmakers on the nirvana/radiohead level, but rather that they at one time seemed to be fascinated and legitimately engaged with pop as something existing outside of themselves, as part of the urban landscape, something to mock, borrow, bounce off of, transform and criticize. in addition to the above examples, the booth recording of "addicted to love", blasting snippets of madonna & J&MC, rapping, tons of covers, grunge promotion, "eliminator jr.", carpenters fixation, etc. this side of y2k the sensibility lingers in tracks like "mariah carey & the arthur doyle hand cream", but the sense of a real push-pull relationship with mainstream pop is gone, imo.

i seem to remember "groove(y)" being kind of a big deal among critics and indie rockers at the time of its release, especially in the UK mags i was reading, but sonic youth in general were closer to the center of the pop cultural conversation back then. i retrospect it has come to seem rather peripheral, yeah.

that to sund4r. my least favorite is NYC ghosts & flowers, but it's nowhere near as bad as i thought at the time. sonic nurse and rather ripped are great.

Hm, maybe it was part of aging? I'll admit that I think a lot of those things are among their least successful projects.

xpost "Free City Rhymes" is one of their best songs imo.

i wouldn't say any of this is wrong, i was just thinking of what kinds of problems the band had to deal with when they were making music. like, the latter-day basslines move around a lot more, and often seem more idiomatically 'rock' or 'alt-rock' or whatever in minor but consequential ways. or on some of the songs on 'the eternal', it just seems way more resonant, filling up the soundspace, which means that either the guitars have to play through it (to different effect than in the past) or to be played a different way than before (which i think happens a lot on, say, 'malibu gas station' - those chordings!).

but this all seems pretty hard to make out to me. i think the band more or less kept up its practice of tinkering and modifying and trying new ways to do 'the same thing', but the results don't always stand out in terms of what was done, what problems were solved, what choices were made.

.. i thought the revive of this thread means they are making a new album...

I wish I liked this album more.

"Malibu Gas Station" and "No Way" and "What We Know" are fantastic, among my favorite later SY songs

So the discussion on this thread got me to listen to Rather Ripped and The Eternal. I've actually really been enjoying them! Once you're willing to accept their late-period style, it's clear that they really had mastered it.

the fahey painting is ok but the cover design is pretty shitty imo

it looks like goatse

lol do you guys realize that it's supposedly from a series of painting fahey made with his butt?

― some dude, Friday, 13 February 2009 16:14 (nine years ago) Permalink

for whatever reason this factoid has lodged itself in my brain but i see like no evidence of it online. is it true?

SY made this album with their butt!!

+67 upvotes; -11 downvotes; 2 fp's

i read that elsewhere as well but haven't been able to track down info anywhere xp

interesting article from Simon Reynolds on the artist as consumer re: The Eternal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/apr/07/sonic-youth-underground-influences

― Dan S, Saturday, April 11, 2009 10:26 PM (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

i still dn really know what they're doing here but at least this SR review has this virtue (for all his frequent sniffy undercutting of records just not to his taste that he's found theses to indict them with), that he identifies something for them to be doing:

So The Eternal is literally a self-portrait of the artists as consumers.