best Sonic Youth album of the '00s

Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped are equally excellent, but I give SN the edge for "I Love You Golden Blue."

murray street for me (havent heard the eternal yet tho)

easy choice of Rather Ripped for me

murray street>>>>>>sonic nurse>rather ripped>new york city ghosts & flowers>the eternal

have only spun the eternal a few times but def think it's SY weakest alb since experimental jet set, and possibly the most unattractive sounding rec they've ever made - a real letdown

see, i love the eternal because it reminds me of the randomness of EJST&NS (still one of my favourite SY albums), even down to the stunning Kim closer, played with the polished force of Dirty. as to this list, i can't choose... Sonic Nurse probably my least favourite of the lot, because it felt a little like squeezing out some more from the burst of inspiration that birthed Murray Street, where every other one of these albums seems to veer off in a new direction. Love the poppiness of Rather Ripped, love the epic jams of Murray Streey, lovelovelove the charring noiseout of NYCGAF's title track, and the rest of its mostly strong as well.

Murray Street
The Eternal
NYC Ghosts & Flowers
Sonic Nurse
Rather Ripped

But man, ranking these was hard. I pretty much adore all of these for different reasons.

Ooooh, good poll. I'd have to think about this one for awhile. They've had a great 2000s, far better than their 90s.

some food 4 thought:

NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000)
104th in Pazz & Jop
3 1/2 stars from Rolling Stone
2 1/2 stars from Allmusic
0.0 from Pitchfork

Murray Street (2002)
20th in Pazz & Jop
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
9.0 from Pitchfork

Sonic Nurse (2004)
37th in Pazz & Jop
3 1/2 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
8.5 from Pitchfork

Rather Ripped (2006)
12th in Pazz & Jop
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
7.5 from Pitchfork

The Eternal (2009)
4 stars from Rolling Stone
4 stars from Allmusic
6.8 from Pitchfork

murray street>>>>>>sonic nurse>rather ripped>new york city ghosts & flowers>the eternal

have only spun the eternal a few times but def think it's SY weakest alb since experimental jet set, and possibly the most unattractive sounding rec they've ever made - a real letdown

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:18 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I agree w/ you on the rank of all these except The Eternal, which I've only listened to a couple times but already am pretty sure I like more than Rather Ripped (but then Experimental Jet Set is one of my favorites, go figure).

Thats what I love about Sonic Youth, you can never really count on any kind of consensus.

I don't mind Murray Street at all (especially its brevity), but it sounds like a rough draft for its successors. At the time it was a return to the concision of Goo and Dirty, galvanized by ten years' worth of experiments.

murray street ftw

Might be my fave SY album, period.

thats what I love about Sonic Youth, you can never really count on any kind of consensus.

^^^^. A friend says they went downhill when Steve Shelley joined.

That person does too many drugs.

first half of Murray Street is perfect. Combine that with the best tracks from Sonic Nurse and you got yrself an album!

(i like the other 00s albums, but I think that stuff is my fave)

however, the Brakhage SYR release is awwwwwwesome

tylerw otm

Nineties SY vs Oughties SY should be a good poll.

that would be a toughie. i need to revisit thousand leaves ... never really decided whether i liked it or not.

I love it – my favorite of the nineties albums – but in the wrong mood the contemplative and screechy parts don't gel.

This poll is a really hard one. But voted for Sonic Nurse., which has one of my favorite Lee Ranaldo-tunes, Paper Cup Exit. Also, Peace Attack has one of their better instrumental crescendos.

All in all I agree that the 00's were a much better SY-era than the 90's. They seemed really inspired.

Haven't heard The Eternal yet, but I'm willing to bet that I'm gonna like it.

I like SN and RR a lot, but possibly RR just pips it for being more concise and hooky.

thousand leaves has some amazing moments, but is kind of dry and hard to love as a whole, i find.

Isn't that the story of lots of failed SY albums?

This is between Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped for me. Am leaning toward the latter.

A friend says they went downhill when Steve Shelley joined.

― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:49 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That person does too many drugs.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:51 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

ha, guilty on both counts

I wouldn't say steve shelley caused them to go downhill (my favorite sy alb is EVOL after all) but the timing was right

^^ suggest ban

nah they just became (or started becoming) a different band when shelly joined, that's all

unfortunately it was a band I didn't like

not for lack of trying either

can't count how many times I spun daydream nation and goo trying to figure out whether it was them or me

I finally decided things weren't going to work out between us

so the only album I've heard in this poll is rather ripped

you went back for a quickie, didn't you

murray street, hands down. havent heard the eternal yet though.

yes! our original relationship was so hot I can't stay away

but as of late our trysts just leave me feeling used and unfulfilled

xp

I'm with Edward here - they peaked on Bad Moon Rising, though Evol is so close it is hard to pick. Very slow decline for a few years, then the wheels fell off.

I've heard two of these '00s albums - NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Rather Ripped - and didn't find either remotely interesting.

I remember when Sonic Youth used to be the most far out weird thing I listened too. This wasn't in the 00s.
It's probably me more than the band. Voted Sonic Nurse, without much conviction. I like them all.

Sonic Nurse is the best thing they've released in the past 20 years. All good albums to some degree, though.

Sonic Nurse>>Murray Street>>>>>NYC Ghosts & Flowers>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Rather Ripped, which is why (along with "Sacred Trickster") I'm dragging my feet on hearing The Eternal.

Rather Ripped is the first album where I really wondered why they fucking bother

yeah? i like Rather Ripped. Maybe a bit slight? But pretty enjoyable.

I like Rather Ripped less and less every year, and "Sacred Trickster" does nothing for me, but The Eternal is overall pretty solid and I'd reccomend it highly to someone that likes Sonic Nurse.

I think on the Rather Ripped thread I called it Rather Tepid. Just seemed like they were going through the motions.

Strangely, I'd still see them live, as they've never failed to put on a good show. Just can't be bothered to follow their studio work.

Weird, I think of Rather Ripped as kind of a pinnacle, taking the same basic formula of Sonic Nurse and whittling it down into these great three- or four-minute gems. The Eternal sounds more like a band going through the motions to me.

MURRAY STREET, PEOPLE (that's what i voted, anyhow)

with Rather Ripped a close second

xpost Too slight for me. I liked the direction they were going with O'Rourke, and without that groovier bottom and prettied up guitars you just had past-prime pros with shitty voices writing by-the-book "songs" as if that was ever what they were good at.

this is all between Sonic Nurse and Murray Street, and it's not a easy pick. every track on MS really sticks out and has a way of its own, where SN is more this thick, sprawling monster all the way through.

can't say that i dislike Rather Ripped or The Eternal but it's still very remote to me that anyone would pick either of them here. then again, like said, that's part of the charm with this band

xp

Yeah I'm not sure how their one album of the decade that actually sounds different from the others is "going through the motions." You might not like it but I think you have to recognize it as an attempt to shake things up a little.

I would have really liked rather ripped if the material was on par with the tone, everything sounds great but they are playing absolutely nothing

Rather Ripped is the first album where I really wondered why they fucking bother

apparently you have never heard experimental jet set trash and no star

people sure are weird

experimental jetset is my go-to album for evidence of sy not giving a frig

NYC G&F sounds pretty different from the rest, n/a! That and Experimental Jet Set sound like patchwork goof-offs, and their peaks did more for me than anything on Ripped.

Does Gerard Cosloy still run the show at Matador at all? I thought it was pretty LOL that the dude who said in Spin he was tired of SY in 1988 would be signing them 20 years later.

I like EJSTANS! I mean, yes, it was the first one I ever heard, so I have some sentimental attachment, but I think it's a pretty interesting album -- lots of echoey space, acoustic guitar, etc.

yeah I don't like the whittling down on RR because for the most part they were whittling away the best parts of the 2 previous albums. the average track lengths for these albums really bears out the fact that i like the longer tunes:

NYC Ghosts - 5:17
Murray Street - 6:31
Sonice Nurse - 6:17
Rather Ripped - 4:19
The Eternal - 4:42

yeah Jet Set was the first for me too and still really intrigues me -- like it's the closest they've ever come to actually reinventing their sound, and they managed to do it with the same producer they had on Dirty.

i'll save my Jet Set argument for after this thread runs its course and i do a best of the '90s poll, though.

Murray Street for me...one of their best albums ever, I think. Sonic Nurse would be second, with the others way below.

Still haven't EJSTANS, but it's no problem finding a cheap used copy.

tylerw otm above re. Murray Street (and the one I voted for). "Rain On Tin" is my favorite SY song.

"Rain On Tin" was the moment where I realized they were still my favorite band and probably will be for the rest of my life.

Anthony, I don't usually expect to agree with you so wholeheartedly about a band like this but this sums up my thoughts so precisely:

I liked the direction they were going with O'Rourke, and without that groovier bottom and prettied up guitars you just had past-prime pros with shitty voices writing by-the-book "songs" as if that was ever what they were good at.

That's more accurate describing SY between 1990 and 1994. They traded by-the-book songs for really good ones in 2002.

They must have used them up by the time that got to Rather Ripped.

Honest question: So, not caring for SY post-'88, should I give Murray Street a listen?

I kinda feel like listening to '90s SY is a prerequisite for listening to '00s SY, even though I generally like the latter more, if that makes sense.

Honest question: So, not caring for SY post-'88, should I give Murray Street a listen?
nah

I purchased through Washing Machine, and have heard A Thousand Leaves, though I no longer own any of the 90s work and haven't for a decade; I feel I can recall the sound of those records without too much trouble.

Is Murray Street that much of a departure/evolution that I will miss something by my unfamiliarity?

nah, it's just that if post 88 doesn't do it for you, i don't think you'll find the same energy/dynamism/power on Murray Street. I love it, but it's more of a rambling/contemplative thing ...

That might be good - it isn't like my favorite (BMR) is full of burners.

Murray Street is kind of like a reward for people who loved the jammy parts of A Thousand Leaves and stuck it out through NYC Ghosts.

like if you remember what "Wildflower Soul" sounded like and liked that, you'd dig MS.

I really should buy these records. I quite liked Murray Street and Rather Ripped the two times I heard them.

That sounds kind of interesting, actually. Maybe I'll have to give it a spin...

x-post

teh temptress bats her eye

trees outside the academy>>>>>>the eternal (seriously!)

and yeah, SYR4 = one of the greatest things they ever did, esp. live - and THERE's something they hadn't really done before

i liked Trees but definitely like the new SY more

gotta do a SYR poll at some point...would also like to poll side project/solo albums but haven't really worked out how to organize or group together those yet.

listening to SONIC NURSE again now, i also want to dispute croupier's lazy 'bad singing' diss - i love the way that thurston's voice sounds on tracks like 'unmade bed' (one of his best songs, i really think so) and 'dripping dream' - the whole feel is VERY solo-career Tom Verlaine, which i also adore, so obv mileage may vary - but yeah yeah, while thurston and kim are 'non-singers' and yes, sometimes sound sloppy or simply weak, they are both still capable of very human and beautiful moments, of playing w/ and using their voices as the grain ages and changes

and lee renaldo is one of my v. fave rock singers, wish he sang more

trees outside the academy>>>>>>the eternal (seriously!)

I could maybe get behind this. Although with fewer >s.

listening to SONIC NURSE again now, i also want to dispute croupier's lazy 'bad singing' diss

this is kinda funny seeing as how I said I voted for Sonic Nurse

Weird, I think of Rather Ripped as kind of a pinnacle, taking the same basic formula of Sonic Nurse and whittling it down into these great three- or four-minute gems. The Eternal sounds more like a band going through the motions to me.

tago mago -> ege bamayasi -> future days

also i really like a lot of the sy lps involved but will happily represent for trees. the first side's pretty much perfect, and the second side has never light or never day or whatever.

i need to get Trees -- remember really liking it when I heard it, but for some reason never got around to buying it ...

Murray Street, hands down. Shows around NYCG&F and Murray Street were also both amazing, the band was really on a roll. All these are solid, but in my mind Murray Street is one of the best records of the decade, most of the good sides of the band and really minimal moments of the bad, i.e.: only one kind of forgettable Kim song, a GREAT Kim song (Sympathy for the Strawberry is my favorite Kim song of this decade, at least), and no duds from Thurston or Lee. Rain on Tin definitely being the highlight, some real primo guitar shit. It's easy for people to criticize this band, but really, who else has created a more consistently worthwhile body of work in rock?

uh, lotsa people

Like?

as far as sheer size + consistency, i agree w/ grandavis, but also i am a huge SY stan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDPLKLnmI0A

this fucking song

I'm actually the wrong person to ask cause I think sonic youth had a run of 4-5 good records and then a vast wasteland but I can pretty quickly name 10 bands/musicians with consistently worthwhile bodies of rock and that's without thinking very hard

rolling stones
black sabbath
swans
ac/dc
ramones
the fall
wire
the cramps
neil young
brian eno

^ sonic youth's highpoints may be higher than some of these folks, but over the course of a career I'd put them as more consistent bringers of joy

can't decide b/w sonic nurse and murray st but it's definitely one or the other.

also (fans of their lyrics are welcome to disagree) since sonic youth's big accomplishment was to slap branca-tunings onto riff-rock they really don't have to work as hard to be "consistent" than more singer-songwriterly type artists. they're more of a Dead type thing.

wtf brian eno hasn't done anything worthwhile in 15 years, black sabbath hasn't done anything worthwile in 25 at least, and the ramones had one album that they made 300 times, what are you talking about??

Look, no real problem with any of the bands you listed, and of course, I understand why some people don't really like Sonic Youth, but this is the key for me:

more consistently worthwhile

I'll give you maybe The Fall and Neil, but I don't think any of the other people on that list come close. Maybe some highs as high or higher (everyone has their thing, so yeah, all of these bands have great records), but most can't touch the overall track record in my mind.

yeah -- most of those people have like entire 5-10 years stretches where they made records that only the biggest diehards care about, or a real clear shark jumping point after which they're mostly enjoyed as a live act, SY for all their patchiness don't really have any albums i can say i never want to hear again or would not reccomend to any kind of fan.

also (fans of their lyrics are welcome to disagree) since sonic youth's big accomplishment was to slap branca-tunings onto riff-rock they really don't have to work as hard to be "consistent" than more singer-songwriterly type artists. they're more of a Dead type thing.

Well, Lee Ranaldo takes his sub-Beat stuff very seriously, and I like his stuff least. But they've been pretty consistent since they abandoned their fascination with death-porn. Among the reasons why I don't like The Eternal is the higher than usual howler-to-ooh-nice-bumper-sticker-slogan ratio ("Anti-Orgasm" and the one about the "rapacious" vagina howler).

i agree completely. the only other band I can think of with this kind of consistency is Stereolab (who you might well find boring and dull, but they put out albums on a consistent basis whose quality was, overall, pretty high, I think), and maybe Yo La Tengo.

I don't know The Dead's music well, but I'd listen more closely if they sang about rapacious vaginas. Context matters, etc.

also (fans of their lyrics are welcome to disagree) since sonic youth's big accomplishment was to slap branca-tunings onto riff-rock they really don't have to work as hard to be "consistent" than more singer-songwriterly type artists. they're more of a Dead type thing.

See, that's pretty lazy criticism, but whatever. It is hard to be consistent in any appreciable way, no matter what the criteria, for almost 30 years. Slight it any way you want, but they are approaching (really they've been there for a while) totally uncharted territory when it comes to this kind of thing.

wtf brian eno hasn't done anything worthwhile in 15 years, black sabbath hasn't done anything worthwile in 25 at least, and the ramones had one album that they made 300 times, what are you talking about??

― akm, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 4:37 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

the last good sonic youth album I heard was in '87 so by your count they're not that far behind sabbath!

this argument runs the risk of becoming "people who love sonic youth think sonic youth are better than other bands"

true --- but even on some boring 'critical' barometer like Pazz & Jop, there aren't many acts who place there as regularly 20 years later as they did when they first appeared that didn't have lengthy fallow periods or records nobody will defend (thinking of Dylan and Elvis Costello types here)

Edward, you're not far off, these arguments generally devolve to circular and pointless back and forths, but I was trying to think of other bands in this context. I am not arguing that anyone should claim they are the greatest band, just acknowledge that, for what they do, it is pretty amazing that they have maintained the level of achievement that they have.

Uh, what some dude said as well.

they have stayed hipper longer, I'll give you that

excellent fashion sense

I think part of SY's strength over time is that, for all the talk of them being innovative or groundbreaking or whatever, they've really never seemed that ambitious or adventurous, just coasting along and tweaking their sound in small ways each time, rarely going overboard in one direction or the other. That's usually a recipe for a really boring career w/ trad rock/pop bands but their sound is just unique enough that I'm really happy to hear them coast.

Which is all really great artists do past a certain age. Whether you care about these tweaks and coasts is up to you.

excellent fashion sense

That is funny.

The closest Sonic Youth came to a "headed for the ditch" period was NYC G&F and Goodbye 20th Century, but they backed off to groove-ville for better or worse fast.

as much as I like the CD-R I made of my fave O'Rourke-era tracks, it might have been kinda impressive if they stayed full avant for awhile rather than turning into a SY tribute band.

maybe the mistake was replacing O'Rourke - someone with their own ideas and ego - with Mark fucking Ibold.

Which is all really great artists do past a certain age.

I disagree with this as a blanket statement. Miles Davis, Igor Stravinsky, and John Cage, for example, were all doing new and innovative things in middle or old age.

I even have the feeling that Sonic Youth was trying to with some of the SYR projects and avant-garde collaborations. It's just that so many of their efforts seem . . . lazy.

I intend nothing on ILM as a blanket statement. Except this: Lee Ranaldo writes fucking shitty poetry.

Like, if they actually grafted Branca tunings (which means more than tuning to EEFFGG etc) onto riff-rock, that might be interesting.

xpost haha

murray st. would be a shoe-in for me if the last three songs were as good as the first four. i guess sonic nurse is my favorite of these? i like them all though, even nycg&f (which is probably tied with exp. jet set as my least favorite sy lp).

murray street; 'rain on tin' should be used to teach jammy guitar clinics and also it is awesome start to finish ('plastic sun' is kind of an aberration in style but i think it's a welcome respite considering how obliterating 'karen revisited' is); only heard parts of rather ripped and i wasn't digging it much

"Murray" for me.

It's kind of amazing how little consensus there is on which SY albums rule/suck. Put me in the "Ripped" >>>>> "Nurse" category. "Nurse" just didn't interest me at all (neither did "A Thousand Leaves"); the songs just don't go anywhere. At least "NYCG&F" had some spark.

weird, Nurse is like the lost sister of Daydream Nation for me; an album about textures

Sonic Nurse, for me, sounds like the leftovers from Murray Street. Same for The Eternal, which is kind of a lesser version of Rather Ripped.

Rather Ripped >> Murray Street >>>>>>>>>>>> The Eternal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else.

i've only heard murray and nyc g&f of all these. murray is an enjoyable record. i hate nyc ghosts so, so much.

Easy - Rather Ripped! Their best album ever IMHO.

weird, Nurse is like the lost sister of Daydream Nation for me; an album about textures

yeah this is what i tried to say earlier. i think it might be their best sounding record of all honestly.

interesting how their critical stock seems to have been on the up all decade

i mean, i think NY ghosts + flowers is actually a pretty good record

but the way it made everyone think about sonic youth was probably more realistic, fair than the unequivocal elder-statesman treatment they've had since

OK I've listened to all of these A LOT over the past week-plus. I love them all to varying degrees but here's my order:

The Eternal - Yup. After many listens, only that Corso song has failed to imprint itself onto my internal hum matrix. Key: not many slow ones and even those give up swoon-worthy melodies. Song after song, it just keeps dropping the rock on your head in both midtempo "Total Trash" and speedy "Mary-Christ" modes. Plus they're still growing as vocalists, with Kim very Yoko and some impressive swarmonies on "Walkin Blue." Finally, it's the second great album this decade (that I know of) to mention Bobby Pyn. Love it love it love it. Best song: "Anti-Orgasm," their entire career distilled into six fun-then-soothing minutes.

Rather Ripped - This now sounds like a warm up for The Eternal but with a sleepier second half.

NYC Ghosts & Flowers - Easily their most underrated record. Detractors treat it as they would a pure noise record. But the structures are there even if they're not verse-chorus-verse. More like builds and bracing shifts in sonic space. And altogether more disquieting than their early horrorshows.

Sonic Nurse - Sounds like it's scared of being Rather Ripped. Just too goddamned long. And luckily xhuxk won't visit this thread to chew me out for preferring its overall consistency to the high points on...

Murray Street - Great record until Lee shouts "Karen!" after which it takes a serious nosedive.

But they're such a great band that these are all nearly imperceptible shades of one another. In fact, they're so great that I no longer see the value in ripping on their pre-Shelley art racketeering. It's all gotten sucked up into one fantastic song. The eternal indeed.

Murray Street - Great record until Lee shouts "Karen!" after which it takes a serious nosedive.

HAHA. This is hilarious. :)

same could be said of A Thousand Leaves too

NYC Ghosts is definitely my least favorite of these 5, maybe least favorite of all their proper albums, but it's still really not that bad. I remember hearing live recordings of early instrumental versions and it was all kind of exciting, almost kind of a return to no wave after the theft of their instruments. But once the beat poetry vocals were added and they got in the studio, I feel like something went wrong in the production/performances and even songs that should be awesome like the title track turned out kind of tepid.

murray street stands as the victor for me, but i don't figure i'll be inclined to pull it out and listen to it any time soon. when listening to sonic youth these days, i like to relate the music i'm hearing to the band's capacity to innovate freely and influence by virtue of breaking boundaries and setting new parameters. i hear that kind of thing in the earlier records for sure. the 2000s records are a testament to the endurance and longevity of the band and they do plenty of nice things, but mostly just fill in the numbers for me.

Kevin is right except for his mistakenly switching his blurbs for Rather Ripped and The Eternal.

Voted Murray Street at last. Not only one of their best of all times but it is also probably the best record if you wanna introduce SY to someone, which is kind of an odd combination.

Sonic Nurse, not even close. My second-favorite of theirs, actually, after the inevitable Daydream Nation. But yes, I like all these records to varying degrees, most a lot. Rather Ripped is my least-fave, maybe because "Incinerate" sounds so much like a great single that the rest kind of drifts away for me. But I bet I'd like it if I played it again.

But I bet I'd like it if I played it again

This is the case with most SY, methinks. I really dislike Washing Machine, and am comfortable saying so, but I don't want to replay it because I know I'll change my mind.

Kevin is right except for his mistakenly switching his blurbs for Rather Ripped and The Eternal.

― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, June 25, 2009 7:32 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if you are saying The Eternal has a "sleepier second half" you are nuts, most of the best songs are toward the end!

I prefer the sequence from "Anti-Orgasm" to "What We Know."

i've gotten closer and closer to wanting to change my vote from MS to SN since starting this thread

anyway for me "Malibu Gas Station" and "No Way" are the immediate winners from the new one, although the first is growing on me too

Upthread somewhere I was talking about my dislike for what I'd heard of this era of SY, but that with multiple recommendations I'd give Murray Street a spin. After 4 or 5 listens, I have come to a decision - I really like it, with one giant caveat. I hate, hate, hate the mix. The songs are wonderful, but the vocals nearly ruin it. The songs drift in and out, instruments rising and falling in the mix, but their voices (except Lee's) just roar over top. As the vocals are, in my opinion, the worst part of any SY tune, it just ruins the effect. I think I'd rather hear live versions where the voices are less distinct.

Of course, this mixing problem I have goes back to at least Goo. I probably shouldn't say I'm a fan if I like roughly 5 years of a 25 year career.

Maybe I should just listen to the SYR releases. More up my alley.

Man, that Murray Street tour was great. They played most of the album when I saw them, and everything came across really well (their live sound is usually pretty great, though I am not a hardcore audiophile, so take my opinion as just that). Vocal mixes are often odd to me on a lot of records, as well, so I think I have learned to just adjust my listening somewhat.

I really dislike Washing Machine, and am comfortable saying so, but I don't want to replay it because I know I'll change my mind.

Plz to explain teh logic behind this 1?

No.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS), so it wouldn't surprise me if I relistened to WM and thought it was more than that.

Yeah I understand what Alfred is talking about completely...in my mind WM is one of their lesser records and there are a few songs I dislike, or at least dislike the idea/memory of, but when I actually put it on it's very listenable. Same goes for most of the SY albums I wouldn't rate very highly.

Murray Street - Great record until Lee shouts "Karen!"...

It's a shout-out to Len's "Steal My Sunshine"

Re-listened to NYC Ghosts and Flowers today for the first time in years and it's even more of a pile of shit than I remembered. Otherwise, the band has been utterly fantastic this decade- I guess I'll vote for Murray Street but it's really a coin toss.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS)

it's the best! the songs are short and striking, really wild but not too noisy. the noise is used actually pretty differently than in their other stuff, really going for contrast and jarring transitions rather than texture or throbbing weirdness. lee had quit the band for the album, and while usually that would suck thurston and kim just wrote way better songs than they usually do and it totally makes up for it. it's the most "punk" SY album i've heard and definitely one of my favourites.

Re-listened to NYC Ghosts and Flowers today for the first time in years and it's even more of a pile of shit than I remembered.

yeah I did not dig this when it came out

Murray Street got my vote ... then Rather Ripped ... then Sonic Nurse ...

while i'd like to say samosa's post is OTM and we should totally continue discussing Jet Set more when i do the 90s thread after this one, i should point out that this

lee had quit the band for the album

is rong, i'm pretty sure. afaik, he quit briefly during the making of Dirty because of "Genetic" being cut from the album, but was back to tour that album and record the next one -- just happens that he doesn't sing on any songs on Jet Set. he's credited in the liner notes and there are photos of him all in it, etc.

cool! i'm glad to hear it, and yeah lee's absense wouldn't make much sense since there are obviously two guitars and the guitar parts fucking kiiiilll.

Experimental Jet Set is a biiiig favorite of mine. Yes, their "punkiest"--their version of lo-fi bedroom pop. "Screaming Skull" is a particular fave: love the full-on Rolling Stones groove they get into at the end. Also love "Androgynous Mind" and "Bull in the Heather" and "Skink."

i love y'all and all but NYC G&F is the best of SY's 00s albums by about a thousand miles? it might even be their best album? what is with you people.

um..who said that?

i always find the criticisms of NYC G&F a little baffling: there's no songs and some of it sounds a bit embarrassing — they never wrote good 'songs' & they're always embarrassing

like, the chorus to anti-orgasm is the campest thing on record this year surely

The thing about NYC G&F is that besides containing an amazing opening track, it's at least sonically (ha) interesting all the way through. The others in this poll are awfully forgettable. So it's not that I exactly love G&F, but it's the one I keep listening to with interest. The others make ok background and that's about it.

Also, production on G&F is radically better than the others, probably due to extra band member.

Most SY albums since 1990 are at least okay (never heard EJTANS), so it wouldn't surprise me if I relistened to WM and thought it was more than that.

No no, I get that. What I don't get is why you'd avoid listening to it if you think it'll be better than you presently recall it to be.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

really curious to see how many votes the (probable) bottom 2, NYC Ghosts and The Eternal, get.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Still don't get the Sonic Nurse love, but whatevs.

man, "New Hampshire"! "I Love You Golden Blue"! "Unmade Bed"! "Dripping Dream"! it's a great album.

totally happy w/ these results, although i'd like to think that in time The Eternal will be thought of as better than Rather Ripped.

This poll got way more voters in general than most. no surprise I guess, but still.

I thought I wld be the lone NYC ghosts voter.

i had a feeling it would have a decent lil voting bloc, especially since it's kind of counterprogramming to put it up against the 4 albums after it

results more or less otm

i voted for nycbff. i'm not sure i stand by my reasons tho.

this is kinda interesting commentary about these albums:
http://music.newcity.com/2009/06/23/preview-sonic-youthvic-theatre/

Some could argue that shortly after 1992’s fantastic “Dirty” the band consistently churned out mediocre work, until 2000’s “NYC Ghosts & Flowers,” which was just bad. The following “Murray Street” and “Sonic Nurse” saw the band in mediocre territory again, and then “Rather Ripped” sparked them back into contemporary relevancy.

I don't think "interesting" is the word I'd use to describe this commentary.

The "mediocre" rating for Murray Street aside, I agree with that statement pretty much.

Even if you agree, "they were great and then they were mediocre and then they were bad and then they were mediocre and now they're great again" is about as far from "interesting" as commentary gets.

yeah, and "contemporary relevancy" .... ZZZZZzzzzz

How can The Eternal be a "return to form" if Rather Ripped had already "sparked them back into contemporary relevancy"?

ha! you guys are interested . . .
btw they rocked the shit at the vic last sunday night
rather ripped a silver rocket!
and played my favorite part of daydream nation: the sprawl > 'cross the breeze

damn! reverse the order maybe? voted for NYCG&F--their most gorgeous work ever, sonically speaking--just to spite pitchfork, basically. but pretty much love 'em all to one degree or another. i really dig Lee's "bad" beat poetry, even. and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Bad Moon Rising is their worst ever, fwiw.

waht

yeah yeah yeah, i know. but "DV '69" aside i don't really get that one. Walls Have Ears smokes both Bad Moon Rising and Evol, imho.

There is a great version of Death Valley '69 on Walls Have Ears, yeah.

But Brave Men Run, I Love Her All The Time... no?

they're ok but nothing revelatory. i much prefer the "Flower"/"Halloween" 12" myself.

there are 3 songs on bad moon rising: side A, 3/4 of side B, and "death valley 69"

the first 2 songs are awesome

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

I love "Brave Men Run" and the bonus tracks, and "Death Valley" is a lot of fun live, but yeah Bad Moon is way down among my 2 or 3 least fave SY albums. But then, I'm not a huge fan of the pre-Shelly stuff and my favorite release from that era is Sonic Death.

and wtf, Kevin, the Karen songs are the highlight's of the respective albums they're each sandwiched amidst.

Well, I agree with you on "Karen Koltrane."

but thanks for yr challops, ioannis

no problem.

murray street: 7 songs, half epics, jim o'rourke