Whose Sonic Youth is it anyway?

I have written on these pages before about my love of both Sonic Youth and The Wire magazine. But I have to be honest, I found myself bristling when I got Issue #295. No less than three Sonic Youth books were being reviewer, and they were all slated by the reviewed David Keenan, a writer I normally have a lot of respect for. Keenan's attitude is best summed up here: 'Who are all of these people who go to sellout Sonic Youth shows and yet never pick up a record on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label or even know any Sonic Youth albums pre-Daydream Nation?

Actually, I have investigated and bought Sonic Youth albums pre-Daydream Nation, and I do have stuff released on Ecstatic Peace. But I'm not happy with the idea of people being looked down on because they don't.

To be fair to David Keenan, he obviously really knows his Sonic Youth inside out. And that includes all the side projects, the releases they have done on the SYR records, the solo albums and the collaborations, be they with Lydia Lunch, Jim O'Rourke or Merzbow. This needs documenting, and I'm still learning. But is it really fair to turn your nose up at the people who came to Sonic Youth via seeing them on Lollapolooza, MTV's 120 Minutes or Alternative Nation, or hearing them in Juno? Whilst it's one thing to feel that a book isn't properly researched, it's quite another to be snobby about it. Courtney Love once commented that the problem with Alternative Rock was that it was riddled with middle-class snobbery and she is absolutely right. And this extends, most definitely to notions of the avant-garde.

I first heard Sonic Youth in late 1990, when a friend played me Goo. This did lead to me investigating their back catalogue. I have to put my hand up and say that I have only seen them live once. Sometimes geography can be a real barrier, as can money and oh yes, a day job. But if someone hones in on Sonic Youth because of hearing their cover version of the Carpenters' 'Superstar' why is that less worthy? There will be people whose epiphany moments will come as a result of those moments in High Fidelity, Garden State or Juno. Does this make them less adequate fans?

There have been lots of side projects, and I cannot write about them all here because I do not consider myself qualified to do so. As Ciccone Youth they recorded cover versions of Madonna's Burning Up and Into The Groove(y) (sic), and Robert Palmer's 'Addicted To Love' working with Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis and the Minutemen's Mike Watt. I treasure my Sonic Youth/Mudhoney split single where they cover each other's songs. But I don't think the less of someone who still thinks that Dirty is a better album than Bad Moon Rising.

Some of the side projects can be disorientating. The collaboration beween Thurston Moore, Evan Parker and Walter Prati, The Promise, can seem like a bewildering listen. I know many felt completely freaked out by the Goodbye 20th Century SYR release. I like the 'J'accuse Ted Hughes' release from earlier this year, but this isn't for everyone. Other projects, like Thurston Moore's solo album from last year Trees Outside The Academy or Kim Gordon's ongoing side-project Free Kitten are more, dare I say it, accessible. That doesn't mean that they're boring or lack experimentation, it's just that they're easier to listen to and get into.

I somehow doubt that Sonic Youth sit there worrying, anyway. Over the course of more than half a century, they've ploughed their own furrow. this year, they have released a best-of through Starbucks music, and then announced that they're signing to Matador. Perverse buggers.


From Goo, still my favourite Sonic Youth LP

Sonic Youth -'Kool Thing.' mp3

and just to prove that I do know something of Sonic Youth away from their more mainstream stuff, Mr. Keenan...

From 1987's Sister LP

Sonic Youth -'Schizophrenia.' mp3

From Free Kitten's release Inherit

Free Kitten -'Erected Girl.' mp3

From last year's Trees Outside The Academy

Thurston Moore -'Fri/End.' mp3

[Oh, these last two tracks are from the Ecstatic Peace label. There now, we can all share!]

From the aforementioned Thurston Moore, Evan Parker and Walter Prati release The Promise

>Thurston Moore, Evan Parker and Walter Prati -'Our Future.' mp3

Sonic Youth's official site/Sonic Youth's mySpace

Ecstatic Peace website/myspace

Five festive Fifty Favourites for Friday

...um, nice alliteration, I guess!

First up, one of those genuinely life-changing bands, Sonic Youth. The first album of theirs I heard was Goo, and while this may be indie heresy, I even prefer it to Daydream Nation (a few years ago, I played in a band with the working name of Daydream Nation. Our bassist hated it, and it transpired there is already a band of that name. Oh well). Never understood how 'Dirty Boots' from Goo didn;t make that year's Festive Fifty, though...

Sonic Youth -'Kool Thing.' mp3

Sonic Youth -'Tunic (Song For Karen).' mp3

Does anyone else think this is a bit similar to 'Kiss Them For Me' by Siouxsie and the Banshees, which came out about the same time? Either way, cool record.

Chapterhouse -'Pearl.' mp3

'I wanna die...I wanna die...' Nowadays, a fifteen year old would embrace/shun this track for being 'emo' with that lyric. But when it came out, I was fifteen, had never heard the word emo, and just thought it was drop dead cool. more than cood be said for me at the time.

Jesus and Mary Chain -'Reverence.' mp3

Fast forward to 1998, Britpop has gone down the plughole, and Norman Cook has yet another rebirth. This still makes me dance, really badly, mind...

Fatboy Slim -'Rockafeller Skank.' mp3

As I near to my 500th post, there will be more weird and wonderful music here. Watch this space...

Sonic Youth: How one band helped change my life

The year I was fourteen (1990-1991) was not a great one. Let's just say I hit adolescence, with all the pain, angst and trouble that brings. However, I'm still in touch with some of the people I became friendly with during that time, and as a secondary teacher (High School teacher for US readers) I can at least reassure those I teach that it will get better.

If there was one thing I got out of that miserable year, it was my introduction to 'indie/alternative' music -and this was in pre-Nevermind times. For my fourteenth birthday, I got the Rolling Stones' Hot Rocks 1964-1971, The Sex Pistols' Nevermind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols and erm, The Clash's Cut The Crap (yeah, I know, but I didn't have someone to advise me). Bought for me on cassette (this was 1990, remember) by my long-suffering mother, but requested by me, this was the start of it. Then the following month, staying with a friend in London who was a year or so older (and that's significant when you're in your teens), played me Jane's Addiction's Ritual De Lo Habitual and Sonic Youth's Goo.


From it's cover alone, with it's pop art sleeve and the droll 'I Siole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road' this was something else. Then I heard 'Dirty Boots.'

Sonic Youth -'Dirty Boots.' mp3

In time, of course, I heard other Sonic Youth albums, particularly Sister and Daydream Nation.

From Sister (released in 1987)

Sonic Youth -'Schizophrenia.' mp3

From Daydream Nation (released in 1988)

Sonic Youth -'Rain King.' mp3

Whilst on holiday in Italy last week, it occured to me that I could do a Sonic Youth cover versions posting. I know I've posted these first two here before, but they really are classics:

Sonic Youth -'Superstar (the Carpenters cover).' mp3 (This can be found on the Various Artists If I Was A Carpenter album. This dates from 1994).

Sonic Youth -'Into The Groove(y) (Madonna cover).' mp3 (This was originally a 7" as Ciccone Youth (Jeez, do I have to spell this out? Ciccone was Madonna's maiden name) and then released on the Ciccone Youth's The Whitey Album, which is still available, and on the 1995 Sonic Youth compilation Screaming Fields Of Sonic Love.

Sonic Youth -'Hotwire My Heart (Crime cover).' mp3

(I don't know much about Crime but their original version of this track came out in 1976, and they were part of the seventies New York Punk scene. This can be found on the aforementioned Sister album)

Finally I mentioned the Daydream Nation album earlier. This has recently been re-issued with fantastic sleevenotes (yes, this is why I buy albums as opposed to just downloading them. Plus I have a concentration span of more than two seconds) and a second disc of live performances and four cover versions:

Sonic Youth -'Within You Without You (The Beatles cover).' mp3

(This was originally recorded for an NME Charity compilation, Sergeant Pepper Knew My Father to raise money for the then fledgling UK charity Childline. A whole host of artists, including The Fall doing 'A Day In the Life' covered songs from The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band Perhaps most famously, was the double a-Side of Billy Bragg doing 'She's Leaving Home', and Wet Wet Wet doing 'With A Little Help From My Friends.')

Sonic Youth -'Touch Me Me I'm Sick (Mudhoney cover).' mp3

(This was a cover of the seminal mudhoney single, in this case recorded for a split Sub Pop single with Mudhoney covering the youth's 'Halloween' (from Bad Moon Rising on the other side).

Sonic Youth -'Computer Age (Neil Young cover).' mp3

(This was from a 1989 compilation called The Bridge, in which various artists covered Neil young songs and the proceeds went to The Bridge school in California, whihc Young has long been a patron of. The album also feaures Loop doing 'Cinnamon Girl' Flaming Lips doing 'After The Goldrush' and Psychic TV doing 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' (which of course would be covered a year or so later by saint etienne in a radically different form again))

Sonic Youth -'Electricity (Captain Beefheart cover).' mp3

(Cannot claim any knowledge about this. Any info gratefull received etc..)

All these tracks are available so if you like what you hear then please go and buy them. If you are looking for starters on how to get into Sonic Youth, I suggest you get the compilation Screaming Fields Of Sonic Love, Goo, Daydream Nation and Sister. If you buy Evol, make sure you get it on vinyl, it literally lasts forever...

Sonic Youth's official website is here, whihc has even more mp3s.

Some Covers For Monday II

Hell, now that maybe one or two more people are reading this blog, a few more covers I thought I'd repost:

Foo Fighters -'Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty cover).' mp3

Placebo -'Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover).' mp3

Futureheads -'Let's Dance (David Bowie cover).' mp3

The Raincoats -'Lola (The Kinks cover).' mp3

Sonic Youth -' Superstar (The Carpenters cover).' mp3

Idlewild -'I Found That Essence Rare (Gang Of Four cover).' mp3

Ian Brown -'Billie Jean (Michael Jackson cover).' mp3

And one I haven't posted before...

The Fall -'A Day In The Life (The Beatles cover).' mp3

Enjoy. And as always, if you like what you hear, support the artists through your local independent record shop.

Seven Covers For Sunday

Here, rather like it suggests on the tin, are seven covers for Sunday. I am now only six days away from my wedding to the wonderful soon to be Mrs. 17 Seconds, so there may not be as many posts as I run around trying to sort out yet another thing.

One thing there will be is the very first 17 Seconds interview, with Swimmer One. Hopefully up here tomorrow...

Hell Is For Heroes-'Boys Don't Cry (Cure cover).' mp3

Idlewild-'Everything Flows (Teenage Fanclub cover).' mp3

Placebo-'Bigmouth Strikes Again (Smiths cover).' mp3

Katzenjammers-'Cars (Gary numan cover).' mp3

Flying Saucer Attack-'Outdoor Miner (Wire cover).' mp3

Sonic Youth-'Into The Groove(y)(Madonna cover).' mp3

Nirvana-'Molly's Lips (Vaselines cover).' mp3

OK, you know the drill...these mp3s will be up for one week only. If you like what you hear, support the artists involved, preferably through an independent record shop.

Some Covers For Sunday

It's Sunday - and time for some more covers!

First up, these three came with a free CD with Q magazine last year. The Futureheads track was recorded exclusively for Q; the Camera Obscura and Placebo tracks had been available commercially. Try ebay or iTunes.

Camera Obscura -'Modern Girl (Sheena Easton cover).' mp3

Placebo -'Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover).' mp3

The Futureheads -'Let's Dance (David Bowie cover).' mp3

These next three tracks all appear on a compilation called 'If I Were A Carpenter' whihc was a tribute album, not to Tim Hardin but to The Carpenters. These are my favourite three tracks off the album.

Sonic Youth -'Superstar (Carpenters cover).' mp3

Shonen Knife -'Top Of The World (Carpenters cover).' mp3

Bettie Serveert -'For All We Know (Carpenters cover).' mp3

This track appears on the Raincoats' debut album, the sleevenotes for which were written by none other than Kurt Cobain. It also later turned up on the rather fine Rough Trade Shops Post-Punk 1 compilation. On the latter album, the sleevenotes (this time not by Kurt Cobain) note that one of the 100% endearing things about this version of The Kinks' classic is that it sounds like it is about to fall apart any second.

The Raincoats -'Lola (Kinks cover).' mp3

Finally, this cover of Gerry Rafferty's most famous song (though Stuck In The Middle With You probably is very close, thanks to its inclusion in Reservoir Dogs) was originally recorded for a compilation for EMI, and then turned up as one of the extra tracks on the 'My Hero' CD single.

Foo Fighters -'Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty cover).' mp3

Links removed May 27, 2007

Sunday Night

Well, after several weeks of being off ill, and then the official school holidays i am back to school tomorrow. nervous? You betcha, but I'm trying not to think about it too much.

This isn't going to be a long post, but I hope you'll like what I have posted.

Aztec Camera -'Somewhere In My Heart.' mp3

OK so 'Oblivious' and the stuff from the first album are classics, but this is too. This was one of the first Aztec Camera tracks I ever heard, aged 11, and as such it holds a special place in my record collection, and my, er, heart. Available on Love and their Best of.

Idlewild -'No Emotion.' mp3

Am I the only person who has bought the new album? It's really very good. Get your acts together people. It's on the new album, Make Another World.

Mother and the addicts -'What Were The Reasons.' mp3

A new track from the forthcoming Mother and the Addicts album that they have put out on the net (buy older stuff here).

Mull Historical Society -'Watching Xanadu.' mp3

Aw. Colin and co. bring a smile to my face every time. Off their debut, Loss.

Sister Vanilla -'K to be Lost.' mp3

The brothers Reid (of the now reformed Jesus and Mary Chain) and little sister Linda unleash Little Pop Rock. World cheers.

Sonic Youth -'Dirty Boots.' mp3

I heard this just after Christmas 1990 at a friend's house. I had to have the album Goo. That same night I also heard Jane's Addiction's Ritual De Lo Habitual. These things can change your life at fourteen (actually I still think they can at thirty; then again, I'd rather browse the vinyl racks in a record store than go to IKEA, so what do I know?)

Hope you like them. As always, if you like the music you hear, support the artists. These mp3s will be up for a week only.

Have a good week

xx