NOT CRAP !

Peripatetic wrote:I saw SY rule the Minnesota State Fair last night.

They played 10 songs: 7 off the new record, Teenage Riot, Eric's Trip and Tom Violence.

my friend grabed a copy of the set list and it said that they were suposed to play "Schizophrenia" and "Shaking Hell" as the encore instead of "Do You Believe In Rapture?". Too bad they were pressed for time.

g

chet wrote:

tallchris wrote:I saw them in Seattle, and I didn't really get it either.

Really, I just wish Kim would play while she sang. Are the parts that hard?

Yeah, its pretty taxing to play a G for >120 measures...

Im equally as puzzled about Ibold. Maybe he plays something different than kim? I just dont know anymore.

- Chet

Man, we are never going to unravel the mysteries of what "bass duties" for Sonic Youth actually involve. My theory is that is that, back in '81 or so, it was just a way for Thurston to get his girlfriend in the band. He certainly could have played those parts with his feet if he had to.

Not that Kim was a bad addition, far from it. It's just that, as a bassist myself, Sonic Youth has always been a bit lacking in my key interest, and they were always one of my favorite bands. I didn't exactly pick up many smokin' chops while playing along to their records. It was quite underwhelming to note that, over the span of a 25-year career as a bassist, Kim has not picked up many either.
It is especially alarming to note that many of Sonic Youth's coolest basslines ever were played by Mike Watt (In the Kingdom #19, Bubblegum), Thurston (Making the Nature Scene, Inhuman, and a bunch more) or even Lee (Protect Me You).
On one of SY's coolest songs ever, Brother James, Kim just rests on the bass through most of the song, and just sings with her bass slung on. In other SY classics, like Catholic Block or Eric's Trip, her bass part is there, but it doesn't add anything to the song.
Anyway, I've got to stop ranting on this, it's just been one of the major conflicts of my life - how one of my favorite bands has such a one-riff or even one note bass player. Most of my other favorite bands, like the Stranglers, the Ex, Gang of Four, and Talking Heads had fairly intricate basslines that were the backbone of the songs.
In closing, has anybody seen Sonic Mirror? That's SY minus Lee - without him, it's just Thurston with his increasingly conventional rock riffs, and Kim with her two-note basslines. It sounded so janky that it actually reminded me of some of the earliest basement bands I used to play in. I think you can find the video on youtube, the song Sleeping Around is up there so you can judge for yourself.

absolutely tore the motherfucking house down tonight.

just leveled the whole damn building.

Mazec wrote:

chet wrote:

tallchris wrote:I saw them in Seattle, and I didn't really get it either.

Really, I just wish Kim would play while she sang. Are the parts that hard?

Yeah, its pretty taxing to play a G for >120 measures...

Im equally as puzzled about Ibold. Maybe he plays something different than kim? I just dont know anymore.

- Chet

Man, we are never going to unravel the mysteries of what "bass duties" for Sonic Youth actually involve. My theory is that is that, back in '81 or so, it was just a way for Thurston to get his girlfriend in the band. He certainly could have played those parts with his feet if he had to.

Not that Kim was a bad addition, far from it. It's just that, as a bassist myself, Sonic Youth has always been a bit lacking in my key interest, and they were always one of my favorite bands. I didn't exactly pick up many smokin' chops while playing along to their records. It was quite underwhelming to note that, over the span of a 25-year career as a bassist, Kim has not picked up many either.
It is especially alarming to note that many of Sonic Youth's coolest basslines ever were played by Mike Watt (In the Kingdom #19, Bubblegum), Thurston (Making the Nature Scene, Inhuman, and a bunch more) or even Lee (Protect Me You).
On one of SY's coolest songs ever, Brother James, Kim just rests on the bass through most of the song, and just sings with her bass slung on. In other SY classics, like Catholic Block or Eric's Trip, her bass part is there, but it doesn't add anything to the song.
Anyway, I've got to stop ranting on this, it's just been one of the major conflicts of my life - how one of my favorite bands has such a one-riff or even one note bass player. Most of my other favorite bands, like the Stranglers, the Ex, Gang of Four, and Talking Heads had fairly intricate basslines that were the backbone of the songs.
In closing, has anybody seen Sonic Mirror? That's SY minus Lee - without him, it's just Thurston with his increasingly conventional rock riffs, and Kim with her two-note basslines. It sounded so janky that it actually reminded me of some of the earliest basement bands I used to play in. I think you can find the video on youtube, the song Sleeping Around is up there so you can judge for yourself.

Yeah, I should add that I like a lot of Kim's basslines.

My theory is this -

In the early days, things could get so free form that her parts were the only thing really holding things together as a conventional "song". She would be the backbone of the music so Lee and Thurston could go all over and it wouldnt sound so unstructured. I guess as they became more of a conventional rock band, she played the same way, and ended up with mixed results.

I do like economic basslines though - and even parts like in Little Trouble Girl and the Diamond Sea are great. I guess it could be a lot better though; its never bothered me.

- Chet

mackro wrote:It wasn't the best SY show ever, but I saw that same recent show in Seattle, and thought it was great.. then again, I think the new album is their best since Goo, and they pretty much played the entirety of it.

Not Crap 0.0001

Dirty is really the only album I'd call Crap, and even that one has a few good decent songs on it. All the other albums are great.

I like Rather Ripped a lot. But this was the first time I'd ever gotten to see Sonic Youth in all the years I've liked them (check my avatar, that is from 1994), and I wouldn't of been satisfied by anything less than a greatest hits show.

I did get to touch Thurston Moore's guitar when he held it out over the crowd. Had to go for it.

Not Crap.

They seemed to be going down hill a bit, but they picked up the slack with Rather Ripped. That album is amazing, like a follow up to Daydream Nation.

I saw them in Boston about 3 weeks ago. They were great live. Had a full 8 or so minutes of feedback, then it just stopped and they popped right into a song. Oooh yea, and for a bonus they had Mark Ibold on bass.

To answer your question about that...Looked like Kim played bass on half the songs. When she did play bass, Ibold and she were doubling it up or playing the octave. What was the point? Who the fuck cares...Mark Ibold was playing bass! I miss seeing that guy on stage, all happy go lucky smile on his face and that silly dance he does while playing.

Peripatetic wrote:Yesterday for the first time in eons, I got out the SY records that I've in the past thought to be "bad". These included: Bad Moon Rising, Ciccone Youth (if that counts) Experimental Jetset, A Thousand Leaves, NYC Ghosts and Flowers. The conclusion I came to was that Sonic Youth never made a bad record. There are some that aren't as good as others (Bad Moon Rising) and there are some I simply don't like (NYC Ghosts and Flowers), but none of them are bad, and they are still much better than a lot of other bullshit that is allowed to exist. So while I've never thought SY was anywhere near overall crap, my realization that they've never been even remotely close to crap, even for one record's time, merited resurrecting this thread to issue a resounding NOT CRAP.

I agree completely. I understand why some people don't like Sonic Youth and I can see why they don't seem as spectacular as they once did but they've been doing "it" for a long time and I know I like it.

Like Mr. Albini said at the Big Black reunion, "Believe me it was a lot cooler in the 80's".

NOT CRAP.

Even though playing "Rather Ripped" as practically your entire setlist is.

KERRRRAP!

good contribution sir.

i was determined to hate 'rather ripped' but i just can't.
i swear it's pro-tooled to fuck and it's a goddamn overload of 'hot licks' etc. it's still getting a shitload of airtime. what is it about this band huh?