I played the new Sonic Youth disc this week. My review in a snapshot: Pretty damn good. I'm split on the SYR noise recording, finding a bunch of them tests of patience more than anything, and others trying to be more ambitious, standing on their own. SYR8: Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth (Danish for The Other Side of Sonic Youth) is one of the latter. It's a set from the 2005 Rokslide Festival in Denmark. The set begins with Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley. Gordon moaning some oblique lyrics into the microphone while scraping her guitar, Shelley moving in and out of the spotlight with drum fills. Eventually Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo enter, producing an excellent example of the quartet's ability to mesh with each other's chaos while maintaining their individual styles. In this, they are unmatched. Jim O'Rourke eventually comes on stage, proving that his presence in the band was far more than that of an extra musician, that he was a full fledged experimentalist. The set continues to peak when (I don't remember what time exactly) Mats Gustafsson enters, blasting through the noise and taking an appropriate place in the mix with his reeds and horns. Finally, Merzbow himself comes on stage with dual laptops and proceeds to add, help direct, and push the set into new directions. Then they all leave stage one by one in order of appearance, Gordon and Shelley leaving first until Merzbow is the only participant left on stage.
I wish they put a DVD of this set out. It's fucking awesome. Check it out if you can stand the noise. If you're reading this, there's a chance you can't as I witnessed my listening audience dwindle while the Sonic Youth piece moved forward. But hey, Pitchfork liked it.
Here's the set.
1. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues [Dual Disc Reissue]
2. Shayla - Blondie - Eat to the Beat - Chrysalis, LP, 1979
3. Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady - Stay Positive - Vagrant, CD, 2008 *
4. Sweet Tooth - King Khan and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines - Vice - 2008 *
5. Ain't That Nothin' - Television - Adventure - Elektra, CD, 2003 Reissue
6. Shine on Heaven - White Magic - Dark Stars EP - Drag City, LP, 2007 [REQUEST]
7. The World is Awaiting - Sunset - The Glowing City - Autobus, CD, 2008 *
8. Baroque Lullaby - Miss Murgatroid and Petra Haden - Hearts and Daggers - File Under Music, CD, 2008 *
9. The Wolf - Miniature Tigers - Black Magic - Modern Art, CD [REQUEST]
10. Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat - Verve, LP Reissue
11. Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth [Feat. Merzbow, Mats Gustafsson] - SYR 8 - SYR, CD, 2008 *
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