I was here reading some org posts when from my bedroom I heard some really bad guitar playing and dreadful singing. Judging by the time, this had to one of the late night talk shows. Walked into the bedroom to discover it was a group called Sonic Youth on Conan O'Brien.

I've heard OF this group but never heard them before.

Now i'm dead serious when I ask this because i'd really like to know.
Why is this group, which to my ears sounds like a below average garage band, popular?
What's the draw?

Serious replies please.

Thanks,
tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Sonic Youth was a huge influence on the indie scene in the 80's and may be responsible for creating the " Wall of Sound" . Lead guitarist Thurston Moore is known for using a heavy amount of feedback, and alternate tunings, Sonic Youth like The Cure, were alternative before the phrase was coined, here is a link to the SY bio.....



http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll

Sonic Youth is an NYC art-punk band that's been around since the early 80s. I don't know what was going on with the Conan performance, but I had the pleasure of seeing them live last summer, and watching Thurston Moore play convinced me that he's one of the most amazing guitarists out there right now. They have a very unique sound and can do things with their instruments that other folks don't do - perhaps the sound was screwed up when they made their TV appearance, or maybe they were doing just fine and their way of playing just isn't your thing - they do have a very dissonant style.

Meloh9 said:

Thanks Meloh9.
I'll check that out.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

also Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo made Rolling Stones top guitarist of all time, I dont remember how they were ranked, check out these albums if you get a chance

Daydream Nation
Sister
Dirty
Washing Machine
Murray Street
[This message was edited Thu Jul 8 10:54:54 2004 by Meloh9]

Anxiety said:

I'm not opposed to dissonant music as I appreciate artists like Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor and Sam Rivers. And some of the feedback things they were attempting to do with 3 guitars i've heard Hendrix do a million times better with 1.

You're probably right that their way of playing just isn't my thing.

Thanks for the explanation.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

theAudience said:

Unlike the folks you listed, however, SY has roots in punk, and even though their sound has branched out into artsier (and, yes, BLUESIER) directions over the years, that influence still colors their music. I think to appreciate Sonic Youth, it helps to appreciate the noisecore movement and artists like The Boredoms and John Zorn/Naked City. This is the kind of energy that spawned Sonic Youth, though it would be silly to deny that they don't also do good ol' rock and roll as well, deconstructionist as their style may be.

And as much as I consider Hendrix to be an icon beyond reproach, I've heard some pretty ragged demos and bootlegs of the man. I'd hate to think that someone would listen to something like "High Live and Dirty" and judge his entire catalog and career based on one blearghy recording of a performance.

Sonic Youth is an institution to me. I've followed them for years and I've even had the honor of meeting Kim and Thurston a few years back. The band has their moments of artsy-fartsy excess (I was less than impressed with their album of cover songs by modern composers), but they're completely original, they're committed to what they do, and MOST of the time, they succeed in blending art with rock in a way that's more fun than it is pretentious.

Sorry ya didn't like 'em.

Anxiety said:

Is it true that they were influenced by Television?
Teenage riot is such a kick ass song

Meloh9 said:

i wouldn't be surprised to find that they were...i really need to bone up on my SY history, in terms of how they got together, what their influences are, and all the stuff that a true geek fan should know - for the most part, i just love their music and get all excited when a new SY album comes out and i love to laugh at kim's goofy lyrics and that's pretty much the extent of my sonic youth obsession...there's a book about them called "confusion is next" that i really need to check out, shame on me for not reading it yet!

and for me, "titanium expose" and "disappearer" will always be the jams. the whole GOO album has been kicking my ass for the last decade (and counting).

Anxiety said:

Did you like Murray Street?

....my 23cents:

they are one of my favorite bands ever!!! truly incredible guitar work. definitly not for everyone, but you may also wanna check out their new DVD if you want to delve a lil'deeper into the Youth.

Love the DVD!!!
Love The new CD, Sonic Nurse!!!


-peaceternal



***also, do yerself a favor and hit-up:

http://www.sonicyouth.com

they have a great site. tons of free music spanning their entire career***



.

Meloh9 said:

yeah, i liked it okay. i loved it to death on first listen, then after that i was kinda "eh" about it. but i can think of far worse things to listen to.

i like sonic youth, hell, i have all of their albums...but there are two things that always stick out in my head when i hear about them.

1. i remember a few years back -- probably 1999 or 2000 -- someone had stolen their tour van that had all of their equipment. the ol' lady and i were driving to work in mpls, and we basically hear an APB on Radio K, begging whomever stole the van to PLEASE RETURN IT, cuz all of sonic's equipment was in there...BECAUSE all of their guitars were tuned in such a specific way that even Thurston didn't know the manner in which they were tuned. they would no longer have their 'sonic sound.' we couldn't stop laughing.

2. even though i like them, my boy HiinEnkelte and i always joke about them -- specifically because while most of their songs start out really well, it always seems as if the band cannot figure out a way to end a song...so they end up just kicking the guitar pedals, blasting out some dissonant sounds, and screeching until the final second of the song. they cannot seem to do a solid song from start to finish -- of course, with the exception of anything from 'daydream nation.'

Ya can't always take Sonic Youth seriously. Check out what their drummer said on their web site bulletin boards in response to a (silly) suggestion to fire Kim Gordon from the band:



then thurston chimed in...