SY Decade Reflection
 

It's almost a new decade, which is weird, and SY of course has blessed us with a ton of shit to listen to (for the sake of discussion, I'm including the year 2000). So, what's been your favorite these past ten years? It's really interesting to think back on what has come out this decade because their releases have really ranged in styles.

My favorites are NYC Ghosts + Flowers -- definitely one of my favorite albums from SY. Compared to later releases this decade, NYCGF obviously stands out. Noisy, dark beat poetry.

SYR 7 -- This is a landmark SY record. An absolute sonic assault on track 1. followed up by an amazing ambient piece, which is sort of rare for SY. Some of the stuff on track 2 reminds me of Windy & Carl for some reason.

Murray Street -- Introduces the "classic rock" sound, but still has that experimental edge. Love the horrible horns from Borbetomagus on Radical Adults. One of their best records!

My personal opinion is that Rather Ripped is the worst proper album the band has ever released, but Nurse which I though was so-so at first, gets better each time I listen to it. The Eternal from what I have sounds awesome so far, I just hope it isn't uninspired like RR.

So what is everyone's highlights from this decade?

fuck off, you're talking about records that came out on different decades.

come back

reflect

fuck off

hope-rah

???

actually all of those records were 2000-2009
as for the question. 'the eternal'.

Okay, here's something. I loved NYCG&F. I hated SYR5. But over the years since its release, I've decided that SYR5 is sort of a good companion piece to NYCG&F. I know they sound nothing alike. So I can't really explain further. It's just a... feeling?

Oh, and MURRAY STREET is my favorite of the 00's.

Murray Street is the only album from this decade I listen to with any kind of regularity.

I like Rather Ripped. I don't give a fuck.

been listening to rather ripped a lot recently.. it's fucking awesome.

rather ripped is nice but unspectacular. my mate was playing the juno soundtrack in his car today and the sy 'superstar' came on and i made this link to rather ripped. lee is well into dylan and that and kim had a fascination with karen carpenter for a bit (well, if tunic is anything to go by), they've mostly cleared 50 now and i think a classic rock record as a more than forgiveable indulgence.

otherwise, i think syr7 seriously doesn't deserve it's elevated status, and though it's still not the best avant thing they've done by a long shot i quite dug syr8. 6 was well good now i come to think of it. 5 was a bit gash though, but a lot of the kim side stuff (harry crews, most of free kitten) isn't my steamy cuppa chai.

murray street owned, nurse grabbed me instantly and still hasn't really let go.

thurston's trees was ace and it would be great to have the lee solo song-based record to compliment it before the decade is through.

seeing thurston/nace/corsano at colour out of sound was the best thing i've ever seen - i pranged a string on the jazzmaster when he jumped into the crowd!! *fanboy moment*

SYR7 is way better than 6.

i dreamt last night that i found a record player in my loft and a copy of 7

as for this last 10years i love pretty much everything they've released. which isn't bad going (except for 5 which i've never got and haven't tried for a while)

I LOVE 6; it's the first SYR I ever bought.


That being said, 7 is better.

6 is kind of meh. It would have made a lot of sense had it come with a DVD.

The DVD would be awesome. I've got some comp of Stan's stuff in my netflix queue, maybe I'll just play it with no sound and have SY6 in the background :)

most of his stuff is completely silent, so you won't even have to turn the sound off.

NYGAF: disliked it at first but learnt to like it.
MURRAY st: fucking love at first sight
NURSE: first listening was painful, second and others thereafter blissful.
RR: i always liked the summery vibe. The songs are not their best but i listen to it pretty often whenever the weather's nice and i feel like listening to something "light"
Eternal: I really like it. The songs are great. The vibe is raw. But also sensitive stuff "Massage" or "Antenna". I really enjoyed discovering this one.

da Yoof is da YOof.

PS: wasn't too impressed with the SYRs from this decade. BUt i really loved TOTA.

Ha, cool. I've only seen a couple of clips of his stuff, I'm looking forward to the DVD.

NYCG&F - loved it from first listen. Still do.
SYR5 - meh. a nice idea, but...
MURRAY STREET - best SY album of the decade.
KALI YUG - good stuff.
IN THE FISHTANK - pretty not good.
SONIC NURSE - very very good. Especially Kim's contributions.
HIDROS 3 - oft overlooked. Pretty good at times.
SYR6 - kind of weak, but alright.
RATHER RIPPED - awesome pop. Too much undeserved hate.
THE DESTROYED ROOM - love love love it. 2nd best of the decade.
SYR7 - kicks ass.
SYR8 - kicks even more ass!
HITS ARE FOR SQUARES - a nice collectible item.
THE ETERNAL - I wont hear for another week or so.
SOUNDTRACK SERIES VOL 1 - better f'ing come out this year!!!!

as far as this THIRD DECADE of sonic youth goes, I find myself with these thoughts.

NYCG&F - took me a while to enjoy it. still seems like mainly background music and I hates me some background music. it does have 1 or 2 of the top 20 sonic youth songs ever on it though.
SYR5 - I like it for what it is. do not listen to it much.
MURRAY STREET - Liked it when I first got it, and slowly have liked it less and less. I find it un-inspired, and bordering on tedious at times. It feels like music for older ladies after church. Do not listen to it much unless I wanna listen to sonic youth that will not grate on my girlfriend's ears.
KALI YUG - fucking LOVE it. I would listen to it while internettin' and I would find my mind zoned out on the music instead of whatever I was doing online. I am dying to find the french vinyl release of it.
IN THE FISHTANK - kind of meh, I always have found sonic youth to be better after they have worked and worked on their music, not writing toss-off tunes.
SONIC NURSE - BEST SY ALBUM of the last ten years, It fucking ROCKS right off the bat. It has amazing Kim songs. It is just a blast to hear after the drudgery that was murray street. Love it so much.
SYR6 - like all SYR releases, more of an aural experiment to be enjoyed on those terms than a GREAT collection of sounds.
RATHER RIPPED - seemed too simple at first but that is th beauty of it. I love it now. even sleeping around.. ha ha. I Love You Golden Blue is the most sadly beautiful haunting, amazing song to drive to late at night.
THE DESTROYED ROOM - some fabulous shit, but I have not heard it enough to be a true judgement.

i love you golden blue is on sonic nurse, you know that, i know. :)

NYC Ghosts&Flowers - I didnt use to get it, but now i love it!!
Murray Street - Great,great,great album
Sonic Nurse - Kim dominates, pretty good album overall
SYR6 - I really like it
Rather Ripped - meh, not that great, but it does have its moments
The Destroyed Room - Great collection of b-sides
Hits are for squares - Pretty cool
The Eternal - Beautiful, one of there best imo

Personally I think this has been SY's greatest decade.

one i forgot which seems to have not been mentioned: melbourne direct is motherfucking dynamite yo. not under the sy name, but it has them all on it (kim is on 'artwork' :P)

i just never got into the vibe on 7. i'd heard so much about j'accuse ted hughes (but never heard a boot of it), and there was the whole vinyl only thing which always helps generate hype, that whe i actually came round to it it seemed a bit... bland. the b-side was alright but didn't grab me, agnes b musique or whatever it was called. seeing as how i've recently reappraised nycg&f, i should probably go back to it, but my record player's fucked.

best decade of da yoof? quite probably now you come to mention it, zero.

Man I can't wait till I finally get my hands on eternal, sounds great.

Also Destroyed Room could have been a box set with EP's and stuff. I'd buy it in a second.

I am one of those strange people who thinks that Sonic Youth in the 00s is actually better, generally speaking, than Sonic Youth in the 80s or 90s.

I've read some things on this forum that basically say "they have been all the same in the 00s". NO! I cannot agree with that statement at all. NYCGF and Murray Street and Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped (and presumeably The Eternal) are all quite different from each other, and all Beyond Worthy. 5 great records! All create a mood, all flow beautifully, all contain several absolute gems of songwriting and soundcraft, and performance.

And yes....I mean Rather Ripped too. I'll never understand the lack of love for this outstanding, economical, thrilling record.

But, I have not heard The Eternal yet, so I cannot fully answer the query about the 00s highlights yet. It's a tough question. Like, which one of your kids do you love the best?

Um....wtf are you talking about?

Yeah it's pretty good. Similar to WITHOUT KIM.

yes sorry love that fuckin song. could die to it ya know?

I've only heard Murray Street and Sonic Nurse. I like both of them, but I don't really have the desire to ever listen to them.

Just found this thread. Thought it would clash nicely with the "00s" thread.

As for my comment: Surprising is how I would characterize SY in the 00's. As one who listens to the SYR series on a seamless continuum w/ the albums proper (for better or worse) I was expecting a more thorough integration of avant-noise work-outs into the regular albums after SYR4. That never really happened. Everything just keeps "rocking." That said, NYCG&F was an auspicious inauguration of the decade. Maybe it was the instrumentation--after losing their old gear they had to start from scratch.

This.

LOL. This is an older thread and I forgot that I posted in it. Now that I've grasped the mighty Eternal, my post of May 29th above has an excitement/appreciation factor that is multiplied by 2 or 3.

Sonic Youth have been officially snubbed on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the '00s list.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...of_the_decade/

And this naturally begs the question concerning whether they had it coming or if it's due to the rag's egregious omission.

Kim Gordon's dress sense has improved immeasurably, reaching glamorous proportions. Something that can't be said for the boys, who still dress circa "Bad Moon Rising"!