An album quite unlike any other in the colorful Sonic Youth canon, Bad Moon Rising captures the New York band in 1985 during its most morose phase, one that is quite...
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Abrasive and archaic, theatrical and confrontational, Confusion Is Sex marks the opening strides that Sonic Youth made during their long slog through the American...
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While there is little denying the title track's status as one of Sonic Youth's strongest songs from their early-'90s period, the bonus live recordings are the real reason to...
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Sonic Youth made their first moves toward rock with EVOL, a stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock & roll. The band benefits...
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Whereas Dirty and its predecessors were loud, distorted, and bordering on the fine line between pop and noise, Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star did away with the...
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On their first major-label release, Sonic Youth's scratchy thrift-shop noise enjoys life in its new cleaner-sound surroundings, producing gems like Moore's ascendant "Dirty...
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Any doubts as to the continuing relevance of Sonic Youth upon their jump to major-label status were quickly laid to rest by Goo, their follow-up to the monumental Daydream...
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EVOL was a major leap forward for Sonic Youth, but Sister is a masterpiece, demonstrating the group's rapidly evolving musicality. More than ever before, Sonic Youth's songs...
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Though Sonic Youth's first EP is the least of their major works and was the major only release to not receive reissue in 1995 by DGC, it's not a complete blunder. Awkward...
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Blast First's Sonic Death: Early Sonic 1981-1983 captures the early incarnation of Sonic Youth at their noisiest and artiest. Often, it's unfocused and tiresome, but there...
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TV Shit is a must for all Sonic Youth fans, and it will alienate just about everyone else. Just imagine the ending of their track "Mildred Pierce" (from Goo) extended to...
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On this bristling masterwork, SY articulated their scratchy noise-guitar concepts in mutant pop-song forms including "Teen Age Riot." Cacophony and harmony squared off like...
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By refining the song-oriented breakthroughs of Sister and developing their fascination with noise and alternate tunings, Sonic Youth created a masterpiece of post-punk art...
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During some inspired moments of real rock beauty, Gordon trades in her bass for simple guitar riffs that provide a fulcrum for the guitar seesaw of Moore and Ranaldo. The...
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After the regressive, low-key Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star, Sonic Youth appeared to be floundering somewhat, but Washing Machine erased any notion that the band had...
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Sonic Youth invested the money it earned as Lollapalooza headliners in 1995 in a new studio. Owning their own studio gave the quartet the freedom to experiment as they were...
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The second of three self-released instrumental EPs, SYR 2 follows through on the promise of SYR 1 while exploring new territory. A noisier record than its predecessor, SYR 2...
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If you've heard past Sonic Youth albums, you probably know what this one sounds like. Sure, there's always the question whether it's going to be the "pop" Sonic...
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Truth be told, the grunge era never quite fit Sonic Youth. They may have been at the peak of their popularity, but they had traded their experimentalism for sheer, bracing...
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For their final self-released instrumental EP, Sonic Youth teamed up with Jim O'Rourke, the avant-garde/post-rock guru best known as a member of Gastr Del Sol. While the...
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Continuing their high-brow path towards avant-garde guitar music and away from their late '80s punk-influenced style of controlled cacophony, Sonic Youth have continued to...
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Of the many strange recordings released by Sonic Youth over the course of their long career, few measure up to Silver Session for Jason Knuth. On the inside of the CD...
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Undoubtedly, there's a hipster out there who thinks these avant-garde pieces are worthy of release, who will swear up and down that one's attention does not shift to the...
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As a farewell to a century of musical innovation, Sonic Youth devote a double album to covering legendary avant-garde recordings such as John Cage's "Six," James Tenney's...
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Virtually every album Sonic Youth has released since the underrated Goo has been hailed as a return to form. However, Murray Street, their second collaboration with Jim...
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Picking up where Murray Street's languid experimentalism left off, Sonic Youth's somewhat awkwardly named Sonic Nurse shows that the band still sounds revitalized, and may...
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While Sonic Youth diehards may complain that 1992's Dirty is the first of their albums to receive the deluxe reissue treatment -- complete with an extra disc of B-sides,...
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Considering that Sonic Youth lost Jim O'Rourke and found the custom-tweaked, irreplaceable guitars that were stolen in 1999 before heading into the studio to make Rather...
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