Photographer: Stephanie Chernikowski

(Sonic Youth)

More info:

https://www.popmatters.com/115359-wonder-the-photos-of-stephanie-chernikowski-2496117126.html

New Stuff: David Bowie

David Bowie and a star-studded cast of special guests gather at New York City’s fabled Madison Square Garden to celebrate Bowie’s 50th birthday.
Guests include: the Pixies’ Frank Black, the entire Foo Fighters joining Bowie’s band for "Hallo Spaceboy," the Cure’s Robert Smith, Sonic Youth, and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

An album recorded live at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago on October 14, 1987, featuring songs mostly from the album Sister - and I didn't have it yet!

New Stuff: Kim Gordon

Need I mention that I just had to get this book, and I'll be finished reading it soon?

New Stuff: Brigitte Fontaine

I just recently was told this album was made with the participation of Sonic Youth!

New Stuff: Ciccone Youth

This album was still missing in my Sonic Youth collection.

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

A live concert from between 'Bad Moon Rising' and 'Evol'.

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

Another Sonic Youth album that had gone below my radar...

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

Soundtrack by Sonic Youth!

Songs in the key of my life: Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia

Another one of the many bands that have been accompaying my life since their beginnings is Sonic Youth. My theory about rock music is that all the truly great bands have taken the music and sounds they love and re-invented them anew with the means they had available to them. It's therefore not necessary to be a studied musician at all (too much knowledge might even ruin it), but simply to go ahead and do it. Sonic Youth famously use a myriad of second-hand guitars, each one tuned differently to fit the sound of each separate song. This way their songs sound so different compared  to mainstream music, since they're intregrating atonal tunes and noise with beautiful, sometimes even lullaby-like melodies. In my opinion the album 'Sister' is their masterpiece, where these techniques have finally been mastered to create a classic album of innovative rock music. I know everybody declares it's their next album afterwards, 'Daydream Nation', which I can agree with to the degree that that album was more of a perfecting and summing up of what they had already achieved. I could pick out any song from 'Sister', since I love them all, but 'Schizophrenia' is the first track on the album, and the first time I put the needle on that record, it was like a revelation: great new innovative guitar-based rock music! Like all their best songs it's more than just a mere song, but rather a miniature opera/symphony. You can listen to the title over and over again finding new aspects of how it is built, how it's being played asking yourself where they got this or that particular tone from, and their timing is so impeccable. Sonic Youth can start a song and then turn it into a 20 minute cacophony of the weirdest noise, but if you were counting, they'd return to the song on the pin point. The clip is a newer recording of the song and less noisier than the original, but you can clearly watch (and hear) how the song works. To this day Sonic Youth have stayed true to their beginnings and have been making their own music uncompromisingly and are still striving to break down barriers - and this all very successfully.

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

The newest addition to my Sonic Youth collection.

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

Although I do have the complete back catalogue of Sonic Youth's main albums, I'm still a bit behind with the SYR series. This edition is interesting since it contains several John Cage compositions.

New Stuff: Blonde Redhead

I came upon this band while listening to the Sonic Youth radio ta last.fm. I was intrigued by the song I heard and looked them up at Allmusic.com: "Blonde Redhead's noisy, dissonant guitars, alternate tunings, and quiet, stilted lyrics have often been compared to early Sonic Youth."

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

Another Sonic Youth album so far missing in my collection.

New Stuff: Sonic Youth

Checking my Sonic Youth collection I found that this album was still missing.

New Stuff: Mats Gustafsson / Sonic Youth

I'm a Sonic Youth completist, and besides: Mats Gustafsson is a cool guy.

New Stuff

New stuff

A Song a Day

Swans - A Screw

I've seen the Swans in concert twice in the mid 80s, and they were one of the most incredible musical experiences I ever made. Incredibly loud and as if in slow motion the impact of their performance was mind-blowing. I've read, that the early Sonic Youth used to tour as support for the Swans, but always played after them, which had a frustrating result: the audience was too overwhelmed to register the geniality of Sonic Youth's music.

Don't forget to play this LOUD: