SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000).
In the midst of all of the experimentation with the SYR discs. Sonic Youth released this “proper” release.
At the time, it was actually the impetus for me to stop buying Sonic Youth records. Between the experimental discs and the expanding palate of 1,000 Leaves, it felt like Sonic Youth were sort of drifting away from rock altogether. It was certainly a way to alienate fans of Goo and Dirty.
You get two two songs over seven minutes and three over five (there are two short blasts in the middle which add some heaviness to the proceedings). But for the most part, this is a very spare, almost atmospheric affair.
Prior to recording the disc, the bands custom gear was stolen. So they started from scratch for this recording. And that may have something to do with the ambient, almost spatial sound. It is quite mellow, (although still angular and dissonant) with a number of spoken word/beat poetry vocals.
Whether it’s pretentious or artsy depends on your take for recited lyrics (and SY’s lyrics are inscrutable anyhow). Although Lee’s piece “NYC Ghosts and Flowers” seems to fit the style best (he has done a number of spoken vocal pieces in the past). And “Nevermind (What Was It Anyway)” has a sort of commercial appeal. The closing tack “Lightnin'” even features a trumpet, which I assume is played by Kim. It’s the most noisy piece on the disc, with all kinds of fun sound effects showing up.
I’ve been listening to this disc a lot lately. I think because I’ve revisited the experimental discs, this one makes more sense. It’s not what I’d call a typical Sonic Youth album, or even the best Sonic Youth album. It is certainly their most jazzy/mellow experiment (especially compared to the noise of says the SYR discs) and is about as far from their commercial peak as they could get.
The strangest thing to me though is that, despite all of the experimentation and slow-building songs, the whole disc is under 45 minutes. So, they aren’t just making noise to fill space.
[READ: Week of August 31] Infinite Jest (to page 808)
In all of the talk about DFW’s “psychic” abilities with regard to technologies, one thing no one has mentioned–that I’ve seen–is his love of Venus Williams. Her name keeps popping up (I’d say at least a half dozen references so far). And in many ways one doesn’t think too much of it (she is the #3 player right now, bested by her sister Serena who is #2). But the amazing thing about his embrace of Venus is that as 
of 1996, when the book was published, she had barely played any pro tournaments.
Look a these tidbits from Sports Illustrated:
October 31, 1994: Venus wins her first pro match, defeating Shaun Stafford at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland. … Venus faces Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the No. 2 player in the world, in her next match. Venus races out to a 6-3, 3-1 lead but then folds as Sanchez Vicario wins 11 consecutive games. In an interview after the match, Venus is asked how the loss compares with previous defeats. She answers bemusedly that she has never before lost a match.
May 22, 1995: Reebok announces it has signed Venus to a five-year, $12 million deal. Thus far, Venus has played in one pro tournament.
Although much has been speculated (by me and others) about when he was actually writing this book (and when he was able to send in last minute changes), she would not break into the Top 20 until 1998. He clearly saw something in her.
I write these posts as I go along. So, I read the day’s pages take notes and then type them up. This is why I get moments of speculation in the posts. But mostly it means that when I start writing I don’t know how much there will be in total. This is now the second week in a row where the early reading started off, if not slowly, then certainly without all too much happening. The notes I took were very simple, along the lines of: Marathe in Ennet House or Kate & Marathe talk. I knew I could remember what they were talking about, but there wasn’t a lot of notable moments.
And then, we get the trifecta of Endnotes and Tine’s interview. Holy cow, a torrent of information flooding out at once. It doubled my word count almost immediately. Phew.
As this week’s reading starts out we see Marathe trying to check into Ennet House. Okay, actually he’s there as the final part of his recon looking for the veiled girl who was in the Entertainment and is now in rehab.
His new-eyes-looking-at-the-place is rather enlightening as I hadn’t realized just how dreary and drab the House is (nor just how weird most of the residents would be). The supporting cast is in good form: some of them sleeping, some of them talking loudly, others just staring. And Marathe takes it all in. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: UI-Sidelong (1996).
I mentioned this band in my review of The New Yorker because Sasha Frere-Jones writes the music column for the magazine and he’s also the main guy here.
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 7: J’accuse Ted Hughes/Agnès B Musique (2008).
Mental Floss
Next comes the ubiquitous letters. This also contains the occasional feature of Readers and Their Famous Friends, which shows pictures of readers celebrities (pretty much the only celebrities they ever talk about). This is followed by the letter from the editor. Neely Harris (I have yet to determine if Neely is a boy or a girl and I’m not going to look it up either, somehow it’s more fun trying to imagine) is very funny and always sets a good tone for the magazine. 
SOUNDTRACK: DEATH CAB FOR CUTE: Narrow Stairs EP (2009).
I Just Read About That... 