SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-“Rather Ripped” (2006).
When Rather Ripped came out, I was really excited by it. It rocked heavy, it was catchy and it featured a lot of Kim. I listened to it all the time, and would have said it was my favorite SY disc of this era. However, listening to Sonic Nurse reminded me how much I liked that one too, so I’m unclear now which one I like better.
Jim O’Rourke left the band, so they’re back to a 4 piece. And the overall sound of the album is more minimal. There’s less squalling feedback (although there are noisy parts). And the song structures are tighter. It sounds more like a punk album that a jazz album. It’s a great release.
“Reena” is so instantly catchy, it’s an amazing opener. And it’s followed by “Incinerate” which might be even more catchy. A simple guitar riff and a beautiful chord progression. “Do You Believe in Rapture?” is a delicate guitar-harmonics filled song. The only thing that keeps it from being totally poppy are the off-kilter harmonics between verses.
It’s followed by the screaming noise guitars of “Sleepin’ Around.” This has some amazing tom-filled drums from Steve Shelley which really propel the song along. It eventually morphs into a pretty straightforward chugga-chugga song until the noise solos in the middle. “What a Waste” is a lo-fi rocker with Kim singing angrily. It’s followed by Kim’s more delicate/sexy “Jams Run Free,” a rather tender guitar line. And, with Kim playing more guitar, I’m wondering if she’s writing these more delicate guitar riffs? They seem kind of bass-like rather than the complex lines that Lee typically writes. I’ll never know.
“Rats” is a noisy Lee song that I’m quite fond of. It’s immediately followed by an even more delicate Kim song, “Turquoise Boy.” This is a slow ballad that is quite surprising. “Lights Out” continues the quiet mood with Thurston’s own brand of sinister/seductive singing.
“The Neutral” continues Kim’s delicate singing. While “Pink Steam” is a beautiful six minute near-instrumental that Thurston reins in with great vocals at the end. “Or” ends the disc in a quiet frame of mind.
I’m still undecided if I like Nurse or Ripped better. But I am delighted by this new style that SY has been playing with.
[READ: September 17, 2009] Infinite Jest (completed!)
Hal is remembering the ’98 blizzard (which I actually tried to remember if I had been in Boston for and then realized that ’98 came after the book was written…Doh!)
It was the year that E.T.A. opened and they moved from Weston to E.T.A. The Moms was attached to the Weston house so she dragged things out. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Sonic Nurse (2004).
I’m not sure how I first learned about 
SOUNDTRACK: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES-Don’t Know How to Party (1993).
I’ve always had a thing for ska (although even I got sick of it when No Doubt took over the airwaves, thanks Gwen). When ska gets added to blistering metal, well, it’s hard to resist. And so we get Boston’s own Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
I’ve also decided that, since the story is steamrolling to an end, and since so many of the end days are coming along, I’m going to update my own calendar (but just the November info). I’m putting it at the end of the post to include this week’s information.
This week’s reading is almost entirely focused on Gately in St Elizabeth’s Trauma Wing. He is stuck staring at the ceiling which is breathing at him. It reminds him of a holiday in Beverly, Ma in which the beach house that they rented had a hole in the roof. The hole was covered by a plastic sheet which flapped and pulsed with the wind. His crib was placed under the hole and it freaked him out (although what is a 4 year old doing in a crib? Well, Gately’s mom is clearly not the best parent.) 
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.
of 1996, when the book was published, she had barely played any pro tournaments.
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: GARBAGE-Garbage (1995).
I was thinking about how IJ reminds me so specifically of a place and time (I instantly think of the apartment I was in when I started reading it). And there are also some discs that I was crazy about at the time too.
It is incredible serendipity that I did the JOI filmography during this week as this week’s readings actually count on knowing a bit about it. And since I had just reevaluated it, I was aware of a thing or two during Hal’s viewing scene.
Week 10 starts off seeming like a lot of nothing is happening. There’s a few post-Event scenarios. Until we get to November 14th, and a whole lot goes on. A whole lot! 
It took me going to Seattle to learn about 
ten. For reasons known only to my head, I was convinced that Sasha was a black woman. Little did I realize that he is not. And that he was in a band that I have a CD of called Ui. He is an excellent resource for all things music, whether I like the artist he’s talking about or not. Some entries are 
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 3: Invito Al Ĉielo (1998).
This SYR release adds Jim O’Rourke to the mix (O’Rourke played with with them on A Thousand Leaves too). I’ve always been aware of O’Rourke but I’ve never really listened to any of the bands that he’s been associated with (and there’s a lot). So, I’m not sure what his actual contributions are, but he seems to be pushing the SY members into a much more noisy/abstract direction. (A few samples of Gastr Del Sol shows them to be pretty out there, so perhaps pushing SY in a direction that was not too far from where they’d go on their own. And, I rather liked the Gastr stuff, too).
I Just Read About That... 