Sonic Youth

1981-83 (Noise Fest, 1st mini-LP, Confusion Is Sex, Kill Yr Idols, Sonic Death) Sonic Youth began in 1981 downtown NYC with this line-up: Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo & drummer Richard Edson. Ann Demarinis, keyboards, played briefly and is documented on the first recorded appearance of the band on the Noise Fest cassette released by ZG Magazine in '82. The Noise Fest was at a NYC art gallery where Thurston curated 9 days of experimental rock music. After Anne left, Lee joined. This is the band that made their self-titled mini-LP released in '82 by Neutral Records, a label founded by NYC guitar/composer Glen Branca. Richard then ran away to be a movie star. Lee & Thurston awoke in 1976/77 NYC to CBGB/Max's firestorm: Television, Patti Smith, Suicide, Ramones, etc. - Kim was in L.A. studying as a visual artist living down the block from a young Darby Crash and Germs rehearsals. She came to NYC, met up with Thurston and started playing during the era (1978/79) dubbed NoWave. With cheap guitars with various tunings they wrote songs. Richard Edson left to be replaced by Bob Bert and for an interim, Jim Sclavunos. These drummers helped record the '83 lp Confusion Is Sex again. Black Flag, The Minutemen, Meat Puppets & Butthole Surfers became contemporaries & Sonic Youth crashed around the USA in the 80s playing for small, completely freaked out audiences. Bob Bert toured with the band through Europe throughout early '83. They released an exclusive German EP called Kill Yr Idols (Zensor Records). Their tour recordings were released as Sonic Death on Ecstatic Peace. 1984-86: (Bad Moon Rising, Flower/Halloween, Evol) After repeatedly sending tapes to independent record labels they finally got a call from Blast First - a London based label which released Lydia Lunch recordings. They recorded the Bad Moon Rising LP & Blast First released it. Gerard Cosloy, who had interest in the band, started work at a label in the U.S. called Homestead & released it statewide. They also released a 12" entitled Flower/Halloween --they went to London & destroyed. At that point the U.K. scene was touting the death of the electric guitar & Sonic Youth, in a New York minute, wiped that concept out. They encouraged Blast First to bring over Big Black & the Butthole Surfers to further the explosion of recognition for the new U.S. underground. Things have not been the same since. Upon return to the U.S. from the '84 touring Bob Bert left. (later to join post-SY noise freaksters Pussy Galore). Steve Shelley, from Michigan, was asked to join after sending cassettes of his bands the Crucifucks & Spastic Rhythm Tarts to Thurston. Lee & Thurston saw Steve play a hardcore matinee at CBGB with the Crucifucks & knew he was the choice. Black Flag had a label called SST in L.A. & in the mid '80s this was considered the premier vanguard of underground, independent music being made in the USA. SST signed Sonic Youth in '86, who left Homestead but stayed with Blast First for the U.K. & Europe.- Sonic Youth recorded Evol expanding on their dusted, mesa-boogie explorations of the American landscape & all it's mysteries. At this time the Sub Pop label included SY's Kill Yr Idols track on it's prescient Sub Pop 100 compilation. 1987-89: (Sister, TheWhite(y) Album, Daydream Nation) In 1987 they recorded Sister. This LP touched on themes of hyper-reality & dislocution. After continuous touring, they stopped & decided to leave SST for a record deal with Enigma (now defunct) and recorded The White(y) Album under the aegis of Ciccone Youth - an idea borne from the fact of Madonna, who made out with a mutual friend to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. It was an effort to create music that was completely studio based & skullf*cked. Minutemen?s Mike Watt suggested the idea of a cover version of Madonna's ?Burning Up? while Ciccone Youth recorded Into The Groove (as Into The Groove(y)) - that was where the Madonna flirtation ended. Sonic Youth then recorded ?Daydream Nation? a double lp which encapsulated all that had been brewing musically & lyrically with the band through the '80s. They toured incessantly round the globe, even doing a run through the Soviet Union. At decade's end left Blast First & Enigma then signed to a major label, Geffen. This was considered insane by many as there was no history of independent underground bands succeeding within ?corporate music? industry. 1990-92: (Goo, Dirty, TV Shit) In 1990 SY released Goo and spent that summer blasting across America with Neil Young & Crazy Horse on the Ragged Glory tour. With "alternative rock" & "grunge" sweeping the nation (Nirvana had sold millions) SY recorded Dirty in '92 and raged globally on the ?Pretty Fucking Dirty? tour from whence the Ecstatic Peace live release TV Shit (with Y. Eye of the Boredoms). 1993-95: (Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star) SY toured & toured & in '94 they released the odd & rather zapped LP Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star. In '95 they headlined Lollapalooza and toured with REM. 1996-98: (Washing Machine, A Thousand Leaves, SYR 1, 2 + 3, Silver Session (for Jason Knuth)) In ?96 they released Washing Machine from the deep south of Memphis, Tennessee. In '97 SY built a studio, played the Tibetan Freedom Festival and recorded soundtrack music for Richard Linklater and Eric Bogosian's Suburbia film. They also recorded a series of EPs on their own homegrown label SYR (Anagrama, Slaapkamers met Slagroom, & Invito al Cielo). This music was extrapolated, mostly instrumental forays into wild improvisational sessions and subconscious structural creations. This work helped develop A Thousand Leaves (1998) as well as the Silver Session (for Jason Knuth) to benefit to suicide prevention awareness. 1999-04: (NYC Ghosts & Flowers, Goodbye 20th Century, Murray Street, Sonic Nurse) In the summer of '99 SY were liberated from all the signature sound tools they developed for the last 12 years or so. They came home & picked up hammers and nails and began writing the ?NYC Ghosts & Flowers?. Jim O'Rourke collaborated and toured with SY during this time. With additional input from Bay Area percussionist William Winant SY recorded an homage to an array of 20th Century new music composers (John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Christian Wolff, Takehisa Kosugi, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich & others) entitled ?Goodbye 20th Century? released on SYR. This expanded line up toured Europe. Jim remained with the band during the writing/arranging of the upcoming ?Murray Street? as well as recording music for Olivier Assayas' ?Demonlover.?- all amidst the ruined landscape of the World Trade Center. They then curated ?All Tomorrow's Parties? festival in L.A. spring'02 & toured throughout the summer. The band regrouped for 2003's Coachella Festival and did a short tour with Wilco. SY finished the summer doing a handful of gigs with Iggy & the Stooges. Injected with this fire they cut the LP Sonic Nurse.