Best of 2019 #5: Kim Gordon - No Home Record (Matador)

If you had told me in 2011 that the break up of Sonic Youth was going to be a good thing, I may have slapped you in the face while crying. Man, I loved Sonic Youth. But, their break up has given us more music from each individual in the band, and it's been uniformly great! It's also been interesting to see which member was instrumental in each part of the band's sound. Thurston Moore has given us the same moody, skronky guitar noise-rock that Sonic Youth was known for, and constistently ends up on my Top 10 lists. (2011, 2013). Kim Gordon has gone in some wildly extreme directions, first a wall-of-noise style instrumental guitar band with Bill Nace called Body/Head, a foray into visual art, a biography called Girl in a Band (which I desperately need to read still). some acting, an album with experimental band Glitterbust, and finally, in this year, the first proper solo album under her own name. No Home Record is a dense mix of experimental rock, guitar noise, skittering electronics, echoed vocals and ambient atmospheres. Kim Gordon continues to surprise with her range after 40 years in music.

Covers Courageous #7: Mudhoney - Hallowe'en

It seems strangely apropos that we find Mudhoney covering Sonic Youth here. Both bands were seminal bands of their time, but ended up being overshadowed by other, more commercially successful bands, only for both bands to gain notoriety later on in their careers.

Sonic Youth started in the heady early days of the New York City punk scene in the late 70s and early 80s. While The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television and Blondie were tearing up CBGB's and signing contracts to major labels, no-wave bands like Suicide, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, DNA and Sonic Youth were twisting the post-punk sound into highly abrasive and unstructured noise. Sonic Youth toiled at their music for more than ten years, releasing albums on several obscure and defunct labels until the rise of grunge in the 90s saw them signing to the DGC label, alongside of bands like Nirvana and Beck. Their first unlikely mainstream success came soon after, with the albums Goo and Dirty getting rotation on MTV and alternative radio. After Sonic Youth's day in the sun, they slunk back into the underground for several excellent albums ranging from their traditional sludgy noise to more structured work with David Grubbs of Gastr del Sol, until they went on hiatus in 2011.

Mudhoney's story is similar. A groundbreaking band in the late 80s in the Seattle grunge scene, Mudhoney formed out of the ashes of early grunge band Green River (which also featured members of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone). Mudhoney pioneered the grunge sound of fuzzed out, heavily distorted guitar rock, which other bands took to much greater success, like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Like Sonic Youth before them, their more successful co-horts went onto major label contracts while Mudhoney stayed local with Sub Pop Records. Mudhoney eventually graduated up to the Warner label for a few years and had a few minor hits, like having theiir “Touch Me I'm Sick” song featured in the movie “Singles”, then headed back to their old Sub Pop home. The band still records and tours, seemingly outlasting the bands they inspired.

Mudhoney's cover of Sonic Youth's “Hallowe'en” comes from a split single released by Sub Pop in 1990, with Sonic Youth covering Mudhoney's “Touch Me I'm Sick” on the A-side and “Hallowe'en” on the B-Side. Theoriginal Sonic Youth tune is a creepy, creeping, minimalist noise-fest. Mudhoney turn it into a feedback-drenched wall of guitar noise.It also appears on the deluxe edition of Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff.

Best of 2013 #4: Chelsea Light Moving - S/T (Matador)

It's been a bleak couple of years for Sonic Youth fans (like me), with the band on indefinite hiatus. But 2013 was a good year for side projects, with 3 albums coming out. First we had Lee Ranaldo and the Dust's Last Night on Earth, a solid noise/indy rock album. Then we had Kim Gordon's collaboration with Bill Nace, Body/Head, whose album of skronky guitar noise, Coming Apart, made my honourable mentions list (more on this soon). And Thurston Moore put together a new band, Chelsea Light Moving, who put out a great self titled album. Of the three albums, Chelsea Light Moving got closest to the Sonic Youth sound of old, and the sound they were recapturing in their last proper album, The Eternal (coincidentally, my favourite album of 2009). Those needing a Sonic Youth fix, check here first!

Best of 2011 #3: Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

I've loved Sonic Youth ever since my first listen to Daydream Nation way back in the early 90s at CKUL in Lethbridge. Their sound totally rewired my brain and made me rethink a lot of what I thought about rock music. Their unique "wall of guitar noise" approach to music appealed to me, as did their later experiments in more textured indy rock. The members of the band are ruthlessly and unapologetically experimental. Guitarist and vocalist Thurston Moore's latest solo effort is an often subtle album of understated guitar-based indy rock. Producer Beck Hansen's handiwork is apparent all of this album. Often the music less Moore's penchant for guitar skronk and more Hansen's tendency to layered, dense poppy rock. The collaboration produced some fantastic tracks though. If you're a fan of either Sonic Youth or Beck, you deserve to give this album a listen.

http://youtu.be/5wllPXb4lkI