Sonic Youth Gossip - Rather Ripped Review

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- - Rather Ripped Review (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=838)

Quote:

Originally Posted by whorefrost

firstly i'd like to call bullshit on all the people claiming that the inferior quality of mp3s makes a leaked copy unlistenable. there were a lot of people on this board happily circulating a bootleg of the concert that went on to become SYR6. A bootleg for christ's sake! A bootleg of a CD that was for a charitable cause. I can imagine these are the same people who are refusing to download rather ripped.
Ok, i've only listened to this once but my intial impression is one of severe disappointment. As one interviewer noted, it sounds like "classic Sonic Youth." You can hear echoes of a lot of more melodic SY moments. The song Rats even has a riff which, to my ears, sounds like it could have been directly lifted from Disappearer.
RR is a definite continuation from the previous two records but it does not progress on them in any way. Unless you call using chorus pedals during solos and singing in key an exciting new progression. It just sounds like a predictable SY record, sans the noise. sans the edge and excitement. It is sadly predictable, most songs utilising rapid melodic fingerpicking reminiscent of Rain on Tin or Dripping Dream. Throw in some token noisey-ish solos and you bland lyrical content/delivery and you've got the new SY record.
Thurston's vocals sound OK for the most part although his lyrics seem uninspired. Thurston often writes throwaway lyrics but in a good way; in a dadaist surrealist spontaneous way. On the last track, Or, he sounds weary and unconnected to what he is singing.
Kim's lyrics are the biggest disappointment for me. When I listen to ATL or Nurse I always marvel at her ferocious, idiosyncratic vocal delivery. this is sadly absent from RR where she seems to be emulating Thurston in an attempt to deliver breathy, standard rock style vocals w/ sub-par lyrics to match.
Most of the songs are pretty catchy like Do You Believe in Rapture and Sleeping Around. I just expect a lot more complexity and depth from a Sonic Youth record. There are no experimental song structures or sounds. It is almost as if they have been overly inspired by remastering Goo and Dirty. It could be construed that the whole LP is an experiment in that trying to write a straight up rock record is an experiment for Sonic Youth. But I don't really buy that; they went far enough in that direction with Nurse and Murray Street whilst still maintaining their avant-garde sensibilities and integrity. The only thing I can think of, and it is rather cynical, is that they are trying to endear themselves to Geffen and a more mainstream audience in the hope of having their contract renewed. I'm sure being on Geffen affords them a comfortable income that they would do well to maintain. They aren't quite at retirement age yet after all, and still probably have mortgages to pay off. This is just my theory, but to me it sounds as if they are playing it safe, co-opting their art in favour of playing the corporate game.
Anyway, I await your flames.

I agree 100% with this take on it. I was amazed at how ordinary it sounded, and when I got home and listened to it, I wondered if they just made this record to make a record. There really seems no inspiration and definitely NO INNOVATION.

That being said, I really like it. There was a rock critic that once discussed how "older" musicians just have to make a mediocre record for it to be labeled as "great" or a "return to form". For me, I'm happy that sonic youth gave me more to listen to obsessively, and these songs are all quite catchy, emotional, and very good and nice.

I'll write a review proper later.

i don't think it's a "ripped" matter, i think that it's a tuning matter: a lot of their last songs (almost all those mentioned above....sunday heather angel altar boy stones new hampshire elegy....) are featured by those fucking G thurston tunings (like CGDGBB and CGDGCD) that tend to make songs sound similar one another......

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jef Mertens

Rather Ripped

haven't heard the album yet but i'm starting to think that the title means they ripped themselves off. Mabey each song has been recycled or has riffage from another SY- or sideproject related tune.

Heather Angel riffs, Altar Boy Church Basement, Incinerate (Teenage Riot), Reena (Stones) and what else.

conceptual album....

diesel, stop being a douchebag and asking for files.

re: church boy.. believe it's on saucerlike website somewhere... try the video section
ps 3 listens to RR under my belt and it is definitely growing on me. it is a solid SY record although don't expect any surprises (unless you consider lack of surprises a surprise)
it sounds like it takes the structures of Goo and Dirty and uses the production and sensibilities of Murray Street/ Nurse. oh, and if yr a big fan of Lee tracks you may be disappointed...

my belief is that sonic youth are just trying to be personally happy with life and dont give a fuck about the rest of the world (even if that means not pleasing people by being bland, which is sort of the opposite of how they originally didnt please people), which i personally believe is totally cool, even if i dont like the music they are making

The weird thing is that it is a totally great record, it just is unspectacular because Sonic Youth has continually been so surprising and innovative.

This is the record I was hoping to get from them, and I can't wait to hear these songs live, though I hope they keep "Pattern Recognition" in their setlists.

"Turquoise Boy" is absolutely stunning, and I love the way the album closes as compared to how it opens.

[quote=Rupert 'Stiles' Stilinski]
This is the record I was hoping to get from them, and I can't wait to hear these songs live, though I hope they keep "Pattern Recognition" in their setlists.[quote]

Ah one can only hope, but you see Mr. O'Rourke was playing bass on Pattern Recognition, I think it would be obviously lacking if they tried to play this song again live without the bass-part.

I hate to say it, but you folks are killing the suspense for those of us who have yet to hear the album, i'm probably not helping matters for myself by reading these threads, so maybe i'll stop and then think for myself about this album in June.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spirale

In a way I love the "key of G / CGDGCD" tuning, as it is one of two that i use myself in my band and the prefered tuning i use for improvised/noise work... though i was hoping that thurston would drift away more from it for the exact reason you mention, "the songs sound similar to one another..."

however again this tuning is quite useful for experimental/improv/noise.

i can wait until it is released i have a plethora of sy and sy related sp's to listen to, i want them to have my money

Quote:

Originally Posted by selkcip

i thought nurse was more of a "pastiche" of older sonic youth. both dripping dream and rain on tin derived bits from 'church boy alter basement,' whereas turquoise boy takes it entirely and embellishes it into a pop song. peace attack lifted the riff from elegy and new hampshire is like a souped-up sunday. new hampshire is one of the best tracks on nurse, it also has an ascending melodic bit from church boy alter basement.

i've only heard 3/4 this album and it already exceeds both murray street and nurse in my ears. even in 128 kbps. it reminds me of dirty (tuff rock) in places, but with the vibrant chiminess (clean) of their more recent albums.

I'd add that Unmade Bed sounded like a pared-down Diamond Sea, Kim Gordon/Arthur Doyle was not entirely different from Panty Lies and that Pattern Recognition sounded as though it could have been left over from an older album.

(As you might have guessed, I wasn't wild about Sonic Nurse.)

you know, i originally clicked on this thread thinking it was a link to an actual album review ... you know the kind...written by people that can actually write.

i suppose i should frequent google more than this board. that allhandsonthebigone doofus really takes the cake in the "leaking" thread. You guys are lucky I'm not the moderator or it'd come down to me, !@#$%!, chabib & just a few others haha.

If you were the moderator would you kick me off. I love to post on this board. I know my post are not that thoughtful and my spelling is terrible but please forgive me.

nah, you held that vigil with me. I see Chris Lawrence finally came by a couple of times. No sign of Martin Van Rappard though....dude has more boots than me, than anyone that I'm aware of...

yeah, hopefully I'm not one of the ones you would kick off!:D

this album has grown on me like a motherfucker just in 24hrs... i love it in it's entirety EXCEPT for:

sleepin around.... they fucked with the tempo on this one, they should have kept it the way the instrumental sounded in the "house guests, practicing" video...

what a waste... one of the worst sy songs ever

lights out... not bad, but nowhere near the quality of the great tracks

or... same as with lights out

Quote:

I think these comparisons are kind of superficial. It's one thing to note the reuse of a riff from a recorded improvised performance, a la a lot of stuff off of SYR1 and SYR2 (riffs from these two, as I'm sure you all know wound up on A thousand leaves). The fact that Unmade Bed "sounds like" the diamond sea is probably better attributed to the fact that it was written by the same band (and a highly prolific band at that). I really can't hear the similarity in that instance, other then the consitent songwriting ticks that are uniquely sonic youth's.

In terms of this record I have only heard Reena and Incinerate, but, I will say that they both make me think of the kinds of subtle refinements you hear in "older" musicians who have carved out a unique niche and are willful exploring the intricacies of said niche. In a recent interview (nurse period) Thurston said something to the extent that when he listened to the Youth's older records he was surprised at how some of his playing was in comparison to what he is playing now. I believe he said it sounded like he was playing with gloves on. I think this "chimming" summery sound is a product of an increased sensitivity to clarity.

Anyway, now that I've blown off that pretentious wad, I'm out.

You people that are all pissed about people listening to the leak are funny.Half the time the band leaks it just to drum up excitement for it.Not sure if thats the case here or not ,just saying.That said, it doesn't mean i'm not going to buy a copy on the OFFICIAL release date.Just calm down !!

I think someone has already made that point.

why are most people basing their loyality to the band by how much money they spent on them.

Seriously, being puritanical about not DL is such nonesense. I'm pretty sure as part of the "underground youth" most of you people download CONSTANTLY. How is this different? Like you guys sound like a bunch of pony-tailed RIAA representatives.

If i choose not to buy the album, it's not because I'm a theif but because Sonic Youth released a bad product. Plus the album cover is REALLY REALLY dorky.

Back to the album:
It sounds like Wlilco covering SY.

This may be the record that finally, unequivically, confirms that SY are a dinosour act. Like would even Sonic Youth listen to Sonic Youth now?