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A Thousand Leaves is Kim's Absolute Finest Hour.
(About 73mins actually.)
You know it's true. She is Monufuckingmental on all (6?...it's been a while) of "her" songs on this record. If you took her Thousand Leaves songs and put them into an EP, it would be the Greatest Kim Gordon EP Ever Imagineable. IDK if Thurston wrote some of those songs that she sings on A Thousand Leaves, but even if he did, Kim's "performance" of them makes them hers. Absolute fucking brilliant peak of Kimness. I shudder just thinking about it. Discuss. |
Oh God, no. Kim's vocals on ATL (and Washing Machine) came close to driving me away from the band for good.
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"The Ineffable Me" has her best singing. Of course, it doesn't sound pretty or anything, but it works the most out of her aggressive stuff. I think it's that a lot of people have this stereotype "She's a girl, she should sound pretty." Yet she has this ugly punk ethic going on, that if a guy were to do it, it wouldn't be criticized nearly as much. I don't normally buy into the riot grrrl bullshit, but I think at least when it comes to HOW she sings, she's making a well-intentioned statement: Girls don't always have to have beautiful voices.
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Awful singing is awful singing, regardless of the singer's gender. Maybe all the screaming in childbirth fucked up Kim's vocal chords.
I'd suggest that Yoko Ono was more influential on Kim's singing during this period than any riot grrrrrl. The riot grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl influence lasted for one album - EJSTNS - and was gone. |
mmm she's more than often off key on ATL but it didn't bother me. It's part of the atmosphere i guess. Amazing LP all round, wow. I listened to this TO DEATH, a million times, on and on.
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ATL is way overrated by fans.
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As if The Eternal already isn't..
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And even that was a great album! |
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Yeah, Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star is fantastic. I don't get why it gets bashed so much, all the songs seem good to me. Seriously, Bull In The Heather, Sweet Shine, Starfield Road, Bone?? Awesome tracks.
But back to the topic, A Thousand Leaves is indeed a great album (maybe in my top5), and yeah Kim sounds awesome on it, but I don't think it's the best thing she's done; actually, I'd consider Sonic Nurse as including her best sounding vocals. I Love You Golden Blue and Dude Ranch Nurse especially are impressing. So is Pattern Recognition. Damn I love this record - damn I love this band :D |
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Yeah Kim is ace on Nurse.
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Ahah. Kidding. Or am I. Anyhow, back on topic (kind of), yeah Kim's vocals on Sonic Nurse are probably her best, outside of EVOL. I love her singing on "Shadow of a Doubt" and "Star Power". |
Quick edit, sway.
Also lol @ elitist posts. Where do you think you are? |
Kim's singing reminds me of Patti Smith so much, I see her as an influence more than anyone else. Definitely not Yoko Ono.
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You know, I just thought like I'd elaborate on the Incubus/Sonic Youth thing, just a teensy bit. I love Incubus because they just write great pop music. I would say the most important thing in a band, any band, is to have a pop songwriting aesthetic to them. The most popular "noisy" shit does this, even. Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth. Really, unless it's just the kinda thing you're pre-disposed to, no one is going to like a song that doesn't contain a pop hook. Sonic Youth themselves realized this with Daydream Nation. You can still be as noisy as you want, but if there isn't something there to make people bob their heads or tap their feet or hum along, then the majority of people aren't going to give a shit. "Rain King" for an example of that I'd think.
But yeah, enough rambling. |
Incubus are one of those bands that I absolutely cannot tolerate listening to.
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I'm not the one who brought up Incubus in the first place, you two childishly did, so hey, I'm just defending a perfectly decent band. |
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There is a place for both, really. Just depends in what mood you're in. I think if there is a person who listens to only atmosphere-driven music, or only pop-driven music, then that kind of person is sort of sheltered musically. I think I've said this before on this board, but I think My Bloody Valentine's Loveless is the perfect blend of both worlds, and it would be nice to find more music like that (not a Loveless sound-a-like, just something with the same marriage there.) Then again that's the reason A Thousand Leaves is my favorite Sonic Youth album soooo... haha |
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I love you. And am I the only person on Earth who thinks Contre Le Sexisme (sp?) is a fantastic song? |
A Thousand Leaves actually turned me off to Sonic Youth and that's when I stopped buying every new album they came out with. I do realize that I was probably "expecting" something out of ATL and did remain a fan but my Sonic Youth Rabies had certainly worn off after hearing it. After reading some of the posts here though, I may just give it another listen. As far as Experimental Jet Set is concerned, I actually love that album. There is so much awesome going on with that album. I remember being puzzled by how different it was when it came out, but all those songs kind of instantly grow on you.
I do happen to be one of those heretics who could do without a large majority of Kim's vocal contribution. She had a FEW good song outings, but on the whole I agree with a previous poster; bad singing is bad singing no matter how thin you slice it. Incubus is kind of cool. They're good for a drive on the freeway. They're a "radio band" but better than a lot of the other "radio bands" out there. |
Vocal-wise I still think Dirty is Kim's finest hour. However, all the love shown here for The Ineffable Me is very deserved.
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No you are most certainly not the only person... |
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I love the way she says "Contre de la sexisme" - it's totally wrong, yet it sounds so cool |
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It scared the shit out of me when I first heard it. Play that for the kiddies at Halloween. The backing reminds me of guys in a dungeon. |
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One of the reasons why it's my favourite S.Y album. |
The Ineffable Me is my favourite Kim track on the album.
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For me, the stand out tracks of this album are Wildflower Soul, Hoarfrost, Karen Koltrane, and Snare, Girl. Then I'd say comes Contre Le Sexisme. Kim delivers a punch with this track. As for the others, I wouldn't say they are Kim's finest. I do love the endings of Female Mechanic Now On Duty and Heather Angel as well as the middle of The Ineffable Me. However vocally, the rest sounds a little endless... I'm not sure this is the word I'm looking for, but anyway Kim has certainly had greater moments.
As for a girl sounding "ugly," I get that, but it took me a long time to enjoy The Ineffable Me. I guess it's more the pitch of the guitars rather than the vocals themselves though. I can't choose a particular album where I'd say it's Kim's finest. I think she delivers every album. |
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I think certain albums have been Thurston dominated, or Kim took a back seat......like NYCGF and Murray St. |
I agree with the premise of the thread. I'm least into Thurston's songs on the album (and I'm a pretty huge T fan) as he was just too into his "hippie" phase, while she seems post-punk/no-wave/avant garde as hell. Her stuff is the most experimental on the record and yet it rocks the most too.
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Yeah, I really love ATL, but I always thought that Thurston was a bit "Dad Rock" on it. Sunday never did it for me, lyrically. Coming after Contre, it was like When I'm 64 coming after Within You Without You. Eeeeew. |
I've always wondered, for the songs they sing, do they write those songs exlclusively, or just sing them? Is it a band effort 100%
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I am surprised so much talk about Kim vocally during the EJSTNS - 1,000 leaves period, and no mention of her switching to guitar around this time yet.
I really think that had a huge overlooked impact to her the overall contribution to the SY sound structure. She often has a tendency to sing "along" with what she is playing. While it usually worked for her on bass, I don't think it worked so well during these times when she was playing her simple guitar "riffs" and simply learning the vocals on top. (first half of Female Mechanic for example). While I love her guitar playing on most of the albums the songs were written often before vocals put to them, and hearing her "sing" on top of her newly treble-filled sound and simplified "I'm relearning my role on a different instrument" style...just never did it for me... I really do think her picking up the guitar and the general process of their "songwriting" added for some off-moments around the period...but for me personally, it all did seem to click and kinda come full circle again around Sonic Nurse. Just my 2 cents... |
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When I saw SY in 1986, Thurston sang "Star Power". Made me think maybe he wrote it, since it has those "She knows how to make love to me" lyrics. |
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Yes, Thurston did write the lyrics. And I read that Kim doesn't sing the song live, only Thurston does. I'm not sure why though. |
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Yep :) |
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[quote=ZEROpumpkins]True fans wait for cd. . |
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