[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Wow.. i actually liked condescending prick version of thurston on this record.. what would free city rhymes be without him?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by guest

t&b gets it. everything became quite heavy-handed in terms of the message, a sort of over-confidence in vocals to the point where they reached the same level as the music which should never have been the case. not in terms of their aesthetic value in the case of kim but the lyrics themselves, ie what a waste can be fucking offensive but kim's voice is great in it. thurston, though, started trying way too hard around goo, ego definitely got the better of him, and not only did his lyrics largely descend into shit, so too did his voice become infuriating, so rockist/blokeish. lee though, I love you lee.

if you take thurston's vox off this record entirely then I think it'd be perfect.

Yes i agree that lyrically its near ATL in power and indeed ATL is possibly Sonic Youth best lyrics of any record. It is also definitely a new beginning as it was the first new record after getting all their gear stolen here in LA in 1999.. the structure, style, and sound of this record reflects how it was written, on acoustic guitars. I think getting their shit stolen was a blessing in disguise as it forced the band into a new, more "traditional" direction.

They started writing new material on acoustic guitars which forces you to be more conventional, traditional, and musical in approach. The wild experimental tunings were replaced by more near standard tunings. They also built on a lot of open chord tunings similar but more elaborate than on ATL.. indeed i often play all the music from 98-2004 perios on my solo acoustic when jamming on the porch.

I think this transition is why its my fav sonic youth era

[sonikdeathmonkey]

The Title track is easily one of my ALL-TIME fav Sonic Youth songs. While some might gripe that is overly pretentious or "arty", I've always found it to be ambitious and a fitting bridge between what preceded and followed...

[Toilet & Bowels]

The title track might feature the best noise jam of any SY album

[rebeccagotcursedout]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Yes i agree that lyrically its near ATL in power and indeed ATL is possibly Sonic Youth best lyrics of any record. It is also definitely a new beginning as it was the first new record after getting all their gear stolen here in LA in 1999.. the structure, style, and sound of this record reflects how it was written, on acoustic guitars. I think getting their shit stolen was a blessing in disguise as it forced the band into a new, more "traditional" direction.

They started writing new material on acoustic guitars which forces you to be more conventional, traditional, and musical in approach. The wild experimental tunings were replaced by more near standard tunings. They also built on a lot of open chord tunings similar but more elaborate than on ATL.. indeed i often play all the music from 98-2004 perios on my solo acoustic when jamming on the porch.

I think this transition is why its my fav sonic youth era

you jam SY on the porch too. that's awesome!!!

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by rebeccagotcursedout

you jam SY on the porch too. that's awesome!!!

Yes!I actually covered "Stones" when I was in a "porch blues" band a few years ago.. I LOVE to jam Nurse or ATL tunes on my acoustic

[rebeccagotcursedout]

cool!! everything from Murray to Eternal sounds good on acoustic.

[nicfit]

Originally Posted by sonikdeathmonkey

The Title track is easily one of my ALL-TIME fav Sonic Youth songs. While some might gripe that is overly pretentious or "arty", I've always found it to be ambitious and a fitting bridge between what preceded and followed...

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

The title track might feature the best noise jam of any SY album

I think i said this a couple times on here, but seeing that song live during the Goodbye 20th century tour is still among the best live music experiences I ever had. jaw dropping. noise.

[rebeccagotcursedout]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

The lyrics have never been SY's best asset but then I never listened or cared about them. This record is great for all the reasons that don't involve lyrics. Sometimes you hear, without coming across as patronising, hopefully, to some great combinations of voice with sounds. The best example I've ever heard was this casual thing on Resonance Fm where the voice kept on disintegrating itself in ever more inwards ways and it was someone just talking stuff while being recorded. Some lucky person with a bit of imagination and a someone talking in front of them. Not saying SY don't take their lyrics seriously, I have no idea, it's likely they do, but to judge this record because of the words alone compared to some of their other records would seem unfair. Also, I don't remember why I've quoted your post now.

no sucking dick today? too bad. maybe tomorrow.

im going to hate murder you!!!!

are you done harassing me you pig fucker??????

ill come here everyday I can to insult you. yr the worst!!!!

[guest]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Wow.. i actually liked condescending prick version of thurston on this record.. what would free city rhymes be without him?

ahhh fuck, this is why sweeping statements don't work kids.

[Genteel Death]

 

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by guest

ahhh fuck, this is why sweeping statements don't work kids.

It was your statement yo

 

[Jeremy]

Used to hate this record, but over time it really grew on me. Has a vibe and style all its own. Free City Rhymes is one of my favorite SY songs.

I feel like WM-ATL-NYC or ATL-NYC-MS are some of their more creative albums in succession that both reinvented and defined who they were as a band.

[Toilet & Bowels]

Originally Posted by guest

t&b gets it. everything became quite heavy-handed in terms of the message, a sort of over-confidence in vocals to the point where they reached the same level as the music which should never have been the case. not in terms of their aesthetic value in the case of kim but the lyrics themselves, ie what a waste can be fucking offensive but kim's voice is great in it. thurston, though, started trying way too hard around goo, ego definitely got the better of him, and not only did his lyrics largely descend into shit, so too did his voice become infuriating, so rockist/blokeish. lee though, I love you lee.

if you take thurston's vox off this record entirely then I think it'd be perfect.

I've never found Thurston's voice blokeish, and I don't have any problems with vocal delivery on NYCG+F, I actually really like T's vocal delivery on the album.

[guest]

again a shitty generalisation from me, blokeish isn't even the right word, but that snarl he adopted around goo really grates on me, streamxsonik subway makes me feel sick sometimes. not entirely sure this is the right word for what I'm thinking but he seems almost insincere in these types of tracks?

[Peterpuff]

Originally Posted by guest

again a shitty generalisation from me, blokeish isn't even the right word, but that snarl he adopted around goo really grates on me,

I think you put it well here. I would not have picked up on what you were meaning with "blokeish" either, but describing it as his "snarl" makes perfect sense. I know exactly what you are talking about now, and totally agree. Never been a fan of it myself.