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SONIC YOUTH

Sonic Youth

The Destroyed Room - 2022 Repress

    Choice collection of B-sides, rarities, alternate takes and previously unreleased tracks dating back to 1993.

    New York’s most influential avant-garde rock band, Sonic Youth, follow up their critically acclaimed 2006 release, Rather Ripped, with a special set sure to please fans and completists. The Destroyed Room: B-Sides And Rarities, a collection of near-hidden Sonic Youth gems hand-picked by the band, brings together songs from throughout the band’s tenure at Geffen Records. Focusing on tracks previously available only on limited-edition compilations, vinyl-only releases, or as B-Sides or international singles, The Destroyed Room also features material that has never before been released.

    This deluxe, double-vinyl LP edition is being released on the band’s own Goofin Records imprint with a CD version available via Geffen

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Fire Engine Dream - (2003) Outtake From Sonic Nurse
    2. Fauxhemians - (2001) From Noho Furniture Sessions; Originally Released On All TomorrowÕs Parties 1.1
    3. Is It My Body? - (1993) B-Side From The Sugar Kane Single
    4. Razor Blade - (1994) B-Side From The Self-Obsessed And Sexxee Single
    5. Blink - (1999) From The Pola X Soundtrack
    6. Campfire - (2000) From The At Home With The Groovebox Compilation
    7. Loop Cat - (2003) From The You Can Never Go Fast Enough Compilation
    8. KimÕs Chords - (2003) Japanese Bonus Track From Sonic Nurse
    9. Beautiful Plateau - (2003) Japanese Bonus Track From Sonic Nurse
    10. 3 Sectional Love Seat - (2001) From Noho Furniture Sessions
    11. Queen Anne Chair - (2001) From Noho Furniture Sessions
    12. The Diamond Sea (1995) LP Version, Alternate Ending. 

    Sonic Youth

    Confusion Is Sex - 2022 Repress

      Originally slated to be a 7” to follow up their self-titled debut, Sonic Youth’s Confusion Is Sex blossomed into the band’s first album: a brain-bludgeoning, completely fried endeavor of dissonance and disarray, a perfect soundtrack for running from a chain-wielding gang near the SIN Club. This was the sound of 1983 New York City, nothing like the jangly roots of college radio rock starting to formulate in Athens, Georgia. It sounded like no one else on Earth, for that matter. The raw, Wharton Tiers 8-track production is dark, the Kim Gordon- scrawled cover figure art of Thurston Moore is dark, Lee Ranaldo’s back cover photo-collage and Catherine Ceresole’s crumpled-xeroxed images that adorned the inside are dark.

      It’s an album that moves Sonic Youth forward from their first EP almost by devolving backwards into true ugly, lo-fi primitivity. The bareboned arsenal of junkpile guitars and implementation of alternate tunings was growing, and so were the songs that matched the individual attributes of each instrument: certain ones groan and growl a specific way that the band started to realize itself could become the compositional germ of a song. Herein is the threshold of a new explosion of the band’s creativity, replacing the comparatively cleaner buzz of the Sonic Youth EP with guitars that spew fractured, uglier chunks of sound everywhere, held down by menacing minimalist basslines (actually played by Thurston on half of this LP, and for the only time ever on “Protect Me You,” Lee) and the brutal-yet-controlled metronomic drumming of Jim Sclavunos, augmented with replacement drummer Bob Bert’s notable bashing on “Making the Nature Scene” and grotty no-fi live rendition of “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Hearing the crashedwindow intro of “Inhuman” and subway-brake screech of “The World Looks Red,” you can attest that while Sonic Youth’s guitars are not quite yet being utilized in the totally controlled, lyrical fashion seen later on albums like Evol, Daydream Nation et al., they were well aware of the colors and tonalities that were unfolding and the possibilities presented. Also, they were getting a grasp on adding colors to the chaos with tempered, simmering moments like Gordon’s “Shaking Hell” and Renaldo’s chimy, home-taped “Lee is Free.” “Making the Nature Scene” and “The World Looks Red” even toss in glints of hip-hop vocal approach way ahead of its time, albeit through a blender. While its confrontationalism might have put off some critics, time has rewarded Confusion with a truly distinctive air and atmosphere in the Sonic discography, enough to have Moore declare it his fave along with the band’s swan-song The Eternal

      TRACK LISTING

      1 (She’s In A) Bad Mood
      2 Protect Me You
      3 Freezer Burn / I Wanna Be Your Dog
      4 Shaking Hell
      5 Inhuman
      6 The World Looks Red
      7 Confusion Is Next
      8 Making The Nature Scene
      9. Lee Is Free

      Sonic Youth

      Simon Werner A Disparu - 2022 Reissue

        In Spring 2010, Sonic Youth gathered at their Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, to watch the rushes of a new film, Simon Werner a Disparu, by French director Fabrice Gobert. They spent the following few weeks recording music which was then shaped as needed to fit the various scenes. For this release, rather than present the small clips of music as used in the film, the band went back in the autumn to the original tapes and reorganized the various pieces for this original soundtrack release, sometimes montaging multiple tracks together, other times extending cues into new sonic realms. The film premiered at Cannes in May 2010 and opened nationwide in France. Original soundtrack inspired by French director Fabrice Gobert’s latest film. Vinyl which is released in March includes digital download coupon with bonus track

        TRACK LISTING

        1 Thème De Jérémie (4:27)
        2 Alice Et Simon (2:34)
        3 Les Anges Au Piano (3:27)
        4 Chez Yves (Alice Et Clara) (3:29)
        5 Jean-Baptiste à La Fenêtre (3:01)
        6 Thème De Laetitia (5:58)
        7 Escapades (3:00)
        8 La Cabane Au Zodiac (2:04)
        9 Dans Les Bois / M. Rabier (5:46)
        10 Jean-Baptiste Et Laetitia (1:13)
        11 Thème De Simon (3:48)
        12 Au Café (5:24)

        Sonic Youth

        In/Out/In

          Album formatted collection of underheard Sonic rarities - from the legendary band's 2000-2010 era - most for the first time on any physical format.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Basement Contender
          2. In & Out
          3. Machine
          4. Social Static
          5. Out & In

          Jay Reatard / Sonic Youth

          Hang Them All / No Garage - 10th Anniversary Edition

            Back in print for the first time in ten years on split black & white vinyl. All profits donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. #MatadorRevisionistHistory #JayReatard

            TRACK LISTING

            Jay Reatard – “Hang Them All”
            Sonic Youth – “No Garage”

            Sonic Youth

            The Eternal

              Long out of stock, now re-pressed and re-issued.

              Produced by John Agnello and the band, ‘The Eternal’ not only marks Sonic Youth’s return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen but, more importantly, it ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career.

              Recorded through November and December of 2008 at the band’s Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, NJ, ‘The Eternal’ features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston and Lee and the studio debut of former Pavement / Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold, a member of Sonic Youth’s touring band for the past few years.

              TRACK LISTING

              Sacred Trickster
              Anti-Orgasm
              Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)
              Antenna
              What We Know
              Calming The Snake
              Poison Arrow
              Malibu Gas Station
              Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
              No Way
              Walkin Blue
              Massage The History

              Classic 1987 album is one of the band’s most beloved releases. Includes a cover of Crime’s “Hot Wire My Heart”. 

              There is no album in the entire corpus of indie rock—not Loveless, not Surfer Rosa, not Psychocandy— that reaches the heights of invention, joy, and magic of Sonic Youth’s sublime fifth album.... The haunted reveries of Sister remain with you for years, even if you only hear them once…. Sister is the sonic manifestation of refracted light. It’s a record that changes you.” Stereogum.

              One of Sonic Youth’s most beloved albums, 1987’s Sister incorporated the dissonance of their earlier releases into more traditional song structures. It’s an innovative and thrilling work assuredly delivered by a band at the peak of their powers. Reissued on the band’s Goofin’ imprint, this 2016 pressing includes a digital download card with the vinyl edition. 

              TRACK LISTING

              1. Schizophrenia
              2. Catholic Block
              3. Beauty Lies In The Eye
              4. Stereo Sanctity
              5. Pipeline / Kill Time
              6. Tuff Gnarl
              7. Pacific Coast Highway
              8. Hot Wire My Heart
              9. Cotton Crown
              10. White Cross
              11. Master-Dik (download-only)

              Sonic Youth

              Goo - Back To Black Edition

                Forming in New York in 1981, "Goo" was Sonic Youth's major label debut when it was released by DGC in June 1990. An important stepping stone in bringing underground 'alternative' rock to mainstream America, the band were also instrumental in Nirvana signing to Geffen the following year. Probably best known for the single "Kool Thing", sung by bass guitarist Kim Gordon, a 4 star review in Rolling Stone hailed the record as 'a brilliant, extended essay in refined primitivism.' The album's other key tracks are "Tunic (Song For Karen)", a tribute to the late Karen Carpenter, and "Dirty Boots".

                TRACK LISTING

                1. Dirty Boots
                2. Tunic (Song For Karen)
                3. Mary-Christ
                4. Kool Thing
                5. Mote
                6. My Friend Goo
                7. Disappear
                8. Mildred Pierce
                9. Cinderella's Big Score
                10. Scooter + Jinx
                11. Titanium Exposé

                Sonic Youth

                Washing Machine - Back To Black Edition

                  Sonic Youth's eleventh album "Washing Machine" is the first record to almost exclusively feature Kim on guitar rather than bass, and contains some of their lengthiest material since "Goo" and "Daydream Nation", including the epic "Diamond Sea" which drifts onward for an unprecedented 20 minutes, still the longest track on any SY album (excluding the SYR releases).

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1. Becuz
                  2. Junkie's Promise
                  3. Saucer-Like
                  4. Washing Machine
                  5. Unwind
                  6. Little Trouble Girl
                  7. No Queen Blues
                  8. Panty Lies
                  9. Skip Tracer
                  10. The Diamond Sea

                  Sonic Youth

                  EVOL (Reissue)

                    The third studio album by Sonic Youth, originally released in May 1986 on SST Records, shows the first signs that the band was ready to transform their no wave past into a greater alternative rock sensibility.

                    “EVOL … mark[s] the true departure point of Sonic Youth’s musical evolution,” says Pitchfork, who place the album in the #31 slot of their Top 100 Albums of The 1980s.  “In measured increments, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo … bring form to the formless, tune to the tuneless, and with the help of Steve Shelley’s drums…, [impose] melody and composition on their trademark dissonance."

                    Stereogum likewise praises the album as one that is “full of suspense…, the cornerstone [of] the Sonic Youth sound…, ground zero for the combination of chiming guitars and atonal skronk… [and] muggy delirium…. The virile ‘Tom Violence’ sounds less written than coaxed from a cauldron, the sort of song that fogs windows. The offkilter [droning love song] ‘Starpower’ … is sung [by Kim Gordon] in a frosty [Nico-evoking] monotone. ‘In The Kingdom #19,’ featuring Mike Watt on bass and … vocals [by Ranaldo]…, is a harrowing story of a highway wreck over a suitably edgy instrumental backing punctuated by … live firecrackers into the vocal booth.”

                    “EVOL slithers into the unconscious,” notes Popstache. “Once the [detuned melodies and haunting riffs and] final whispers of feedback [of ‘Expressway to Yr. Skull’] depart from the speakers…, the music [leaves] a faded footprint, forever reeling the listener back for another strange trip.” “The seeds of greatness…” —Pitchfork.

                    “A near-masterpiece.” —Trouser Press.

                    “A stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock’n’roll.” —All Music Guide. 

                    STAFF COMMENTS

                    David says: Within a few months of arriving in Manchester I was flat sharing with an American girl. She was appalled at how Britcentric my record collection was and introduced me to her noisy compatriots...

                    Sonic Youth’s second full-length LP Bad Moon Rising was originally released on Homestead and Blast First in 1985. The album is a fascinating examination of “the junction where hippie idealism [meets] the cold hard world,” says guitarist Lee Ranaldo, “where Woodstock [meets] Altamont—Death Valley, Charles Manson, Brian Wilson, musicians, murderers, heroes and villains.” Its original eight-song tapestry of droning guitar feedback, distant clattering percussion, and sullen vocals, all held together with interstitial noise loops and shadowy haze, ambles through a long, dark night before the feverish “Death Valley ’69,” driven by runaway guitar riffs and a frantic Thurston Moore / Lydia Lunch vocal duet, pounds the capstone into place.

                    Sonic Youth’s big leap forward from Confusion Is Sex and Kill Yr Idols “reflects the spirit of the time,” to quote All Music Guide. Bad Moon Rising views “American gothic through the glassy eyes of wilful moonlit paranoia.” Back in print on Goofin’ Records, this reissue includes bonus tracks “Flower” and “Halloween,” both from a 12”single of the same era. The sound collage morsels “Satan Is Boring” and “Echo Canyon” are your cue to begin moving toward the exit and get out while you can. 

                    TRACK LISTING

                    1. Intro
                    2. Brave Men Run (In My Family)
                    3. Society Is A Hole
                    4. I Love Her All The Time
                    5. Ghost Bitch
                    6. I’m Insane
                    7. Justice Is Might
                    8. Death Valley ’69

                    Bonus Tracks On CD / Digital Download:
                    9. Satan Is Boring
                    10. Flower
                    11. Halloween
                    12. Echo Canyon

                    Sonic Youth

                    Daydream Nation

                      'Daydream Nation' was Sonic Youth’s sixth full-length, their first double-LP, and their last for an indie label before signing with Geffen. Widely considered to be their watershed moment, the album catapulted them into the mainstream and proved that indie bands could enjoy wide commercial success without compromising their artistic vision.

                      More recently, 'Daydream Nation has been recognized as a classic of its time: Pitchfork ranked it #1 on their “100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s”; Spin listed it at #13 on their “125 Best Albums of 1985-2010”; Rolling Stone put it at #45 on their “100 Best Albums of the Eighties” list and #328 on their “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” It was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2006.

                      2007 saw the release of an expanded four-disc vinyl box set, but now the album is back in its original form after years of being out of print and highly sought after. As a special 21st century bonus, the vinyl now includes a digital download card - radical adults rejoice!

                      In August 1985 Sonic Youth were touring across the states following the release of their recently released LP ‘Bad Moon Rising’. This performance from August 11, 1985 at Chicago’s Smart Bar was recorded on 4-track
                      cassette. This live recording consists of much of Bad Moon Rising and early performances of Secret Girl + Expressway to Yr Skull later to be released on EVOL, as well as a rare never before released live rendition of Kat ‘N’ Hat.

                      Mixed and mastered by the band from the original tape source for this double LP edition w/ download card (or CD) along w/ liner notes by Gerard
                      Cosloy and Sonic Youth engineer Aaron Mullan and photos by Pat Blashill and Steven Koress and released by Sonic Youth on their own label, Goofin’ Records.

                      An excerpt from the LP’s liner notes: “Having now listened to this tape maybe 100 times, I can say this: it’s a killer show. The material was mostly released on the studio album Bad Moon Rising. The album is brilliant, but the material is also so visceral and improvisatory that it greatly benefits from the additional perspective offered by a live recording. Kim’s vocals, more detached on the album, are fierce here. Sheets of feedback insanity on the album which I always assumed to be lucky studio accidents turn out to be actual parts that Lee and Thurston can re-create at will. The album was recorded with Bob Bert on drums, but this show was one of the first after Bob left and Steve took over. Bob’s primal stomps doubtlessly propel the studio versions, but hearing these parts as interpreted by Steve’s systematic pummeling, illuminates the crucial transition to the Evol and Sister albums and beyond. We do get a taste of Evol too, with an early performance of ‘Expressway To Yr Skull’ and the first known live performance of ‘Secret Girl,’ plus an instrumental version of the rarely performed, and never released, ‘Kat ’n’ Hat.’” —Aaron Mullan, Feb. 2012

                      TRACK LISTING

                      1. Hallowe’en
                      2. Death Valley ’69
                      3. Intro/Brave Men Run(In My Family)
                      4. I Love Her All The Time
                      5. Ghost Bitch
                      6. I’m Insane
                      7. Kat ‘N’ Hat
                      8. Brother James
                      9. Kill Yr Idols
                      10. Secret Girl
                      11. Flower
                      12. The Burning Spear
                      13. Expressway To Yr Skull
                      14. Making The Nature Scene

                      Sonic Youth

                      The Eternal

                        "The Eternal" is a supercharged rocker, recalling aspects of the "Evol", "Sister" and "Daydream Nation" holy trinity but with cleaner, louder production and more straightforward momentum. With Pavement's Mark Ibold joining on bass, and producer John Agnello back at the controls, "The Eternal" takes the melodic songwriting of 2006's "Rather Ripped" and slams down the accelerator pedal. Produced by John Agnello and the band, "The Eternal" not only marks Sonic Youth's return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen, but more importantly, ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career. Of "The Eternal", Matador's Gerard Cosloy says, 'We've not had a record in our recent history that's been the subject of nearly as much speculation and anticipation. Suffice to say we're pretty amazed at the way the band delivered something this neoteric while still sounding like, well, themselves. Less of a reinvention and perhaps more to do with a particularly awesome dozen songs.'

                        Here is Thurston Moore's take on the songs:
                        Sacred Trickster (2:10)
                        Out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads.
                        Anti-Orgasm (6:08)
                        Inspired by the story of Berlin 60s model/activist Uschi Obermeier and the gang at Kommune 1. Free love, dominance and submission, and other political states-of-confusion.
                        Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso) (3:32)
                        The NYC beat poet Gregory Corso once referred life on Earth as a leaky lifeboat. This tune expounds on this rumination.
                        Antenna (6:13)
                        Melodious ode to fleeting fantasy and unresolved desire with the sound of two analogue radios communicating the emotional action.
                        What We Know (3:54)
                        Charging forth with a riff in reference to Sonics Rendezvous Band, Lee sings a triptych to identity and unity.
                        Calming The Snake (3:35)
                        One of the first tracks written, musical references to the Dead C, the MC5 and Neu. Kim musing on visions of Death in painting.
                        Poison Arrow (3:43)
                        Dedicated to the lust groove of Kevin Ayers where thoughts of love as pretty poison rejoice in surrealist deliverance.
                        Malibu Gas Station (5:39)
                        An ode to the flash moment of the camera as you knowingly step from your SUV sans panties.
                        Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn (2:38)
                        Flashing back to a wishful existence in the original Masque basement on N. Cherokee in Hollywood, crashing through lawns and garbage cans en route to the Canterbury/Disgraceland to jump up and down on beds with Helen Killer, Mary Rat and Trudi.
                        No Way (3:52)
                        First song written for the album, with a nod to The Wipers of Portland, Oregon. A confrontation with the devil in his guise of temptation and staking a distinct place amongst the black legions.
                        Walkin Blue (5:20)
                        Lee with his arm around yr shoulder, getting you through a seemingly impenetrable day of dread to a clear vision towards sweet foreverness.
                        Massage The History (9:41)
                        The long way home, where blood rules the universe and time becomes myth.


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