Sonic Youth Prague
 

Anyone going?

I'll be there!

have fun slavo, here's some words from steve shelley.


Still making noise

Sonic Youth moves from the cutting edge to the mainstream
Stage Review | Archives

By James Scanlon
For The Prague Post
August 22nd, 2007

Renowned for unorthodox guitar tunings and uncompromising noise aesthetics, Sonic Youth redefined alternative rock with their 1988 album Daydream Nation. Hailed by the likes of Rolling Stone as one of the greatest rock albums ever made, and having recently become a permanent fixture in the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, the era-defining opus has just been repackaged and re-released in a swanky new deluxe edition. Featuring an extra CD of unreleased live material and rare covers, it’s a timely reminder of just how important this band continues to be.Speaking from Hoboken, New Jersey, Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley modestly dismisses the overzealous acclaim. “Sure, it’s one of our favorite albums,” he admits. “But as for saying things like it’s a timeless classic, I don’t know. Those are the things journalists say — they’re not things I’ve said.”Inspired by the likes of the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Patti Smith and Television, and the raucous new sounds bellowing out of clubs such as CBGBs in the late ’70s, guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, along with bassist Kim Gordon (later to become Moore’s better half) decided to do their own thing in 1981. They soon made their presence felt on the New York scene by getting involved with other avant-garde experimentalists such as John Cage and Glenn Blanca.“John Cage is someone that we respect and admire,” says Shelley, who has occupied the Sonic Youth drum stool since 1984. “But I don’t think that we’ve borrowed too much from John Cage through the years, although we’ve played some of his compositions and learned a lot from him. As for Glenn Branca, he had a bigger influence on the group before I was a band member. Both Lee and Thurston played in his groups, and he was part of the New York scene in those days. But that was a long time ago.”Sonic Youth’s trademark aggression appeared to become compromised during the ’90s with albums like Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star, Murray Street and Sonic Nurse, prompting some critics to question the authenticity of their avant-garde ethos. But, according to Moore, this was just part of a more sinister game plan.“I find it more interesting to move away from the vanguard of extrapolated experimental noise music when it’s such a popular musical style right now,” he says. “I think it’s more interesting for us to not delve into that right now, but to do more direct, compact sonic recordings.” Shelley, however, adds, “I think those decisions are not usually conscious decisions. That’s just the way those albums came together. We don’t really sit down and make a plan from album to album; we just sort of get together and see what happens.”Amid cries of betrayal and “sellout,” Sonic Youth has followed in the footsteps of Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell by striking up a distribution deal with coffee giant Starbucks. The likes of Beck, Jeff Tweedy, Portia de Rossi, Marc Jacobs and Michelle Williams have all lined up to contribute a Sonic Youth song of their choice for a new compilation album. Moore admits that he quite likes the absurdity of being linked to Starbucks, and Shelley also appears to be keen on the idea.“It’s a compilation of older tracks that have already been released,” Shelley says. “They were picked by different friends.”With Beck being the biggest catch, the inevitable question follows: What did he pick? Reluctant to say anything at first, Shelley eventually reveals that it’s a folky version of “The Diamond Sea,” which originally appeared on 1995’s Washing Machine. Otherwise, the project sounds like another exercise in fans heaping praise on the band.“Yes, it might be like that,” admits Shelley with a laugh. “But we’re not gonna pick people that don’t like us. It’s just a compilation trying to get our music across to different people, that’s all.”This summer, the band has been busy putting on special “Daydream Nation” concerts. “We just played a show at the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, New York, where The Slits opened for us,” Shelley enthuses. “It was a beautiful summer night and we got to play for a huge crowd of New Yorkers, which was a real treat for us.”Unlike a lot of shows on their European jaunt, the band’s upcoming bash in Prague isn’t, according to Shelley, “marked down as a ‘Daydream Nation’ show.” Instead, expect a classic mix of old and new material.“We like Prague a lot and we usually get out and take a walk around,” Shelley says. “It’s a beautiful city and we love going there.” And what about the set? “Well, we don’t really plan what’s going to happen until that day or night.”Start dreaming now.

http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2...king-noise.php

a folky version of “The Diamond Sea"!

Thanks Jico. You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to jico. again.

Repete po jedenacti letech...

tomu kurva ver !

lutujem ze tam nebudem. slavo mozes strhnut jeden prazsky poster aj pre mna?

i've got a recording of beck doing the diamond sea live w/ acoustic guitar and harmonica if anybody wants it.

Jsem fakt zvedavy na setlist...!

.“It’s a compilation of older tracks that have already been released,” Shelley says. “They were picked by different friends.”With Beck being the biggest catch, the inevitable question follows: What did he pick? Reluctant to say anything at first, Shelley eventually reveals that it’s a folky version of “The Diamond Sea,” which originally appeared on 1995’s Washing Machine.

So are they choosing SY's old, previously released versions, or contributing their own covers? And fuck Beck, what's Tweedy doing?

Pro mě to bude premiéra !!! Těšim se jak hovado !!!

can you upload it somehow?

so????????????????????

Does anyone have a set list from last nite's Prague gig? Thanx in advance

a " http://www.lastfm.de - member" posted this:

well i do not remember everything, but they definitely played: teenage riot, incinerate, reena, cross the breeze, what a wate, turquoise boy, do you belive in rapture, hey jony, jams run free, shaking hell, 100%, or. and some more. somebodys going tho show up with a correct setlist i gues.

Ahh. If I was Bjork I would say that I'm violently happy...;-)
Sound wasn't so good, Ï'm not huge Rather Ripped fan., but they're really amazing and atmosphere was unique! They were so nice to the audience and I hope that Prague wasn't disilliusion for them...
Thank you for coming, SY!

setlist
(wish i could see World Looks Red live...)

thanks for setlist. skip tracer? catholic block? aghrrr. diego, hope you recorded it!!? great about the atmosphere. how's theathre archa? was it packed?

nice setlist! lights out & catholic block are rare guests in 2007!

what did they replace world looks red with? teenage riot?

looks like

pictures, links, reviews?

checked youtube, but there's nothing yet - hope.

they actually didnť play lights out...

finaly. first youtube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytQ9LnYk284

*edit*
man, this is mad clip. crowd is really enjoying it and band as well. well done.

interesting. did they replace it?

shaking hell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChlkUUA3DzA

THAT GIG WAS FUCKING INSANE !!!

I almost got knocked over by the crowd ... it was like whole 4 or 5 first lines were a huge mosh pit ... INSANE INSANE INSANE !!!

That concert was sheer hell. Now that I came from today's Vienna gig, I have to say Austrian audience was lame compared to what was going on yesterday in Prague.

Anyways, I don't recall the whole yesterday's setlist and the exact order of the songs, but it was something like this :

Teenage Riot -> Incinerate -> Reena -> Cross The Breeze -> Skip Tracer -> Catholic Block -> ...a bunch of songs from Rather Ripped ... -> Hey Joni -> 100% -> Pink Steam -> Encore : Or and something else then -> Shaking Hell

Today, the setlist was quite similar, with some exceptions:

Bull in the Heather instead of Teenage Riot
The Sprawl instead of Cross The Breeze
Mote instead of Skip Tracer
TRILOGY AS 1ST ENCORE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (this was especially marvellously done)

Sorry, I'm quite drunk, that's why this post seems rather idiotic.

Prague:

more pics:
http://www.freemusic.cz/clanky/5704-...ografiich.html

man im watching that vid on youtube and it kinda makes me sad cause i tought the show in vienna was the best thing i could have seen but now i see that i shoudl have gone to prague instead!
oh dear
were there no security people in front of the band at all?
i tought they wouldnt play like that in europe..
man thats just crazy

looks like an incredible show.

I was holding the neck of Lee's guitar at that specific moment.

:)

greenlight, I got one Prague poster for you as I promised. Will I send it to you?

oh i hate you sooooo much for this! :D

It was amazing - there was no security at all - only a guy from SY staff helped to get Thurston from "stage diving" trouble :-) (Teenage Riot ending...) Funny thing was that it was Thurston himsefl who helped to cool down crowd with water - not any big "serial killer-like" moron. :)

I think there will be two scources of recording at least! I have a feeling vid. as well! Here's what taper of the show (who I contacted and persuaded record the gig - with rappard help) said about his recording:

Concert was great, great venue and gret crowd, many americans around lol
Very strong performance, and band seemed to enjoy during all the show, interacting with crowd and having a good time, specially Lee. Set lasted 90 min, really strong and energetic. Don't remembe

About the recording, I captured it complete. Bad news is that it distorts a little bit. It was caused cause I have to use a cheap Sound Professionals preamp instead of my planned rig (UA5). While checking at home, I noticed a problem with power batteries and have to run DPA > SP preamp > WAV. At least luckily I could notice while I was at home, so I could get a replacement and get the recording!

The fault was clearly at preamp stage as the wave file is not clipping, I used security settings and tried to monitor it on the field but no way, got the distortion even on those conditions. So bad the SP preamp distorted cause I think it could have been a much better quality recording.

I attached a sample of recording so you can hear it. You can notice in the third sample there is no distorsion in no drums part.... my fault, I'm so sorry about it, I think I could have get a really nice recording considering the venue and noisy crowd.

anyway, I think he did a great job. here's sample:

http://www.badongo.com/file/4172435

it should be shared soon either by him, rappard or me. if there's a video as well I'll be investigate till I get it man.

thx a lot, greenlight

o shit, somehow i missed this post.

to myslis vazne Slavo? ty kokso, definitivne! poslem ti adresu sukromnou postou? dik, dik, dik!

co za to?

Do you know what is really annyoing? These "*bumps*". :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HehXW4JLuU
another video by miss stephxxx - What A Waste...
somebody threw demo CD-R (or whatever) and Thurston...good idea :o)

so here it goes (from email i got - for now only this):

hey richard,

i've been really busy these last weeks, but I still remember I have to upload the SY recording as promised.
I will do it soon, but I think it would be fair to send you a rough MP3 file with the whole recording.

You can download it from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/61439622...rking.mp3.html