[ann ashtray]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ann ashtray again

Love, love, loves.

[Mortte Jousimo]

Thanx a lot you all, there has been great discussion and now I understand a little more, why people don´t like Rather Ripped. But still I can´t understand, why someone who likes Nurse doesn´t like Rather Ripped. Because to my ears there is lots of kind of pop songs in Nurse also (for example Unmade Bed, Stones, New hampshire, I love You golden Blue, Peace Attack). Of course there is more noise and sounding is different in Nurse as it is in Rather Ripped. To me is very hard to say which is better Nurse or Rather Ripped. But of course, music is something you can´t always explain, if some music doesn´t hits you, then it doesn´t. I didn´t also like Red Hot Chili peppers or Stooges latest studio records and I think there are lots of people, who thinks they´re good and sounding just like their other albums. My point in this thread has been, that people really listened rather ripped (maybe four times is a minium) and then make their opinion about it. And if it can´t catch them, then it can´t.

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

BUT, this does not mean I do not also love things like Sonic Death, because as much as I prefer the more ambient SY, I also love the noise/no-wave stuff on its own level. But I am a bit more eclectic and diverse in my musical tastes than others on SYG, I go from roots to soul to crust to metal to yay area hip hop to delta blues to traditional Ethiopian mezmur to no-wave to riot grrl to the Grateful Dead (live only) so I might not be exactly representative of SYG as a whole

I think there is lots of same in our music taste (well Hip Hop can´t catch me). I was very excited about your Ethiopian music interest, because there has been very rare people who even know anything about it. In fact I like a lot Ethiopian sixties and seventies music, artists like Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed and Muleken Mellesse. I am also a big blues (read John Lee Hooker, Howlin wolf, Muddy Waters) and soul fan. I have also 3 first Grateful Dead LP:s (and one from the eighties) that I´ve listened a lot.

[Mortte Jousimo]

I have to say again that I don´t believe that there was any commercial plannings when SY made Rather Ripped. It doesn´t just make sense to me (Thurston and co thinking "isn´t it great to have a hit before we leave Geffen" hah). I think they just had a pop period then (I think Thurston´s solo Trees Under have lots in common with Rather Ripped). But even if they had had commercial plannings, that doesn´t bother me, because I think they succeed to make a great album. I claim that I can hear if music is planned, because there was then no real feelings (as there wasn´t mostly in today´s music). But of course I made mistakes also.

[Mortte Jousimo]

I have to continue a little that sometimes also the lifesituation affects to what music catches you. When I bought NYC ghosts and Flowers there were so many changes into my life that I just couldn´t get all that chaos from that album. It was maybe five years after that when I really started to like that album and now I love it! And there has been also other albums that haven´t somehow caught me when I have bought then, but I have given them a chance later and then I have found them good. Of course I have had albums that I have sold out.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Mortte Jousimo

I think there is lots of same in our music taste (well Hip Hop can´t catch me). I was very excited about your Ethiopian music interest, because there has been very rare people who even know anything about it. In fact I like a lot Ethiopian sixties and seventies music, artists like Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed and Muleken Mellesse. I am also a big blues (read John Lee Hooker, Howlin wolf, Muddy Waters) and soul fan. I have also 3 first Grateful Dead LP:s (and one from the eighties) that I´ve listened a lot.

Jazz was HIM Haile Selassie final gift to Ethiopia. When Addis Ababa was in curfews and practically martial law in the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s, dance halls, bars and jazz dives were always cracking all night, and the Imperial police turned a blind eye. The Emperor himself personally imported talented Jazz musicians and orchestras to teach this music to Ethiopian players, ironic that for example indigenous Africans in Ethiopia learned a distinctively African-American music directly from Polish jazz greats!though Mulatu is perfect enough alone and still ripping up stages shows to this day, don't forget other greats of that era Ayalew Mesfin, Bahta Gebre-Heywet, Girma Beyene, and the master himself Alemeyahu Ashate

with the dead, through away your LPs and troll around Archive.org or raid the DeadPod because the pure Zen magic of the grateful dead is not in their albums, no it is in their stageshow. Dead music is like the Spirit, only he who as ears to hear, and as we in Rastafari say, who feels it knows it..

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Jazz was HIM Haile Selassie final gift to Ethiopia. When Addis Ababa was in curfews and practically martial law in the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s, dance halls, bars and jazz dives were always cracking all night, and the Imperial police turned a blind eye. The Emperor himself personally imported talented Jazz musicians and orchestras to teach this music to Ethiopian players, ironic that for example indigenous Africans in Ethiopia learned a distinctively African-American music directly from Polish jazz greats!though Mulatu is perfect enough alone and still ripping up stages shows to this day, don't forget other greats of that era Ayalew Mesfin, Bahta Gebre-Heywet, Girma Beyene, and the master himself Alemeyahu Ashate

with the dead, through away your LPs and troll around Archive.org or raid the DeadPod because the pure Zen magic of the grateful dead is not in their albums, no it is in their stageshow. Dead music is like the Spirit, only he who as ears to hear, and as we in Rastafari say, who feels it knows it..

Yes, that 60-70 period was a great time in Ethiopian music (like it has been all over the world)! In my opinion since the iron curtain it never became back. Nowdays Ethiopian music is very superficial and sounds so plastic. Only Mulatu and Gigi have made good records nowdays (I know there exists other serious artist, but what I´ve heard from them, I haven´t liked it). I have Mulatus Inspiration Information and steps ahead -albums and they are just great!!! And Alemeyhu, he´s also great, he is a true Ethiopian Elvis or James Brown!!! I know also Girma and Bahta. I suppose you also know the great Ethiopian sax-player Getatchew Mekuira. Almost all that material I´ve heard from the great Ethiopiques-compilations.

I forgot to mention that I have Grateful Dead Live/Dead on cassette and in my opinion it´s one of the greatest live-record! Many live records are not that good. The other that are as good as live/dead are: Allman Brothers band: at fillmore east, Canned Heat: Live In Europe, Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix in the west, Wigwam: Live Music from the twlilight zone, King Crimson: Usa, Nick Cave and Bad Seeds: Live Seeds, Tom Waits: Big time and the latest Glitter and Doom and of course Sonic Dead. Now I just don´t remember any other good live-recordings.

Do you mean the band called Spirit? I just listened their great album "Twelve dreams of dr. Sardonicus" and it´s just great!!! I´ve read something about Spirit already eighties, but it was then very difficult to get their records here. And I suppose you also liked Bob Marley a lot, I am also a quite a big fan, although I´m not rasta.

[flashlight69]

rather ripped is youst awesome
it was my 2 record buyed it a few months after its realese
and yup i still totally love it

incinerate for example is a very beautiful song

[yesca]

I was put off from Rather Ripped. Laid off the weed, got some beer and whiskey, they the record went down nicely. Then got some weed and whiskey and the record became godhead. I have this wired thing with SY, why I am not here that much. I am always put off by all new SY records, at first. Good thing I do not carry a copy catcher in the rye on me.

[Mortte Jousimo]

There are two great live recordings that I forgot to mention earlier: The Who: Live at leeds and Little Feat: Waitin' for Columbus. And I mean the original version of Live at leeds, there is so much power in that record that many punk bands never achieved anything like that! The later cd-version that have almost whole concert isn't as energetic. And of course Rolling Stones: Get yer ya ya's out is good live record, but in my opinion Stones has never managed to put their whole live magic in records.

[dasx]

I like Rather Ripped. It's not in my top 5 sonic youth albums list, but there's lot of great songs in it. Pink Steam, for example, is true masterpiece. There's lots of pop sensibility and I think that's the thing most of SYG members don't like. Also, noise stuff is almost completely absent or at least it's pushed into background.

[bloodcrystallisetosand]

Rather Ripped is a much under-appreciated album. It doesn't have the depth of the albums that surrounded it, but depth isn't the point - criticising an album with Reena and Incinerate on it for lacking depth is like criticising Confusion is Sex for being not being accessible enough. RR is a modern guitar pop classic to my ears, has that clever trick of sounding throwaway on first listen, but then by the time you realise you've played it 3 times through on a loop you realise that there's something more subtle at work... Pink Steam is as good a track as they've recorded in the last decade, too.

Also, wasn't it nice, in amongst the skronk-jazz side projects, ambient noise cassette-only sound collage type stuff, to have a nice shiny disc of Sonic Youth having fun? Just for a change?

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by dasx

I like Rather Ripped. It's not in my top 5 sonic youth albums list, but there's lot of great songs in it. Pink Steam, for example, is true masterpiece. There's lots of pop sensibility and I think that's the thing most of SYG members don't like. Also, noise stuff is almost completely absent or at least it's pushed into background.

I think there is quite a lot noise in Turquise Boy. And there is short noise period in Incinerate, Sleepin around and Jams Run free. But I understand your point, RR is the least noise SY album.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by bloodcrystallisetosand

Rather Ripped is a much under-appreciated album. It doesn't have the depth of the albums that surrounded it, but depth isn't the point - criticising an album with Reena and Incinerate on it for lacking depth is like criticising Confusion is Sex for being not being accessible enough. RR is a modern guitar pop classic to my ears, has that clever trick of sounding throwaway on first listen, but then by the time you realise you've played it 3 times through on a loop you realise that there's something more subtle at work... Pink Steam is as good a track as they've recorded in the last decade, too.

Also, wasn't it nice, in amongst the skronk-jazz side projects, ambient noise cassette-only sound collage type stuff, to have a nice shiny disc of Sonic Youth having fun? Just for a change?

amen amen!

[frades]

rather ripped is excellent because it shows the great maturity of each sonic member. but pink steam is a song I hate like all songs that play an instrumental part before doing the same whith lyrics ( like snare girl / stil). each time I listen to it I say to myself : why doen't T sing "I just come by to run you over, I just come by to see you quiver", we've got no time time to lose hey