Lee's quite "Candle"

Moshe · 03.01.2007, 03:02 PM

http://mapthroughstereo.blogspot.com...ng-murray.html

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Lee's Quiet "Candle": Early Evening, Murray Street, NYC, August 1, 2005

The long, arcing shadows, cast at sharp angles of declination from building to building amidst the avenue canyons of lower Manhattan, gave the lounge-y front room of Sonic Youth's studio on Murray Street a supple dimness. Along with the gentle dissipation of sunlight, the day's stubborn layer of humidity also started it's retreat. These atmospheric shifts provided a natural signal, a gentle cosmic suggestion, that it may be time to start winding things up: Lee and I had been talking for the better part of two hours about the heady tectonics of Sonic Youth's late-early period and its resultant yield of recorded output--that astonishing rip of records from Bad Moon Rising, to EVOL, to Sister, culminating in '88 with the Almighty Daydream Nation.

We found an appropriate stop-point in our discussion and began that series of motions and gestures that collectively mark the end of an interview. I admitted to Lee that I could use a restroom break and made my way back through the studio to find relief. (What strange evocations happen under such circumstances; walking alone through the creative command center of a band whose music had sunk in so deep, resonated so thoroughly, over so many years: "Look, there's Steve's drumkit; and there're all the guitars; now passing the tape archives...")

Looking back, I can't recall if I had given it a second thought at the time, but when I left Lee sitting there alone on the couch in the front room, I neglected (deliberately?) to turn off my tape recorder, leaving it running right there on the table where it had been doing its thing for the past two hours.

Not until months later, back in Seattle, when I finally got down to transcribing the session, did I discover one of the coolest hidden interview moments I've ever unintentionally recorded. At the point on the tape when I get up to take my bathroom break, there's an extended period of empty hiss--a minute and a half or so--and then, from the silence, at a near-whisper, Lee's voice comes in, as he sings to himself:

...A crystal crackin'...
....I can't wait...

These line fragments are from "Candle"--one of Thurston's songs on Daydream--and, in the abbreviated version I caught on tape, Lee sings them in a key and at a tempo that differs drastically from the album take. It's a beautiful, fleeting moment that manages to capture the mutual admiration inherent to the Sonic Youth aesthetic, a bittersweet nostalgia for a period in the band's history that's necessarily lost to time but still resonant, and Lee's relentless experimentalism (i.e. new key/new tempo) all at once.

I kept this anecdote out of the book for some reason. I think sharing it here is as public as I wanted to get with this little gem.

Thanks for reading,
Matthew

GrungeMonkey · 03.01.2007, 03:06 PM

How lovely.

Danny Himself · 03.01.2007, 03:32 PM

Indeed. Lee rules.

SonikJesus · 03.01.2007, 10:56 PM

Cool. I wonder why he would sing a Thurston song. Lee rocks.

hirsute_biped · 03.02.2007, 12:30 AM

please post solo accapella lo-fi lee song fragment mp3s here. boot that shit!

Danny Himself · 03.02.2007, 10:42 AM

Yeah, I'd like to hear it too.

atari 2600 · 03.02.2007, 02:10 PM

k-krack · 03.02.2007, 02:25 PM

I'd love to hear this...

the ikara cult · 03.02.2007, 05:35 PM

Has Lee sung Candle?
I liked the photo by the way

Green_mind · 03.02.2007, 06:11 PM

hey, maybe lee will sing candle at this DDN show

the ikara cult · 03.02.2007, 06:13 PM

Its 6 months away... dont make me fantasise until a week before

Georgekrz · 03.03.2007, 11:36 AM

great post, btw did you see Lee thursday night at Town Hall? where was he during the encore?! haha.

Lee is Free · 03.05.2007, 12:46 AM

I was there---on stage right--but it was a kinda shambling encore (i mean--Sgt Pepper?? i get the "20 years ago today" bit but by rights i really felt it shoulda been some NYC song of the period...) and i chose to stay back a bit, me and Lou and Laurie were hanging in the back--and Michael Dorf was wringing his hands trying to figure out how to NOT let this closer go long and have to give all the $$ to the Union instead of the Stone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Georgekrz

great post, btw did you see Lee thursday night at Town Hall? where was he during the encore?! haha.

max · 03.05.2007, 01:06 AM

free me Lee, from all of them Pepperers!

atari 2600 · 03.05.2007, 02:37 PM

behind the music

Georgekrz · 03.06.2007, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee is Free

I was there---on stage right--but it was a kinda shambling encore (i mean--Sgt Pepper?? i get the "20 years ago today" bit but by rights i really felt it shoulda been some NYC song of the period...) and i chose to stay back a bit, me and Lou and Laurie were hanging in the back--and Michael Dorf was wringing his hands trying to figure out how to NOT let this closer go long and have to give all the $$ to the Union instead of the Stone!

Thanks for the info, too bad you couldnt get the projector going btw. looked like a cable got unplugged or something from the way those tech guys were scrambling by DJ Spookys computer.

03.01.2007, 03:02 PM	#1
Moshe Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,896	http://mapthroughstereo.blogspot.com...ng-murray.html Thursday, March 1, 2007 Lee's Quiet "Candle": Early Evening, Murray Street, NYC, August 1, 2005 The long, arcing shadows, cast at sharp angles of declination from building to building amidst the avenue canyons of lower Manhattan, gave the lounge-y front room of Sonic Youth's studio on Murray Street a supple dimness. Along with the gentle dissipation of sunlight, the day's stubborn layer of humidity also started it's retreat. These atmospheric shifts provided a natural signal, a gentle cosmic suggestion, that it may be time to start winding things up: Lee and I had been talking for the better part of two hours about the heady tectonics of Sonic Youth's late-early period and its resultant yield of recorded output--that astonishing rip of records from Bad Moon Rising, to EVOL, to Sister, culminating in '88 with the Almighty Daydream Nation. We found an appropriate stop-point in our discussion and began that series of motions and gestures that collectively mark the end of an interview. I admitted to Lee that I could use a restroom break and made my way back through the studio to find relief. (What strange evocations happen under such circumstances; walking alone through the creative command center of a band whose music had sunk in so deep, resonated so thoroughly, over so many years: "Look, there's Steve's drumkit; and there're all the guitars; now passing the tape archives...") Looking back, I can't recall if I had given it a second thought at the time, but when I left Lee sitting there alone on the couch in the front room, I neglected (deliberately?) to turn off my tape recorder, leaving it running right there on the table where it had been doing its thing for the past two hours. Not until months later, back in Seattle, when I finally got down to transcribing the session, did I discover one of the coolest hidden interview moments I've ever unintentionally recorded. At the point on the tape when I get up to take my bathroom break, there's an extended period of empty hiss--a minute and a half or so--and then, from the silence, at a near-whisper, Lee's voice comes in, as he sings to himself: ...A crystal crackin'... ....I can't wait... These line fragments are from "Candle"--one of Thurston's songs on Daydream--and, in the abbreviated version I caught on tape, Lee sings them in a key and at a tempo that differs drastically from the album take. It's a beautiful, fleeting moment that manages to capture the mutual admiration inherent to the Sonic Youth aesthetic, a bittersweet nostalgia for a period in the band's history that's necessarily lost to time but still resonant, and Lee's relentless experimentalism (i.e. new key/new tempo) all at once. I kept this anecdote out of the book for some reason. I think sharing it here is as public as I wanted to get with this little gem. Thanks for reading, Matthew
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.01.2007, 03:06 PM	#2
GrungeMonkey 100% Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Huddersfield, England Posts: 670	How lovely.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.01.2007, 03:32 PM	#3
Danny Himself invito al cielo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,623	Indeed. Lee rules.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.01.2007, 10:56 PM	#4
SonikJesus the end of the ugly Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 998	Cool. I wonder why he would sing a Thurston song. Lee rocks.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.02.2007, 12:30 AM	#5
hirsute_biped the end of the ugly Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Manta Sonica, California Posts: 1,169	please post solo accapella lo-fi lee song fragment mp3s here. boot that shit!
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.02.2007, 10:42 AM	#6
Danny Himself invito al cielo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,623	Yeah, I'd like to hear it too.
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03.02.2007, 02:10 PM	#7
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	fun
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03.02.2007, 02:25 PM	#8
k-krack invito al cielo Join Date: May 2006 Location: On Posts: 7,380	I'd love to hear this... __________________ sandwich klub 4 men. Danny is a C.H.U.D.
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03.02.2007, 05:35 PM	#9
the ikara cult invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: London sink Posts: 4,576	Has Lee sung Candle? I liked the photo by the way
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03.02.2007, 06:11 PM	#10
Green_mind the end of the ugly Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Posts: 827	hey, maybe lee will sing candle at this DDN show
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.02.2007, 06:13 PM	#11
the ikara cult invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: London sink Posts: 4,576	Its 6 months away... dont make me fantasise until a week before
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

03.03.2007, 11:36 AM	#12
Georgekrz stalker Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Forest Hills, NY Posts: 401	great post, btw did you see Lee thursday night at Town Hall? where was he during the encore?! haha.
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03.05.2007, 01:06 AM	#14
max expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: sardinia, italy Posts: 1,262	free me Lee, from all of them Pepperers! __________________ A Dance Of Shadows - Kingdom Of Night
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03.05.2007, 02:37 PM	#15
atari 2600 invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,212	behind the music __________________ Robert Rauschenberg, Canyon, 1959. Combine on canvas 81 3/4 x 70 x 24 inches.
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