Kim Gordon

I will forever be enthralled by the sounds of Sonic Youth and all of the spinoff projects associated with the now defunct and legendary band.  One of the latest is the new solo effort from Kim Gordon.  There is something about her cool and detached monotone delivery that has always grabbed hold of my shoulders and screamed directly into my psyche.  Grab the "Play Me" LP here from Matador and listen to "Not Today" below.

Daily Jam - Unwind

One of the things i love about a band like Sonic Youth is that if you ask anyone what their favorite album by the group is, you'll probably get a different answer from everyone.  You may also get a different answer from the same person any time you ask.  Like for me, sometimes "Washing Machine" is my favorite.  Sometimes it's "Goo" or "Dirty" or "Daydream Nation" and so on.  But today, i'll go back to "Washing Machine."  Here's the excellent "Unwind" from the album.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Orcutt Shelley Miller

Likeminded experimental artists Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and Ethan Miller (Comets on Fire) are teaming together for a new collaborative project naturally called Orcutt Shelley Miller.  The album finds the artist grooving on a nice and noisy vibe, a mix of cosmic space rock and stoner jams.  Check out "A Star Is Born" below and pre-order the self-titled LP here from Silver Current Records.

Daily Jam - Sunday

I know i say this every time i post a song by them, but goddamn i miss Sonic Youth.  I don't think i'll ever get over their breakup.  So here they are.  Listen to "Sunday" below, our Daily Jam.

Kim Gordon

The one and only Kim Gordon is back next month with her second solo album "The Collective."  Check out the noise and spoken word delivery of "I'm a Man" below and pre-order the record here from Matador.

Daily Jam - Little Trouble Girl

I don’t know about you, but I was pretty bummed out back in 2011 when Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon got divorced and dissolved the band. It’s always disheartening when a band you love, and maybe especially one that you grew up with, reaches its inevitable breaking point and ceases to continue on, but the relationship split within made it that much worse. Granted, I’ve never met either of these people*, and their personal lives have absolutely no bearing on my life whatsoever, but it was kind of devastating. They were supposed to be the model. They were supposed to be the ones that made it. And while it wasn’t like having your parents split up or anything, it was on par with maybe a cool older cousin getting divorced or something.

At least we got decades of excellent music.

Every record Sonic Youth recorded definitely has its charms, but the real sweet spot starts with 1988’s Daydream Nation and goes through 1995’s Washing Machine. You would be hard pressed to find another set of five consecutive albums that are as consistent, original, influential, and just plain awesome as the band’s output during those seven years. And one of the highlights from that era is the trippy and surreal Gordon-fronted ballad, “Little Trouble Girl,” a single from Washing Machine.

“Little Trouble Girl” came out at a time in my life when I was starting to broaden my horizons in regard to music and film, and really to all art and media in general. Stuff that only a couple of years prior would have had me turning my nose up to it, or tuning my brain off from it suddenly started making waves and getting rotations. I sought out the different. I would seek out the strange. I adored the weird. And, if we’re honest, “Little Trouble Girl” is weird. I don’t even know how to begin describing it. An off-tuned guitar begins a slow and strange melody, and then a chorus of girls begins to sing (along with Kim fucking Deal!)…kind of creepily…until Kim Gordon begins her almost Nico-esque spoken word verses. And then those girls sing again. The whole effect is otherworldly, and that chorus digs deep and just stays with you for hours…days…or even 25 years. And now we’ll never get that again.

*In 1998, I missed meeting Thurston Moore at a yard sale in Austin near my apartment by about 10 minutes. He had been crate digging through the guy’s records, which I was there to do myself. I bought a Billy Joel album.

Listen to the song below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Demie Clocharde

A little over 20 years ago, French artist Brigitte Fontaine released a weird and experimental album featuring an assist from Sonic Youth on a few tracks.  It's cool stuff and sounds like it could have been released at any time over the last 40+ years.  Check out "Demie Clocharde" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Sugar Kane

I still miss Sonic Youth.  All the former members' current projects are great, but it's just not the same.  Anyway, here they are with "Sugar Kane," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Halloween

I'm currently in an undisclosed location somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.  Going to have to decide if i plan to return.  In the meanwhile, here's Sonic Youth with "Halloween," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Bull in the Heather

Man, some days i really miss Sonic Youth.  I feel very fortunate i got to see them before it all ended.  Here's "Bull in the Heather," our Daily Jam.

Kim Gordon & J Mascis

Here are two artists that really need no introduction from me, Kim Gordon and J Mascis.  The two alt-rock legends have performed together in the past, but the new single "Abstract Blues" marks the first time the two have collaborated and recorded music together.  Check out the crunch of that track along with B-side "Slow Boy" below and download the pair here from Sub Pop.

Daily Jam - Compilation Blues

Here's one of my favorite Sonic Youth songs.  Listen to "Compilation Blues" below, our Daily Jam.

Body/Dilloway/Head

Since the demise of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon has spent the last decade making haunting, noisy, often atonal music with fellow artist Bill Nace as Body/Head.  The duo have now brought a new member into the fold, former Wolf Eyes member Aaron Dilloway, with a new record landing in November, "Body/Dilloway/Head."  Check out the oozing, crumbling, alien sonics of "Goin' Down" below and order the record here from Three Lobed Recordings.

Wylde Ratttz

Wylde Ratttz were a veritable super group of alt-rock personalities assembled to basically be a stand in for The Stooges in Todd Haynes's kinda-sorta Bowie biopic "Velvet Goldmine" back in 1998.  The band consisted of original Stooge Ron Asheton, Mudhoney's Mark Arm, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley, Mike Watt, Sean Lennon, and more.  The band's rendition of "TV Eye" made it into the movie and on the soundtrack, but evidently they recorded a whole lot more and have been releasing the sessions over the last few months.  The most recent is a blistering take on Stooges classic "Fun House."  Check it out below, and get it here.

Daily Jam - Disappearer

"Goo" is 30 years old.  Holy Moly!  Here's Sonic Youth's "Disappearer," our Daily Jam.

Thurston Moore - Strawberry Moon

I guess we had a pink, strawberry moon a few nights ago, and Thurston Moore recorded a music piece to accompany it.  "Strawberry Moon" is a sprawling, droning trio of guitars creating a soothing hum with maybe something more ominous bubbling beneath.  Check it out and get it here.

Thurston Moore - Sunday Stage

After Sonic Youth broke up, and broke our hearts, Thurston Moore tooled around with a project called Chelsea Light Moving for a couple of years.  And over the weekend, he released a song from that era for our listening consumption.  Yep, it sounds like a Thurston Moore song.  Check out "Sunday Stage" below and download it here.

Kim Gordon - Sketch Artist

Kim Gordon has kept busy over the last several years since Sonic Youth's breakup (a breakup of which i am very much still upset about), and now she's got a new solo effort heading our way in October on Matador.  Check out the video for the noisy and eerie "Sketch Artist" below and pre-order the album here.

Also, it looks like the record is going to include Gordon's 2016 track "Murdered Out."  That song kicked ass, so its inclusion is a bonus.

Daily Jam - Theresa's Sound World

Thinking about what my favorite Sonic Youth album is and coming to the conclusion that it's "Dirty," and also that it's not even close.  What's yours?  Anyway, here's "Theresa's Sound World," your Daily Jam.

Body/Head

You can pretty much sign me up for any and everything Kim Gordon does, and her post Sonic Youth work is no different.  Her project with Bill Nace, Body/Head, has a new record out next month on Matador.  Listen to the droning, noisy fuzz of "You Don't Need" below and pre-order "The Switch" record here.