Psychic Hearts
Abstract: This post will make the case for a revisionist history of the Sonic Youth discography, positing the period of 1994-1997 as a creative peak second only to the period 1986-1988. It will also argue for Thurston Moore's "Psychic Hearts" as the best post-"Daydream Nation" Sonic Youth album, despite the obvious limitation of it being a solo-album comprised of only 50 percent of the band. It will also suggest the single "The Diamond Sea" as the best song ever or, perhaps more realistically, as a really fucking good song.
Thurston Moore - Elegy for all the Dead Rock Stars (Excerpt)
We don't have infinite bandwidth, so I can't post the entire song from the now re-issued Psychic Hearts album. Hopefully, this 7 minute excerpt will be enough to give you a proper taste of what may be one of my favourite songs.
When you open this file, you will be thrown roughly into the middle third of a 19:46 minute behemoth of a song. And when I say "thrown roughly" I mean that you will hit your head on the song. It will steam overtop of you like a rolling pile of amps and pedals and patch cords. Actually, that's not entirely true. The song will collapse around you in a landslide of instruments somewhere in the middle of this excerpt, but most of it will probably seem to flow past almost imperceptibly on either side of that moment. The repetition and the small shifts in direction throughout the song guide you almost unsuspectingly into the chaotic middle, only to have the band reassemble all of the quiet leftover pieces of the song into a graceful exit (that, unfortunately, you only hear a small part of). I'm not sure that this 7 minutes really captures why I've listened to this song literally 100s of times. Then again, I don't care all that much that it does.
Thurston Moore - Just Tell Tell Her That I Really Like Her
There was brief period when I felt that this song accurately summed up my entire musical aesthetic. I can't remember whether that was a two week or two year period, or why I would have ever thought that the idea of having a static musical aesthetic was a good idea. What I do know is that I've always been drawn to the name of this song, which is taken from a split 7" single with Loren Mazzacane Connors. I've always imagined it as being the soundtrack to a series of typical high school moments: the memory of a 15 second conversation followed by the reenactment of cumulatively less embarassing versions of that same conversation or, alternatively, a scene in which two people awkwardly talk to each other at a bad party, with strains of classic rock drifting by as trucks arrive with more firewood. Most of all, I think I can relate to this song because it's a guitar-driven song in which the guitars are used in the most understated possible way: brief repetitions on a theme working themselves up for a kind of anti-climax, or gentle collapse near the end.
* * * *
You can buy Psychic Hearts here.
Thurston Moore - Elegy for all the Dead Rock Stars (Excerpt)
We don't have infinite bandwidth, so I can't post the entire song from the now re-issued Psychic Hearts album. Hopefully, this 7 minute excerpt will be enough to give you a proper taste of what may be one of my favourite songs.
When you open this file, you will be thrown roughly into the middle third of a 19:46 minute behemoth of a song. And when I say "thrown roughly" I mean that you will hit your head on the song. It will steam overtop of you like a rolling pile of amps and pedals and patch cords. Actually, that's not entirely true. The song will collapse around you in a landslide of instruments somewhere in the middle of this excerpt, but most of it will probably seem to flow past almost imperceptibly on either side of that moment. The repetition and the small shifts in direction throughout the song guide you almost unsuspectingly into the chaotic middle, only to have the band reassemble all of the quiet leftover pieces of the song into a graceful exit (that, unfortunately, you only hear a small part of). I'm not sure that this 7 minutes really captures why I've listened to this song literally 100s of times. Then again, I don't care all that much that it does.
Thurston Moore - Just Tell Tell Her That I Really Like Her
There was brief period when I felt that this song accurately summed up my entire musical aesthetic. I can't remember whether that was a two week or two year period, or why I would have ever thought that the idea of having a static musical aesthetic was a good idea. What I do know is that I've always been drawn to the name of this song, which is taken from a split 7" single with Loren Mazzacane Connors. I've always imagined it as being the soundtrack to a series of typical high school moments: the memory of a 15 second conversation followed by the reenactment of cumulatively less embarassing versions of that same conversation or, alternatively, a scene in which two people awkwardly talk to each other at a bad party, with strains of classic rock drifting by as trucks arrive with more firewood. Most of all, I think I can relate to this song because it's a guitar-driven song in which the guitars are used in the most understated possible way: brief repetitions on a theme working themselves up for a kind of anti-climax, or gentle collapse near the end.
* * * *
You can buy Psychic Hearts here.
posted by ian at 5:50 PM
3 Comments:
So, here's the thing: I saw Thurston play solo around 1994, and "Elegy" was definitely his set's apotheosis.
Here's the thing, though: the way I remembered the song, *it had lyrics*. And a melody. And both were good. And I picked up the LP all excited finally to hear them again. I was expecting a shock of recognition, a thrill, even disappointment at the execution, but not an instrumental.
A great instrumental, but still..
Was I just really, really high on my pint of Anchor Steam, or were there ever lyrics and a melody?
Nobody I know remembers that show, and no one can confirm or deny how that song was performed on tour. It is an abiding mystery of my life, like where to get Bernerkaese in the US.
Happy finally to get that off my chest, I can confirm that you are almost right. SY/TM around that period had reached another high point, but really, _Sister_ is it. And I'm not just saying that because in 1987 I wanted that t-shirt with Thurston's own tattoo design (back before they were cool, yo) on the chest, but never managed to pick one up.
re: abstract as stylistic device. Oh, ick. Just...ick. Are you a grad student?
Yan: No. I am a professional music critic. I am paid in piles of cocaine and promo cds only.
Post a Comment
<< Home