Rather Ripped

Sonic Youth from L to R: Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley and Thurston Moore.

I've been listening to the new Sonic Youth record, "Rather Ripped", an awful lot lately and I can't get enough of it! I can see this album fast becoming one of my all time favorite Sonic Youth records, right up there with 1998's grossly underrated "A Thousand Leaves". It's been recieving all sorts of rave reviews and much has been made about it being their most accessible work since the days of "Goo" and "Dirty". This is true to some extent. All but two of the songs ("Turqoise Boy" and "Pink Steam") clock in at under five minutes and "Reena", "Incinerate", "What A Waste", "Jams Run Free" and "Lights Out" are all amongst the catchiest songs they've ever recorded. But let's be clear about this, you couldn't possibly mistake this album being the work of anybody BUT Sonic Youth. All their distinctive trademarks are in tact throughout- the sexy grooves, the chiming guitars, the droning feedback, the playful yet twisted lyrical sensibility.... It's just that it's all wrapped up in a concise, downright melodic package this time around.

It's perhaps a bit simplistic to call this Sonic Youth's "pop" record (although many critics are doing just that) when the band has long been capable of melodies that are downright breathtaking in their beauty. But perhaps never before has Sonic Youth released a record quite as concise, quite as tight as this. The feedback drenched jammin' appears but only in short, controlled bursts. And never have Thurston and Kim sounded quite so confident in their singing. I remember when "A Thousand Leaves" came out an old friend and fellow Sonic Youth fan remarked to me, "Thurston has learned to sing!" And he was right. Thurston HAD learned to sing. So it appears has Kim.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if their next record sounds nothing like this. That's part of the beauty of Sonic Youth. You never quite know what to expect. Who possibly would have expected them to have gone in the more accessible direction of "Goo" and "Dirty" in the first place? And just when the music world was getting used to a more accessible Sonic Youth they went to back to a much more experimental approach that lasted from 1994's "Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star" on through 2004's "Sonic Nurse". Then when we least expect it they hit us with an album filled with three to four minute "pop" songs! Perhaps their most accessible album yet!

The bottom line is whether they're exploring their more melodic side, their more experimental side, or as is often the case in recent years, a synthesis containing elements of both, nobody can match Sonic Youth in terms of sheer, unbridled creativity. This is the band's twenty first album and there's not a clunker in the bunch! That's quite a run. If anything, after twenty five years as a band they just keep getting better with age! I'm sure they'll release another album in a year or two, as they always do. And I'm sure it will be every bit as brilliant as the rest. That just blows my mind. I don't quite know how they do it but the depths of their creativity appears to know no bounds....

Click here for the "Incinerate" video.

The Stones Keep On Rolling

Mick Jagger singing "Ruby Tuesday" at Soldier Field, September 10th 2005.


After months of speculation it was announced yesterday that The Stones will indeed be returning to North America this fall. They're hitting Soldier Field again on October 11th and I can't wait! I've already seen them three times on the current tour (at Soldier Field in September and twice at the United Center in January). I had the absolute time of my life at those concerts! In fact, I had some pretty good seats for the last Soldier Field show so hopefully I'll be able to score something similar this time around. Either way, I'm just grateful to have the chance to see them one more time. God bless 'em!

Also, today is Mick Jagger's birthday. He's now 63 years young. I'd like to wish the greatest frontman in rock history a heartfelt "happy birthday". He's spawned many imitators over the years but the fact remains, there will never be another Mick Jagger.

Here's a complete list of the newly announced Stones dates. If anybody out there hasn't yet seen Mick and the boys on their current trek around the world I would highly recommend they do so. Nobody puts on a show like The Stones! As far as I'm concerned, it's worth every single penny.

Sept 20
Boston, MA
Gillette Stadium

Sept 23
Halifax, NS
Halifax Commons

Sept 27
E. Rutherford, NJ
Giants Stadium

Oct 2
Wichita, KS
Cessna Stadium Wichita University

Oct 6
Missoula, MT
Grizzly Stadium

Oct 8
Regina, SK
Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field

Oct 11
Soldier Field
Chicago, IL

Oct 17
Seattle, WA
Qwest Field

Oct 20
El Paso, TX
Sun Bowl

Oct 22
Austin, TX
Zilker Park

Oct 27
Atlantic City, NJ
Boardwalk Hall

Nov 3
Vancouver, BC
BC Place Stadium

Nov 5
Oakland, CA
McAfee Coliseum

Nov 8
Phoenix, AZ
Cardinals Stadium

Nov 11
Las Vegas, NV
MGM Grand

Nov 14
Boise, ID
Idaho Center

Nov 18
Los Angeles, CA
Dodger Stadium

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

One of Mick Rock's iconic photos of the late, great Syd Barrett.

It's with a heavy heart that I must report the passing of former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett at the age of 60. His death was announced by the band today. He died on Friday, and although no specific cause of death has been confirmed yet, it's believed he died of complications from diabetes.

Syd (real name Roger Keith Barrett) was of course a founding member of Pink Floyd along with Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason. It was Syd who came up with the group's name (originally The Pink Floyd Sound) by combining the first names of two little known blues artists, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. In the early days of the band Pink Floyd were basically just another R&B group performing amped up covers of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley tunes. The extended jamming that began to pepper their live sets was originally just a way of filling in the gaps of their rather limited repetoire. But it was those increasingly spaced out improvs that London's emerging underground seized upon. The band added a psychedelic light show to the mix sometime in 1966 and from that point on would be known as much for the visuals of their concerts as the audio. By then they were gigging regularly and were fast becoming the darlings of London's avant garde underworld.

On March 11, 1967 Floyd released their debut single, the Syd-penned "Arnold Layne". It managed to crack the top twenty and their second single, "See Emily Play", got all the way to number five. These two songs showed what a truly multi-faceted talent Syd really was, equally adept at composing three minute pop gems as he was coaxing unheard of sounds out of his trusty Fender Esquire (played through an Echoplex) as he led the band through twenty minute long (or longer) psychedelic workouts onstage. Around this time Floyd got to work on their debut LP at Abbey Road Studios. The sessions were produced by Norman Smith who had worked with The Beatles up until "Rubber Soul". Also holed up in Abbey Road at that time was The Beatles themselves, working on the album that became "Sgt. Pepper".

Floyd's debut LP, "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" was released in August '67. All but one of the eleven tracks were penned by Syd. Highlights included "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam" and an abbreviated version of the instrumental that inspired much of Floyd's onstage freak-outs, "Interstellar Overdrive". The combination of Syd's whimsical songwriting and Smith's technical know how had created one of the definitive LP's of that era (the other being the mighty "Pepper"). But all was not well in the Floyd camp. During the sessions for "Piper" Syd had become increasingly uncommunicative and was generally starting to show signs of the mental illness that would eventually lead to his departure from the band. After the sessions were wrapped the band hit the road and things only got worse. Syd was by now using copious amounts of LSD and much has been made over whether the drug actually caused his breakdown. I for one have always felt that Syd was probably heading for a breakdown anyway and the acid just exacerbated the situation. After all, there was many other musicians of that time who were taking lots of acid that didn't go the way Syd did. Perhaps his psyche was just too fragile to handle the constant tripping....

It was during Floyd's first tour of the US that Syd really began to unravel. There's all sorts of legendary stories about his onstage behavior around this time. Stories of him standing motionless with his guitar around his neck, not playing a note. Or stories of him playing the same note for twenty minutes regardless of what the band was playing behind him. The US tour was cut short and the band headed back to England. From there they went out on a package tour headlined by Jimi Hendrix and things only got worse. Eventually it was decided to bring in Roger and Syd's old friend from Cambridge, David Gilmour. At first the band thought that they could have Syd continue to compose for them while Gilmour filled in for him onstage (which is precisely what The Beach Boys did with Glen Campbell and then Bruce Johnston when their leader, Brian Wilson, suffered a breakdown of his own). Floyd even performed as a quintent for awhile. But it became increasingly clear that something had to be done about Syd and the group effectively booted him out in February of '68.

Syd went on to make two fractured yet positively enchanting solo albums, "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett", both produced by none other than David Gilmour. There's an eerie, haunting beauty to songs like "Golden Hair" and "Long Gone". The sound of a brilliant young man falling to pieces. By all accounts the sessions were difficult, to say the least. At some point in the early seventies Syd moved back to his hometown of Cambridge to live with his mum. He spent the next thirty five years living a quiet, hermit like existence. His main passions for the remainder of his life were painting and gardening.

We all know what ended up happening to the rest of Pink Floyd. Their 1973 masterpiece "Dark Side Of The Moon" became one of the biggest selling albums ever. Some of Roger Waters' insanity themed lyrics no doubt inspired by Syd. Syd continued to be an inspiration to the band on "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall", most notably on the epic "Wish You Were Here" track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". And of course there's that famous story about an overweight, unrecognizable Syd stopping by the sessions for that album in June of '75. It was the first time any of the band members had seen him in years and in all likelihood it was the last. However, the band members were in contact with Syd's family and always made sure he got his royalties. It's been said that it was Syd who didn't want to see them. And according to those who've encountered him over the years he refused to even speak about his past with Floyd.

Really, it was Roger Keith Barrett who died on Friday. Syd Barret died long ago (he stopped answering to that name decades ago). But what an amazing talent he was. A great singer, a first rate songwriter, a truly innovative guitar player and a HUGE influence on everybody from David Bowie and Marc Bolan to The Flaming Lips and untold scores of others.... As Bowie himself put it today, "a diamond indeed".

Lennon and McCartney

A 16 year-old John Lennon performing at Woolton Parish Church.

It was on this date back in 1957 that John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time. Lennon's group The Quarrymen was performing that afternoon oustide Woolton Parish Church. Paul later recalled John's rendition of The Del-Vikings' "Come Go With Me". "He didn't know the words, but it didn't matter because none of us knew the words either. There's a little refrain which goes, 'Come little darlin', come and go with me, I love you darling.' John was singing, 'Down, down, down to the penitentiary.' He was filling in with blues lines. I thought that was good, and he was singing well." After The Quarrymen's performance Paul was introduced to John by their mutual friend Ivan Vaughan. Paul sang Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" and John was impressed that Paul knew all the words. He was also impressed with Paul's knowledge of guitar chords. Up until this time John was still playing the banjo chords his mother had taught him. "I turned round to him right then on first meeting and said, 'Do you want to join the group?' And he said, 'yes' the next day as I recall it." According to Paul, he wasn't actually asked to join the group until a few days after meeting John but either way, what is certain is that they first met on this date, making it one of the most important anniversaries in all of rock history.