Albums by this artist

Do Sonic Youth not have about the coolest career imaginable? They have a major label apparently committed to letting them try whatever they want, their own studio, collaborations and side projects galore, and the license to put out whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want.

The only problem is, without the focus, the hunger, I suppose you could say, of their indie days, they haven't made many incredible records. They've made some good ones (Experimental Jet Set, the first three records in the SYR experimental series), and in Washing Machine, a near-great one, but nothing approaching the oh-my-GOODNESS vitality of Daydream Nation and Sister.

Of course, they haven't really been trying. And what's wrong with that? When I finally saw Sonic Youth live recently, it was the oldies ("Sugar Kane," "Teen Age Riot") that got the crowd going, but it was the midset improv freakouts that the band seemed excited about. And as I've argued for years, a band must concerned with engaging itself first.

If you stop playing for yourself and play for audience response, you cease being a musician and become a mere entertainer, going through the same old motions and losing all emotionalconnection to music which in some ways ceases even belonging to you. The Youth themselves prominently featured a quote by poet/spoken word maven Jack Brewer in the liners to Experimental: "Once the music leaves your head, it's already compromised."

So if Goodbye 20th Century, two LPs of unchecked random guitar noise, is what excites Sonic Youth, more power to them. If some of the pieces ("Edges," "Having Never Written A Note For Percussion") are more listenable than others ("Four6," "Voice Piece For Soprano," which is just Thurston and Kim's kid screaming for 12 seconds), that's totally beside the point.

What is the point is that making this noise must have been great fun for Sonic Youth, and their collaborators Jim O'Rourke, Wharton Tiers, and composers Christian Wolff and Takehisa Kosugi, to make. Whether packaging it as a tribute to the greatest experimental composers of the 20th century gives it added validity or not makes no difference.

If you're willing to sit down and listen to nearly two hours of atonal, ambient guitar noise and try actively to uncover the larger structure hiding under it all, Goodbye 20th Century is a trip. If you like pop hooks, the Promise Ring beckon.

MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.