Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore (vocals and guitar), Kim Gordon (vocals, bass, guitar), Lee Ranaldo (vocals and guitar), Steve Shelley (drums), and Mark Ibold (bass, guitar).

In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City. Part of the first wave of American noise rock groups, the band carried out their interpretation of the hardcore punk ethos throughout the evolving American underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound. As a result, some consider Sonic Youth as pivotal in the rise of the alternative rock and indie rock movements. The band has experienced success and critical acclaim throughout the last three decades, continuing into the new millennium, including signing to major label DGC in 1990, and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival.

Sonic Youth have expressed a wide variety of influences, ranging from the influential protopunk musician Patti Smith to composer John Cage. The band has been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do", using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and preparing guitars with objects like drum sticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre.

History

Formation and early history: 1977–1981

Moore and Gordon formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding and Red Milk before agreeing upon the Arcadians in late 1980. The band had recently changed their name to Sonic Youth by the time they played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery. Branca's ensemble played at the festival. Their performance impressed Moore, who described them as "the most ferocious guitar band that I had ever seen in my life." After Branca's set, Moore asked Ranaldo if he wanted to join the band. Ranaldo accepted; the band played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums, until they met drummer Richard Edson.

The name Sonic Youth came from combining the nickname of MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith with the trend of reggae artists, such as Big Youth, featuring the word "Youth" in their names. Gordon later recalled that "as soon as Thurston came up with the name Sonic Youth, a certain sound that was more of what we wanted to do came about."

Early releases: 1982–1985

During their early days as part of the New York music scene, Sonic Youth formed a friendship with noisy New Yorkers Swans. The bands came to share the same rehearsal space, and Sonic Youth embarked on its first tour, a two-week journey through the southern United States starting in November 1982, supporting Swans. During a second tour with Swans of the Midwest the following month, tensions ran high and Moore constantly criticized Bert's drumming, which he felt wasn't "in the pocket". Bert was fired afterwards and replaced by Jim Sclavunos, who played drums on the band's 1983 album ''Confusion Is Sex''. Sonic Youth set up a two-week tour of Europe for the summer of 1983. Sclavunos, however, quit after only a few months. The group asked Bert to rejoin, and he agreed, on the condition that he would not be fired again after the tour's conclusion.

Sonic Youth found themselves well-received in Europe, but the New York press largely ignored the local noise rock scene. Eventually, as the press began to take notice of the genre, Sonic Youth was grouped along with bands like Big Black, the Butthole Surfers and Pussy Galore under the "pigfucker" label by ''Village Voice'' music critic Robert Christgau. (Christgau saw these bands as sharing an abrasive, noisy and confrontational aesthetic.) Based on this classification, and on a negative live review by Christgau, a feud developed between Moore and the critic, with Moore renaming the song "Kill Yr Idols" to "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" before the two sorted out their differences amicably.

During another tour of Europe in 1984, Sonic Youth's disastrous London debut (where the band's equipment malfunctioned and Moore consequently destroyed the equipment onstage in frustration) actually resulted in rave reviews in ''Sounds'' and the ''NME''. By the time they returned to New York, they were so popular they played shows practically every week. That same year Moore and Gordon were married and Sonic Youth released ''Bad Moon Rising'', a self-described "Americana" album that served as a reaction to the state of the nation at the time. The album, recorded by Martin Bisi, was built around transitional pieces that Moore and Ranaldo had come up with in order to take up time onstage while the other guitarist was busy tuning his instrument; While even the New York press ignored ''Bad Moon Rising'' upon its release, now viewing the band as too arty and pretentious, Sonic Youth was becoming quite critically acclaimed in the United Kingdom, where the new album had sold 5,000 copies in just six months.

Claiming he was bored with playing ''Bad Moon Rising'' live in its entirety for over a year, Bert quit the group and was replaced by Steve Shelley, formerly of the hardcore group Crucifucks. The band was so impressed with Shelley's drumming after seeing him play live they hired him without an audition. Bert has remained on good terms with the group; he and Shelley both appeared in the music video for "Death Valley '69", as Bert performed the drums on the song, but Shelley was the group's drummer when the video was made.

SST and Enigma: 1986–1989

''Evol'' itself represented an evolution of sorts for the band: in addition to increasingly melodic material and the impact of new drummer Shelley's playing, the record also dealt with themes of celebrity, particularly with songs like "Expressway To Yr Skull" (called "a classic" by Neil Young") and "Marilyn Moore". Signing to SST catapulted the band on to a national stage, something that did not happen to their peers in the New York underground. The mainstream music press subsequently began to take notice of the band. Robert Palmer of ''The New York Times'' declared that Sonic Youth was "making the most startlingly original guitar-based music since Jimi Hendrix" and even ''People'' praised ''Evol'' as the "aural equivalent of a toxic waste dump." ''Evol'' is also notable for a guest appearance by bass guitarist Mike Watt, a friend whom the band coaxed to come to New York after he was deeply depressed by the death of his bandmate, D. Boon.

On 1987's ''Sister'', Sonic Youth continued refining their blend of pop song structures with uncompromising experimentalism. Another loose concept album, ''Sister'' is partly inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick (the "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life). ''Sister'' sold 60,000 copies and received very positive reviews, becoming the first Sonic Youth album to crack the Top 20 of the ''Village Voice'''s Pazz & Jop critics poll.

Despite the critical success, the band was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with SST due to concerns about payment and other administrative practices. Sonic Youth decided to release their next record on Enigma Records, which was distributed by Capitol Records and partly owned by EMI. The 1988 double LP ''Daydream Nation'' was a critical success that earned Sonic Youth substantial acclaim. The album came in second on the ''Village Voice'' Pazz & Jop poll and topped the year-end album lists of the ''NME'', ''CMJ'', and ''Melody Maker''. In 2006, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The lead single from the album, "Teen Age Riot", was the first song from the band to reach significant success, receiving heavy airplay in modern and college rock stations. A number of prominent music periodicals including ''Rolling Stone'' hailed ''Daydream Nation'' as one of the best albums of the decade and named Sonic Youth as the "Hot Band" in its "Hot" issue. Unfortunately, distribution problems arose and ''Daydream Nation'' was often difficult to find in stores. Moore considered Enigma a "cheap-jack Mafioso outfit" and the band began looking for a major label deal.

Major label career and alternative icons: 1990–1999

In 1992, the band released ''Dirty'' on the DGC label. Their influence as tastemakers continued with their discovery of acclaimed skateboard video director Spike Jonze, who they recruited for the video for "100%", which also featured skateboarder turned actor Jason Lee. This song, along with the Gordon tune "JC" contain lyrical references to the murder of Joe Cole, a friend who worked with the band as a roadie. The album features artwork by Los Angeles-based artist Mike Kelley. "Dirty" features a guest appearance by Ian McKaye (Minor Threat and Fugazi) playing guitar on the track "Youth Against Fascism".

In 1993, the band contributed the track "Burning Spear" to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 1994 the band released ''Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star'', their best charting release in the United States (until 2009's ''The Eternal''), which peaked at #34 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was filled with low-key melodies and even produced a hit single, "Bull in the Heather". Moore and Gordon's daughter, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore was born earlier in the year, and many of the songs from the album were never played live because there was never a full tour to support the album due to Gordon's pregnancy. In 1994, the band also released a cover of The Carpenters' 1971 hit "Superstar" for the tribute album ''If I Were a Carpenter''; their version would later be featured in the 2007 film ''Juno''.

The band headlined the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. By that time, alternative rock had gained considerable mainstream attention, and the festival was parodied on ''The Simpsons'' 1996 episode "Homerpalooza", which featured voiceovers from the band. They also performed the final credits theme for that episode.

Gordon collaborated in Free Kitten, and started a clothing label X-Girl, based in Los Angeles. Ranaldo and Moore have played with many experimental/noise musicians, including William Hooker, Nels Cline, Tom Surgal, Don Dietrich, Christian Marclay, DJ Spooky and Mission of Burma, among others. Shelley runs the Smells Like Records record label, as well as playing in backing bands for Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and Two Dollar Guitar. Thurston Moore has also done several guest appearances on DJ Spooky's albums combining rock and hip hop.

From Sonic Youth's earliest days, Gordon had occasionally played guitar with the group. About the time of ''A Thousand Leaves'' and ''Washing Machine'' she began playing guitar more frequently, resulting in a three-guitar and drums lineup. These songs were something of a shift for the group's sound, and would lead to the introduction of a fifth member a few years later.

The ''Washing Machine'' album started a major shift in the band, away from their punk roots, that saw them working with longer noise-jam sections and included two tracks that showed the new approach in full force – the title track "Washing Machine", which is just under 10 minutes long, and "The Diamond Sea", which is over 19 minutes long.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band began releasing a series of highly experimental records on their own Hoboken, New Jersey-based label SYR. The music was mostly instrumental and improvised, and the album and track titles and even the liner notes and credits were in different languages: ''SYR1'' was in French, ''SYR2'' in Dutch, ''SYR3'' in Esperanto, ''SYR5'' in Japanese, ''SYR6'' in Lithuanian, ''SYR7'' in Arpitan, and ''SYR8'' in Danish. ''SYR3'' was the first to feature Jim O'Rourke, who went on to become an official band member. Tracks from the SYR releases featured in their live sets in 1998, particularly "Anagrama" from ''SYR1'', and tracks from ''SYR2'' formed the basis of two tracks from ''A Thousand Leaves''.

Released in 1998, ''A Thousand Leaves'' has a dreamy, semi-improvised feel, and features extended jam sections on tracks such as "Wildflower Soul" and "Female Mechanic Now On Duty". The album also features two Ranaldo led numbers, "Hoarfrost" and "Karen Koltrane". The only single to be released from this album, "Sunday", was accompanied by a video directed by Harmony Korine and starring Macaulay Culkin.

''SYR4'' was subtitled "Goodbye, 20th Century" and featured works by avant-garde classical composers such as John Cage, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, and Christian Wolff played by Sonic Youth along with several collaborators from the modern avant-garde music scene, such as Christian Marclay, William Winant, Wharton Tiers, Takehisa Kosugi and others. The album received mixed reviews, but some critics praised the group's efforts at popularizing and reinterpreting the composers' works.

Later DGC period: 2000–2006

In 2001 Sonic Youth collaborated with French avant-garde singer and poet Brigitte Fontaine in Fontaine's album "Kékéland".

When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred, several members of the band were blocks away, Jim at their NYC studio (Echo Canyon on Murray Street), and Ranaldo and his wife Leah nearby at home. After the attacks, they curated the first U.S. outing of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in L.A. The festival was originally scheduled for October 2001, but it was delayed until March the following year due to the attacks.

In the summer of 2002, ''Murray Street'' was released; many critics heralded a "return to form for SY", seemingly revitalized by the addition of Jim O'Rourke, who became a full member during this period, playing bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally synthesizer. This was followed in 2004 by the release of ''Sonic Nurse'', an album similar in sound and approach to its immediate predecessor that also received positive reviews. "Pattern Recognition", a song named after the 2003 William Gibson novel, finds the band once again using Gibson's work for inspiration. The band also showed their pop culture commentary and sense of humor with the track "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream", a faster-tempo song sung by Gordon, which spoofed Carey's life, including her short-lived relationship with rapper Eminem, which originally appeared on a 2003 split 7" with Erase Errata (on the album cover, the reference to "Mariah Carey" in the title was replaced by "Kim Gordon" due to potential copyright issues. ''Sonic Nurse'' had decent sales, in part due to performances on TV talk shows including ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. The band was also slated to perform in 2004's Lollapalooza tour along with acts such as Pixies and The Flaming Lips, but the concert was canceled due to lackluster ticket sales. When the band toured later that year, they played extensively from their 1980s catalog.

On October 6, 2005, ''Los Angeles CityBeat'' reported that some of the gear stolen in 1999 was surprisingly recovered and that it might be used for recording of the next album, then tentatively titled ''Sonic Life''. The report also said that Jim O'Rourke might be leaving the band soon; his departure was confirmed by Lee Ranaldo in an interview to Pitchfork Media. In May 2006, the group announced on their website that ex-Pavement member Mark Ibold would play bass for the band on their upcoming tour.

''Rather Ripped'' was released in Europe on June 5, 2006 and in the USA on June 13, 2006. Compared to previous Sonic Youth recordings, the album features many short, conventionally structured, melodic songs and fewer feedback-fuelled left field improvisations (the band's avant-garde tendencies nowadays have been largely exorcised through SYR releases and solo outings rather than band albums). Later that summer, Sonic Youth played the 2006 Bonnaroo Festival, as well as Lollapalooza, promoting the album. In December, ''Rolling Stone'' made it their number three Album of the Year 2006.

The band released ''The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities'' in December 2006. It features tracks previously available only on vinyl, limited-release compilations, b-sides to international singles, and some material that had never before been released. This marked the band's final Geffen release.

Independent agents and signing to Matador: 2007–present

Also in June, the band was the subject of an intensively researched biography, ''Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth'' written by music journalist David Browne. The book was cited as "compelling" (Salon), "compulsively readable" (Publishers Weekly), and "an expressway to the soul of the influential band" (Vanity Fair). The book featured new interviews with the band as well as nearly 100 friends, family members, and peers. It was published by Da Capo and included over 60 rare photos.

On August 30, 2008, the band premiered two new songs at the final McCarren Park Pool show. Thurston Moore stated that in November 2008 the band would start recording a new studio album. The band did not continue their contract with Geffen, being discontented at the way Geffen handled their last four or five albums. On September 8, 2008, it was confirmed by Matador's Matablog that Sonic Youth would release its sixteenth album (titled ''The Eternal'') in spring, 2009, on Matador Records. In December 2008 it was also announced that the group had recently collaborated with John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin fame) on a piece that served as the soundtrack for a new Merce Cunningham Dance Company piece. This work was performed by the company on April 16–19, 2009, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in celebration of Cunningham's 90th birthday. On February 12, the band revealed the cover art for ''The Eternal'' via their website and blog. The album, produced by John Agnello, was released on June 9, 2009. With the release Matador Records also offered an exclusive live LP only available to those who preordered the album. The band scored and composed the soundtrack of the French thriller-drama ''Simon Werner a Disparu'', which premiered in May, 2010 as part of the Cannes International Film Festival. The soundtrack has been released in 2011 as the latest edition of the SYR series, ''SYR9: Simon Werner a Disparu''.

Musical style and influences

Alternative tunings

The tunings were painstakingly developed by Moore and Ranaldo during the band's rehearsals; Moore once reported that the odd tunings were an attempt to introduce new sounds: "When you're playing in standard tuning all the time ... things sound pretty standard." Rather than re-tune for every song, Sonic Youth generally use a particular guitar for one or two songs, and can take dozens of instruments on tour. This can be the source of much trouble for the band, as some songs rely on specific guitars that have been uniquely prepared.

Influences

Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo have expressed on numerous occasions their admiration for the music of Joni Mitchell, such as this quote by Thurston Moore: "Joni Mitchell! I’ve used elements of her songwriting and guitar playing, and no one would ever know about it." Additionally, Joni Mitchell has always used a number of alternative tunings, as does Sonic Youth. The band named a song after her, "Hey Joni".

Members of the band have also maintained relationships with other avant-garde artists from other genres and even other media, drawing influence from the work of John Cage and Henry Cowell. For a 1988 Peel Session, Sonic Youth covered three songs by The Fall and "Victoria" by The Kinks, also covered by The Fall. Sonic Youth has featured album art by several well-known avant-garde visual artists, such as Mike Kelley, Tony Oursler and Gerhard Richter, whose paintings from his "Candles" series was used as artwork on ''Daydream Nation''.

Discography

Members

References

Bibliography

External links

Category:Musical groups established in 1981 Category:Alternative rock groups from New York Category:Noise rock groups Category:Experimental rock groups Category:Musical quartets Category:Musical quintets Category:Homestead Records artists Category:SST Records artists Category:Geffen Records artists Category:Matador Records artists Category:Ecstatic Peace! artists Category:No Wave Category:World Music Awards winners Category:American noise rock music groups

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B; music. He currently hosts ''Later... with Jools Holland'', a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show the Hootenanny, is based.

Life and career

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being ''Boogie Woogie '78''. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show ''The Tube'' with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks. He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

thumb|right|Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album ''Soul Mining''. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The ''Jools Holland Big Band'' which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television. Since 1992 he has presented the eclectic music program ''Later... with Jools Holland'', plus an annual New Year's Eve "Hootenanny".

In 1996 Holland signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff. He also headlined the Skegness SO Festival in July 2010.

Personal

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film ''Spiceworld'' as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent. He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay, and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings. He is also patron of the Drake Music Project and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Jools Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, but they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, a new Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.

Writing

Discography

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications

Releases

Film and television

Current television programmes

Books

References

External links

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:English rock pianists Category:English television presenters Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Bandleaders Category:Squeeze (band) members Category:I.R.S. Records artists Category:People from Blackheath, London Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Category:British people of Irish descent Category:English people of Irish descent