Steve Shelley
Shelley with Sonic Youth in Stockholm in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Steven Jay Shelley
Born	(1962-06-23) June 23, 1962 (age 50) Midland, Michigan
Genres	Alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, producer
Instruments	Drums
Labels	Alternative Tentacles, Geffen, Smells Like, SST, Matador
Associated acts	Sonic Youth, Cat Power, The Crucifucks, Dim Stars, Disappears, Hallogallo 2010, The High Confessions, Thurston Moore, Spectre Folk, Two Dollar Guitar, Israel Nash Gripka

Steven Jay Shelley (born June 23, 1962, Midland, Michigan) is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.

Biography[link]

He played in several mid-Michigan bands, including Faith and Morals and Strange Fruit, and was among the original lineup of the punk band The Crucifucks. Since 1985, he has performed with the experimental rock band Sonic Youth, when he replaced Bob Bert.

After leaving the Crucifucks, he moved to Manhattan, subletting the apartment of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon while the band was in Europe. When the band returned, they hired him as their drummer without an audition.^[1]

In 1992 he founded the independent record label Smells Like Records, based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Along with friend and Two Dollar Guitar musician Tim Foljahn, he helped advance Cat Power's musical career, serving as drummer on her first three albums. He also produced Blonde Redhead's debut self-titled album in 1993 and Cat Power's What Would the Community Think? in 1996. Steve was able to track down Lee Hazlewood in 1997 and secure permission to reissue five of the finest titles of the Hazlewood back catalog. Smells Like Records also released a collection of standards recorded in 1997, which was the first new recording from Hazlewood released domestically in nearly two decades. In 1998 Shelley played on the soundtrack of the film Velvet Goldmine as a member of Wylde Ratttz, along with The Stooges' Ron Asheton, Thurston Moore, Mike Watt, Don Fleming, Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Jim Dunbar.

Other significant work away from Sonic Youth includes recording and performing with an array of artists such as Christina Rosenvinge, Chris Lee, John Wolfington, Michael Powers, Michael Rother, Howe Gelb, and Enrique Morente. In 2007, Shelley recorded a number of tracks for the I'm Not There soundtrack with a supergroup called The Million Dollar Bashers, featuring Lee Ranaldo, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski.^[2]

In February 2009, Shelley spent a weekend in Chicago recording with Chris Connelly, Sanford Parker, and Jeremy Lemos.^[3] The results of this collaboration were released under the moniker The High Confessions by Relapse Records on July 20, 2010.^[4]

In 2010, Michael Rother played shows in Europe with Shelley and Tall Firs guitarist Aaron Mullan as Halogallo 2010.^[5] This group performs music "in the spirit of" NEU! including some tracks by Harmonia and from Michael Rother's solo albums. Other 2010 concert dates included the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York and Incubate 2010 in Tilburg, Netherlands.^[6]

His enthusiasm for the music of Daniel Johnston and Townes Van Zandt led to his appearances in the documentaries The Devil and Daniel Johnston and Be Here to Love Me.

Shelley is also in charge of operating Sonic Youth's own record labels, SYR and Goofin'. In 2010, he started a new label called Vampire Blues whose inaugural release was a 7" by Hallogallo 2010.

In 2011 he joined Disappears.

Style and influences[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (May 2011)

Steve Shelley is a "drummer's drummer" with a playing style that is precise and powerful without being overpowering. Hallmarks of his style include heavy use of toms, the innovative use of maracas, excellent dynamic control, and the ability to play in service of the song above displaying "chops". He anchors the music of Sonic Youth by composing drum parts that are generally as unchanging as the chord structures and melody lines of the songs, therefore providing an ideal foundation for their unique brand of organized chaos. He has also proven himself to be an astute improviser, performing admirably in that role when the need arises (as evidenced mainly on the SYR series).

Other drummers who have influenced him include but are not limited to: Pete de Freitas, Stephen Morris, Phill Calvert, Kenny Buttrey, Keith Moon, and Ringo Starr.

Non-Sonic Youth discography[link]

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2009)

Lee Ranaldo
Background information
Birth name	Lee M. Ranaldo
Born	(1956-02-03) February 3, 1956 (age 56) Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, USA
Genres	Alternative rock, noise rock, experimental rock, no wave
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Neutral, Ecstatic Peace!, Homestead, SST, Enigma, DGC, SYR, Interscope
Associated acts	Sonic Youth, The Cribs, Text Of Light
Notable instruments
Fender Jazzmaster Fender Telecaster Deluxe Gibson Les Paul

Lee M. Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Ranaldo and his Sonic Youth bandmate Thurston Moore the 33rd and 34th Greatest Guitarists of All Time, respectively.^[1]

Biography[link]

Ranaldo was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, and graduated from Binghamton University. He has three sons, Cody, Sage and Frey, and is married to the experimental artist Leah Singer.

Ranaldo started his career in New York in several bands and joining the electric guitar orchestra of Glenn Branca. Among Ranaldo's solo records are Dirty Windows, a collection of spoken texts with music, Amarillo Ramp (For Robert Smithson), pieces for the guitar, and Scriptures of the Golden Eternity. His books include several with art or photography by Leah Singer, including Drift, Bookstore, Road Movies, and Moroccan Journal: Jajouka excerpt (from a full-length book of writings on Moroccan travels and music). Ranaldo has also published Jrnls80s (published by Soft Skull Press), as well as a book of poems, Lengths & Breaths, with photography by Cynthia Connolly. His most recent book of poetry, Against Refusing, was published by Water Row Press in April 2010 with cover artwork by Leah Singer. His visual+sound works have been shown at galleries and museums in Paris, Toronto, New York, London, Sydney, Los Angeles, Vienna, and elsewhere.

Ranaldo has produced albums for artists including Babes in Toyland, You Am I, Magik Markers, Deity Guns, and Dutch art rock-ensemble Kleg. He has edited a volume of tour journals from the 1995 Lollapalooza Tour written by himself, Thurston Moore, Beck, Stephen Malkmus, Courtney Love, and others.

Glacial is a band consisting of Ranaldo, guitarist David Watson and drummer Tony Buck. In 2010 Ranaldo released the solo album Maelstrom From Drift on Three Lobed Recordings with guest appearances of Tony Buck and David Watson.

Collaborations[link]

Ranaldo has also worked with jazz drummer William Hooker on improvised music, and reading and improvising poetry.

His main side projects are Drift and Text of Light.

Drift is a duo with his wife Leah Singer, with whom he has performed many live installation pieces with improvised music. This collaboration, utilizing live manipulated 16mm film projections, electric guitar and recited texts, occupied the duo from the early 90s until late 2005, when they re-created the performance as an art installation at Gigantic Art Space, a gallery in New York City. Since then the pair have been performing a new piece entitled "iloveyouihateyou", a combination installation and performance work that has been presented in the US and Europe.

Text of Light was founded in 2001 by Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, Ulrich Krieger, Christian Marclay and William Hooker. The core group is Ranaldo, Licht and Krieger with changing DJs (Marclay, DJ Olive, Marina Rosenfeld) and drummers (Hooker, Tim Barnes, Steve Shelley). The music is free improvised and mostly played along with, but not really referencing, films by Stan Brakhage. The name for the band comes from Brakhage's film The Text of Light.^[2]

In 2007 Ranaldo collaborated with British rock band The Cribs on their third album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever. Ranaldo performs a spoken word piece against the track "Be Safe".

Ranaldo made an appearance in the 2008 feature documentary by Nik Sheehan about Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine entitled FLicKeR.

Equipment[link]

Moonlander guitar.

Ranaldo usually uses Fender Jazzmaster, Telecaster Deluxe electric guitars and sometimes Gibson Les Pauls, with radically alternative tunings, and modifications. One of his Jazzmasters has a single coil pickup installed between the bridge and the tailpiece to exploit the resonating chiming sounds on that area of string at these so called tailed bridge guitars.

In 2007 Yuri Landman built for Ranaldo the Moonlander, a biheaded electric guitar with 18 strings: 6 normal strings and 12 sympathetic strings.^[3]

Since Ranaldo and Moore, together with Elvis Costello and J. Mascis, are known for being key figures in the popularisation and resurrection of the Fender Jazzmaster, Fender introduced in 2009 a special Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a transparent blue version, together with a transparent green one for Thurston.^[4]

Printed works[link]

• Bookstore and Others (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, Leah Singer, Hozomeen Press (April 1995), ISBN 978-1-885175-06-9
• Drift (box set with DVD) - Lee Ranaldo, Leah Singer, Gigantic ArtSpace (2005), ISBN 978-1-933045-34-4
• Ground Zero: New Yorkers Respond (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, David Amram, Frank Messina, Wasteland Press (August 15, 2002), ISBN 978-0-9715811-7-3
• Hello from the American Desert (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, Curt Kirkwood, Silver Wonder Press (November 2007)
• JRNLS80s (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, Soft Skull Press (1998), ISBN 978-1-887128-31-5
• Lengths & Breaths (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, Cynthia Connolly, Water Row Press (August 2004), ISBN 978-0-934953-79-5
• Moroccan Journal (Hardcover) - Lee Ranaldo, Fringecore (1999), ISBN 978-90-76207-52-0
• Moroccan Journal: Jajouka excerpt (Unknown Binding) - Lee Ranaldo, Leah Singer, Ring Tarigh for the Literary Renaissance (1997), ASIN: B0006RJF80
• Online Diaries : the Lollapalooza '95 tour journals (Paperback) - Beck, Courtney Love, Stephen Malkmus, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Mike Watt, David Yow, Soft Skull Press (1996), ISBN 978-1-887128-20-9
• Road Movies (Paperback) - Lee Ranaldo, Leah Singer, Soft Skull Press (Nov 30, 2004), ISBN 978-1-932360-73-8
• Against Refusing (Hardcover) - Lee Ranaldo, Water Row Press (April 2010), ISBN 978-0-934953-84-9

Discography[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2010)

Solo albums

• From Here to Infinity (1987)
• Scriptures of the Golden Eternity (1993) (Recorded 1988-1989)
• Dirty Windows (1999) (Recorded 1991-95)
• Amarillo Ramp (For Robert Smithson) (2000) (Recorded 1990-95)
• Outside My Window The City Is Never Silent - A Bestiary (2002) (Recorded 1991-95)
• Music For Stage And Screen (2004)
• Ambient Loop For Vancouver (2006)
• Maelstrom From Drift (2008)
• Between The Times And Tides (2012)

Singles & EP's

• A Perfect Day EP (1992)
• Broken Circle / Spiral Hill EP (1994)
• Countless Centuries Fled Into The Distance Like So Many Storms [12] (2008)

Compilations

• East Jesus (1995)

Collaborations with William Hooker

• Envisioning (1995)
• The Gift Of Tongues (also with Zeena Parkins) (1995)
• Clouds (1997)
• Bouquet [also with Christian Marclay] (2000)
• Out Trios Volume One: Monsoon (also with Roger Miller) (2003)
• Oasis Of Whispers (also with Hall) (2005)
• The Celestial Answer (2005)

Collaborations with others

• MMMR (also with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera & Thurston Moore) (1997)
• New York - Ystad (with Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, Mats Gustafsson) (2000)
• New Life After Fire (For Tom Thomson) (With Dave Dyment) (2003)
• Four Guitars Live (Ranaldo / Giffoni / Moore / Cline0 (2006)

Live Recordings

• Fuck Shit Up (with Thurston Moore & Christian Marclay) (2000) [Live]
• Text Of Light (a band which included Alan Licht, Christian Marclay, Tim Barnes, Ulrich Krieger, William Hooker) (2004)

References[link]

Lee's interview for Slovak music magazine Novy Popular (in English), 2010

External links[link]

• Lee Ranaldo: The Bridge published on the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine @ Ubuweb

Enrique Morente Cotelo (25 December 1942 – 13 December 2010), known as Enrique Morente, was a flamenco singer and a controversial figure within the world of contemporary flamenco. After his orthodox beginnings, he plunged into experimentalism, writing new melodies for cante (flamenco singing) and jamming with musicians of all styles, without renouncing his roots in traditional flamenco singing, which he kept on cultivating.^[1][2] In spite of severe criticism from the most "purist" amongst the critics and public,^[2][3] he was perhaps the most influential contemporary flamenco singer, who not only innovated, but it could also can be said that he created tradition: some of his cantes have been performed by other singers such as Camarón de la Isla, Mayte Martín, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda, Segundo Falcón and Arcángel.

Biography[link]

Beginnings[link]

Enrique Morente, born in the traditional quarter of Albaicín in Granada, started to sing as a seise (a member of a group of children who sing, dance and play castanets on certain religious festivals)^[3] He started to feel attracted to flamenco singing as a child, and had the opportunity to learn at family gatherings and to listen to established figures from Granada like Cobitos, the family of the "Habichuelas", or Aurelio Sellés (Aurelio de Cádiz):

"The cante begins inside you when you listen to the villager’s singing, to people in their birthplace. Groups of people that meet in a tavern and start singing, and then you listen to them and start singing as well: you learn that at family parties where everybody sings and everybody drinks, and everybody dances and... Apart from that, it turns out that, of course, you need a technique, you need a school, you need to learn. In order to achieve this, what you need... the main help you can get is to have a liking for it; and then the skill to know who to learn from, and from what sources, where to find the good. Then you are on."^[4]

However, this appreciation for the popular side of flamenco does not mean that he considers flamenco as just "an art of the people". A flamenco artist, for him, needs technique and dedication:

"It is us, the professional artists of flamenco, who have to make cante flamenco, and nobody else, Flamenco, like any other art, is an art of professionals, although there are many people who peer at us, with a look as if to say: What interesting little creatures! or maybe: Oh! What music the people are playing! and so on. And people often think that maybe you have to have fingers swollen from picking potatoes to be able to play the guitar with feeling. Look, picking potatoes is every bit as worthy as playing a guitar. But I can tell you that a man -with fine, sensitive fingers is not going to be able to make a go of picking potatoes: and I can also tell you that a man with fingers swollen from picking potatoes is not going to be able to play a guitar because he hasn't got the manual dexterity and he hasn't got the dedication. This is a profession like any other which you have to dedicate yourself to completely. It is an art of professionals." ^[5]

Still in his teens, Morente went to live in Madrid to start a professional career as a singer. There he was able to meet some old masters like Pepe de la Matrona and Bernardo el de los Lobitos, and learned as much as he could from them. Pepe de la Matrona took special interest in teaching the young singer: "This interest was raised not so much by Enrique Morente’s intonation, by his registers or by his melismatic as by his attitude towards things, his respect and his learning capacity."^[4] In Madrid, he started singing at peñas flamencas (clubs for flamenco fans). In 1964, he signed a contract with the Ballet de Marienma, with whom he then performed at the Spanish Pavilion at the New York Worlds Fair and at the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC. Later he took part in a flamenco festival at Teatro de los Alcázares de los Reyes Cristianos, sharing the bill with Juan Talega, Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, Gaspar de Utrera, Tomás Torre and Antonio Mairena. During that year and the following one, he also toured Europe and Japan with different flamenco dance companies, and was employed at several tablaos (flamenco venues) in Madrid, such as Las Cueva de Nemesio, Zambra and El Café de Chinitas.

First recordings[link]

Morente made his first recording, Cante flamenco in 1967 with guitarist Félix de Utrera. The recording received a special mention award from the Cátedra de Flamencología, and was followed by Cantes antiguos del flamenco (1969), with guitarist Niño Ricardo. His first recordings were strictly orthodox and showed deep knowledge of traditional flamenco, a rare quality for singers of his generation.^[3] During this period he also made his first contact with guitarist Manolo Sanlúcar, with whom he would cooperate on several occasions. Sanlúcar accompanied him in his concert in Ateneo de Madrid, the first occasion in which a flamenco singer performed in that prestigious cultural institution.

His next record, Homenaje flamenco a Miguel Hernández (Flamenco Homage to Miguel Hernández, 1971), initiated his frequent use of lyrics by outstanding poets. Later on, he would record flamenco songs with lyrics by Federico García Lorca, John of the Cross, Lope de Vega, Al-Mutamid, Antonio Machado and Manuel Machado, Jorge Guillén, and others. Soon later, an illegal live recording was published in Holland.

"The thing that most calls your attention in his first productions is how much care he devotes to the lyrics of his cantes. This is probably the first step in his future career as as an innovator in flamenco. The poems by Miguel Hernández, for example, became immortal in his impressive 'Nana de la Cebolla' or 'El Niño Yuntero'. With the attitude he showed, in these poems, against the francoist regime, he became the favourite flamenco singer for the left-wing opposition in the country, as well as one of the first innovators." ^[6]

In 1971 and 1972, he toured Mexico with guitarist Parrilla de Jerez and dancer Ana Parrilla, a tour which included his presentation at the Auditorium of the Universidad de las Américas, and performed at Lincoln Center (to which he would return to perform at again in 1973) and the Spanish Institute in New York. In 1972, he was also awarded the Premio Nacional del Cante (National Award for Flamenco Singing) by the Cátedra de Flamencología in Jerez.

Alternating tradition[link]

Morente arrived back to orthodox flamenco singing with his recording Homenaje a Don Antonio Chacón (Homage to Antonio Chacón, 1977, which obtained the National Award for best folk music album, granted by the Ministry of Culture. In this recording, Morente vindicated the figure of singer Antonio Chacón the creator of the granaína and a fundamental figure of flamenco in the first decades of the 20th century, who had been, nevertheless, relegated by the views of the 1950s-1970s flamencology, as a representative of the non-Romani (Gypsy) flamenco which that generation considered impure. However, in an alternation between tradition and innovation typical of Morente, the recording was immediately followed, in 1978, by Despegando ("Taking off"), this time in an innovative mood: the title itself is, in fact, a declaration of intentions.

In 1981 he toured a new show, Andalucía hoy ("Andalusia Today"), which he would later performed at the Paris Olympia in Paris, France. In 1982, some of his recordings were chosen by flamencologist José Blas Vega to take part in the flamenco anthology Magna Antología del Cante (a complete collection of traditional styles of cante) to illustrate songs such as the tarantas from Almería, several types of cartageneras, the fandangos by Frasquito Yerbabuena, and all the malagueñas and granaínas created by Antonio Chacón.

In 1990 in another comeback to orthodoxy, he recorded Morente-Sabicas, with guitarist Sabicas, who was already in his 1980s. In the following year, he created and recorded a flamenco mass, a type of creation that already had some precedents, like the one recorded by Antonio Mairena, Luis Caballero, and Naranjito de Triana in 1968. However Morente's mass is totally different from any previous examples. Whereas earlier flamenco masses basically tried to use traditional flamenco singing for the liturgy, Morente's does not even have a liturgic purpose, and mixes flamenco with other genres like Gregorian chant. About this mass, in one of his touches of humour, Morente said:

"At a given point, I thought I could dedicate it to Pope Clement, the one of El Palmar de Troya, but then I remembered that he had canonized Franco, Primo de Rivera, Carrero Blanco and all those guys and, while on the one hand I thought it was funnier, on the other hand I thought the joke could be interpreted in a strange way and I didn't do it, though I was about to do it. But the record was made with a sincerity and a true intention, no matter the results, and I thought it was like ruining it a bit because of the joke.. and that was too much!"^[7]

Later works[link]

Enrique Morente in concert (Barcelona, March 2009).

In 1995 he appeared singing a siguiriya in Carlos Saura's film Flamenco and recorded his most controversial recording: Omega, together with the alternative rock group Lagartija Nick, with the participation of guitarists such as Tomatito, Vicente Amigo, Juan Manuel Cañizares or Miguel Ángel Cortés and percussionists like Tino di Geraldo. Flamenco and punk rock are mingled with recreations of songs by Leonard Cohen, and lyrics by Federico García Lorca's book Poeta en Nueva York ("A Poet in New York"), together with traditional flamenco lyrics. The work was performed at the 2008 Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, under the stage name Morente Omega con Lagartija Nick.^[8]

The year 2001 saw the publishing of a very much sought for record by Morente, "Enrique Morente en la Casa Museo de García Lorca de Fuentevaqueros", a collection of songs based on the poetry of Federico García Lorca. The recording had been made in studio in Madrid, in 1990, and it had been commissioned by the Diputación de Granada (a government institution). Only a limited edition was made and the copies were sent as gift to particular persons. In the second hand marked, those copies reached 25,000 pesetas (150 euros).^[9]

Another interesting release of Morente, El Pequeño Reloj, saw the light in 2003. Whereas the second half of the CD a more or less random collection of songs, the first half of the record comprises a surprising series of songs which are broken in two parts: in the first part of the song, Morente's voice is superimposed on top of old 78 r.p.m recordings of old masters of the flamenco guitar like Ramón Montoya, Sabicas or Manolo de Huelva, while the second part is a modern development of the same palo, with the side guitar of the young and innovative guitarist Niño Josele.

Although Morente could not read musical notation he composed music for theatre plays, films and television, such as the work Las Arrecogidas del Beaterio de Santa María Egipcíaca", the music for Oedipus the King with José Luis Gómez.

He has tried the mixture between flamenco and classical music in works like Fantasía de cante jondo para voz y orquesta (Cante jondo Fantasy (music) for voice and orchestra, together with pianist Antonio Robledo, guitarists Juan Habichuela and Gerardo Núñez and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Izquierdo, 1986) or with Allegro Soleá, which he presented at Seville's Flamenco Biennal in 1990. Along the lines of the mixture of flamenco with other types of music, he collaborated in the show Macama Jonda by José Heredia Maya, together with the Tetuan Andalusian Orchestra and Abdessadeq Cheqara, or with the Bulgarian Voices choir Angelite. In Morente's aforementioned recording Omega, he mixed flamenco singing with punk rock, music by Leonard Cohen, and lyrics by Federico García Lorca. In the show África-Cuba-Cai he mixed flamenco with music from Senegal, and Cuba (Cai is the way Cádiz is pronounced in Andalusian Spanish). The show also underlinks the historic links between Cuban and flamenco music: "That's always been close to flamenco, since way back, because the ships in Cádiz went to Cuba, some came and others stayed over there, we've always had that.".^[10] It is difficult to think of any kind of music which has not interested Morente. After one of his concerts with Cheqara Orkesta of Tetuan, he declared: "…if I had to put out a CD for every culture I mixed with I'd be putting out about 7 or 8 CDs a year. It wouldn't be bad - if I got paid for it by the record company then I could build myself a home."^[11]

Owing to his innovative approach, Morente was widely criticized by the more extreme traditionalist sectors of flamenco's critical faculty and public, though it had been said that "Needless to say, all this cost Morente a real torment, since flamenco is still a very closed world, in which the slightest attempt for novelty is taken as a deadly sin of heresy.".^[12] Although Morente's work is now widely recognized by most critics, and has inspired many singers of the young generation like Mayte Martín or Arcángel, there is still a section of traditionalist critics and public that still disparage his work:

"Aficionados were scratching their heads after the show, trying to figure out exactly, which forms--if any--Morente was working in much of the time. 'Remember the old days when you could actually recognize what flamenco forms were being performed?'"^[13]

Ethnic bias is often not alien to these criticisms. A good number of flamenco critics and public were introduced into flamenco at the time of the "reappraisal period" led by singers like Antonio Mairena and critics like González Climent or Ricardo Molina, in whose views, pure flamenco singing would be a patrimony of Romanis, which non-Romanis could only try to imitate in vain without ever reaching its essence. In the same review quoted above we can read: "And once you have experienced truly great Romani singing of this sort, the erudition of an artist like Morente pales like a candle flame next to a blazing torch." ^[13] These views on Morente,though very common in the 1970s and 1980s, have almost died down. The controversy between tradition and innovation, Romani and non-Romani singing and other topics, so common twenty years ago, is now relatively confined to a limited section of the public, while most flamenco fans and critics acknowledge Morente's deep artistic intelligence and commitment:

"This comes from the man who never sings the same way twice, who tirelessly seeks that new inflection, that unheard-of scale, the change of tone that best matches the desired feeling and intentions at a given moment. The easy option would be the other one. To do what Enrique does you need extreme intellectual abilities and extreme emotional commitment. He takes the perfectly-laid, common foundations, defined by tradition, and on them builds with all the conceivable potential of flamenco."^[14]

In December 2010 it was reported that Morente had fallen into a coma after an ulcer operation, and had been declared brain dead.^[15] He died in Madrid on December 13, 2010.^[16]

Awards[link]

First prize at the contest Málaga Cantaora (1967)
Premio Nacional de Cante (Flamenco Singing National Award) granted by Cátedra de Flamencología y Estudios Folklóricos Andaluces de Jerez de la Frontera (1972)
National Award for best folk recording, awarded by the Ministry of Culture (1978)
En 1989 es nombrado Socio de Honor del Club de Música y Jazz San Juan Evangelista
Honorary Membership of the San Juan Evangelista Jazz and Music Club (1989)
Premio Nacional de Música (Music National Award), Ministry of Culture, awarded to a flamenco singer for the first time (1994)
Golden medal of the Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez de la Frontera (1995)
Compás del Cante (1995)
“Galardón de Honor de los Premios de la Música”, awarded by the Ministry of Culture (1998)
Pastora Pavón ("Niña de los Peines") Award, awarded by the autonomous government of Andalusia (2004)
Medal of Andalusia, awarded by the autonomous government of Andalusia (2005)
National Critics award for best DVD and best flamenco singing record for Morente sueña la Alhambra (2006)
National Award of Music for best flamenco recording for Morente sueña la Alhambra (2006)
Morato de Oro, awarded by Peña El Morato (2006)
Best flamenco recording, Deflamenco.com Awards (2006)

Filmography[link]

• Flamenco. Directed by Carlos Saura (1995)
• Morente sueña La Alhambra. Directed by José Sánchez-Montes (2005)
• Iberia. Directed by Carlos Saura (2005)
• Morente. Directed by Emilio R. Barrachina (2011)

Discography[link]

• Cante flamenco (1967)
• Cantes antiguos del flamenco (1969)
• Homenaje flamenco a Miguel Hernández (1971)
• Se hace camino al andar (1975)
• Homenaje a Don Antonio Chacón (1977)
• Despegando (1977)
• Morente en vivo, Díscolo, (1981), illegal recording live
• Sacromonte (1982)
• Cruz y Luna (1983)
• Esencias flamencas (1988)
• Morente - Sabicas (1990)
• Enrique Morente en la Casa Museo de Federico García Lorca de Fuentevaqueros (1990); Republished (2001)
• Misa flamenca (1991)
• Negra, si tú supieras (1992)
• Alegro, Soleá y Fantasía del Cante Jondo (1995)
• Omega (1996)
• Morente – Lorca (1998)
• El pequeño reloj (2003)
• Morente sueña la Alhambra (2005), Mute Records
• Pablo de Málaga (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

"Enrique Morente's official website". www.enriquemorente.com. http://www.enriquemorente.com. 

"Biography, records, audio clips, and comments". www.flamenco-world.com. https://www.flamenco-world.com/tienda/autor/enrique-morente/72/. 

"Biography, recordings and clips". www.esflamenco.com. http://www.esflamenco.com/bio/en10338.html. 

"Biography". World Music Central. http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=318. 

Muñoz, Daniel (2000). "Interview (includes video with Cheqara Orchestra)". www.flamenco-world.com. http://flamenco-world.com/artists/morente/morente.htm. 

Olivo, Candela (2002-07-11). "The Cante of Apollo. Review of concert at Festival de Guitarra de Córdoba". www.flamenco-world.com. http://flamenco-world.com/magazine/about/cordoba/2002/morente.htm. 

Calado, Silvia (February 2005). "Interview with Enrique Morente". www.flamenco-word.com. http://www.flamenco-world.com/artists/morente/morente22022006.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-02. 

Calado, Silvia (February 2005). "Feeling. Review of Morente's concert at London Flamenco Festival,". www.flamenco-word.com. http://www.flamenco-world.com/magazine/about/londres2006/resenas/17022006/17022006ing.htm.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-02. ^{[dead link]}

Calado, Silvia (2005-10-28). "Flamencopunkrock. Enrique Morente & Sonic Youth. Review of concert at Heineken Greenspace Valencia". www.flamenco-word.com. http://www.flamenco-world.com/magazine/about/morente_sonic_youth/morente31102005.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-02. 

Jiménez Navarro, Sonia (September 2005). "1st Festival Flamenco de Italia. Reviews". www.deflamenco.com. http://www.deflamenco.com/actuaciones/roma/indexi.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-02. 

Manjavacas, Rafael. "1st Festival Flamenco de Italia. Reviews". www.deflamenco.com. http://www.deflamenco.com/noticias/verArticuloi.jsp?codigo=FLA%7C1288. Retrieved 2006-12-02. 

Moraga, Manuel. "Review of concert in Festival Flamenco Cajamadrid 2006". www.deflamenco.com. http://www.deflamenco.com/actuaciones/xivfestival/index3i.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-01. 

Moraga, Manuel (February 2005). "Flamencopunkrock. Enrique Morente & Sonic Youth. Review of concert at Heineken Greenspace Valencia". www.deflamenco.com. http://www.deflamenco.com/actuaciones/xiiifestival/index4i.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-01. 

Zatania, Estela. "Review of concert at Festival de las Minas". www.deflamenco.com. http://www.deflamenco.com/actuaciones/cantedelasminas2004/5i.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-01. 

Thurston Moore
Moore at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.
Background information
Birth name	Thurston Joseph Moore
Also known as	Mirror, Fred Cracklin
Born	(1958-07-25) July 25, 1958 (age 53) Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, noise rock, experimental rock, no wave
Occupations	Singer, Guitarist, Songwriter, Consultant, Record producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica, synthesizer, piano, saxophone
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Geffen SST Ecstatic Peace! Father Yod Lo Recordings Destructive Industries Arts & Crafts México
Associated acts	Sonic Youth Ciccone Youth The Coachmen Mirror/Dash Even Worse Dream/Aktion Unit Bark Haze Dim Stars Northampton Wools
Notable instruments
Fender Jazzmaster

Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958)^[1] is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked 34th in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."^[2]

Early years[link]

Moore was born in Coral Gables, Florida, but was raised in Bethel, Connecticut.^[3] Although he enrolled at Western Connecticut State University, he instead moved to New York City to join the burgeoning post-punk/no wave music scenes.^[4] At the beginning of his time in New York, he lived in an apartment below artist Dan Graham, eventually befriending him, sometimes using records from Graham's collection for mix tapes.

Once in the city, Moore was briefly a member of the hardcore punk band Even Worse, featuring future The Big Takeover editor (and future Springhouse drummer) Jack Rabid. After exiting the band, Moore and Lee Ranaldo learned experimental guitar techniques in Glenn Branca's "guitar orchestras."^[4]

Sonic Youth[link]

Moore and Ranaldo soon formed Sonic Youth, serving as the band's guitarists, with Moore on lead vocals on a good portion of the material. The band signed to Neutral Records, then to Homestead Records, and then to SST Records.

Live in the Netherlands (with Sonic Youth), 1991

Moore and Ranaldo make extensive use of unusual guitar tunings, often heavily modifying their instruments to provide unusual timbres and drones. They are known for bringing upwards of fifty guitars to every gig, using some guitars for one song only.^[4] In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Moore and Ranaldo the 33rd and 34th Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 2011, Moore and his wife, Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, announced they had separated; shortly afterward, Ranaldo announced the indefinite hiatus of Sonic Youth.^[5]

Work outside of Sonic Youth[link]

In addition to his work with Sonic Youth, Moore has also released albums as a solo artist. He and Gordon released a few songs as Mirror/Dash, a reference to their respective nicknames. ("Mirror" being an alliterative pun on "Moore"^{[citation needed]}, and "Dash" being a pun on Flash Gordon.^{[citation needed]}) The two also established Protest records together but the project has since lapsed.

Moore has collaborated with scores of musicians, including Maryanne Amacher, Lydia Lunch, DJ Spooky, William Hooker, Daniel Carter, Christian Marclay, Mike Watt, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Tom Surgal, William Winant, Nels Cline, Cock E.S.P., WRONG, Daniel Castro, Glenn Branca, Yamantaka Eye, Chris Corsano and My Cat is an Alien. Most of his solo/duo collaborations have been instrumental, and are generally improvised and/or noise based.

In the early 1990s, Moore formed the side band Dim Stars, with Richard Hell, Don Fleming, Steve Shelley and Robert Quine. Moore performed solo on the side stage of the 1993 Lollapalooza tour. Additionally, Moore also contributed guitar work and backing vocals on "Crush with Eyeliner", which appeared on R.E.M.'s Monster.

Since 2004, Moore has recorded and performed with the noise collective To Live and Shave in L.A., the lineup of which also features Andrew W.K.. He recorded with the band at Sonic Youth's former studio in Manhattan, and later performed with them at the George W. Bush "anti-inaugural" Noise Against Fascism concert in Washington, D.C., named in reference to Sonic Youth's 1992 song "Youth Against Fascism." Moore curated the "Nightmare Before Christmas" weekend of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in December 2006.

Moore directed the music video for Pavement's song "Here," from Slanted and Enchanted. Foot is a collaboration between Don Fleming, Jim Dunbar and Thurston Moore.

On June 21, 2007, Moore revealed to Spin Magazine that he would be releasing a solo album titled Trees Outside The Academy. The album was recorded at J Mascis' studio in Amherst, Massachusetts. The album is made up of mostly acoustic material and features Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and violinist Samara Lubelski. The album also features collaborations between Mascis and Charalambides' Christina Carter, who performs a duet with Moore on the track, "Honest James." The album was released on September 18, 2007, on Moore's label Ecstatic Peace.

On September 24, 2008, Pitchfork Media reported that Thurston was working on a song with former Be Your Own Pet vocalist Jemina Pearl, a cover of the Ramones song "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker." The song was recorded for the teenage drama Gossip Girl and was featured in the episode "There Might Be Blood".

Since 2008, Moore has provided narration for a variety of documentaries on the National Geographic Channel. His work includes Inside: Straight Edge and the Hard Time series about life in prison.

Work on film soundtracks[link]

Thurston Moore performing with Sonic Youth at the 2005 Roskilde Festival.

In 1994, Moore teamed up with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, Don Fleming of Gumball, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, to form the Backbeat Band, which recorded the soundtrack album to the movie Backbeat.

In 1998 Moore played on the soundtrack of the film Velvet Goldmine as a member of Wylde Ratttz, along with The Stooges' Ron Asheton, his Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley, Minutemen's Mike Watt, Gumball's Don Fleming, Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Jim Dunbar.

Moore also composed original music for the films:

• Heavy (1995)
• Bully (2001)
• Manic (2001)
• Extra Action and Extra Hardcore (2008)

In 2007, Moore also appeared with noise/improv group "Original Silence" featuring Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (The thing, Atomic, Scorch Trio), guitarist Terrie Ex (The Ex), Jim O'Rourke (Sonic Youth, Wilco, Illusion of Safety), saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and bassist Massimo Pupillo (Zu). The group released the live album "The First Original Silence" in 2007, on Oslo (Norway) label SmallTown Superjazz, and a second album "The Second Original Silence" in 2008.

Record label and writings[link]

Moore and other Sonic Youth members published the irreverent music zine Sonic Life. Moore runs the record label Ecstatic Peace!. Beginning in 1993, this label jointly released records with rock critic Byron Coley's label, Father Yod, as Ecstatic Yod Records.

Moore reviews new music in Arthur Magazine in a column written jointly with Byron Coley. He manages the website Protest Records, named for its protest against United States' invasions in the Middle East. Moore was the editor/overseer of the 2005 book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture. He published a highly influential list of collectible free jazz records in Grand Royal magazine.^[6]

Personal life[link]

In 1984, Moore married Sonic Youth bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon. The pair have a daughter, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore (born 1 July 1994). They currently reside in Northampton, Massachusetts. However, as of October 14, 2011, the couple announced that they are separating.^[7]

Equipment[link]

Moore is known for using a large selection of Fender guitars during Sonic Youth gigs. Most of the time he plays a Jazzmaster through many different types of amps among which Vox AC30, Peaveys and Fenders are present. He also plays a Jaguar and (less often) a heavily modified Fender Duo-Sonic with three single-coil pickups.

Since Ranaldo and Moore, together with Elvis Costello, J. Mascis, and Kevin Shields, are known for being key figures in the popularization and resurrection of the Fender Jazzmaster, in 2009 Fender introduced a Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a Sapphire Blue Transparent version featuring two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and a Forest Green transparent finish for Moore, equipped with a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazzmaster single-coil pickups).^[8]

Solo discography and collaborations[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2010)

Solo albums

• Psychic Hearts (1995, Geffen Records)
• Trees Outside the Academy (2007, Ecstatic Peace)
• Demolished Thoughts (2011, Matador Records) (UK chart peak: #119)^[9]

Other

• Root - Remix Project (1998, Lo Recordings)
• Solo Acoustic Volume Five - Part of the VDSQ (Vin Du Select Qualitite) acoustic guitar series (2011)

Limited Edition Noise, experimental, drone projects

• 2006 - Flipped Out Bride 12'' (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 500 blue marbled vinyl
• 2006 - Free / Love EP (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 90 Cassettes only
• 2007 - Black Weeds - White Death (2007, Meudiademorte), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only
• 2008 - Sensitive / Lethal
• 2008 - Blindfold (Destructive Industries), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only
• 2008 - Built For Lovin (Lost Treasures of the Underworld), Limited Edition of 500 vinyl only
• 2010 - Suicide Notes For Acoustic Guitar EP
• 2010 - Schwarze Polizei (with Kommissar Hjuler, Goaty Tapes), Limited Edition of 50 Cassettes only

Collaborations

• 1988 - Barefoot In The Head [with Jim Sauter & Don Dietrich]
• 1993 - Shamballa [With William Hooker & Elliott Sharp]
• 1995 - Klangfarbenmelodie & the Colorist Strikes Primitive [with Tom Surgal]
• 1996 - Pillow Wand (with Nels Cline)
• 1996 - Piece For Yvonne Rainer [with Yoshimi & Mark Ibold]
• 1997 - MMMR [with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera & Lee Ranaldo (Numero Zero Audio)
• 1998 - Foot (with Don Fleming & Jim Dunbar)
• 1999 - The Promise [With Evan Parker & Walter Prati]
• 2000 - New York - Ystad [Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Mats Gustafsson]
• 2000 - TM/MF [Thurston Moore, Marco Fusinato]
• 2001 - Three Incredible Ideas [Thurston Moore / Walter Prati / Giancarlo Schiaffini]

Free Improvisation Albums

• 2007 - The Roadhouse Session Vol.1 [Thurston Moore / Chris Corsano / Paul Flaherty / Wally Shoup 4tet]
• 2008 - Untitled [Paul Flaherty / Thurston Moore / Bill Nace]

Live Albums

• 1996 - Piece for Jetsun Dolma [a live improvisation with Tom Surgal and William Winant at Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (Les Disques VICTO)]

Albums with Sonic Youth

• See Sonic Youth discography

Albums with Diskaholics Anonymous Trio [Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustafsson, Thurston Moore]

• 2001 - Diskaholics Anonymous Trio
• 2006 - Weapons Of Ass Destruction (Recorded in 2002)

Albums with Original Silence

• 2007 - The First Original Silence (Recorded live in concert on sept. 30 2005 at Teatro Ariosto, Reggio Emilia, Italy)
• 2008 - The Second Original Silence (Recorded Live In Concert on September 28, 2005 at Brancaleone, Rome)

Early work with Glenn Branca

• 1981 - Symphony No. 1 "Tonal Plexus" (w/Glenn Branca, Lee Ranaldo, Anne DeMarinis & others)
• 1982 - Symphony No. 2 "The Peak Of The Sacred"
• 1983 - Symphony No. 3 "Gloria" - Music for the first 127 intervals of the harmonic series

Early work with the Coachmen

• 1979 -Failure to Thrive

Singles

• "Sputnik" 7" (1997) Thurston Moore and Don Fleming on one side, Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom on the other. Gilltery vinyl.
• "Wonderful Witches" single (2007)
• 1995 - The Church Should Be For The Outcasts, Not A Church That Casts People Out (7") [As Male Slut]

Split LPs

• From The Earth To The Spheres (2004, split with My Cat Is An Alien)
• Thrash Sabbatical (2008, Deathbomb Arc, four-way split 12" + 2x7" w/ Men Who Can't Love, Barrabarracuda, Kevin Shields)
• Mature, Lonely + Out of Control/Alternative Hair Styles (2008, Nihilist Records, split LP with Graham Moore)

Album appearances

• 1992 - Do You Wanna Dance (by Dim Stars)
• 1994 - Monster (by R.E.M.)
• 1997 - Legend Of The Blood Yeti (by XIII Ghosts & Derek Bailey)
• 1998 - Velvet Goldmine - Music From The Original Motion Picture ("T.V. Eye" with the Wylde Ratttz)
• 2002 - Kapotte Muziek - #12 in Kapotte Muziek series (Korm Plastics)
• 2006 - The Voloptulist [The New Blockaders, with Thurston Moore (track 1) / Jim O'Rourke (track 2)]
• 2007 - Touch The Iceberg (by Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sonic Youth.com - Official website
• Official Myspace page for "Kill Your Idols", a documentary about the Cinema of Transgression featuring Thurston Moore
• Ecstatic Peace! Records.
• Spike magazine interview.
• Writings by Thurston on 2003 NYC power blackout.
• Thurston Moore's "Skrewer Boy" published on the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine @ Ubuweb
• Pichfork article Working with Jemina

It has been suggested that Brokeback (band) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2010.

Douglas McCombs (born in 1962 in Peoria, Illinois) plays bass and guitar with the instrumental rock band Tortoise^[1] and leads the instrumental band Brokeback.^[2] He is also the longtime bassist for the rock band Eleventh Dream Day.^[3]

References[link]