If It's Too Loud...

This might seem like a surprising choice, but it's also one that makes perfect sense and worlds wonderfully well. Experimental music legends Bonner Kramer (fka Kramer) and Thurston Moore have released the latest single off their upcoming collaborative album, and it's a cover of Joy Division's "Insight." Based on the instruments involved, it's obviously going to be a reimagining of the song. Gone are the synths of the original, and in its place are more traditional rock instruments. It keeps the quiet and more laid back vibe of Joy Division's classic, just with some extra feedback and noise. That being said, Kramer and Moore's "Insight" is still a laid back version of the song, and is pretty close to Sonic Youth's later, more jammy albums. If you think you're going to enjoy this cover, you definitely will. Bonner Kramer says of the new single: "I clearly remember what I felt when I first heard track four of  Unknown Pleasures . It...

Two legends of underground/experimental music, Thurston Moore and Bonner Kramer (fka Kramer) have collaborated on an upcoming album. The first single from that album, "Urn Burial," is a trippy and drone-y four minute musical experiment. There's an organ reminiscent of classic garage rock, along with percussion that seems to be doing what it wants, and noisy guitar threatening to drag everything down with it. As you would expect, "Urn Burial" is certainly not going to be for everyone, but if you are familiar with both or either artist, you're probably going to be into the song. Moore and Kramer are legends for a reason, and this latest project shows exactly why. Thurston Moore says of his upcoming collaborative album with Bonner Kramer: “This album is our duo-exchange for human dignity, it is our soul music for any semblance of a peaceful planet.”   You can watch the video for "Urn Burial" below. They Came Like Swallows - Seven Requiems for the Chil...

Gina Birch of post punk legends The Raincoats has an upcoming solo album, and we can check out one of the songs now! Compared to her earlier work, "Wish I Was You" is damn near mainstream, but only truly in comparison. The song is more along the lines of the alt-rock and power pop from the mid 90's than post punk an punk of the late 70's, but considering the song also features guitar work from Thurston Moore, this can hardly be truly considered poppy. Although... it kind of is in its own little way. "Wish I Was You" is a great throwback alt-rock song with a pop edge. It's reminding me of bands like Veruca Salt and L7 more than The Raincoats, but considering this is from someone over forty years into a musical career, this kind of edge is quite impressive. You can watch the video for "Wish I Was You" below. I Play My Bass Loud is due out February 24 on Third Man Records. The album can be pre-ordered here . For more on Gina Birch, check out the a...

Photo via Facebook After last year's three disc experimental album Spirit Counsel , it's great to hear Thurston Moore get back to actual songs again. "Cantaloupe" is really a mish-mash of all of Moore's favorite sounds. The track starts off with some grungy, sludgy guitar riffs. These are the kind of riffs seldom heard outside of a Melvins album these days. The song slowly morphs into more of an acid loving jam... but with some Detroit style proto-punk guitar solos. It's interesting to hear Moore play in so many of his style all at once, so if you've been a fan of all of his indie rock, jam band, heavy metal, etc. sounds, you're going to be heavily into his new sounds. You can watch the video for "Cantaloupe" below. By the Fire , the upcoming album from Thurston Moore, will be out September 25. For more on Thurston Moore, check out his website .

If you've never seen Todd Haynes's fantastic 1998 film Velvet Goldmine , you truly owe it to yourself to do so. It's basically a David Bowie biopic without licensing. Once you watch the film, you're going to need to check out the soundtrack. In addition to the classic songs of the period, it also included a song by Wyde Ratttz. Wylde Ratttz stood in for The Stooges, and consisted of Ron Asheton (The Stooges), Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Don Fleming, Jim Dunbar, Sean Ono Lennon, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley. They did a cover of The Stooges's classic "T.V. Eye" that made me desperate to hear more. Alas, there was no more. Until yesterday. Apparently the band got together to for a second session that included originals and a cover of The Pretty Things. You shouldn't even be reading this any more. This is pure gold, and I can't believe this has been sat on for over twenty years. This is a supergroup to end ...

Photo via Facebook If there's one silver lining with the COVID-19 pandemic, it could be that Thurston Moore has had time to dig around his archives. His latest find is "Sunday Stage," a song that dates back to his time with Chelsea Light Moving. Chelsea Light Moving was my personal favorite of his post-Sonic Youth projects. That could be because it was the closest to Sonic Youth, but showcasing Thurston's metal side. "Sunday Stage" is a perfect example of that. It has the perfect vintage early 90's Sonic Youth feel to it while having a few metal riffs that let loose every so often. It's loud and heavy, which is really what we want from Chelsea Light Moving. Here's hoping he can unearth a few more unreleased songs for us all in the near future. You can listen to "Sunday Stage" below. The song is currently available via Thurston Moore's Bandcamp page . For more on Thurston Moore, check out his website . SUNDAY STAGE by Thursto...

No matter how much we might love Sonic Youth and/or Thurston Moore, some of his music can be more... challenging of a listen. The man recently released a three disc nearly three hour album of experimental noise. Not exactly a fun listen. His latest release (a song shorter than four minutes!) dates back to his days with Chelsea Light Moving. As Thurston explains:  "A song written in Seattle, Washington in 2014 on tour as Chelsea Light Moving. Originally performed on the great KEXP-FM as 'The Exstasie' with lyrics taken from a poem by John Donne (1572-1631) of the same name. Later re-mixed in London, UK with re-recorded vox + lyrics self-penned as a flashlight to the future of a planet in desperate need of love and rock n' soul activism. Chelsea Light Moving, though we made but one LP, was a sweet group and I'll always adore these cats, the memories of travel and dialogue and the times we spent making music and honest friendship. London had come a-calling and lov...

Photo via Facebook Wednesday December 4 was one of those crazy nights in the Boston area where there are more amazing shows than you could think possible in a single night. Lightning Bolt was in Cambridge playing The Sinclair. Lucy Dacus and Haley Heynderickx were at Royale. Up in Portsmouth, NH Mannequin Pussy were playing. On a normal night I wouldn't be hesitant at all about a Thurston Moore experimental noise show, but when there was this much competition it was hard not to have a bit of FOMO before the show even started. The crowd knew we were in for a non traditional concert seeing as the set up didn't include a microphone. There was no need since this would be an instrumental performance. The rest of the band (which included Steve Shelley (also formerly of Sonic Youth) and Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine)) were set up facing Moore, and he was set up facing them. Throughout the show Moore acted more as a conductor or bandleader than a traditional rock frontman, letti...

Photo via Facebook I'm not quite sure why, but I never expected to hear Thurston Moore cover New Order. He decided to take on the last song from Power Corruption and Lies , "Leave Me Alone." For a version without synths, Moore's take on "Leave Me Alone" is completely spot on. It's filled with acoustic guitars and is far more orchestral than anything I would have ever expected from the No Wave legend. It's a lovely and (for him) quiet recording. Towards the end there is some noise brought, but for the most part, "Leave Me Alone" is a beautiful orchestral version of a New Wave classic. You can listen to Thurston Moore's version of "Leave Me Alone" below. The song will be available as the B-side to three separate upcoming 7" records that will be available November 8 via Moore's Daydream Library Series. For more on Thurston Moore, check out his website .

As inaccessible to mainstream audiences a lot of Sonic Youth's output was, there is some of their work that is just pure noise, and I mean that in the best possible way. Way back in 1995, Thurston Moore released  Klangfarbenmelodie​.​. And The Colorist Strikes Primitiv  only in New Zealand. It was a free noise set with free jazz drummer Tom Surgal. You'll know if you want to hear this based on that description alone, and if you do, you're in luck.  Klangfarbenmelodie​.​. And The Colorist Strikes Primitiv   is being released for the first time in the States, and on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl. Thurston Moore performing with a free jazz drummer in 1995 won't be for everyone, but for those of us excited by this idea, this release is a dream come true. You can listen to " Klangfarbenmelodie​.​. And The Colorist Strikes Primitiv (Part 2)" below.  Klangfarbenmelodie​.​. And The Colorist Strikes Primitiv will be released on November 2 on Glass Modern Records. You ...

Photo via Facebook A lot of Thurston Moore's post-Sonic Youth work has been on the mellower side. With his new single, "Mx Liberty," that is changing in a big way. "Mx Liberty" is the heaviest Thurston has been in years, Twilight excluded . It's an incredibly punk sound, but not in the way Sonic Youth could be considered punk. His guitar playing will always sound like his guitar playing which will give off a certain Sonic Youth vibe. But it's... different this time. He hasn't played with this sense of urgency in decades. It's a heavier, crunchier sound to it, and the riffs are simply ferocious. Plus, the vocals are somewhere between chanting and shouting, giving off an almost hip hop feel. This is the most interesting thing Thurston Moore has recorded in a long, long time. According to the label, the song is "...  a punk rock broadside to the current man-boys of the USA government in response to their mockery of democracy," in case ...

And the rest! Artist : Airling Album : Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream Quick Description : Light and airy poppy singer-songwriter stuff. Why You Should Listen : Comfortable and pleasant is the name of the game here. Overall Thoughts : Airling was a pleasant surprise for me. Coming from Australia, this is an album that feels light and airy with some electronic instrumentation to go along with solid vocals. The result is a really pretty album that, on one hand, isn’t really breaking any ground, but is still quite a worthwhile listen on the other. While this might not blow your mind... Recommendation : ...I absolutely recommend finding some time for it this week. Artist : Juliana Hatfield Album : Pussycat Quick Description : The first major protest album of 2017. Why You Should Listen : Juliana Hatfield is certainly expressing a point of view here, but it doesn't detract from the music. Overall Thoughts : This is Juliana Hatfield’s anti-Trump protest record. If you’re ...

Photo via Facebook For the first single off of his upcoming album, Rock n Roll Consciousness , Thurston Moore is going back to right where he left off from Sonic Youth. Up until now, Moore's post Sonic Youth work has been indulging in his more folky or metal sides, "Smoke of Dreams" is pure late Sonic Youth era Moore. It's a chilled out jam, much more along the lines of a jam band than the punk or post-punk that defined much of Sonic Youth's sound. In the late 90s and beyond, Sonic Youth, especially Thurston, started getting less aggressive and showing off their hippie and beat poetry inspired sound. "Smoke of Dreams" is super trippy and is perfect for anyone missing the 2000s Sonic Youth sound. You can watch the video for "Smoke of Dreams" below. Rock n Roll Consciousness will be out on April 28 on Caroline International. It's a five song album, so I'm pretty sure this is going to be Moore's hippiest album yet. For more on Th...

A much lighter week in all regards. Nude Beach - 77 : A lot of acts are certainly throwbacks, but Nude Beach is really the best outright nostalgia-sounding act I've heard in some time. It feels like an indie/alt-rock album from 20 years ago and it's a great, albeit a little long, listen. Absolutely the release of the week, a solid listen. Jukebox the Ghost - Jukebox the Ghost : I've always been a fan of Jukebox the Ghost even though I never actively seek them out, and the new album should really be a reminder to me that I should change that. It's a tight, well-paced album with a lot of good songs (including one of the better leadoff tracks I've heard lately), and I feel like the band simply doesn't get enough credit on a whole. Definitely worth a listen for this week. Cold War Kids - Hold My Home : I, like most others, got turned onto Cold War Kids through the great "Hang Me Out to Dry." They haven't been successful at replicating that f...

Out of all the projects rising from the ashes of Sonic Youth, the one I was most intrigued by was Thurston Moore joining the black metal supergroup, Twilight. It feels like the news Thurston would finally be indulging his metal side came out forever ago, to the point where I just assumed I had imagined it. This week came the news that Twilight finally had a song you could listen to ("Lungs"), an album coming out ( III: Beneath Trident's Tomb ), and was promptly breaking up. The whole thing almost feels like some kind of put on, except that holy shit is this song good. As you can tell by what we normally write about, neither Jeff or I are big metal guys. We're much more likely to go to a revamped Lilith Fair than Ozzfest. But Twilight? This sounds like Helmet and Quicksand had formed in Norway. And murdered people. If that sounds like your thing,  III: Beneath Trident's Tomb comes out on 3/18. You can listen to "Lungs" below.

Since Sonic Youth is my favorite all time band, I couldn't wait to hear what the various members are getting up to now that Sonic Youth is seemingly done. Even when I first heard The Eternal , something about it seemed final and I fully expected it to be their last. Of course, the way the band ended was the one way I couldn't accept, and it makes me want to hate Thurston Moore's new project, Chelsea Light Moving. Fortunately (Unfortunately?), I still love this album.  It sounds more like a more polished  Evol era Sonic Youth, but Thurston is allowed to explore his more punk and metal influences more than he ever did in Sonic Youth. "Sleeping Where I Fall" starts off like a typical Sonic Youth song, but devolves into European death metal sludge. The psychedelia of the last few Sonic Youth albums is almost completely gone (despite "Groovy & Linda" being a song title) and has been replaced with much more aggression and controlled chaos. The album i...