Customer Reviews

SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

fascinating... it's a look forward and backward. it reminds me a lot of the spaciousness of sound that the band achieved with bad moon rising, although a lot less disciplined.

i remember seeing a clip on vh1 once with lee ranaldo talking about city sounds and how he loved to open his window and listen to the rhythms of everyday street noises. this album captures it beautifully, with its random occurences of guitar squawks, cymbal crashes, and syllables.

although i have already dismissed some of the songs (the nascent "edges" among them), i have a feeling that this one pays off on each successive listen. "pendulum music" and "six for new time" are damn near highpoints of sy's career- it's the kind of pretention that they have always reached for. this time it works better in execution than theory.

if this is their millenial exit, i can't wait to see what they're going to come up with for an entrance.

To the fellow who's review contained this statement: "In any event, it would seem laughable that anyone could draw any connection between Sonic Youth's interpretations and original works (in any category of music)." I would have to totally disagree with you here. Having heard the works of John Cage, Christian Wolf, James Tenney, Cornelius Cardew and Steve Reich there is a connection by SY's interpretations. Connecting these intrepretations to the original (if there is such) is not the intention here, yet you cannot disregard the ideas of the composers. Eventhough these pieces incorporate improvising, most of the works are composed and are documented as such and SY used the 'scores' as they were intended...as guidelines (i.e. Cornelius Cardew's 'Treatise' is a 193 page graphic score). There are obvious references to the composer's intentions in these interpretations, that is if you listen closely and if you've heard their works before. Yet it isn't necessary to be aquainted with them. Laughable? i think not...The original composer's intentions of these works are not entirely "serious" or "high-brow avant-gardisms", for instance John Cage did many things to break that down (i.e. his silent piece 4'33") and i think Sonic Youth here have continued in that idea.

I have collected most of Sonic Youth's albums over the years, and this is presently my favorite. Featuring music composed by the likes of John Cage and Takehisa Kosugi as well as Yoko Ono and Steve Reich, the long tracks massage and spark. Unlike the usually in-your-face brashness that makes sonic youth sonic youth, this album features wide spaces of repetitive sounds that layer, merge and then gradually taper away. This is truly an innovative album, unlike any other from Sonic Youth. Few vocals except for Kim Gordon's occasional spoken (shouted?) word. I love it and haven't taken it off the turntable since I got it.

Perhaps one of the riskiest works by Sonic Youth lately, the efforts behind "Goodbye 20th Century" have paid off well. Nonetheless, there are a few mishaps.

John Cage's "Four6", lasting over 30 minutes, is severely short on focus, and the result of its rambling feel is quite dull. The same can be said for Christian Wolff's "Burdocks"

"Six For New Time," written for the project, is the closest thing to a rock song on the album. Incidentally, it is the album highlight, and for that matter, one of the better recordings ever put out by Sonic Youth. "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion" is another outstanding track, with complex layers and an expert use of dynamics employed to create a dreamy and completely enrapturing feel.

Takehisa Kosugi's "+-" will probably take a few listenings to be appreciated, but is nonetheless an oustanding example of how dense layers of instrumentation, mixed with scathing white noise and a loose feel successfully work to create an atmosphere that just can't be achieved through any stardard rock strucuture.

Appropriately titled, "Goodbye 20th Century" is a must have for fans of the SYR series. While its avant-garde stylings may not be appreciated by all, it is one of the most fascinating albums ever released by this band.

It's funny, I recall how six years ago I thought Sonic Youth was just "this cool skate-punk band" when I purchased "Dirty." Little did I know that they would later have more in common with Sun Ra and Stockhausen than Reagan Youth.

I have to argue that SYR 4 is perhaps their most surreal and ear-baffling work to date. On most of its tracks, their trademark ecstatic-alien guitar noise makes more sense as electro-aucostic pieces and even folk music for our bewildered information age. Examplary tracks are the John Cage covers and "Never Played a Note for Percussion."

While it does have its misfires(the room-clearing Reich cover and "Edges"-nearly summarizes what many people love to hate about avant-garde music,)overall, I have to say that this album will be closely studied and appreicated for quite some time...much longer than the Warped tour.

It's hard to believe, but it's true.

The 4th CD in the SYR experimental series (titled Goodbye 20th Century, appropriatly) of Sonic Youth Records, is a fantastic double album soundscape of the finest kind. The CD has reinterpretations of post 50's era classical pieces (by such illustrious names as John Cage, Steve Reich, Christian Wolff), and they sound great for the most part. But Sonic Youth was not alone in recording this double album. They enlisted the help of many people, like Jim O'Rourke, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's daughter Coco Hayley Gordon Moore (who screams out Yoko Ono's Voice Piece for Soprano), and...surprisingly...Christian Wolff collaborates on his pieces with the band. There are many other contributors, but I can't recall them at the moment.

Judging from all the other tracks, the one that stands out the most (to me, anyway) is Pauline Oliveros' Six For New Time (composed specifically for this project). Thurston intones lyrics over rising and falling drone guitars. Genius. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of other tracks that are as great, such as Steve Reich's Pendulum Music (swinging microphones over amps, creating a pendulum effect of feedback), and George Maciunas' Piano Piece #13 (hammering down the keys of a piano till they no longer produce sound).

The centerpiece of the album, though, is John Cage's Four6. There are 2 other John Cage songs on the album (Six, performed twice) but this one stands out the most. It may seem like random banging and aimless instrumental wandering, but give it a chance, and it will slowly reveal its beauty.

Overall, this album is a fantastic piece of avant-garde, and will certainly entertain the artier person in you.

If you enjoy this record, why not try other CD's in the SYR series, Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, or seek out the works of the composers on this album?

I came across this CD at my local library while searching for the works of Cornelius Cardew. My only criticism is that liner notes were not included. Liner notes would have been appreciated not only as explanations of this admittedly esoteric music, but as an opportunity for the performers to respond to potential criticism and explain their intentions. They are to be commended for taking the risk of alienating their commercial base with this collection of recent aleatoric compositions and performance art. The other reviews merely prove the point that despite their posturing, many fans of popular music are as conservative and hidebound as their great-grandparents, uncomfortable in their day with any composers after Brahms. A scan of the FM dial reveals little change in popular music over the past 50 years - lots of 3-minute songs in 4/4 time. Witness the proliferation of stations endlessly broadcasting the same 1960s to 1980s standards.

For this audience, this CD is just what was needed - a slap in the face of convention. If this sparks in anyone an interest in searching for "what else is out there," the exercise will have been well worth the effort.

This is a brilliant tribute to some of the most important musicians of the last century, made in a way that only a successful pop outfit could manage. The most important meeting of "real" art and pop since John Lennon's brush with Fluxus.

I especially like the cheeky adaption of Reich's "Pendulum Music" - so different from Reich's own versions with soft, consonant feedback sounds, Sonic Youth embrace harsh, screeching feedback to describe the fractal harmonic rhythms and make an utterly beautiful work, full of fascinating depth of sound. Christian Wolff's "Burdocks" is reinterpreted for a new generation, giving it new life and making it as fresh as today.

Congratulations to Sonic Youth and their illustrious collaborators (ie O'Rourke and Willie Winant) for putting integrity before profit and bringing some of the most inventive minds of the last century to a wider audience.

This album will still be relevant long after their "normal" albums have slidden into mere nostalgia.

Goodbye 20th century is the fourth installment of Sonic Youths self produced EPs, and in a way it deserves its title. Lately Sonic Youth has been getting more and more experimental, and this album, is basically them acknowledging the centurys best artists, and thier influences on SY and popular music. This album is a definate must have for avid SY fans, but the occaisonal listener may not enjoy it as much, and may wish to stick to thier SST recordings instead. SYR4 Also sees SY teaming up with many of the artists on the album to help produce it. Which only adds to the charm of the record. If this is Sonic Youth saying goodbye to the 20th century I cannot wait until the next one, and the mysteries it will hold.

why should you own this album is the question to be asked here. If you come to SY from the grunge years(goo and especially dirty) then forget it. this is a long (2cds at 70m+ each) album, and there is a lot of peices that at first glance appear meandering, theres no 'songs' on it per se, much less guitar abuse. there is however, a lot to be found if you can have patience with it.
one peice, a 30 minute rendition of john cage's four6 stands out in particular. it reminds me of how zen buddhists train zen disiples by confusing and disorienting them till they finally 'get' zen(maybe the zen practitioner cage had this in mind?). this peice confused me greatly until i put the cd on to keep me awake after a sleep less night. suddenly every slight change of direction, tonality became beautiful, whereas before its constant apparant lack of focus annoyed me.
the idea of an avant garde covers album could mean an album of concept over tunes, but here the concept of the peices and the practice of each are so well married that you rarely notice the seams (with the possible exception of christian wolff's burdocks)and for the long suffering SY fans, we have the vocal mike feedback of reichs pendulum music, and the tidal wave noise of tenneys having never written a note for percussion.
a must buy for those with open ears to ideas.