Customer Reviews

Trees Outside the Academy

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("Trees Outside the Academy" by Thurston Moore)

Although Sonic Youth's eternally mopheaded guitar hero has been involved in numerous solo and collaborative projects since his last "major" solo effort, 1995's Psychic Hearts, much of that output hasn't been easy to come by, and usually involving torrents of free guitar noise. This is what some casual listeners would expect, but even many fans would be surprised by Thurston's latest effort, "Trees Outside the Academy," which is anchored by torrents of tightly composed acoustic guitar playing, often resulting in some of the most lovely songs he's ever composed.

Working from longtime friend J. Mascis' (of Dinosaur Jr.) home studio, and featuring a small group of collaborators including Mascis, SY's Steve Shelley on drums and violinist/solo artist Samara Lubelski, this certainly isn't the Thurston solo effort fans would hope for, but it's the one we get, and we should love it as such. "Psychic Hearts" was a spotty effort, featuring one of Thurston's best ever songs (the title track), and a lot of half baked efforts that grew out of the kind of songs the mothership band were doing at the time. The new album, therefore, will appeal to fans of recent SY albums such as Rather Ripped: that is, song-based rather than jammy, with strong melodies. Here Thurston is mainly playing acoustic guitar, but the songwriting is still clearly his, right down to the time changes. On a number of songs, J. Mascis does step in with his usual fiery electric guitar playing, so noise hasn't been abandoned altogether. There are moments here as bracing as anything in SY's cataologue, but they're balanced against moments of equal beauty and delicacy. The instrumental "Off Work" is case in point--Thurston plays the melody lines on acoustic, Mascis plays noisy counterpoint on electric, while Lubelski's violin adds in plenty of color. Much of the rest of the album, in particular the soft, straightforward "Never Day," establish Thurston as a singer-songwriter trapped in an indie rocker's body. This is again balanced with occasional outbursts of white noise, such as the 37-second "Free Noise Among Friends," and the closing instrumental of the title track, which uses the full band dynamic to build into a compressed (despite a 6 minute running time) head of steam. It should also be noted that Shelley's drumming on the album differs a bit from his SY work--an often motorik method cleary taken from so-called Krautrock bands like Can. The end result of the album is thrilling--even if one were to ignore Moore's long resume, this would still be one of the best of the year.

The closer, allegedly "hidden" track, "Thurston @ 13," is an old tape recovered from his parent's house featuring a young Thurston (though his voice had obviously changed by this point) playing around with various sounds--"What you are about to hear is me dropping a quarter on the table...there." What should be a somewhat embarrassing bit of juvenalia is, in the context of the album and Thurston's career in general, a curious and playful sxploration of sound itself. "Trees,,," shows him at the current summit of his exploring, and proves that he's far from finished yet.

Alright, all you people trying to knock Thurston Moore..He is probably twice your age. Musically he has done more than any of all of us sad bastards writing these reviews. I love the acoustic sounds. I love the throwback sounds. Good job. "Oh Is too acoustic" or "oh Im not used to this"--shave your hipster moustache and rock. All I know is that when I played this and made dinner -- dinner was fantastic!

This is a very good, but not great, record. It's very complete - all the songs are very well defined and well-produced and, other than "Noice Among Friends," are fully formed songs rather than the unfocused ideas that populate Moore's other solo work. In fact, the early tracks, featuring mostly accoustic guitar and accompanyments from strings and female backing vocals, are some of the strongest Moore has ever put together. And they sound nothing like the faux-SY tracks on "Psychic Hearts."

This record is limited only in that, as it goes on, it feels more unfocused. It's basically a record for Moore or SY completists - probably won't win either any new fans. But if you like SY or Moore's other stuff, this one won't disappoint.

The pitfalls of a solo effort that branches out from a well-known band are, I think, these: that the solo artist will sound too much like the band from which he comes, as if to prove that he is the band's defining artistic presence; or that the solo artist will sound too little like the band, raising the question of what the solo artist contributes to the band. Thurston Moore's Trees Outside the Academy steers clear of both: especially on the faster-tempo songs featuring the drumming of Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelby, the songs echo just enough of SY's controlled chaos without sounding as though they'd truly fit on a Sonic Youth album. Other slower-tempo songs, including arrangements with violin, would fit even less on a SY record, but establish Moore as a distinctive songwriting talent (if anyone had any doubts) -- these are songs that catch you early with strong hooks and melodies but continue to reward repeated listens. Despite a couple of noisy outliers, this is a fantastic group of songs, one that confirms Thurston Moore as a musical artist of the first rank. Just two:

"Frozen GTR" -- begins with a burst of violin whale song, affirming that Moore will be walking back and forth over the line between noise and music -- a line few dare.

"The Shape Is In a Trance" -- a brilliant arrangement of violin and acoustic guitar.

Fantastic songs.

Great mix of acoustic soulful songs with hard grunge electric ones.
Thurston is a creative genius!

Like Einstürzende Neubauten, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth have been knocking around for what seems like aeons, and like Einstürzende Neubauten, he (and they) show no signs of going stale. The twenty-first century has even seen Sonic Youth acquire a new pedigree (`Sonic Nurse' and `Rather Ripped' were both superb albums). Similarly, Thurston's `Trees Outside The Academy' has made quite a few people's best-of-year lists, and deservedly so. Solo it may be, but indulgent it is not - this is a suite of sung songs, with the guitars generally veering away from overly-electrified angles, and back-up provided by Samara Lubelski's violin, Steve Shelley's drums, and even Christina Carter's amazing free-form vocals.

The cuts here evince that same self-assured charm that Sonic Youth demonstrated on 1988's unrepeatable marvel `Daydream Nation'- every track unfolds naturally, with guitars, vocals, drums, and violin all in perfect synchrony. The full-on maelstrom often characteristic of that classic work may be missing, but it nonetheless feels so right, and this being Thurston Moore, experimental distortion is not entirely absent, just kept in its place, subordinate to a (slightly) more relaxed ethos. Anyone who considers themselves a Sonic Youth fan will simply have to invest in this superb collection of riffs, vibes and harmonies.

I picked this up because I have all of his other solo cds. It's a good cd, very Sonic Youth. You can't go wrong.

Even if you are not a huge Sonic Youth fan, as I am, this cd is incredible. It has a subtle quietness, even in the noisy bits. The songwriting is dynamic and beautiful. The input by J. Mascis (Dinosaur, JR) is beautiful. Not only was this recorded at his studio, he contributes to the cd musically. You can certainly hear Sonic Youth-ness in many of the songs, and it is haunting and dreamlike. In my opinion, this is the best indy/alternative title of 2007.

This is the album everyone knew Thurston had in him ever since the teaser of a Sonic Youth acoustic track "Winner's Blues." Moore's mind moves quickly. What is surprising about "Trees..." is that this artist who usually tosses out musical ideas left and right -- many of which exist on record in some sort of under- or overdeveloped state -- has slowed himself down and really crafted an album of songs.

"Trees Outside The Academy" is a grower. Songs that may not leap out at you at first will delight you on subsequent listens. Many have the propulsive chug and pop hooks we saw unsheathed on SY's "Rather Ripped." Others positively scintillate in their novel acoustic-guitar-and-strings mantles.

By not following "Psychic Hearts" up with anything resembling a sequel, Moore has managed to highlight both his new recording and refresh interest in his 1995 solo debut.

Moore, with this recording gives us another demostration of his power to compose, to play a versatil guitar and to sing with his personal voice... A great artist and a great record... I love it!