Year: 1992
Label: Lost And Found
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 14
Time: 30 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Hardcore
Wednesday 24 July 2024
Monday 15 July 2024
BEASTIE BOYS
"licensed to ill"
Year: 1986
Country: US
City: New York
Label: Sony
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 13
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock, electronic
Style: Hip Hop
Beastie Boys were an American hip hop / rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1981. The group was composed of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums, programming). Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band The Young Aborigines, which was formed in 1979, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, John Berry on guitar, and Kate Schellenbach later joining on percussion. When Shatan left New York City in mid-1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the resulting band was named Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
After achieving local success with the 1983 comedy hip hop single "Cooky Puss", Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip hop, and Schellenbach left. They toured with Madonna in 1985 and a year later released their debut album, Licensed to Ill (1986), the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 chart. Their second album, Paul's Boutique (1989), composed almost entirely of samples, was a commercial failure that later received critical acclaim. Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success, followed by Hello Nasty (1998), To the 5 Boroughs (2004), The Mix-Up (2007), and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011).
Beastie Boys have sold 20 million records in the United States and had seven platinum-selling albums from 1986 to 2004. They are the biggest-selling rap group since Billboard began recording sales in 1991. In 2012, they became the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the same year, Yauch died of cancer and Beastie Boys disbanded.[8] The remaining members have released several retrospective works, including a book, a documentary, and a career-spanning compilation album.
"Paul's boutique"
Year: 1989
Label: Sony
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 15
Time: 40 min.
Genre: electronic, rock
Style: Hip Hop
"check your head"
Year: 1992
Label: Sony
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 20
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock, electronic
Style: Hip Hop
Discogs , Download
"some old bullshit"
Year: 1994
Label: Sony
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 14
Time: 20 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Punk Hardcore
"Ill Communication"
Year. 1994
Label: Universal
Format: CD, 2 x LP
Tracks: 20
Time: 40 min.
Genre: electronic, rock
Style: Hip Hop
"hello nasty"
Year: 1998
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 22
Time: 67 min.
Genre: rock, electronic
Style: Hip Hop
"to the 5 boroughs"
Year: 2004
Label: Sony
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 16
Time: 40 min.
Genre: electronic, rock
Style: Hip Hop
Friday 28 June 2024
FUCKING ANGRY
"still fucking angry"
Year: 2024
Country: Germany
City: Hamburg
Label: RilRec
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 30 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Punk
“2024 Fucking Angry are finally back with their new album ”... Still Fucking Angry!“ For the follow-up to “Dancing in the streets”, the band took the time to try out new things and incorporate different sounds. On their new album, Fucking Angry build a bridge from punk to pop, from dub to hardcore and yet remain unmistakably themselves, from the typically rough vocals, the loud guitars, the fast bass lines to the precise drumming. The result is twelve varied and personal songs about the dark moments in life, about our insatiable greed for higher, faster, further, about loss, about Nazi filth on the streets and about how punk can finally become relevant again. Out on Rilrec & Rookie!
"dancing in the streets"
Year: 2015
Label: RilRec
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 26 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Punk Hardcore
Thursday 13 June 2024
BACK FROM THE GRAVE
"back from the grave 1"
Year: 1983
Label: Crypt Records
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 16
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Garage Rock
Back from the Grave, Volume 1 is the first installment in the Back from the Grave series of garage rock compilations put together by Tim Warren of Crypt Records and released in 1983 on LP. In keeping with all of the entries in the series, and as indicated in the subheading which reads "Rockin' 1966 Punkers," this collection consists of songs which display the rawer and more aggressive side of the genre and are often characterized by the use of fuzztone-distorted guitars and rough vocals. The set generally excludes psychedelic, folk rock, and pop-influenced material in favor of basic primitive rock and roll. The packaging features well-researched liner notes written by Tim Warren which convey basic information about each song and group, such as origin, recording date, and biographical sketches, usually written in a conversational style that includes occasional slang, anecdotes, humorous asides. The liner notes are noticeably opinionated, sometimes engaging in tongue-in-cheek insults directed at other genres of music. The packaging also includes photographs of the bands, and the front cover features a highly satirical cartoon by Mort Todd depicting a revivified "rock and roll" zombie who, along with his macabre cohorts, has just emerged from the grave to "bury" all specimens of supposedly "heretical" pop and progressive music which have come to prominence over the years, such as disco music and MTV.
The set begins with "My Confusion" by The Elite from Fort Worth Texas. "Do You Understand Me," was their last release by Grand Rapids, Michigan's The JuJus. Two songs by the Alarm Clocks from Parma, Ohio are included, "Yeah" and "No reason to Complain" - both recorded at Sound Ideas Recording Studio in Cleveland. The Fabs from Fullerton, California, are sometimes mistaken for being from Texas, perhaps because the cut, "That's the Bag I'm In," though recorded in Hollywood, was released on the Dallas-based Cottonball label. The Malibus from Providence, Rhode Island can be heard on the fuzz-drenched "Cry" and the Legends from Holland, Michigan, play "I'll Come Again," which was recorded in 1965 but not released until 1967 on Fenton Records. Several of the odder cuts are the "We All Love Peanut Butter" and a take on "Jack the Ripper," both done by the One Way Streets and "Rat's Revenge Part One" and "Rat's Revenge Part Two" by the Rats. The Swamp Rats, from Pittsburgh do a rendition of the Sonics's "Psycho." The set closes with the unlikely inclusion of the song that, in the Words of Jeff Jarema, is "in the tradition of the Stooges and MC5...another 1970 punk classic," "Ghost Power," by the Cords, a group made up of real-life Franciscan friars, who in the spirit of Vatican II decided to play rock & roll as a way to attract some of the younger generation to consecrated life. The song also appears on the Garage Beat '66, Volume 4 CD compilation, released on Sundazed Records in 2005.
"back from the grave 2"
Year: 1983
Label: Crypt
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 8
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Garage Rock
Wednesday 12 June 2024
DUT
"idem"
Year: 1995
Label: Esan Ozenki
Format: CD
Tracks: 10
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Post-Hardcore
"at"
Year: 1996
Label: Esan Ozenki
Format: CD
Tracks: 15
Time: 60 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Post-Hardcore
FERMIN MUGURUZA eta DUT
"ireki ateak"
Year: 1997
Label: Esan Ozenki
Format: CD
Tracks: 11
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Post-Hardcore
"askatu korapiloa"
Year: 2000
Label: Esan Ozenki
Format: CD
Tracks: 10
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Indie Rock
Sunday 19 May 2024
LIONHEART
"valley of death"
Year: 2019
Country: US
City: Oakland, CA
Label: Fast Break
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 10
Time: 24 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Hardcore
"love don't live here"
Year: 2016
Label: Beatdown Hardwear
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 11
Time: 25 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Hardcore
Thursday 16 May 2024
JACQUES DUTRONC
"compilation"
Year: 2009
Country: France
City: Paris
Label: Cherry Red
Format: CD
Tracks: 22
Time: 60 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Chanson Garage Rock
On this compilation album, Jacques Dutronc took a giant leap toward immortality, delivering one of the greatest albums of French '60s rock at its most creative. Whereas his contemporary Ray Davies needed five to six albums to reach his artistic summit, the often compared Dutronc already succeeded at the second attempt. Hence, the first album's garage rock overtones were exchanged in a fortnight for a record on par with the Kinks' Something Else. On top of the sheer variety in musical styles, Dutronc delivers his finest hour: the classic chanson "Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'Éveille," which could be viewed as a mirror image to Davies' "Waterloo Sunset." This clearly brings up the subject of Dutronc's silent partner, the songwriter Jacques Lanzmann. The genius of his lyrics proved just as crucial to the singer's image during the first stage of his career. The clever wordplay of songs like "Mini Mini Mini" -- commenting on the day's fashion, Dutronc insists he prefers "maxiskirt" to miniskirt, "maxister" to minister, and so on -- helped to turn the debut album into a million-seller within a year of its release. However, the enchanting "Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'Éveille" was an altogether different kind of story. Written by Lanzmann and his other half, Anne Ségalen, it's a poetic and fairly accurate account of a nightclubber's morning after: upon describing how the city slowly awakens, the song's protagonist decides he just isn't tired enough to go home yet. Highly recognizable for its flute solo (an improvisation by Roger Bourdin), it evokes images of Paris, for which the casual listener doesn't have to know a lot of French. Released as an EP in its own right, it proved a hit all over Europe and gets a lot of airplay to this day.
Considering Dutronc's music and arrangements, there's a dazzling variety this time around. In addition, his singing has improved noticeably, as he switches on more than one occasion from mere reciting to actually carrying a melody. This becomes evident on a song like the Moody Blues-referencing "Le Métaphore" as well as the frivolous "Le Courrier du Coeur," a song set up as a newspaper advice column (kind of like "Dear Abby, I'm in love with a woman with a mustache"). Also, there are still plenty of wacky garage tunes left: the mixture of vaudeville and near hard rock of "La Publicité," the sitar-supported hippie bashing of "Hippie, Hippie, Hourrah," and Dutronc's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" avant la lettre "Les Méthamorphoses." [It should be noted that all of Jacques Dutronc's seven albums made between 1966 and 1975 lack a proper title. To keep them apart, the second album is equally referred to by its original year of release (1968), the first song on the album ("comment elles dorment"), or either one of the title tunes to the preceding or later released EPs "la publicité," "il est cinq heures, Paris Seveille," or "le courrier du coeur". Furthermore, the content of these compilation matches exactly with the 22 songs recorded from 1966 until 1969 (*Review by Quint Kik ).
Monday 13 May 2024
JOE KEIGHLEY
"stand"
Year: 2024
Country: Canada
City: Vancouver, BC
Label: Sudden Death
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 36 min.
Genre: acoustic
Style: Folk Punk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Joe Keithley, the leader of Canada’s legendary political punk band D.O.A., takes an acoustic turn on his new solo album Stand, released as always by his own label Sudden Death Records. Joe is one of Canada’s leading rebels. He’s got a reputation for delivering the straight goods with no BS: Whether he’s onstage with D.O.A. or playing his acoustic guitar at a protest or on a picket line. His message rings true with songs like Pipeline Fever, You Won’t Stand Alone, World War 3, Ginger Goodwin, Race Riot, The World Falls Apart, Police Brutality, Slumlord, I Live In A Car, General Strike and many more straight-to-the-point anthems.
The first single and video from the album was Fentanyl Blues, a song about the ongoing drug poisoning crisis. “I was compelled to write this song as an outlet for the tragedy and grief the opioid crisis has caused,” Keithley said. “It’s even sadder - if that’s possible - when you realize that it grew because of corporate greed.”
Although best known for his decades at the helm of D.O.A., Keithley is also a highly respected and accomplished solo performer whose stage persona is magnetic and gripping. Joe’s show is an energetic combo of acoustic guitar, powerful vocals and stories that speak about what’s happening in our world today.
Many have compared Joe to a modern-day Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger - a man who has spent a lifetime standing up for the average person through his music and his actions. Joe has been an activist since he was 16 years old and that’s reflected in his songs, as Keithley takes on all manner of ill deeds like police brutality, sexism, warmongering and racism - to name a few. He’s also stood up for the environment, First Nations, unions and many other good and just causes, organizing and playing at well over 300 benefit concerts.
There’s also a great deal of humour in Joe’s approach - he is not afraid to make fun of those that deserve to be needled, including himself. Fans and pundits alike know Joe is a very inspiring performer as he belts out stirring and poignant lyrics that are rousing and raucous at the same time. People have called him a man ahead of his time when they look at the songs he’s written, the ideals he has put forth and the causes he has supported.
Joe and D.O.A. first came to international prominence in 1978, when he started his own independent record label, Sudden Death Records. That same year, the label released D.O.A.’s four-song 7” EP Disco Sucks, which quickly became an underground hit. A short time later Joe came up with the term “hardcore” and D.O.A. soon released their landmark album Hardcore ‘81, which pushed the term hardcore into our common vernacular. Over the past 40 years, D.O.A. have released 16 studio albums, sold a million records and played over 4,000 shows on five different continents. D.O.A. heavily influenced bands like Green Day, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring and Henry Rollins, among others.
Joe has also found time to write two books, I Shithead: A Life in Punk and Talk–Action=0. The latter title is also his longtime motto, which makes for great music and even better advice."
(*Review by Darryl Sterdan ).
Thursday 2 May 2024
PIXIES
"head carrier"
Year: 2016
Label: none
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
"indie cindy"
Year: 2014
Label: none
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"trompe le monde"
Year: 1991
Label: Beggars Banquet
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 15
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"bossanova"
Year: 1990
Label: Virgin
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 14
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"doolittle"
Year: 1989
Label: Beggars Banquet
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 15
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"surfer rosa"
Year: 1988
Label: Beggars Banquet
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 13
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
Sunday 28 April 2024
FULL OF HELL
"coagulated bliss"
Year: 2024
Country: US
City: Maryland
Label: Closed Casket Activities
Format: LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 24 min.
Genre: electronic
Stylle: Grindcore Noise
If someone had said to you, 15 years ago, that one of the few truly extreme bands that had acquired both an army of fiercely loyal, unrelentingly supportive fans; and also a huge degree of critical acclaim, leading, in part, to some degree of unlikely crossover, then I doubt you’d have said “that’ll be a grind/noise band from Maryland/Philly with 22 EP’s/collab records/Splits and 5 LP’s in the coming decade and a half”. And if you did, then I’d be totally cool with it if you fancied giving me a heads-up on the upcoming Euromillions lottery numbers, because the odds are probably similar. But that’s the timeline we find ourselves in, folks. Full of Hell are almost a constant at this point, such is their prolific output, but it does feel like rather more of an event when they get around to releasing a full-length entirely of their own making. A distillation of a point in time for one of the most dexterous and consistently surprising bands of our time.
It’s going to be hard to review this record concisely. It is, as ever, baffling, dizzying, challenging and borderline absurd at points. Full of Hell don’t often rely on riffs, per se. They are far more comfortable wringing bizarre and unexpected textures and rhythms from their instruments. As a result, the tone, choice of instrumentation and production choices they make are occasionally as important as the songs themselves. That’s not to say there isn’t incredible songwriting skill here, because that is in abundance, it’s just not songwriting in a particularly conventional sense. But again, that should be applauded. That being said, there are songs on this record that do conform (after a fashion) to grindcore 101. Wild, rapid-fire riffing that is as madcap as it is aggressive, largely unintelligible vocals (albeit in the case of FoH, they come from three different people), frenetic yet technical drumming and structures that take the ‘shifting sands’ approach to ensure you constantly feel like you’re on the verge of falling overboard. Full of Hell can do that stuff unbelievably well. We know that. But their ace in the hole is the diversity of their abilities.
You can probably identify the more typical grind songs when you look at the track listing and track lengths: “Vomiting Glass” at 0:56, “Gasping Dust” at 1:09, “Doors to Mental Agony” at 1:36. But even the title track, at a distinctly brief 1:21 deviates pretty significantly from the template. Beginning, and hanging for a lot of the track on a kind of high-tempo version of a sludge riff, it has an undeniably catchy hard rock vibe to it, believe it or not. “Schizoid Rupture” similarly feels (other than the vocals) like it could have been birthed from a particularly nasty QOTSA session. Album closer “Malformed Ligature” also stands out, given it is 2-3 times as long as most of the songs on the record. And although it begins fading out, for the most part, before it hits the 3-minute mark, it does find a rather elegant denouement after the main body of the song fades out. I won’t spoil the surprise though.
It would be utterly remiss of me to not mention “Bleeding Horizon”. It sits, firmly as the centrepiece of the record, at track 6 of 12, with a runtime of 6:14. I wouldn’t typically lay so much focus on runtimes, but this single track makes up a quarter of the entire record and as such, it bears some weight for the album’s success or otherwise. If I’d heard the song independently, I’d say it was one part sludge, one part drone, one part DSBM and one part post metal. Note the lack of grind or even hardcore in that particular recipe. And yet, when you press play again (as you doubtless will), the first track (“Half Life of Changelings”) hits you right away with an opening riff that Fiddlehead or Militarie Gun would be more than happy with.
It’s a fucking ADHD-BPD nightmare of a record in the best possible way, basically. The thing that’s struck me more and more each time I’ve listened to the record is how completely incapable this band are of doing anything straightforward. And this is doubtless the reason that the chin-stroking brigade have elected to rep for them. Some people maintain the only true art is that which has never been done before or that is genuinely surprising or initially confusing. And you get that with this record. But you also have the benefit of a band who know all too well how to play to the more base, aggressive and nihilistic urges that fans of extreme metal tend to have. I suppose the reality of this record’s quality is to some extent in the eye of the beholder. I imagine there will be plenty of people who deem this to be a masterpiece. There will doubtless be others who feel rather the opposite. For me, it’s a very good record. An excellent one, in fact. But I do have to concede that I honestly don’t know if I’m going to like it more or less in 6 months’ time, for example. Either way, it’s a hell of a ride and I’d implore you to give the requisite 26 mins or so of your time (*Review by Sam Houlden ).
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Wednesday 3 April 2024
SONIC YOUTH
"the eternal"
Year: 2009
Label: Matador
Format: CD, 2 x LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Avantgarde Rock
"rather ripped"
Year: 2006
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time: 50 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
Year: 2002
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 7
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"a thousand leaves"
Year: 1998
Label: Universal
Format: CD, 2 x LP
Tracks: 11
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"washing machine"
Year: 1995
Label: Universal
Format: CD, 2 x LP
Tracks: 11
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"experimental jet set, trash and no star"
Year: 1994
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 14
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
Year: 1992
Country: US
City: New York
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 12
Time. 60 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
Sonic Youth were formed in New York in 1981. A product of the No-Wave music scene of the late 1970s, the group had their roots in abrasive, experimental music, with Moore and Ranaldo having previously worked with the experimental composer Glenn Branca. The band were joined in 1985 by drummer Steve Shelley, and recorded 15 albums together, as well as many side and solo projects. Their work has been consistently challenging and innovative, and they are widely regarded as one of the most intriguing and influential bands of their time. This view has been added to by the strength of their record "Sonic Nurse", which also featured the talents of Jim O'Rourke. O'Rourke left the band in 2005. In 2006, Mark Ibold joined the group.
In September 2011, Sonic Youth went on "indefinite hiatus" following the separation of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore (the couple had been married since 1984).
Year: 1990
Label: Universal
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 11
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"daydream nation"
Year: 1988
Label: Blast first
Format: CD, 2 x P
Tracks: 11
Time. 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
In terms of status within the dense annals of alternative rock history, you’d struggle to find an LP as hallowed and influential as Sonic Youth’s fifth outing, 1988’s Daydream Nation. Released by Enigma records, it is an arty, noise-rock double album — seventy glorious minutes of Sonic Youth showing the world why they were the foremost group in breaking down the barriers of musical possibility. Within its composition, they redefined alternative culture ad infinitum.
Daydream Nation is one of those rare moments in alternative rock that forced change. It formed a segment of the elaborate patchwork of influences that occupied Kurt Cobain’s head. In fact, the late Nirvana frontman listed it as one of his top 50 albums of all time. Nirvana were just one of the droves of bands influenced by Sonic Youth and Daydream Nation. This is ironic, as Nevermind is possibly the most influential alternative album ever, with Daydream Nation not far behind in influence. Sonic Youth and Nirvana were also great friends, but that is a story for another day. Regardless, it isn’t unreasonable to postulate that Daydream Nation was the album that forced the door open, and that Nevermind followed suit and blew it off its hinges.
The album was recorded between July and August 1988 at Green St. Recording in New York City. It was so effective that it earned the band a major label deal with Geffen, who would also put out Nevermind in 1991. It has since been considered one of the greatest albums of all time. Appropriately, in 2005, it was chosen by the Library of Congress to be conserved in the National Recording Registry.
The band spent several months fashioning frontman and guitarist Thurston Moore‘s ideas into full-length songs. Instead of stripping back the numbers as they had done in the past, the writing process resulted in extended jams, with some lasting over the half-hour mark. This change in style came after multiple friends of the band, including former Black Flag frontman, Henry Rollins, praised the lengthy improvisations the band played at shows but admitting that their records never truly captured the band’s true essence. Subsequently, Moore went on a prolific writing spree, which culminated in the basis of the double album.
Daydream Nation is also interesting as it was not recorded by or in a traditional alternative environment. The producer, Nick Sansano, was accustomed to working with hip-hop artists and prior to meeting the band, he knew very little about them but was acutely aware of their aggressive sound. Acting as a bridge between the two inherently similar genres, Sansano showed the group records he had previously worked on. These included Public Enemy’s ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’ and Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s ‘It Takes Two’.
Sonic Youth embraced the sound of Sansano’s records and booked three weeks of time in Green Street, commencing in mid-July ’88. At this point, it is important to note what a groundbreaking decision it was to hire Sansano. Rock and rap had barely crossed paths in 1988. Run-DMC and Aerosmith released megahit mashup ‘Walk This Way’ in 1986, and Beastie Boys released debut album Licence to Ill that same year, which has since become a classic in the rap-rock genre. Together, these three details were key factors in the mainstream realising that seemingly disparate genres could be interwoven to great success. The marriage of rap and rock would go on to have era-defining effects from the ’90s onwards. Linkin Park’s 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, anyone?
The band paid $1,000 per day of studio time which, during this period, was the most they had ever paid to record an album. Ultimately, it cost $30,000, with Moore later labelling it: “Our first non-econo record”. However, there is another reason why Daydream Nation is iconic; the album artwork. The enduring front cover is a painting by esteemed visual artist Gerhard Richter, titled, Kerze (Candle). Richter went on to sell the 1983 painting for $16.6 million in 2011, a hefty sum for a classic piece. The reverse image also features a similar Richter painting of a blurred candle from 1982.
The album’s title is taken from the lyric in the song ‘Hyperstation’, section B of the album’s closing piece ‘Trilogy’: “Daydreaming days in a daydream nation”. Before settling on Daydream Nation, the band also toyed with the title ‘Tonight’s the Day’, taken from track nine ‘Candle’: “Candle, tonight’s the day, candle”. In fact, this lyric makes a direct reference to Neil Young’s 1975 album Tonight’s the Night.
This would not be the end of Sonic Youth referencing iconic rockers. The four sides of the vinyl version and the CD inner tray contain four symbols representing each member of the band. Sound familiar? It cannot be said for sure if this was a homage or parody of the artwork of Led Zeppelin’s iconic 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV, but it is equally as memorable. The symbols are infinity, female, uppercase omega, and a sketch of demon/angel holding drumstic. What the latter says about drummer Steve Shelley we will let you form your own opinion on.
All in all, Daydream Nation is an undisputed classic, with an equally iconic artwork to boot. Both the songs and the album cover are cemented in pop culture history and carry on inspiring to this day. So why not jump back into this classic and enjoy it in all its pioneering glory (*Review by Arun Starkey ).
"sister"
Year: 1987
Label: SST
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 10
Time: 40 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
"confusion is sex"
Year: 1983
Label: SST
Format: CD, LP
Tracks: 9
Time: 20 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Alternative Rock
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