The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities
Sonic Youth# Audio CD (December 12, 2006)
# Original Release Date: December 12, 2006
# Number of Discs: 1
# Label: Geffen Records
# ASIN: B000K7UH3I
# In-Print Editions: Music Download
Track Listings
1. Fire Engine Dream 10:22
2. Fauxhemians 4:04
3. Razor Blade 1:07
4. Blink 5:27
5. Campfire 2:19
6. Loop Cat 5:39
7. Kim's Chords 6:02
8. Beautiful Plateau 3:07
9. 3 Part Sectional Love Seat 8:16
10. Queen Anne Chair 4:37
11. The Diamond Sea 25:48
Amazon.com
After years of making fans track down out-of-print singles, obscure compilations, and odd Japanese import pressings, Sonic Youth have decided to take a little mercy on their hardcore fans. The Destroyed Room is a rarities album that truly lives up to the label, not just settling on a few radio edits and soundtrack cuts, but gathering songs from the band's recent back catalog that are genuinely hard to find: "Campfire" from the Grand Royal At Home with the Groovebox collection; "Razor Blade," a B-side to the "Bull in the Heather" single; and several cuts from the Noho Furniture Sessions, including the intriguingly titled "Three Part Sectional Love Seat" and "Queen Anne Chair." Fans and casual enthusiasts will no doubt be bewildered by the extra experimental outings of an already daunting band--but for completists, this is the last word. --Aidin Vaziri
Description
THE DESTROYED ROOM: B-sides and Rarities, a band-chosen collection of near-hidden Sonic Youth gems.
The album brings together tracks from throughout the band's career - focusing on tracks previously available only on vinyl, limited-release compilations, or as b-sides to nternational singles. Remastered here for the first time, it's a chance for fans to complete their Sonic Youth collection with pristine versions of tracks they'd been going nuts trying to find on their own. They asked for it... and now they're getting it.
posted by kanx1976 at
05:34
1 Comments:
A Sonic treasure trove for fans
("The Destroyed Room" by Sonic Youth)
While it pains me to give anything less than 5 stars to a recording by what is after all the Greatest American Rock Band of the Last 25 Years--nay, the Greatest Rock Band Period of the Last 25 Years--I'll respectfully knock off one star for this collection of B-sides, demos and other sonic effluvia. This collection, you see, is mainly geared to fans of the band and other related music obsessives--newbies need not apply. If you're just looking to dip a toe into the band's very deep waters, it's better to start with SY's best-of-the-early-years collection, "Screaming Fields of Sonic Love." Those wanting to try a proper album should head straight for "Sister" (which most fans agree is actually their best album) or the epochal "Daydream Nation." The material on "The Destroyed Room" dates back no further than 1994, around the time of the underappreciated "Washing Machine" album, with the majority much more recent than that. In fact, only three of the songs here even have vocals, and one of those ("Razor Blade") is just a brief out-take. If you're already a fan, however, nothing except lack of funds should stop you from diving in, as there are plenty of Kool Things to be found, especially if you share the band's love of free improv. The lengthy instrumental workout that opens the album, "Fire Engine Dream" lets the band stretch out and just explore; needless to say, it's filled with oddly tuned textures and feedback, but also something of a groove courtesy of drummer Steve Shelley, who never receives enough credit. Naturally, SY's guitarists, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (the real Glimmer Twins, if you ask me) are usually front and center, trading melodic ideas, drones and all-out Sonic abandon with glee. The Kim Gordon penned "Blink" is a surprisingly subtle song that would've fit right into one of the bands proper albums, and "Campfire" is an interesting excursion into abstract electronica. Unlike many latter-day noise merchants such as Wolf Eyes and Sightings, the Youth take a more laid-back, even friendly approach to horrible noise. The days of Sonic Death have been replaced by Sonic Life (an early title for the album now known as "Rather Ripped"), which is, of all things, sunny and positive. This isn't to say that it's "easy listening" (much of the stuff here will cause most "normal" folks to run for the exits). It's just that SY aim to transport listeners rather than smother them. While that approach draws sneering comparisons to so-called "jam bands," they're far more daring than the likes of Phish. If "The Destroyed Room" were released as an "all-new" album, it would definitely be considered the ballsiest release by a major rock band in years.
The biggest treat here, at least for yours truly, is the complete, uncut version of "Washing Machine's" epic coda, "The Diamond Sea." Mind you, the original version clocked in at a huge 19+ minutes--now we get to hear it at a mind-blowing 25:48! That it never feels bloated or wasteful is testament to the band's powere. Of course it's self indulgent, as is much of this album in general, but from them, too much is never enough.
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