Washing Machine

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Recorded between Jim O’Rourke’s departure and Mark Ibold’s arrival, Rather Ripped is perhaps the only one of Sonic Youth’s late-period albums with Kim Gordon primarily on bass guitar. And it has held up well as the most popular and immediate album of the band’s last decade, with propulsive yet melodic songs like “Incinerate” and relatively few extended instrumental passages. “Dig the way SY’s oddly tuned guitars chirp and chime where they used to gnash and grind,” wrote Tom Sinclair in an Entertainment Weekly review that compared the album’s sound to The Byrds. a b c "Sonic Youth". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014 . Retrieved April 19, 2013. a b Christgau, Robert (October 24, 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea". MTV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014 . Retrieved July 6, 2014. The final movement begins with the crash and burn guitar chord at the end of Untitled and Skip Tracer sees a wonderful introduction to the great Diamond Sea.

At this point in history, the NYC stalwarts had enjoyed nearly a decade of ever-flowing goodwill from both critics and audiences. They had released eight albums since the early eighties, and had not made a major misstep. The band had exactly the right mix of street cred, je ne sais quoi, and authentic cooler-than-thou attitude to transform them into a four-headed juggernaut relatively early in their career. And yet, they toyed with the idea of becoming someone else. a b c d e f g h "Washing Machine". Sonicyouth.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. For more information on songs (including lyrics, who played what, when the songs were first and last performed, and other trivia), please visit the Song Database.That A Thousand Leaves was void of “classic song ideas” might have fueled some critics’ disdain for it in ’98, but much of the record has aged well in the past 20 years. “Sunday,” an undeniable gem that marries Sonic Youth’s dual tendencies toward melody and experimental spinouts, was an early single, paired with a Macaulay Culkin-starring music video directed by Harmony Korine. “Sunday” also received the commercial radio treatment, its original five minutes chopped to three. The truncated version sadly omits the song’s most interesting passage: a mess of squeals and gasps from Moore’s and Lee Ranaldo’s guitars around the three-minute mark. As their gnarled instruments unspool, Moore deadpans: “With you, Sunday never ends,” just before the lights dim and the song is snuffed out.

a b c d e Davis, Erik (December 1995). "Sonic Youth: Washing Machine". Spin. Vol.11, no.9. pp.118–119 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. The 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. February 20, 1996. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014 . Retrieved June 22, 2014.

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a b "Washing Machine". Dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012 . Retrieved July 14, 2014.

The album was released the following week, after which they embarked on yet another tour in October/November. This time around, the venues were comfortable theatres and clubs, but the set list variation was not affected. While on a 2-day, 3-show stop in NYC, they performed "The Diamond Sea" on another TV show, "The State". The sonic tour wheel did not stop spinning -- an Australian/New Zealand tour in late December took them into the new year, followed by a brief tour of some new territory (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Phillipines, and Hong Kong) with the Foo Fighters and the Beastie Boys. Less than 2 months later, they were on the road again, for the first real Washing Machine European tour, in March and April. Upon their return home, they made another TV appearance, their first on Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien. They did not, however, play current single "Little Trouble Girl", instead they tore through a furious version of "Junkie's Promise". After 2 more stray shows, they slowed down a bit -- though they did make their first of 3 consecutive annual appearances at the Tibetan Freedom Concert, on June 16th, 1996 in San Francisco. They performed only 4 songs, the inseparable "Bull in the Heather"/"Starfield Road" combo, "Saucer-Like", and a lengthy version of "The Diamond Sea" (which was the standard set closer at virtually every show in '95 and '96). In August '96 they travelled to Hungary and Israel for the first time, and finished this 6-date tour at the Reading Festival in England. After one more show in Spain in November, Sonic Youth's extremely busy 2 years of touring was finished, and the band took a well-deserved break from serious touring in 1997, free to focus on their new studio and a slew of new recordings. Though not executed quite as extremely as on the previous 2 albums, Lee and Thurston's guitars are once again isolated to their own speakers -- Lee is in the left, Thurston is in the right. Second CD is exclusive material from France Inter recorded at Elysee Montmartre in Paris, France on September 12, 1995.Outside this emphatically on-brand excursion, Thurston Moore seethes with defiantly snarky tough love ( Junkie’s Promise), but also coos sweetly ( Unwind). Lee Ranaldo slays in his semi-featured role as a vocalist (the dreamy Saucer-Like and the nebbish spoken word tough-guy-ism of Skip Tracer). Kim Gordon offers breathy declarations ( Becuz), and punkish snarls ( Panty Lies), while also displaying a well-calibrated fragility to embody a teen girl through the sprechgesang plea for an honest relationship with her mother ( Little Trouble Girl). a b c Scott, Grand; Miles, Barry; Morgan, Johnny (October 2008). The Greatest Album Covers of All Time. Collins & Brown. p.196. ISBN 978-1843404811 . Retrieved July 6, 2014. We tend not to follow through on these urges though, as tempting as they may be. In the end, our loved ones and our responsibilities – and a fair amount of fear of the unknown – keep us rooted in our assigned times and places. The thought of starting over simply becomes a bit too much to take on, so we sigh, indulge in entertainment, or food, or illicit substances (to each their own), and our head hits the pillow in the hopes of a better tomorrow. Sonic Youth - Little Trouble Girl". MTV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014 . Retrieved July 6, 2014.

Every person on earth has, at some point, wanted to be someone else. We’ve all had one or more of those days – the ones that make you want to drop all of your emotional baggage in a deep, deep lake and abscond to a place where you become an unmeasured quantity; no history, no relationships by which to be defined, no preconceived notions that expose your bullshit and describe you to a T. a b "Washing Machine - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014.Excellent record, but before we get to that I'd just like to throw it out there that you guys don't know what the hell you want. Some of the people who go apeshit for "The Diamond Sea" (even though, let's be honest here, that cut doesn't really have anywhere to explore after the nine-minute mark and just turns into some pleasant-but-not-really-mind-blowing noise ambience from thereon) are the same people who outright dismiss A Thousand Leaves, which was like a whole album of "Diamond Sea"s — with ideas that actually kept coming through the long song lengths! I daresay Washing Machine might have the more favorable reputation because it's not a very challenging album: most of the songs are fuelled, rather slowly, by mechanical three-note hooks and throbbing one-chord crescendos, and though that isn't a bad thing by any means (and it usually works quite poignantly in these songs) it isn't as impressive as the damn-near symphonic interplay of Leaves. "Washing Machine" and "The Diamond Sea" are terrific achievements of guitar interplay, but compare their noisy catharses to the noisy catharses of "Wild Flower Soul" or "Karen Koltrane" and they seem almost phoned-in. Say what you want about Kim, who gives the band substance, and Lee who gives the band consistency and at least one great song an album, Thurston Moore is the heart and soul of this band and gives the band every single ounce of coolness that emanates from The Diamond Sea, and Washing Machine. Kot, Greg (September 29, 1995). "Sonic Gold". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 . Retrieved June 26, 2016. a b c d e Moon, Tom (October 19, 1995). "Washing Machine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Washing Machine is the continuation of Sonic Youth’s 1994 Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. After the Experimental Jet Set, the band decided to make a hiatus from performing live and focusing on several side projects. Moore and Gordon also had their first child, Coco. According to Moore, their daughter provided a different perspective for the band.