A one off "side project" from Sonic Youth in the late 80s, with some tongue in cheek numbers and few that are more in the vein of their other ouput of the era, but all with a strong nod to the reigning pop culture of the day. Includes "Needle Gun", "G-Force", "Macbeth", "Burnin' Up (Mike Watt orig demo)", "Children Of Satan/Third Fig", "Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening To Neu", "Moby Dik", "Making The Nature Scene", "Tuff Titty Rap" and "Into the Groovey". CD

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A huge turning point for Sonic Youth – one of those records that suddenly made the world understand that they could craft songs as well as they could craft noise – propelling them from the New York underground onto the turntables of hipsters around the globe! The set's still one of our favorite by the group – and includes the beautifully sinister "Death Valley 69", with fantastic guest lyrics from Lydia Lunch – plus "Brave Men Run", "Society Is A Hole", "Ghost Bitch", "I Love Her All The Time", "Just Is Might", "I'm Insane", and "Justice Is Might". LP, Vinyl record album

Sonic Youth's second set for Geffen and perhaps the SC album most burdened by expectations of the time – produced by Butch Vig and with a bigger, yet way noisier sound than Goo. The sound is straight up incredible – whether you'd want to credit Vig, mixer Andy Wallace or Sonic Youth themselves – the feedback and layers of fuzz are massive, making the few quieter moments all the more impressive when they spring up. The great songs and odd changes are all Sonic Youth – and this is another essential set from them. Include "100%", "Swimsuit Issue", "Theresa's Sound-World", "Drunken Butterfly", "Shoot", "Wish Fulfillment", "Sugar Kane", "Youth Against Fascism", "On The Strip", "Purr", "Creme Brulee". LP, Vinyl record album

Indie rock elders Sonic Youth's first high profile album on an indie label in about 20 years – the group's first for Matador, and a skillful mix of insistent, exciting melodic precision, barbed lyricism, random bursts of noise, and enough layered hypnotic guitar errata that you'll hear something new each time you come back to it! Through the years they continued to be pretty exciting, and for the most part managed to avoid repeating themselves, while still working in something of a comfort zone – once throwing a screwdriver in the old noise rock guitar neck with the addition of Jim O'Rourke to the group, and with O'Rourke's departure, former Pavement player Mark Ibold on bass. Kim Gordon is now freed up to be play guitar, making for a triple threat along with Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo – and it's a riveting sound. They don't reinvent the wheel on The Eternal – but they steer into adventurous waters – and as long as they're making records this good we're hoping they live up to title! Includes "Sacred Trickster", "Anti-Orgasm", "Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)", "Antenna", "What We Know", "Calming The Snake", "Poison Arrow", "Malibu Gas Station", "Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn", "No Way", "Walkin Blue", "Massage The History". CD

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The second album in Sonic Youth's earlier run as one the most exciting bands in underground rock, and possibly the greatest album in their long career! It doesn't take a genius to ram a screwdriver into the neck of a guitar, but when they're at their best (as they are on EVOL, Sister, and Daydream Nation), Sonic Youth is dizzyingly great. Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo spin acres of white noise beauty on Sister, a melodic hurricane that really set the standard for the band's future work. It's way more than the lull, lilt, then ROAR style of indie rock that blanketed the late 80s/early 90s scene – the songs run deeper than that – with subtleties galore within all the clatter, making the frenzy around the corner that much more powerful. Essential! "Schizophrenia", "Catholic Block", "Beauty Lies In The Eye", "Stereo Sanctity", "Tuff Knarl", "White Cross", "Master Dik" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A great one from the mid 90s – in the heart of Sonic Youth's middle major label period – and still on a hell of a creative win streak! This is genuinely exploratory, noisy 90s rock at it's finest – played by bonafide noise rock pioneers that really found something of a comfort zone between their underground early years and almost rock star immediate past. Longer songs that build in atmosphere and never out stay their welcome, but restrained enough and tightly packed enough to flirt with accessibility. We appreciate this period in SY history more and more as time goes by. A modern classic! Includes "Becuz", "Junkie's Promise", "Saucer-Like", "Washing Machine", "Unwind", "Little Trouble Girl", "No QUeen Blues", "Skip Tracer", the side-long masterpiece "The Diamond Sea" and more. CD

The insane debut of Big Stick – a record that came out around the same time that Sonic Youth were really taking off, and Pussy Galore were first getting their feet wet – and a set that's as equally noise-filled as the early work of both! The group are a duo – John Gill on guitar and Yanna Trance on drum machine – and the sound is very spare, but very noisy – heavy beats that are almost hip hop meets industrial – colored with lots of freaky, fuzzy guitar lines – and topped with lyrics that have this offbeat sense of wit – all with an approach that's in that mid-80s moment when underground music and performance art were somewhat comfortable bedfellows. Titles include "Shoot The President", "Drag Racing", "I Look Like Shit", "Hell On Earth", and "Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)" 12-inch, Vinyl record

Music from Thurston Moore, the Stone Roses, Teenage Fanclub, White Zombie, the Roots, Hardvark, Sonic Youth, Southern Culture On The Skids, and Elastica, CD

Tracks by Sonic Youth, The Cranberries, Cracker, Babes In Toyland, Matthew Sweet, Shonen Knife, and others. Cassette

Music from Concrete Blonde, Ivan Neville, Liquid Jesus, Pixies, Peter Murphy, Bad Brains with Henry Rollins, Above The Law, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, Cowboy Junkies, and Chagall Guevara. CD

With selections by Three Wize Men, Wet Wet Wet, The Christians, Wedding Present with Amelia Fletcher, Hue & Cry, Billy Bragg with Cara Tivey, Frank Sidebottom, Sonic Youth, Courtney Pine, Michelle Shocked, The Triffids, and The Fall. Cassette

Includes selections by The Fall, Beastie Boys, Live Skull, Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, Carbon, Swans, and Toy Killer. LP, Vinyl record album