Sonic Youth Album: “A Thousand Leaves”

Along with Washing Machine, A Thousand Leaves is a clear indication that Sonic Youth have transcended the barriers of punk, noise, avant-garde, etc. and have become coincident with the core of modern music and modern lyric poetry across all genres and forms. A Thousand Leaves, sporting long, autumnal, melodic meditations like Hits of Sunshine and Wildflower Soul along ennui-laden snapshots like Hoarfrost and Sunday, is a kind of symphony for the pop/rock age and is as deep and haunting as anything the classicists ever scribbled down on paper.

Now, I've heard and read any number of reviews referring to A Thousand Leaves as 'more experimental' and 'not very pop oriented' but of course these phrases are coming from the mouths of those that do not know much of the history of Sonic Youth or much of truly experimental music. Neubauten's 'Drawings of Patient O.T.' it's not -- in fact, I wouldn't refer to A Thousand Leaves as 'experimental' music in any sense of the word... But by the same token, if you're looking for hooks, hooks, hooks or the McDonald's-style music that SY cashed in with (and more power to them) during the 'grunge era' then this isn't the album for you.

If you own Sister and Daydream Nation, however, or even just Washing Machine, and listen to them all the time, unable to keep from tapping your feet and swaying just a little... Then A Thousand Leaves is another perfect Sonic Disc for you.

It took me awhile to finally hear THOUSAND LEAVES after it was released, but luckily I did, and -- WOW! (I should have known based on the cool title, taken from the hip social theorists Deleuze & Guattari.) They *branched* out in an exciting new/old direction after several years of sonic stasis.

LEAVES has a very organic feel to it, even given Kim's occasional ranting. Mellower, yes, but deeper -- they've arrived at a rapprochement with psychedelia. This was hinted at on DAYDREAM NATION, on sides 1 and 4 in the long trippy jams, and on WASHING MACHINE with "Diamond Sea." But here it is integral to the whole, with the explicit homage to Allen Ginsberg, "Hits of Sunshine," and several long jams by Thurston and Lee. It makes sense, since both guitarists have been involved in the free jazz scene for years now. I love the irony of it. Once punks had nothing but scorn for hippies, which never made any sense to me -- I could always see the common countercultural elements -- and now the SY artpunks are playing jams that Jerry Garcia could be dropped into perfectly!

The rest of the world seemed to finally get excited and decide that SY was reborn with MURRAY STREET in 2002 (see my review), but that album sounds to me like LEAVES, PART II. My ears tell me that LEAVES marked a new sonic beginning -- it's one of SY's best records.

sonic youth have come a long way in their 17 year existance. from the extremely dissonant yet simple songs of confusion is sex, through the more extended song structures and intricacies of daydream nation, on to their years as a (almost) pop band in the early nineties. with this album, the band finally shows a more mature and distinguished side. the biggest influence on this new album (according to the band) was the fact that they finally had their own studio and had two years to spend on the making of this album. with their own practice space and no pressure from their record label the band had time to experiment a little. some of the more avant instrumentals they came up with were released last year as a series of EPs on their own SYR label...but this album bridges their experimentation with lyrics that provide the songs a more accessible and understandable structure. the result is an album of songs that are incredibly beautiful, intricate, and long. since kim gordon plays guitar (instead of bass) on almost the whole album (except for Sunday and Hits of Sunshine), the guitars intertwine and mingle with startling complexity. the moods and textures evoked on this album are incredibly subtle and inviting. the music on this album is light years away from the much simpler songs on their first full-length, confusion is sex, but what would you expect from 15 years of experience. overall, this is one of the better sonic youth albums, from a band that has released nothing but excellent albums.

Sonic Youth never fitted so comfortably in the Seattle-based grunge scenes of the early nineties. They tried to fit in and appeal the Lollapalooza crowd with the release of Goo and Dirty, two of their most uninspired recordings. They won over much popularity but lost their early avant-garde noise rock edge. Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star, a very delightful recording, shook off some of their gruge disguise from the previous two albums but still intended to be a market pleaser. With the release of Washing Machine, SY was officially back. With the release of A Thousand Leaves-a Washing Machine after a series of metamorphisis-brought SY to their second career peak since Daydream Nation. The album is packed with emotions and cerebrally challenging musical innovations. It's both bleak and warm, dreamy and energizing, ordered and anarchic. A Thousand Leaves is very structured. The remarkable opening track Contre le Sexisme sets the scene for the songs to follow, it's like the prelude in an opera that opens up the curtain to a stageful of human dramas. Somehow reminds of me Tom Waits' Black Rider. Anyway, this album is highly recommended. Also, if you like this album, may I also suggest the following ablums: musically similar are albums such as Washing Machine(obviously), SYR 5 with Kim Gordon, DJ Olive and Ikue Mori, and Sentimental Education by Free Kitten(an excellent side project by members of SY, Pussy Galore, Pavement and Boredom); similar in spirit are Black Rider(by Tom Waits) as mentioned before, and Tuesday Afternoon by Brian Eno.

Quite simply, this is classical music. Pretty, pretty stuff from a band that shows no signs of fading. For better or worse, these guys have basically been the soundtrack to my life over the last 15 years; always interested to see their next move. Thousand Leaves, in my opinion, ranks right up there with Sister, Daydream Nation and Dirty for the best SY album ever (of course, since then I'd have to add Murray Street and Sonic Nurse); simply put, I love everything SY does. I think we need to celebrate these guys while they're still together rather than the all-to-common posthumous ritual. I love every song on this record but favorites would definitely be Sunday, Wildflower Soul, Hoarfrost, French Tickler, and Snare, Girl. Peace.