Sonic Youth Gossip - View Single Post

ann ashtray · 12.05.2010, 05:10 AM

Pulled from my blog. Pretty much covers the most important aspects of my love for Nirvana:

Fifth grade will forever be burned/scorched/branded somewhere directly in the center of my skull. That year marked some significant changes...changes that without any shadow of doubt would forever alter the person I would become. Personal circumstances that took place before that year, + a sudden change of pace from utter chaos (in the RED!) to something a bit more stable left me, well, slightly pissed and confused about virtually everything around and within me. Puberty probably didn't help matters much either, but certain details shall be spared. I'll just say that despite the anger + confusion, there was also a great deal of frustration...+ that will be left @ that.

I began some sort of "voyage" that year in hopes of something/anything that would make sense to me + I found it via the most intense (! ! !) drug I've ever encountered...music. An Uncle began letting me borrow CD's (and sometimes even cassettes...this was '93-'94) by artists w/ names like Soundgarden/Nirvana/+ White Zombie. I dug them all, but Nirvana hit a very specific nerve. I felt as if I understood this music, and the strange part was, I felt it understood me, too. I vividly remember looking forward to going to bed. Bedtime meant laying under bundles of blankets, ears sore from earphones blasting Nevermind.

Kurt also died that year. How convenient. I think this fact led to me taking his music much more seriously...I mean, clearly at least some of the emotions he was displaying weren't just theater. Somewhere along the line...maybe 8th or 9th grade, I became obsessed w/ Kurt C., the individual. Reading/saving/collecting any scrap interview/book I could find. Seeing names like "Sonic Youth", "Black Flag", + "Butthole Surfers" being dropped. I had to check out these other artists...not long after everything was full blown punk rock...AND...something else....

If I loved those Nirvana guys because I COULD understand, over the course of time I began to love Sonic Youth because I COULD NOT! They were an open invitation to all things weird. Cheap speakers spitting mystery all over my walls, covering everything in sonic goo(p). They began to open doors (that in turn would occasionally open other doors) to ideas + forms of art/music I may not have considered otherwise. Fucked up French cinema + free jazz. Walt Whitman + Phillip K. Dick. Noise and a sense of freedom to create anything I want, anyway I want. INSTANT COMPOSITION! Something about the Youth made it easy for me to accept anything as being art, even if it happened to be art I couldn't dig.

If Nirvana was me searching for answers, Sonic Youth was me growing up a bit + accepting the fact that answers aren't always there. There is a very specific strand of beauty that can come with "NOT knowing". Just leaving one's mind open to all things (im)possible.

Whatever....

To quote a friend: "Nirvana taught me about passion, Sonic Youth taught me about freedom". < Couldn't have said it better myself.

It's 5:03 am, and to be quite honest I can't remember where I intended to go with any of this...just a rant for rant's sake. I've grown bored with it. My audits running + my thoughts have shifted towards going home, drinking a beer, and crawling in bed w/ my GF.

Again, whatever....

Stay Free,

-s.

12.05.2010, 05:10 AM	#194
ann ashtray expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Macon, GA Posts: 2,299	Pulled from my blog. Pretty much covers the most important aspects of my love for Nirvana: Fifth grade will forever be burned/scorched/branded somewhere directly in the center of my skull. That year marked some significant changes...changes that without any shadow of doubt would forever alter the person I would become. Personal circumstances that took place before that year, + a sudden change of pace from utter chaos (in the RED!) to something a bit more stable left me, well, slightly pissed and confused about virtually everything around and within me. Puberty probably didn't help matters much either, but certain details shall be spared. I'll just say that despite the anger + confusion, there was also a great deal of frustration...+ that will be left @ that. I began some sort of "voyage" that year in hopes of something/anything that would make sense to me + I found it via the most intense (! ! !) drug I've ever encountered...music. An Uncle began letting me borrow CD's (and sometimes even cassettes...this was '93-'94) by artists w/ names like Soundgarden/Nirvana/+ White Zombie. I dug them all, but Nirvana hit a very specific nerve. I felt as if I understood this music, and the strange part was, I felt it understood me, too. I vividly remember looking forward to going to bed. Bedtime meant laying under bundles of blankets, ears sore from earphones blasting Nevermind. Kurt also died that year. How convenient. I think this fact led to me taking his music much more seriously...I mean, clearly at least some of the emotions he was displaying weren't just theater. Somewhere along the line...maybe 8th or 9th grade, I became obsessed w/ Kurt C., the individual. Reading/saving/collecting any scrap interview/book I could find. Seeing names like "Sonic Youth", "Black Flag", + "Butthole Surfers" being dropped. I had to check out these other artists...not long after everything was full blown punk rock...AND...something else.... If I loved those Nirvana guys because I COULD understand, over the course of time I began to love Sonic Youth because I COULD NOT! They were an open invitation to all things weird. Cheap speakers spitting mystery all over my walls, covering everything in sonic goo(p). They began to open doors (that in turn would occasionally open other doors) to ideas + forms of art/music I may not have considered otherwise. Fucked up French cinema + free jazz. Walt Whitman + Phillip K. Dick. Noise and a sense of freedom to create anything I want, anyway I want. INSTANT COMPOSITION! Something about the Youth made it easy for me to accept anything as being art, even if it happened to be art I couldn't dig. If Nirvana was me searching for answers, Sonic Youth was me growing up a bit + accepting the fact that answers aren't always there. There is a very specific strand of beauty that can come with "NOT knowing". Just leaving one's mind open to all things (im)possible. Whatever.... To quote a friend: "Nirvana taught me about passion, Sonic Youth taught me about freedom". < Couldn't have said it better myself. It's 5:03 am, and to be quite honest I can't remember where I intended to go with any of this...just a rant for rant's sake. I've grown bored with it. My audits running + my thoughts have shifted towards going home, drinking a beer, and crawling in bed w/ my GF. Again, whatever.... Stay Free, -s. __________________ Team Thurston!
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