Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth and Body/Head on Catherine Breillat and the music with Anne-Katrin Titze and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman: “It was a real honour of my life to be in one of her films.”
In the first instalment with Kim Gordon on Catherine Breillat, we discuss the songs in Last Summer (L'Été Dernier) - Body/Head’s Tripping (Bill Nace and Kim Gordon), Sonic Youth’s Dirty Boots, and Léo Ferré’s Vingt Ans, and we are joined by music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman. Kim’s initial encounters with Breillat films are A Real Young Girl (Une Vraie Jeune Fille) and then 36 Fillette. We also touch on Kim’s latest work with French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, Ed’s copy of the mastered cassette of their second album Bad Moon Rising Sonic Youth dropped off at 99, and a word on Brooks Headley’s Superiority Burger.
In the first instalment with Kim Gordon on Catherine Breillat, we discuss the songs in Last Summer (L'Été Dernier) - Body/Head’s Tripping (Bill Nace and Kim Gordon), Sonic Youth’s Dirty Boots, and Léo Ferré’s Vingt Ans, and we are joined by music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman. Kim’s initial encounters with Breillat films are A Real Young Girl (Une Vraie Jeune Fille) and then 36 Fillette. We also touch on Kim’s latest work with French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, Ed’s copy of the mastered cassette of their second album Bad Moon Rising Sonic Youth dropped off at 99, and a word on Brooks Headley’s Superiority Burger.
- 1/19/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Having already proven their bona fides with both 1986’s Evol and 1987’s Sister, Sonic Youth delivered their most cohesive, accessible album to date with their 1988 opus Daydream Nation. Originally inspired by the ferocity of hardcore punk, the cerebral art rock of acts like the Velvet Underground and Public Image Ltd., and the avant-garde compositions of Glenn Branca, the album saw the four New York bohos sweeten their no-wave edge with anthemic songwriting.
Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo’s detuned guitars strum plaintively and hypnotically as Daydream Nation slowly shakes itself awake on “Teen Age Riot.” Bassist-singer Kim Gordon channels the Stooges’s eerie chants on 1969’s “We Will Fall” and even cribs from its lyrics: “Spirit, desire/We will fall,” she mumbles before the song’s dual-guitar riff tears the track apart.
“Teen Age Riot” is an articulation of the alternative nation—which saw Dinosaur Jr.’s lead noisemaker, J Mascis,...
Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo’s detuned guitars strum plaintively and hypnotically as Daydream Nation slowly shakes itself awake on “Teen Age Riot.” Bassist-singer Kim Gordon channels the Stooges’s eerie chants on 1969’s “We Will Fall” and even cribs from its lyrics: “Spirit, desire/We will fall,” she mumbles before the song’s dual-guitar riff tears the track apart.
“Teen Age Riot” is an articulation of the alternative nation—which saw Dinosaur Jr.’s lead noisemaker, J Mascis,...
- 10/17/2023
- by Fred Barrett
- Slant Magazine
Sonic Youth will release a remixed and remastered LP of their final US performance, titled Live in Brooklyn 2011, on August 18th via Silver Current Records and digitally on Goofin’.
The 2xLP, 2xCD, or 2xTape collection follows a 2020 archival release that included the 2011 East River waterfront performance, or “The Last Show” as it came to be known by fans. Though the band subsequently toured South America before confirming their dissolution in November that year, the New York event served as a fitting conclusion with the group’s hometown connections and surprising, career-spanning set. Pre-orders are ongoing.
In a statement, drummer Steve Shelley shared, “For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the setlist to present to the band and it was a lot of material we hadn’t played in a while, a lot of deep cuts, so I wasn’t sure if everybody would feel like doing it. After worrying...
The 2xLP, 2xCD, or 2xTape collection follows a 2020 archival release that included the 2011 East River waterfront performance, or “The Last Show” as it came to be known by fans. Though the band subsequently toured South America before confirming their dissolution in November that year, the New York event served as a fitting conclusion with the group’s hometown connections and surprising, career-spanning set. Pre-orders are ongoing.
In a statement, drummer Steve Shelley shared, “For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the setlist to present to the band and it was a lot of material we hadn’t played in a while, a lot of deep cuts, so I wasn’t sure if everybody would feel like doing it. After worrying...
- 6/20/2023
- by Bryan Kress
- Consequence - Music
Thurston Moore has released a surprise instrumental album, Screen Time, which is available on Bandcamp.
The former Sonic Youth member announced the project on Twitter, writing, “Thurston Moore new music ‘screen time’ (10 songs).”
In a statement, he expanded upon the project, saying he wanted to compose a soundtrack for an imaginary film noir, with each track representing a different scene.
“While our societies have become wholly engaged with the virtual universe of online interaction the work of filmmakers, musicians, painters, poets and dancers continues to offer dreamworld expressions of both reality and the imagination,...
The former Sonic Youth member announced the project on Twitter, writing, “Thurston Moore new music ‘screen time’ (10 songs).”
In a statement, he expanded upon the project, saying he wanted to compose a soundtrack for an imaginary film noir, with each track representing a different scene.
“While our societies have become wholly engaged with the virtual universe of online interaction the work of filmmakers, musicians, painters, poets and dancers continues to offer dreamworld expressions of both reality and the imagination,...
- 2/5/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
So, How Was Your Year is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
Thurston Moore was recording his latest studio album, By the Fire, in London when the coronavirus forced everyone into lockdown. Luckily, he and his band — which includes My Bloody Valentine’s Deb Googe and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, among others — were able to finish the record in time, and the album came out this past fall.
Thurston Moore was recording his latest studio album, By the Fire, in London when the coronavirus forced everyone into lockdown. Luckily, he and his band — which includes My Bloody Valentine’s Deb Googe and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, among others — were able to finish the record in time, and the album came out this past fall.
- 12/3/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Pylon came out of the small college town of Athens, Georgia, at the dawn of the Eighties, playing a new kind of Southern rock that stunned people at the time and has continued to make converts ever since. Spare but fun, disorientating but inviting, their sound was in step with the stentorian dance-punk of U.K. bands like Gang of Four or the Au Pairs, but it was much more wide-open, driven by possibility rather than angst — the sound of slackers dreaming, not punks ranting.
The late Randall Bewley played piercing,...
The late Randall Bewley played piercing,...
- 11/9/2020
- by Jon Dolan
- Rollingstone.com
Thurston Moore opens up his London rehearsal space in the latest installment of Rolling Stone’s In My Room series.
The ex-Sonic Youth frontman and his band — which boasts a unique lineup of three guitars, drums, and no bass — played three songs from his latest solo album, By the Fire. But, for the most part, the band delivered the tracks as full instrumentals, not only giving the performance a true “rehearsal” vibe but also shifting the focus to the dense sonic expanses contained in songs like “Hashish” and “Siren.
The ex-Sonic Youth frontman and his band — which boasts a unique lineup of three guitars, drums, and no bass — played three songs from his latest solo album, By the Fire. But, for the most part, the band delivered the tracks as full instrumentals, not only giving the performance a true “rehearsal” vibe but also shifting the focus to the dense sonic expanses contained in songs like “Hashish” and “Siren.
- 10/12/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Ahead of the release of his new album By the Fire this month, Thurston Moore has shared the 12-minute single “Siren.”
Accompanied by a short film on Bandcamp, “Siren” is described as “the soundtrack to an ancient coming-of-age mermaid ritual.” Mermaids swim in the water as the track transcends from subtle twinkling to a charged guitar riff. “Bottles into gems, blue and green,” Moore sings. “If you happen to see this girl/Return her to the sea and me.”
“Siren” follows the lead single “Hashish,” and “Cantaloupe,” the former of...
Accompanied by a short film on Bandcamp, “Siren” is described as “the soundtrack to an ancient coming-of-age mermaid ritual.” Mermaids swim in the water as the track transcends from subtle twinkling to a charged guitar riff. “Bottles into gems, blue and green,” Moore sings. “If you happen to see this girl/Return her to the sea and me.”
“Siren” follows the lead single “Hashish,” and “Cantaloupe,” the former of...
- 9/2/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Thurston Moore shared a new song, “Hashish,” which will appear on his upcoming album, By the Fire, out September 25th via his Daydream Library Series label.
The track — as its title suggests — is a heady bit of alt-rock that starts with a tangle of jangly guitars before settling into a mesmerizing chug. The song’s overtly psychedelic lyrics — “Is it day or night/We just don’t know/She’s my only friend, my soul, my hope” — were penned by the London-based poet Radieux Radio, with whom Moore collaborated on 2017s Rock n Roll Consciousness.
The track — as its title suggests — is a heady bit of alt-rock that starts with a tangle of jangly guitars before settling into a mesmerizing chug. The song’s overtly psychedelic lyrics — “Is it day or night/We just don’t know/She’s my only friend, my soul, my hope” — were penned by the London-based poet Radieux Radio, with whom Moore collaborated on 2017s Rock n Roll Consciousness.
- 6/22/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Although Sonic Youth has been largely dormant since 2011, the band has begun digging into its vaults, and its latest excavation — Blastic Scene, a 1993 live tape from Lisbon — dropped Monday on Bandcamp.
Archival releases have been few and far between since the band’s dissolution in light of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore’s breakup. But in March, a dozen live shows from various points in the Sonic Youth saga suddenly went up on Bandcamp. The band had been making some of its live content available on another site, but drummer Steve Shelley,...
Archival releases have been few and far between since the band’s dissolution in light of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore’s breakup. But in March, a dozen live shows from various points in the Sonic Youth saga suddenly went up on Bandcamp. The band had been making some of its live content available on another site, but drummer Steve Shelley,...
- 5/4/2020
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair’s 1989 collaboration It’s Spooky will be reissued for its 30th anniversary, out April 10th via Joyful Noise Recordings. The track “Ashes on the Ground” is out now.
Fair, vocalist and guitarist of the punk band Half Japanese, first began corresponding with Johnston in the late Eighties. They finally met in person in New York in 1989. “I was doing some recording with Mo Tucker [of the Velvet Underground],” Fair recalls. “Daniel was in town, staying with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. Daniel and I became friends and I invited...
Fair, vocalist and guitarist of the punk band Half Japanese, first began corresponding with Johnston in the late Eighties. They finally met in person in New York in 1989. “I was doing some recording with Mo Tucker [of the Velvet Underground],” Fair recalls. “Daniel was in town, staying with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. Daniel and I became friends and I invited...
- 2/20/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with director Stuart Swezey about his documentary Desolation Center.
Desolation Center is the previously untold story of a series of early 80s guerrilla music and art performance happenings in Southern California that are recognized to have inspired Burning Man, Lollapalooza and Coachella, collective experiences that have become key elements of popular culture in the 21st century. The feature documentary splices interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic and more, documenting a time when pushing the boundaries of music, art, and performance felt almost like an unspoken obligation.
NYC premiere is IFC Center 26 February 2020 – inc Q&a w/ Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo & Steve Shelley and dir. Stuart Swezey! Tickets at www.ifccenter.com/films/desolation-center/
UK people can see it via a Doc’N’Roll...
Desolation Center is the previously untold story of a series of early 80s guerrilla music and art performance happenings in Southern California that are recognized to have inspired Burning Man, Lollapalooza and Coachella, collective experiences that have become key elements of popular culture in the 21st century. The feature documentary splices interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic and more, documenting a time when pushing the boundaries of music, art, and performance felt almost like an unspoken obligation.
NYC premiere is IFC Center 26 February 2020 – inc Q&a w/ Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo & Steve Shelley and dir. Stuart Swezey! Tickets at www.ifccenter.com/films/desolation-center/
UK people can see it via a Doc’N’Roll...
- 2/18/2020
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Arthur Buck, Arthur Buck (New West)
For two weeks in September, Arthur Buck — the newly minted duo of singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur and ex-r.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck — toured with the songs from their debut album, Arthur Buck, as a quintet with keyboard player Gregg Foreman, drummer Linda Pitmon of Steve Wynn’s Miracle Three and longtime R.E.M. sideman Scott McCaughey, looking hale and sounding hearty on bass and backing vocals after suffering a stroke last year. The effect was robust and promising, adding the bond and fortified...
For two weeks in September, Arthur Buck — the newly minted duo of singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur and ex-r.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck — toured with the songs from their debut album, Arthur Buck, as a quintet with keyboard player Gregg Foreman, drummer Linda Pitmon of Steve Wynn’s Miracle Three and longtime R.E.M. sideman Scott McCaughey, looking hale and sounding hearty on bass and backing vocals after suffering a stroke last year. The effect was robust and promising, adding the bond and fortified...
- 10/30/2018
- by David Fricke
- Rollingstone.com
Sonic Youth will mark the 30th anniversary of their 1988 landmark double-album, Daydream Nation, with an event that features three films and “unseen gems from the band’s archives,” according to a statement. Dubbed ‘Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation,‘ the program takes place on October 20th in Portland, Oregon, at Hollywood Theatre. Drummer Steve Shelley, filmmaker Lance Bangs and Sonic Youth archivist Aaron Mullan will be in attendance to present the program.
The night will include excerpts from Lance Bangs’ new film named after the album, which features footage of...
The night will include excerpts from Lance Bangs’ new film named after the album, which features footage of...
- 10/4/2018
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
It’s hard to believe, but Thurston Moore’s new album “The Best Day” (out this week) is just his fourth proper solo album. Of course, a majority of his output over the last 30 years was with beloved indie-rock noise titans Sonic Youth, who recorded 15 albums and toured relentlessly. But that group has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2011, when Moore’s marriage to Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon unraveled. He’s since relocated to London and got himself a new band,...
- 10/21/2014
- by Mike Ayers
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
My alienation from current pop is almost complete; the only 2013 Top 40 material I enjoyed enough to play repeatedly was Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, from an album released in 2012. So I am officially a cranky old fart. But there are more and more of us, and maybe fellow COFs will find this list useful. By the way, crossing that border of alienation made me think more than ever that saying my lists are of the "best" albums is nearly absurd, hence the new headline.
1. Wire: Change Becomes Us (Pink Flag)
This is my favorite Wire of this century thanks to more emphasis on Colin Newman's brooding. When allied to their chugging motorik beats, it's irresistible to me. There are still some uptempo burners that recall their beginnings in punk, and some more whimsical though still musically solid songs, but it's Newman's dark musings that made me play this repeatedly.
2. Kitchens of...
1. Wire: Change Becomes Us (Pink Flag)
This is my favorite Wire of this century thanks to more emphasis on Colin Newman's brooding. When allied to their chugging motorik beats, it's irresistible to me. There are still some uptempo burners that recall their beginnings in punk, and some more whimsical though still musically solid songs, but it's Newman's dark musings that made me play this repeatedly.
2. Kitchens of...
- 1/1/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
1963
Johnny Cash: Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia)
Some of Cash's '60s concept albums were burdened with much too talking between tracks; here the tribute to the American working man gets to mostly stand alone on its musical merits, and shines. Notably, it incluces the top version of the traditional "John Henry"” about the most legendarily heroic working man ever, and the version of "Casey Jones" here is classic as well. Politically and psychologically, Cash was the perfect man for this job.
1968
Byrds: Notorious Byrd Brothers (Columbia)
Sometimes transitional albums, confusing listeners expecting a group's earlier style, are underrated. Not so with this classic. It's true that it didn't sell as well as earlier Byrds LPs, nor did the single from the album chart very high, but for decades Notorious Byrd Brothers has been widely revered, and not just by fans; some critics have even anointed it as the band's best album.
Johnny Cash: Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia)
Some of Cash's '60s concept albums were burdened with much too talking between tracks; here the tribute to the American working man gets to mostly stand alone on its musical merits, and shines. Notably, it incluces the top version of the traditional "John Henry"” about the most legendarily heroic working man ever, and the version of "Casey Jones" here is classic as well. Politically and psychologically, Cash was the perfect man for this job.
1968
Byrds: Notorious Byrd Brothers (Columbia)
Sometimes transitional albums, confusing listeners expecting a group's earlier style, are underrated. Not so with this classic. It's true that it didn't sell as well as earlier Byrds LPs, nor did the single from the album chart very high, but for decades Notorious Byrd Brothers has been widely revered, and not just by fans; some critics have even anointed it as the band's best album.
- 1/30/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
June 17: Actor Peter Lupus (TV's "Mission: Impossible") is 80. Singer Barry Manilow is 69. Comedian Joe Piscopo is 61. Actor Mark Linn-Baker ("Perfect Strangers") is 58. Director Bobby Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary") is 54. Actor Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways," "Wings," "Ned and Stacy") is 51. Actor Greg Kinnear is 49. Actress Kami Cotler ("The Waltons") is 47. Actor Jason Patric is 46. Singer Kevin Thornton of Color Me Badd is 43. Actor-comedian Will Forte ("Saturday Night Live") is 42. Actor-rapper Herculeez of Herculeez and Big Tyme is 29.
June 18: Musician Paul McCartney is 70. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 70. Actress Constance McCashin ("Knots Landing") is 65. Actress Linda Thorson ("The Avengers") is 65. Keyboardist John Evans of The Box Tops is 64. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 60. Actress Carol Kane is 60. Actor Brian Benben ("Private Practice") is 56. Actress Andrea Evans ("The Bold and the Beautiful") is 55. Singer Alison Moyet is 51. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses) is 49. Country singer-guitarist Tim Hunt (Yankee Grey) is...
June 18: Musician Paul McCartney is 70. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 70. Actress Constance McCashin ("Knots Landing") is 65. Actress Linda Thorson ("The Avengers") is 65. Keyboardist John Evans of The Box Tops is 64. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 60. Actress Carol Kane is 60. Actor Brian Benben ("Private Practice") is 56. Actress Andrea Evans ("The Bold and the Beautiful") is 55. Singer Alison Moyet is 51. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses) is 49. Country singer-guitarist Tim Hunt (Yankee Grey) is...
- 6/14/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Think of Sonic Youth. When most, and I imagine you’re no different, think of Sonic Youth they think of noise rock’s power couple. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, would be the most often name checked and revered persons that come to mind, indie icons as they are. Sonic Youth’s own Lennon and McCartney, with more sexual tension. Actually, sexual release and fulfilment I’d speculate given that they got married and had a daughter. Which is a darn sight more than Lennon and McCartney managed with their working relationship. If only though.
Anyhow, yes, it’s alternative’s own Mr and Mrs Right (though now in line for a divorce, as any review of this album seems adverse to not mentioning or anything in relation to Sonic Youth, I’m no different it seems, whatever) or Lennon/McCartney that come to mind when musing on Sonic Youth,...
Think of Sonic Youth. When most, and I imagine you’re no different, think of Sonic Youth they think of noise rock’s power couple. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, would be the most often name checked and revered persons that come to mind, indie icons as they are. Sonic Youth’s own Lennon and McCartney, with more sexual tension. Actually, sexual release and fulfilment I’d speculate given that they got married and had a daughter. Which is a darn sight more than Lennon and McCartney managed with their working relationship. If only though.
Anyhow, yes, it’s alternative’s own Mr and Mrs Right (though now in line for a divorce, as any review of this album seems adverse to not mentioning or anything in relation to Sonic Youth, I’m no different it seems, whatever) or Lennon/McCartney that come to mind when musing on Sonic Youth,...
- 3/24/2012
- by Morgan Roberts
- Obsessed with Film
Everett Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley, Lee Ranaldo, 1988.
First R.E.M. breaks up, and now this.
Indie rock godparents Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, longtime bandmates in the group Sonic Youth, have announced that they’re splitting up after 27 years of marriage.
The couple confirmed that they are no longer a couple via a statement issued by their label, Matador Records, stating: “Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved,...
First R.E.M. breaks up, and now this.
Indie rock godparents Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, longtime bandmates in the group Sonic Youth, have announced that they’re splitting up after 27 years of marriage.
The couple confirmed that they are no longer a couple via a statement issued by their label, Matador Records, stating: “Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved,...
- 10/15/2011
- by WSJ Staff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
(Download "Escape" here.)
It's been five years now since Richard Buckner made Meadow, his eighth album and second for Merge Records. On Meadow, Buckner confirmed what he'd been building for the last decade--a collection of words and images with very few modern songwriting peers, in spite of a fanbase that's generously described as cultish.
Don't blame the absence on Buckner, though. He'd actually been writing and recording in a massive grange hall he rented in upstate New York with his girlfriend. When I talked to him several years ago in that space, he loved the acoustics of the room and the fact that he could spread his gear as need be to record. Then, though, a decapitated corpse showed up in a burning truck down the street, so he and his girlfriend moved to a safer part of town. Or at least so they thought until someone broke in, stealing...
It's been five years now since Richard Buckner made Meadow, his eighth album and second for Merge Records. On Meadow, Buckner confirmed what he'd been building for the last decade--a collection of words and images with very few modern songwriting peers, in spite of a fanbase that's generously described as cultish.
Don't blame the absence on Buckner, though. He'd actually been writing and recording in a massive grange hall he rented in upstate New York with his girlfriend. When I talked to him several years ago in that space, he loved the acoustics of the room and the fact that he could spread his gear as need be to record. Then, though, a decapitated corpse showed up in a burning truck down the street, so he and his girlfriend moved to a safer part of town. Or at least so they thought until someone broke in, stealing...
- 6/16/2011
- by Grayson Currin
- ifc.com
On Monday (September 20), the Newsroom Blog took a look at Liz Phair's underrated second album. Today, we celebrate another esoteric indie singer-songwriter with deeply personal lyrics and who regularly battles stage fright. On this day in 1998, Cat Power released Moon Pix, which, while not quite as aggro as Phair's Exile in Guyville or Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out, still stands as a vital entry in the universe of female-based indie rock.
Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall, pronounced "Sean") grew up in the south and received an early exposure to blues music via her session pianist father. After dropping out of high school, she started gigging and further developing her version of minimalist blues buzz. She moved to New York and hooked up with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who encouraged her to record her early material and also served as her drummer and producer. (Ironically, Shelley first spotted Marshall while opening for Phair.
Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall, pronounced "Sean") grew up in the south and received an early exposure to blues music via her session pianist father. After dropping out of high school, she started gigging and further developing her version of minimalist blues buzz. She moved to New York and hooked up with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, who encouraged her to record her early material and also served as her drummer and producer. (Ironically, Shelley first spotted Marshall while opening for Phair.
- 9/22/2010
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
John Wray’s latest novel, Lowboy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), released in March of this year, concerns a 16-year-old schizophrenic named Will Heller, just out of Bellavista psychiatric hospital (read Bellevue), off his meds and with a history of violence, who rides the subways beneath Manhattan trying to save the world from imminent global apocalypse by eluding capture and successfully losing his virginity. This thriller engine— Doa meets Shock Corridor —Wray says he took from an Australian news clipping. But knowing that he traveled to Austin, Texas in the mid-’90s, where he met the schizophrenic singer-songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston— whom he calls “the single most creative individual I’ve met”— it’s tempting to imagine the two connected, at least within the Cuisinart of the creative process. As detailed in Jeff Feuerzeig’s acclaimed 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Johnston even had his own lost week in New...
- 9/23/2009
- Vanity Fair
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