80-418: Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a co-founder of the rock band Sonic Youth . In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Ranaldo at number 33 on its "Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list. In May 2012, Spin published a staff-selected top 100 guitarist list, ranking Ranaldo and his Sonic Youth bandmate Thurston Moore together at number 1. Ranaldo
160-534: A Disparu , which premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival . The soundtrack was released in 2011 as SYR9: Simon Werner a Disparu , an entry in experimental SYR series. On October 14, 2011, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore announced that they had separated after 27 years of marriage. Sonic Youth's label Matador explained that plans for the band remained "uncertain", despite previously hinting that they would record new material later in
240-474: A cheap Japanese Stratocaster copy in the right tuning, crank the amplifier to within an inch of its life and it will sound like church bells. The tunings were painstakingly developed by Moore and Ranaldo during the band's rehearsals; Moore once reported that the odd tunings were an attempt to introduce new sounds: "When you're playing in standard tuning all the time [...] things sound pretty standard." Rather than re-tune for every song, Sonic Youth generally used
320-693: A concert inspired by Velvet Underground music for the premiere of "Linger On: The Velvet Underground" a book published by Eva and Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace Library by Catalan music journalist Ignasi Julià. The concert was recorded and released as Velvet Serenade . Ranaldo also has had some exhibitions with his visual arts and video works in combination with Sonic Youth-related art (posters, flyers, album covers, etc.). This took place as gallery and museum shows in Porto, Halifax, Miami, Tampa, Vienna, Prague, Gent, Bratislava, Auckland, Salt Lake City and in Brooklyn and at
400-886: A dozen books; including travel journals, poetry and artists' books. His work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums, including the Hayward Gallery in London, the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art , NSCAD in Halifax, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf , Mercer Union in Toronto, and Printed Matter, Inc. , Artspace and White Columns in New York. In 2017 there was a large overview exhibition in Menen , Belgium about his visual art. In 2019 he
480-501: A guest appearance. The record was considered much more accessible than their previous works and became the band's best-selling record to date. In 1992, the band released Dirty on the DGC label. Their influence as tastemakers continued with their discovery of acclaimed skateboard video director Spike Jonze , who they recruited for the video for " 100% ", which also featured skateboarder turned actor Jason Lee . That song and "JC" discuss
560-483: A hardcover memoir written by Thurston Moore, was published by Doubleday . Sonic Youth is considered a pioneering band in the noise rock and alternative rock genres. Their music has also been labelled experimental rock , indie rock , and post-punk . Sonic Youth's sound relied heavily on the use of alternative tunings . Scordatura on stringed instruments has been used for centuries and alternative guitar tunings had been used for decades in blues music, and to
640-502: A large underground following and critical praise through releases with SST Records in the late 1980s, the band experienced mainstream success throughout the 1990s and 2000s after signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. The band disbanded in 2011 following the separation and subsequent divorce of Gordon and Moore with their final live shows taking place in Brazil. The members have since asserted that
720-410: A limited degree in rock music (such as with Lou Reed 's Ostrich guitar on The Velvet Underground & Nico ). Michael Azerrad writes that early in their career, [Sonic Youth] could only afford cheap guitars, and cheap guitars sounded like cheap guitars. But with weird tunings or something jammed under a particular fret , those humble instruments could sound rather amazing – bang a drum stick on
800-543: A mixed review, Colin St. John from Pitchfork Media criticized the songs' similarities to Sonic Youth and stated "while [the album] has been billed as more of a cohesive band's vision, it still suffers from a similar blurry schizophrenia." Kevin Korber of PopMatters stated that " Last Night on Earth finds a great songwriter capable of much more retreating to comfortable surroundings". Tiny Mix Tapes critic Jeff Milo took note of how
880-487: A more conventional rock band and becoming a prominent member of the American noise rock scene. Sonic Youth have been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do" using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings while preparing guitars with objects like drum sticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre . The band was a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements. After gaining
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#1733115014655960-509: A number of alternative tunings. The band named a song after her, "Hey Joni". Members of the band have also maintained relationships with other avant-garde artists from other genres and even other media, drawing influence from the work of John Cage and Henry Cowell . Sonic Youth's influence is widespread across the spectrum of alternative and underground music. Stephen Malkmus , frontman of indie rock band Pavement , drew inspiration from Sonic Youth for his guitar technique, and has credited
1040-652: A particular guitar for one or two songs, and would take dozens of instruments on tour. This would be the source of much trouble for the band, as live performances of many songs relied on specific guitars that have been uniquely prepared or otherwise altered for those exact songs. Sonic Youth was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground , along with The Stooges , Glenn Branca , Rhys Chatham , Ornette Coleman , John Coltrane , La Monte Young , Neil Young , Yoko Ono , French avant-gardist Brigitte Fontaine , Patti Smith , Wire , and Public Image Ltd . The band
1120-812: A performance at The Echo in Los Angeles , California on December 13. Lee Ranaldo and the Dust had embarked on an eight-date South American tour three months prior to Last Night on Earth ' s release, which commenced on July 14 in Santiago , Chile and concluded on July 24 in Pompéia , Brazil. Upon its release, Last Night on Earth placed in record charts in Belgium and the United States. In Belgium, it debuted on Flanders ' Ultratop albums chart at number 176 and in
1200-482: A self-described " Americana " album that served as a reaction to the state of the nation at the time. The album, recorded by Martin Bisi , was built around transitional pieces that Moore and Ranaldo had come up with in order to take up time onstage during tuning breaks; as a result, there are almost no gaps between the songs on the records. Bad Moon Rising featured an appearance by Lydia Lunch in " Death Valley '69 ", which
1280-551: A series of improvisational albums grouped under the title SYR with song titles and liner notes in various languages. SYR3: Invito al ĉielo , released in 1998, featured Jim O'Rourke who later became an official band member. Various songs from the SYR series were added to Sonic Youth's live performances, and others inspired tracks on the next proper Sonic Youth album, A Thousand Leaves , released in 1998. On July 4, 1999, Sonic Youth's instruments and stage equipment were stolen during
1360-597: A special guest appearance on WB teen drama show “Gilmore Girls” (season 6, episode 22), performing an acoustic version of their new song, “What a Waste”, alongside their daughter Coco. Sonic Youth played the Bonnaroo Festival later that year. In December 2006 they released The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities . The compilation featured tracks previously available only on vinyl , tracks from limited-release compilations, B-sides to international singles, and some material that had never before been released. This marked
1440-625: A spoken word piece against the track "Be Safe". Ranaldo made an appearance in the 2008 feature documentary by Nik Sheehan about Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine entitled FLicKer . Glacial Trio is a band consisting of Ranaldo, Bagpiper David Watson and drummer Tony Buck . In 2010 Ranaldo released the solo album Maelstrom From Drift on Three Lobed Recordings with guest appearances of Buck and Watson. The band released On Jones Beach in 2012. In 2022 Ranaldo collaborated with Catalan French musician Pascal Comelade and drummer Ramon Prats in
1520-545: A tour in Orange County , California. Almost 30 guitars and basses were stolen; some were recovered over the next 13 years. Forced to start from scratch with new instruments, they released the album NYC Ghosts & Flowers in 2000 and opened for Pearl Jam during the east coast leg of that band's 2000 tour. In 2001, Sonic Youth collaborated with French avant-garde singer and poet Brigitte Fontaine on her album Kékéland . The following year, Sonic Youth participated in
1600-690: A transparent green one for Moore. In 2013, Ranaldo played a Watcher guitar from the French company Custom77 during his last Lee Ranaldo & The Dust tour throughout Europe. Solo albums Singles and EPs Compilations Collaborations with William Hooker Collaborations with others Live recordings As a band member Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for
1680-599: A volume of tour journals from the 1995 Lollapalooza tour written by himself, Thurston Moore , Beck , Stephen Malkmus , Courtney Love , and others. Ranaldo has worked with jazz drummer William Hooker on improvised music, and reading and improvising poetry and released several records together. His main side projects are Drift and Text of Light. Drift is a duo with his wife Leah Singer, with whom he has performed many live installation pieces with improvised music. The collaboration, utilizing live manipulated 16mm film projections, electric guitar and recited texts, occupied
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#17331150146551760-464: Is associated with the Fender Jazzmaster , Telecaster Deluxe electric guitars and sometimes Gibson Les Pauls , usually with radically alternative tunings , and modifications . One of his Jazzmasters has a single coil pickup installed between the bridge and the tailpiece to exploit the resonating chiming sounds on that area of string at these so-called tailed bridge guitars . Ranaldo is one of
1840-625: The VOLTA fair in Manhattan in 2015. Artist-in-Residence: CNEAI, Paris (2007, 2008); NSCAD, Halifax, Nova Scotia (2013); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2014). In October 2017 his first European solo exhibition 'Lost Ideas' by Curator Jan Van Woensel takes place in Cultuurcentrum De Steiger in Menen , Belgium together with a music festival curated by Ranaldo. The festival also features his field recording sound art piece 'Shibuya Displacement'. In
1920-595: The murder of Joe Cole , a friend who worked with Black Flag as a roadie. The album features artwork by Los Angeles–based artist Mike Kelley . Dirty features a guest appearance by Ian MacKaye on the track "Youth Against Fascism". In 1993, the band contributed the track "Burning Spear" to the AIDS benefit album No Alternative , produced by the Red Hot Organization . In 1994, the band released Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star , their best-charting release in
2000-461: The "pigfucker" label by Village Voice editor Robert Christgau . Another critic from The Village Voice panned a substandard September concert in New York. Gordon wrote a scornful letter to the newspaper, criticizing it for not supporting its local music scene, to which Christgau responded that the paper was not obligated to support them. Moore retaliated by renaming the song " Kill Yr Idols " to "I Killed Christgau with My Big Fucking Dick", before
2080-659: The 1995 Lollapalooza festival with Hole and Pavement . By that time, alternative rock had gained considerable mainstream attention, and the festival was parodied in The Simpsons episode " Homerpalooza " in 1996, which featured voiceovers from the band. They also performed the final credits theme for that episode. The album Washing Machine was released in 1995 and represented a shift in Sonic Youth's sound, away from their punk rock roots and toward experimental and longer jam-based arrangements. Starting in 1997 they released
2160-519: The Arcadians before settling on Sonic Youth in mid-1981. The name came from combining the nickname of MC5 's Fred "Sonic" Smith with reggae artist Big Youth . Gordon later recalled that "as soon as Thurston came up with the name Sonic Youth, a certain sound that was more of what we wanted to do came about." The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery, where Lee Ranaldo
2240-709: The Dust. In 2014 Ranaldo and the Dust spent one week in Barcelona with producer Raül Refree and cut a full-band, all-acoustic album, Acoustic Dust, consisting of songs from Between The Times and the Tides and Last Night On Earth , plus cover songs including Neil Young 's Revolution Blues , Sandy Denny 's Bushes and Briars , and Mike Nesmith (The Monkee)'s You Just May Be The One . In September 2017, Ranaldo released Electric Trim , his third proper solo album, made in collaboration with Barcelona Musician/Producer Raül Refree , on Mute records. The album featured 9 songs, many of
2320-478: The Groove " and was preceded by "Tuff Titty Rap". The flip side of the record was Watt's cover of Madonna's " Burning Up " which had the altered title of "Burnin' Up". The Whitey Album included both Sonic Youth songs from the single plus a demo version of "Burnin' Up". The album also contained a cover of Robert Palmer 's " Addicted to Love " which was recorded in a karaoke booth. The 1987 Sonic Youth album Sister
2400-513: The Times and the Tides (2012) and "darker in tone & lyrical content than its immediate predecessor." Last Night on Earth was released on October 7 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States on various formats, including CD , LP and as a digital download . An alternate mix of the album track "Late Descent #2" was included as a bonus track with iTunes pre-orders of
2480-512: The Trail of Dead , Polvo , Something for Kate , Superchunk , Metz , Jawbox , Pg. 99 , and Treepeople . Last Night on Earth (Lee Ranaldo album) Last Night on Earth is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock musician Lee Ranaldo , released on October 7, 2013 on Matador Records . Recorded over a nine-month period at Echo Canyon West in Hoboken , New Jersey ,
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2560-479: The United States to date at No. 34 on the Billboard 200 . Moore and Gordon's daughter, Coco Hayley Moore, was born later that year, and many of the songs from the album were never played live because there was never a full tour to support the album due to Gordon's pregnancy. In 1994, the band released a cover of The Carpenters ' 1971 hit " Superstar " for the tribute album If I Were a Carpenter . The band headlined
2640-447: The United States' Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Last Night on Earth was further promoted by a 32-date international tour. Last Night on Earth was announced for release on July 22, 2013 by Matador Records alongside upcoming tour dates in the United States and Canada. Further details of the album were published on August 13 and it was described as "a more intense, expansive work" than Ranaldo's previous album Between
2720-403: The United States, the album peaked at number 44 on Billboard ' s Heatseekers Albums chart. Last Night on Earth received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on 18 reviews. In a review for Cuepoint , Robert Christgau said
2800-580: The album Sonic Nurse , with proceeds going to charities Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, Bed Stuy Strong, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 's COVID-19 Relief Fund. The same year, an extensive archive of live recordings from throughout the band's history was released on Bandcamp. In January 2022, a new single "In & Out" was released ahead of the March release of the rarities EP In/out/In . The five-track EP featured previously unissued outtakes recorded between 2000 and 2010. In October 2023, Sonic Life: A Memoir ,
2880-528: The album features Ranaldo's backing band The Dust which comprises former Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley , guitarist Alan Licht and bassist Tim Lüntzel. In addition to studio recordings, Last Night on Earth incorporates field recordings of Ranaldo in Berlin , Germany and Valeggio sul Mincio , Italy. Upon its release, Last Night on Earth received positive reviews from music critics and placed in two international charts, Belgium's Ultratop albums chart and
2960-917: The album. In promotion of Last Night on Earth ' s release, Lee Ranaldo and the Dust commenced a three-leg, 32-date international tour of North America and Europe. The first leg of the band's North American tour began with a performance at Club Helsinki in Hudson , New York on October 8, 2013 and concluded at The Bellhouse in Brooklyn , New York on October 25. On November 10, the European leg commenced in Groningen , Netherlands and concluded in Tours , France on November 26. The final North American leg, consisting of five dates, began in Portland , Oregon on December 6 and ended with
3040-489: The band as too arty and pretentious, Sonic Youth gained critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, where the new album sold 5,000 copies. Claiming he was bored with playing Bad Moon Rising live in its entirety for over a year, Bert quit the group and was replaced by Steve Shelley , formerly of the punk group The Crucifucks . Sonic Youth was so impressed with Shelley's drumming after seeing him play live that they hired him without an audition. Bert and Shelley both appeared in
3120-491: The band became dissatisfied with SST due to concerns about payments and other administrative practices. Sonic Youth decided to release their next record on Enigma Records , which was distributed by Capitol Records and partly owned by EMI . The 1988 double LP Daydream Nation was a critical success that earned Sonic Youth substantial acclaim. The album came in second on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll and topped
3200-482: The band is finished and will not reunite. Shortly after guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City in early 1977, he formed the group Room Tone with his roommates; they later changed their name to the Coachmen. After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda , whose band, CKM, featured Kim Gordon . Moore and Gordon formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding, Red Milk, and
3280-562: The band with giving him "the idea and courage" to explore alternate tunings. Sleater-Kinney have also cited Sonic Youth as an influence, particularly on their detuned guitar sound. Other bands and artists who have cited Sonic Youth as an influence include Mauro Pezzente of Godspeed You! Black Emperor , Shane Embury of Napalm Death , Slowdive , Dinosaur Jr. , Teenage Fanclub , Mogwai , Placebo frontman Brian Molko , Quicksand and Rival Schools frontman Walter Schreifels , Ride , Jawbreaker , ...And You Will Know Us by
Lee Ranaldo - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-483: The band's final Geffen release. In 2007, the band became one of the earliest big-name rock bands to play in China when they were brought in for a tour by the music company Split Works . In 2008 they released a compilation album on Starbucks Music , called Hits Are for Squares , with the tracks selected by other celebrities. Later in 2008, Sonic Youth ended their relationship with Geffen , due to dissatisfaction with how
3440-459: The best albums of the decade and named Sonic Youth as the "Hot Band" in its "Hot" issue. Unfortunately, distribution problems arose and Daydream Nation was often difficult to find in stores. Moore considered Enigma a "cheap-jack Mafioso outfit" and the band began looking for a major label deal. In 1990, Sonic Youth released Goo , their first album for Geffen . The album featured the single " Kool Thing " on which Public Enemy's Chuck D made
3520-529: The condition that he would not be fired again after the tour's conclusion. Bert went on to play on the band's Kill Yr Idols EP later in 1983. Sonic Youth were well received in Europe, but the New York press largely ignored the local noise rock scene. Eventually, as the press began to take notice of the genre, Sonic Youth was grouped with bands like Big Black , the Butthole Surfers , and Pussy Galore under
3600-506: The duo from the early 1990s until late 2005, when they re-created the performance as an art installation at Gigantic Art Space, a gallery in New York City. Since then the pair have been performing a new piece entitled "iloveyouihateyou", a combination installation and performance work that has been presented in the US and Europe. In 2005 Drift released a box set with a DVD and a book. Text of Light
3680-460: The electric guitar orchestra of Glenn Branca . In Branca's orchestra he played mainly electric guitar, but he also played some of the harmonic guitars Branca designed and built. In 1981, Ranaldo and David Linton briefly joined the band Plus Instruments that had been formed by Truus de Groot. With this line-up they recorded the album February - April 1981 , released on the Dutch Kremlin label. After
3760-403: The entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke (bass, guitar, keyboards) was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold (bass, guitar) was a member from 2006 to 2011. Sonic Youth emerged from the experimental no wave art and music scene in New York before evolving into
3840-512: The few popular artists to use the Ovation Viper solid body electric. In 2007 Yuri Landman built for Ranaldo the Moonlander , a biheaded electric guitar with 18 strings: 6 normal strings and 12 sympathetic strings . Since Ranaldo and Moore are popularizers the Fender Jazzmaster , Fender introduced in 2009 a special Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a transparent blue version, together with
3920-495: The first act on his record label Neutral Records . In December 1981 the group recorded five songs at New York's Radio City Music Hall . The material was released as the EP Sonic Youth which , while largely ignored, was sent to a few key members of the American music press, who gave it uniformly favorable reviews. The album featured a relatively conventional post-punk style, in contrast to their later releases. Edson then quit
4000-409: The first band from the New York underground to gain such notice. The mainstream music press subsequently began to take notice of the band. Robert Palmer of The New York Times declared that Sonic Youth was "making the most startlingly original guitar-based music since Jimi Hendrix " and even People reviewed EVOL , describing the album as the "aural equivalent of a toxic waste dump." The album
4080-459: The first outing of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival and curating the ensuing compilation album. The album Murray Street was released in 2002 and saw the addition of Jim O'Rourke as a full-time member on guitar, bass, and keyboards. During this period the band participated in the production of the documentary film Kill Your Idols , directed and produced by Scott Crary and covering
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#17331150146554160-456: The graceful and occasionally beautiful melodies Ranaldo composed for the album would have been subdued by Sonic Youth 's noisy aesthetic, while his singing, still somewhat wordier "than even the alt-rock norm, has turned tender, elegiac, lyrical". Writing for AllMusic , Heather Phares summarized that Lee Ranaldo and the Dust "concentrate on expansive songs filled with shimmering melodies and epic solos" and called Last Night on Earth "an album in
4240-506: The group for an acting career and was replaced by Bob Bert . During their early days as part of the New York music scene, Sonic Youth formed a friendship with fellow New York noise rock band Swans . The bands shared a rehearsal space, and Sonic Youth embarked on its first tour in November 1982 supporting Swans. During a second tour with Swans the following month, tensions ran high and Moore constantly criticized Bert's drumming, which he felt
4320-557: The guitar, and Scriptures of the Golden Eternity . His books include several with art or photography by Leah Singer, including Drift , Bookstore , Road Movies , and Moroccan Journal: Jajouka excerpt (from a full-length book of writings on Moroccan travels and music). Ranaldo has also published Jrnls80s (published by Soft Skull Press ), as well as a book of poems , Lengths & Breaths , with photography by Cynthia Connolly . His most recent book of poetry, Against Refusing ,
4400-539: The history of punk rock in New York City. The film was released in 2004. In 2003 Sonic Youth released a split 7-inch single with Erase Errata . The next Sonic Youth album, Sonic Nurse , was also released in 2004. The band was slated to perform in the 2004 Lollapalooza tour along with acts such as the Pixies and the Flaming Lips , but the tour was canceled due to lackluster ticket sales. O'Rourke departed in 2006 and
4480-422: The label had promoted their last several albums. They then signed with independent label Matador Records , which released the album The Eternal in 2009. During this period they collaborated with John Paul Jones on the soundtrack for a performance at Merce Cunningham Dance Company to honor the company's founder. In 2010 the band scored and composed the soundtrack of the French thriller-drama Simon Werner
4560-521: The late 2000s Ranaldo started giving many sound art performances in the US and Europe with his installation 'Suspended Guitar', which involved a guitar hanging on a rope from the ceiling feedbacking and being played with a bow, or hitting against the body or the strings. In 2006 he made the sound art piece 'Shibuya Displacement (a Soundwalk)' for the Hudson Valley Center For Contemporary Art . Ranaldo has used many guitars but
4640-510: The lyrics co-written with American author Jonathan Lethem . Musical contributors included Nels Cline , Sharon Van Etten , Alan Licht, Tim Luntzel, Kid Millions and Steve Shelley. A film about the making of the album HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM was directed by Fred Riedel. Besides working as a guitarist, Ranaldo has frequently produced sound, performance and visual art independently of Sonic Youth. He has released over fifty solo, band and collaborative recordings, and
4720-500: The matter in May 2014: "Sonic Youth is on hiatus. The band is a democracy of sorts, and as long as Kim and I are working out our situation, the band can't really function reasonably." In her 2015 autobiography Girl in a Band , Gordon refers several times to the band having "split up" for good. In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic , Sonic Youth sold official face masks based on the artwork from
4800-475: The music video for "Death Valley '69", as Bert had performed the drums on the song, but Shelley was the group's drummer when the video was filmed. Sonic Youth had long appreciated SST Records ; Ranaldo said, "It was the first record company we were on that we really would have given anything to be on." Sonic Youth signed with the label in early 1986 and began recording EVOL with Martin Bisi . The band gained national attention when signing with SST, making them
4880-567: The nationwide network of musicians and fans. "It was great", said Moore, "the whole thing with slam dancing and stage diving , that was far more exciting than pogoing and spitting. [...] I thought hardcore was very musical and very radical." Moore and Ranaldo expressed on numerous occasions their admiration for the music of Joni Mitchell , such as this quote by Thurston Moore: "Joni Mitchell! I've used elements of her songwriting and guitar playing, and no one would ever know about it." Additionally, as with Sonic Youth, Joni Mitchell has always used
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#17331150146554960-427: The old-school sense, with expansive tracks and detours that still add up to a cohesive whole". Uncut deemed the album "ambitious, mature and noisy." Consequence of Sound reviewer Steven Arroyo said the record "features warm, extended guitar pop tracks". Although criticizing the album's length, Arroyo added that it was "a testament that [Ranaldo] can still create something familiar and comforting, while not lowering
5040-668: The record include Jim O'Rourke , Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley , former Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert , Wilco 's Nels Cline , Alan Licht , John Medeski , and bassist Irwin Menken. Preceded by a 2012 event at Nuit Blanche , on October 21, 2011, The Music Gallery , InterAccess and the Images Festival presented the North American premiere of Ranaldo's Contre Jour , a performance piece for swinging guitar, with visuals by longtime partner and collaborator Leah Singer. This performance
5120-469: The release of the album, Ranaldo left the band and started Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon . In 1987, Ranaldo released his first solo album, From Here to Infinity , compositions which ended in locked grooves . The second side of the album also featured an unplayable engraving by Savage Pencil . Among Ranaldo's solo records are Dirty Windows , a collection of spoken texts with music, Amarillo Ramp (For Robert Smithson) , pieces for
5200-471: The songwriting bar. Even when jamming , The Dust remain expertly dense, never too loose, and never too derivative." Paste reviewer Robert Ham was critical of certain compositional elements of the album but praised Alan Licht's guitar work and said "the loose, free spirit of Last Night is to be expected considering how quickly the songs were written and recorded ... and for the most part, it suits Ranaldo. His lyrics are far more discursive and poetic." In
5280-589: The two eventually sorted out their differences amicably. Closing a second European tour in late 1983, Sonic Youth's disastrous London debut (where the band's equipment malfunctioned and Moore destroyed it onstage in frustration) actually resulted in rave reviews in Sounds and the NME . When they returned to New York they were so popular that they were able to book local gigs regularly. The following year, Moore and Gordon were married, and Sonic Youth recorded Bad Moon Rising ,
5360-692: The year-end album lists at NME , CMJ , and Melody Maker . In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry . The lead single from the album, " Teen Age Riot ", was their first song to receive significant airplay on modern rock and college rock stations, reaching number 20 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. A number of prominent music periodicals including Rolling Stone hailed Daydream Nation as one of
5440-642: The year. Sonic Youth performed their final concert on November 14, 2011, at the SWU Music & Arts Festival in Itu, São Paulo , Brazil. The following week, Lee Ranaldo stated in an interview that Sonic Youth would be "ending for a while". In November 2013, Ranaldo said in response to the question of a possible reunion, "I fear not. Everybody is busy with their own projects, besides that Thurston and Kim aren't getting along together very well since their split… Let [the band] rest in peace." Thurston Moore updated and clarified
5520-555: Was a loose concept album partly inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick . The "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin , who died shortly after her birth and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life. Sister sold 60,000 copies and received very positive reviews, becoming the first Sonic Youth album to crack the Top 20 of the Village Voice 's Pazz & Jop critics poll. Despite their critical success,
5600-459: Was also done in Paris, Rotterdam, during IFFR , and Madrid. In 2012, he performed a solo concert at Parisian music club La Maroquinerie where he was photographed by Jean-Pierre Domingue . To tour for the album, Ranaldo organized The Dust as his formal group, featuring Licht, Shelley, and bassist Tim Lüntzel. In 2013, his follow-up album Last Night on Earth was released, credited to Lee Ranaldo and
5680-413: Was also influenced by 1980s hardcore punk ; after seeing Minor Threat perform in May 1982, Moore declared them "the greatest live band I have ever seen". He also saw The Faith performing in 1981 and had a strong admiration towards their records. While recognizing that their own music was very different from hardcore, Moore and Gordon, especially, were impressed by hardcore's speed and intensity, and by
5760-523: Was born in Glen Cove , Long Island , studied art and graduated from Binghamton University . He has three sons, Cody, Sage and Frey, and has been married twice, first with Amanda Linn in 1981 but later divorced, and now with experimental artist Leah Singer . Ranaldo started his career in New York in several bands, including The Flucts, and by playing guitar in Guitar Trio with Rhys Chatham before joining
5840-589: Was founded in 2001 by Ranaldo, Alan Licht , Ulrich Krieger , Christian Marclay and William Hooker. The core group is Ranaldo, Licht and Krieger with changing DJs (Marclay, DJ Olive , Marina Rosenfeld ) and drummers (Hooker, Tim Barnes, Steve Shelley ). The music is free improvised and mostly played along with, but not really referencing, films by Stan Brakhage . The name for the band comes from Brakhage's film The Text of Light . In 2007 Ranaldo collaborated with British rock band The Cribs on their third album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever . Ranaldo performs
5920-571: Was inspired by the Charles Manson Family murders. Due to a falling-out with Branca over disputed royalty payments from their Neutral releases, Sonic Youth signed with Homestead Records in the US and Blast First in the UK (which founder Paul Smith created simply so he could distribute the band's records in Europe). While the New York press ignored Bad Moon Rising upon its 1985 release, now viewing
6000-511: Was later called "a classic" by Neil Young . Around the same time, the band collaborated with Mike Watt under the alias Ciccone Youth, which was a play on the names Sonic Youth and Ciccone, the surname of pop singer Madonna . Sonic Youth released a single in 1986 and a studio album in 1988 under the Ciccone Youth name. The 1986 single, "Into the Groove(y)", was a cover of Madonna's " Into
6080-404: Was not "in the pocket". Bert was fired afterwards and replaced by Jim Sclavunos , who played drums on the band's first studio album, 1983's Confusion Is Sex , which featured a louder and more dissonant sound than their debut EP. Sonic Youth set up a tour of Europe for the summer of 1983. Sclavunos, however, quit the band after only a few months. The group asked Bert to rejoin, and he agreed on
6160-442: Was playing as a member of Glenn Branca 's electric guitar ensemble. Their performance impressed Moore, who described them as "the most ferocious guitar band that I had ever seen in my life", and he invited Ranaldo to join Sonic Youth. The new trio played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums, until they met drummer Richard Edson . Branca signed Sonic Youth as
6240-539: Was published by Water Row Press in April 2010 with cover artwork by Leah Singer. His visual and sound works have been shown at galleries and museums in Paris, Toronto, New York, London, Sydney, Los Angeles, Vienna, and elsewhere. After Sonic Youth went on hiatus in 2011, Ranaldo released Between the Times and the Tides in early 2012 on Matador Records . The record was the first under his own name to feature comparatively straightforward, vocal pop rock songs. Contributors to
6320-482: Was replaced by bassist Mark Ibold for touring purposes, but Ibold later became a full-time member. He had earlier been part of Pavement and worked with Gordon in Free Kitten . Rather Ripped was released in 2006 and was noted as a return to the band's earlier sound, due both to the departure of O'Rourke and the recovery of some of the instruments that had been stolen in 1999. On May 9, 2006, Kim and Thurston made
6400-740: Was the curator for a concert series in Fondation Feltrinelli in Milan, Italy, under the umbrella name of Natural Disruptors . In 2021, Ranaldo released In Virus Times , an EP of solo acoustic guitar pieces recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2024, Ranaldo received the honorary Doctor of Music degree from his alma mater, Binghamton University. Ranaldo has produced albums for artists including Babes in Toyland , You Am I , Magik Markers , Deity Guns, and Dutch art rock -ensemble Kleg. He has edited
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