Sonic Nurse (Remaster) Sonic Youth

• 1 Pattern Recognition 06:35
• 2 Unmade Bed 03:55
• 3 Dripping Dream 07:49
• 4 Kim Gordon And The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream 04:53
• 5 Stones 07:10
• 6 Dude Ranch Nurse 05:44
• 7 New Hampshire 05:16
• 8 Paper Cup Exit 05:58
• 9 I Love You Golden Blue 07:06
• 10 Peace Attack 06:13
• Total Runtime 01:00:39

Info for Sonic Nurse (Remaster)

Since 1990's „Goo“, Sonic Youth has increasingly refined its edgy avant-garde noise excursions with a unique approach to traditional rock song structure. 2004's „Sonic Nurse“ continues the trend. The guitars still squall (as one would expect from a band specializing in distortion since the early 1980s), but that squall seems carefully orchestrated now. The effect is due, in large part, to the presence of professional soundscaper, producer, and musician Jim O'Rourke, who mixed „Sonic Nurse“, and has been working with the band since 2000.

The opener, "Pattern Recognition," brews a quiet hurricane of drums, interlocking guitar rhythms, and high-end leads under bassist Kim Gordon's deadpan vocals. Guitarist Thurston Moore's equally understated singing moves through cresting and ebbing six-string waves on the lyrical "Unmade Bed," the pulsing "Stones," and the quiet, anthemic "Peace Attack." Throughout, Sonic Youth's trademark intensity prevails, but under cover of a sophisticated and dynamic balance born from years of experimentation.

„Picking up where Murray Street's languid experimentalism left off, Sonic Youth's somewhat awkwardly named Sonic Nurse shows that the band still sounds revitalized, and may have even tapped into a more fruitful creative streak than they did on their previous album. Anyone who has stuck with Sonic Youth this long knows more or less what to expect from them, but the group still has the potential to surprise; one of Sonic Nurse's biggest surprises is the return of Kim Gordon. She had a relatively limited presence on NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Murray Street, but she's back in a big way on this album, contributing four tracks; not coincidentally, Gordon's songs are among the strongest on the album. "Pattern Recognition" gets Sonic Nurse off to a strong start and ranks among her best rock songs, falling somewhere between "Kool Thing" and "Bull in the Heather" in its icy-hot appeal. Her quieter songs have just as much impact: "Dude Ranch Nurse" boasts an oddly timeless guitar lick and lyrics ("Let me ride you till you fall/Let's pretend that there's nothing at all") that blur the line between alluring and nihilistic. "I Love You Golden Blue" is another standout, a beautiful but bleak ballad with ghostly vocals that recall Nico at her most fragile. Of course, the rest of the band finds moments to shine: Thurston Moore's "Dripping Dream" begins as absurdist, angular rock (although he still has the ability to make phrases like "We've been searching for the cream dream wax" sound like the coolest thing ever) and stretches out into a beautiful epic, with the interplay of feedback and guitar lines giving it a comet-tail majesty. "Paper Cup Exit," the requisite Lee Ranaldo track, has a sharper-edged mix of noise and melody than most of Sonic Nurse. Another of the album's surprises is how much of its inspiration seems to come from the band's late-'80s/early-'90s material. It's not just that the band slams George W. Bush on the mellow protest song "Peace Attack," just as Dirty's "Youth Against Fascism" railed against the first President Bush, or that they peer into the void of pop culture on "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" as they did on Goo's Karen Carpenter tribute, "Tunic." On songs like "New Hampshire" -- which could pass for a lost track from Daydream Nation -- Sonic Youth actually sound younger and more enthusiastic than they have in a few albums. All told, this album is probably the band's best balance of pop melodies and avant-leaning structures since Washing Machine; even if it doesn't rank among their most ambitious work, Sonic Nurse sounds like the kind of album Sonic Youth should be making at this point in their career.“ (Heather Phares, AMG)

Kim Gordon, vocals, guitar, bass
Thurston Moore, vocals, guitar
Lee Ranaldo, guitar, vocals
Steve Shelley, drums
Jim O'Rourke, guitar, bass

Recorded July 2003 – February 2004 at Echo Canyon, New York City
Engineered by Jim O'Rourke, Aaron Mullan
Produced by Sonic Youth

Digitally remastered

Sonic Youth
began way back in 1980 in the downtown disaster unit of NYC. First three records (Sonic Youth, Confusion is Sex, Kill Yr Idols) began in 1981 on the Neutral label started by Glenn Branca. They then signed to Gerard Cosloy’s Homestead imprint releasing Bad Moon Rising and the Flower/Halloween 12” to universal intrigue and acclaim. They switched labels to release records (Sister, Evol) on SST, the Southern California label overseen by Greg Ginn of Black Flag, while Mr. Cosloy went on to join Matador Records with Chris Lombardi. Concurrently they established a relationship with Paul Smith and Blast First Records in the UK co-releasing the Homestead and SST titles and culminating with the massive end of the decade double LP Daydream Nation, since added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. The band signed to DGC/Geffen in 1990 and began an ascendant affair there releasing Goo and Dirty to much heated excitement until the label became a scattered asylum. They continued to release strange, out-of –step recordings with Geffen throughout the 90s and early 2000s. Young wizard Jim O’Rourke came on board with the band as a multi-instrumentalist/producer collaborating on two of their most progressive LPS to date, Murray Street and Sonic Nurse, as well as the ongoing series of experimental LPs on the bands own SYR imprint. After Jim’s departure, and after releasing Rather Ripped, their final statement on Geffen (and which ranked third in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2006) the band recruited their pal from compatriot 90s band Pavement, Mark Ibold, to play bass. After a solid bout of touring Mark joined the band in the recording of The Eternal. The cover art is a painting by the late, great American folk artist John Fahey. This is where we live forever. Sweet dreams…

This album contains no booklet.