Legendary composer David Amram and his Quintet perform Beat-era classics, and accompany actor John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), poets Bob Holman and Frank Messina, and guitarist Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) as they read the works of Jack Kerouac. Guest speaker: author and biographer Joyce Johnson. Musical guest: Tyrone Cotton. Proceeds support the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence Project of Orlando, Florida, home to more than 50 writers since 2000
This sounds like a show we may need to hit. We have named this site as a homage to Whitman but if we had to choose we would probably say Kerouac's On The Road is our favorite book. That's a cool lineup while Ranaldo's other dates are all solo acoustic shows. Dates and venues listed below a this great video of live acoustic Ranaldo.
Lee Ranaldo -- 2015 Tour Dates
9/26 TBA location Sao Paulo, Brasil (Lee and the Dust)
10/30 Joe's Pub New York, NY (Kerouac Project)
11/6 Swedish American Hall San Francisco, CA (solo acoustic)
11/7 Getty Center Los Angeles, CA (solo acoustic)
11/8 The Echo Los Angeles, CA (solo acoustic)
11/13 Trans-Pecos Ridgewood, NY (solo acoustic)
A few weeks ago we posted our review of the Lee Ranaldo & Wilco show from July 28th up at the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY. Well we finally got our film processed (not really) and below are some pictures we took at the show. Enjoy and as always click on them to make'm bigger:
So I just reviewed the newest release from Kim Gordon for Glide (will be posted soon) and in looking around I noticed that fellow ex-Sonic Youth'ians Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley are coming out with a new album next month.
The album is from Lee Ranaldo and The Dust as opposed to Between The Time and The Tides being just a proper Lee solo disk (although it is hard to tell the difference these days). The Dust are drummer Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht and bassist Tim Lüntzel all who have worked with Ranaldo in the past. We loved his last disk and if the first track is like the rest of the disk we are in for another treat, peep "Lecce, Leaving" below:
Now that is a fun tune! The new album will be called Last Night On Earth and it will be released on Matador Records, you can find more info here.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Lee Ranaldo!
This week we have a fan video of Lee Ranaldo who is playing with his Electric Trim Trio back in 2018 in Barcelona. Big fans of Lee and loved that album, this video is noisy and fluctuates but I think that is how Lee would have liked it. Full set list below. Enjoy:
“Moroccan Mountains” + “Let's Start Again” + “Circular (Right as Rain)” + “Electric Trim” + “Uncle Skeleton” + “New Thing” + “Purloined” + “Thrown Over the Wall” + “Ambulancer”
One of Sonic Youth's killer guitarists Thurston Mooreput out a fantastic album this year that was based in 60's sprawling rock and roll. Now their other guitarist who is more rooted in that Grateful Dead/Psychedelic sound is putting out his own album as Lee Ranaldo releases Electric Trim.
RtBEhave dug Ranaldo's solo work in the past so we are looking forward to hearing this one. Sharon Van Etten figures prominently on the album singing multiple back ups and dueting with Ranaldo on a track.
The first two singles are out, as well as tour dates with Ranaldo playing Brooklyn on 11/9 (tickets here). Below are two tracks from the album:
It is of Lee Ranaldo's fantastic new release Between The Times And The Tides.
We are still really early into the year, but this is easily my favorite album of 2012 so far. Granted, I love me some Sonic Youth and with their future in doubt an album like this can really alleviate some of that fear.
There are no bad songs on this one at all, and very few missteps. If people are not used to Ranaldo's singing style that could be an issue, but anyone who knows his spoken word approach will be fine and actually surprised at his singing on some tunes.
Here is Part 2 of RtBE's Year in Review of 2012. (Part 1 was here if you missed it) Today we venture into our Top Ten List of Best Albums for 2012.
In the instance that RtBE have reviewed the album either on the site or
somewhere else we will link to that review, just click on the Band name and title to get there. RTBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on the their Top 20 so expect some overlap. Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles,
but full releases you can slap on and listen to the full way through.
After the jump you will see our list for numbers 10-6, this year was fantastic for full releases, other years all of these could be considered top 5 material or better. These are all excellent and worth your hard earned money and
hard drive space, so without further ado Click that read more link.
It was a great weekend north with friends as we checked out the Baseball Hall of Fame (more on that in a future RtBE post), hung out with the locals, and drank some fine brew under a rainy summer sky.
It was a really great summer weekend getaway all around and the show was just icing on the cake. This was my first time seeing Lee Ranaldo solo (well without Sonic Youth) and his band was tight yet still adventurous, bringing his excellent album to life.
I have seen Wilco a few times now and while I am not a huge fan of there's this was probably the most satisfying set of music I have heard from them. I like their softer, singer/songwriter side more and this set seemed to feature that vibe. Below are a few crowd shot video's from the show, and of course I need to wish Megan Jean a Happy Birthday! Love you Sis.:
"Handshake Drugs"
"I Got You (End Of The Century)">"Outtasite" Finale
It is of RtBE's Personal Favorite himself Bob Dylan live at the Beacon Theater with his excellent touring band. We write about Dylan a lot so we will look to someone else for a second.
Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth broke the strict no picture rule, but said it best:
Dylan will never be pinned down, even when he is dead there will be debates and shifting memories/recognition. This concert and the last one we caught of him (think this makes around 22nd or so time seeing him) were both top notch, some of the best of his we have ever seen.
Hopefully there will be reams of Never Ending Tour high quality releases in the future as I want to re-hear these unique versions of songs. Some video below from 2018 which may or may not stick around youtube.
It is of Lee Ranaldo and Raül Refree's first official release together titled, Names of North End Women.
The album is experimental in the vein of My Life In the Bush of Ghostsas it uses samples, found sounds and random instrumentation as the basis of the songs here.
It is of Lee Ranaldo's newest release Electric Trim. We have reviewed each of his solo albums for Glide and we would put this one in the middle (would rank Between The Time And The Tides first, it would have been 8 stars on the new scale, Last Night On Earth, third).
It is definitely his oddest solo release of his so far, it is not easy to get into right away but it grows. Also it should be mentioned while the album art isn't particularly shocking on first glance it truly fits the music which does not always happen.
RtBE would like to wish a Happy 64th Birthday to one of our personal favorites, Thurston Moore.
We recently discussed our favorite Sonic Youth album, Dirty which turned 30 this year, and mentioned that SY were incredibly formative to our tastes and playing. From the first time we saw them, to bumping into Thurston on Broadway or Kim and Lee at various shows throughout the years in NYC, to reviewing later albums to attending the bands last American show, they will always have a place in our mind/heart.
One of the coolest live moments for RtBE took place back in 2008. Moore and his guitar slinger in crime Lee Ranaldo crafted a whirling electric odyssey in the old Knitting Factory for a Fender Jazzmaster showcase celebrating the guitars 50th year. The tiny venue was excellent for them to showoff their interlinking instrumental style and sound. Another interesting live permutation was when Moore played the Solid Sound Festival focusing on his Demolished Thoughts record and messing around with Pillow Wand.
To celebrate Moore's birthday, let's listen to some songs. We will start with RtBE's favorite Moore's solo song, then continue with a story/interview/few acoustic live tunes before closing with one of the best Sonic Youth songs (you can dive into the better extended version here if you got twenty five minutes to spare).
RtBE would like to wish a Happy 60th Birthday to one of our personal favorites, Thurston Moore.
Just yesterday RtBEreviewed his ex-wife, Kim Gordon's newest release and mentioned that we were fans of her's for a long time. Sonic Youth came into RtBE's ears circa 1991. Goo had been out for a bit and was our first exposure to their noise-rock styling. While that album was solid RtBE happened to purchase Dirty the week it was released and were instantly hooked/transformed.
Kim and Thurston haven't left the brain for long over the years as they have consistently been engaging; Sonic Youth were an incredibly formative to our tastes and playing. From the first time we saw them, to bumping into Thurston on Broadway or Kim and Lee at various shows throughout the years, to reviewing later albums to attending the bands last American show, they have/and will always have a place in our heart.
One of the coolest live moments for RtBE took place back in 2008. Moore and his guitar slinger in crime Lee Ranaldo crafted a whirling electric odyssey in the old Knitting Factory for a Fender Jazzmaster showcase celebrating the guitars 50th year. The tiny venue was excellent for them to showoff their interlinking style and sound. We also caught Moore at the Solid Sound Festival when he was focusing on his Demolished Thoughts record and messing around with Pillow Wand.
To celebrate let's listen to some songs. We will start with RtBE's favorite Moore's solo song, then continue with a story/interview/few acoustic live tunes before closing with the best Sonic Youth song (you can dive into the better extended version here if you got twenty five minutes to spare).
With a self titled release and a picture of his mother on the cover it would be easy to guess that Thurston Moore would be continuing with his acoustic based introspective solo project work on The Best Day, but here instead he offers a Sonic Youth-light effort that affirms he can still make glorious noise, but doesn't showcase anything new from the legend.
Bringing back into the fold drummer Steve Shelley and adding James Sedwarda and Debbie Googe in the Lee Ranaldo and Kim Gordon roles respectively, Moore has assembled a unit that sounds a lot like his famous one. The music itself on The Best Day plays like copyrighted SY action if not as abrasive and right off the bat the group gets exploratory.
Opener "Speak To The Wild" roles out easily and builds with distinct guitars and a steady beat for over eight plus minutes. "Forevemore" ups the game in the same vein going for almost twelve minutes through different soundscapes of experimental post punk rock. These are the two longest running tracks on the disk and set the tone that the group is not afraid to free up and improvise. They also happen to be the most satisfying overall efforts as the interplay works well.
After those two run their course the band becomes tighter with the punky "Detonation" and "Vocabularies" before expanding again for the closing combo of the excellent seven minute instrumental "Grace Lake" and "Germs Burn". Musically there is not much different from the later day Sonic Youth it is just the lyrics and vocals that can begin to get stale.
While Sedwards is a great guitar foil and Googe brings her rhythmic noise pedigree from My Bloody Valentine not having Ranaldo and Gordon to vocally change the script can lead to Moore overload. While his vocals have never been his strong point, his lyrics have been very poetic and here nothing really sticks or hits home. The strongest lyrics seem to be regarding mixtape making love on "Tape" as Moore sounds more honest here then repeating "I Want To Love You Forevermore" over and over again.
With Chelsea Light Moving's excellentone off release Moore felt invigorated, aggressive and still expanding his musical and lyrical horizons. Here it sounds like he went back to a safe musical place and one he has visited so often it seems a touch derivative. While longtime fans (present company included) will find solace in the familiar clashing guitars, The Best Day isn't the freshest, something he mentioned his famous band was lacking...not much has changed solo.
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We love Thurston, but this one didn't really speak to us as some of his recent past releases have, even though there isn't much wrong with it, it made us just reach for a SY album.
Anyway, support the artist here, buy the album here and peep some video below:
The final US show the fantastic Sonic Youth ever played is captured on this special release as the August 12th 2011 Williamsburg, NYC Waterfront set from the noise rock legends is now available on vinyl from Silver Current Records.
Having attended this show, which at the time no one knew would be the bands last, there was a sense of something special in the air. The previous few years found the band revisiting past albums with strong shows, but this career ranging affair was unique and powerfully played. Lovingly captured here, this gorgeous night from the hometown band will now live on.
The setlist was created by drummer Steve Shelley and as he explains it:
“This show was a culmination of a run of really special outdoor summertime shows in New York City for us, starting in ’92 with Summerstage in Central Park when we played with Sun Ra. For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the set list 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 about which songs the band might say yes or no to, I threw those concerns out the window and I just made a list of songs that I thought would be a great set. We practiced the week of the show at our space in Hoboken and put the set together. First we’d try and make sure we had a guitar in the song’s tuning, then we’d try to remember the arrangement and try and put it together, sometimes re-learning bar by bar. In the end I think the whole song list made it through. Even as early as ’86 and ’87 we stopped playing ‘Death Valley 69’ and ‘Brave Men Run’ with any regularity. We’d just get excited about new material coming into the set and songs would get ‘retired’ and wouldn’t get played again for years. So on this particular night in Brooklyn a lot of those retired songs and deep cuts got dusted off and played for this show. It turned out to be a pretty special event with a really special song list.”
The band (Kim Gordon - voc, gtr Mark Ibold - Bass Thurston Moore - voc, gtr Lee Ranaldo - voc, gtr Steve Shelley - drums) tore into this old material right off the bat with that combo of "Brave Men Run (In My Family) > "Death Valley ’69" deploying scratchy layers of guitars, feedback, rumbling low end, and desperate vocals to recall the groups early noise days with passion and energy.
Another old warhorse noise number "Kotton Krown" found Moore singing the prophetic words for this night, "New York City is forever, kitty I'm wasted in time and you're never ready Fading, fading, celebrating". Shelley puts his powerful drums to work with the head banging "Kill Yr. Idols" while Ranaldo gets the crowd revved up to go on "Eric's Trip". The muscle car guitars and motoring sounds continue for "Sacred Trickster", the cataclysmic "Calming The Snake", and the grooving "What We Know" all off of the bands final album (the underrated The Eternal), these were the newest song played on this evening, yet all fit in with the deep cuts/classics wonderfully.
Speaking of deep cuts, "Starfield Road" is up next with crushing bass from Ibold, while the free jazz gets rolled out for the extended screeching and pounding of old school tunes "I Love Her All The Time" and "Ghost Bitch" from the early days of SY. The slow burn of "Tom Violence" builds with sexy power while the unhinged screaming guitars and Gordon's strong vocals slam on "Drunken Butterfly" ending the main set of tunes.
The encores on this night were special as the group continued to delve into their past with feminist force of "Flower" and a rare "Psychic Heart" from Moore's solo career. Both were nice, but it was a gorgeous rendition of the band's "Sugar Kane" that really hit the sold out summer crowd squarely in the chest, the highlight of the whole night.
Feeling extra giving the band returned for a second encore that saw them dig deep and unleash the chugging, noise rock blast of "Inhuman", ending the night, and basically their whole career, on loud clanging feedback, just the way these legends should.
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On a personal note, Sonic Youth are one of our all-time favorite acts, and RtBE has owned an audience taped copy of this show since it happened, so the music is well loved to these ears. It is nice to now own a soundboard recording on vinyl, but it is also bitter sweet as the band was still kicking ass at such a high artistic level when they broke up. It is another reminder, like with the recently broken up Screaming Females, enjoy this amazing music live while you can.
When it comes to most band's practice tapes, they should be discarded as soon as they are no longer needed, however Sonic Youth's jams can always be examined for interesting sounds. In/Out/In is billed as a "compilation album of five songs recorded between 200 and 2010" but really these feel like practice sessions, song sketches and experiments that never proceeded to complete songs for release.
And that is OK. Sonic Youth perhaps more than any jamband, uses the studio to talk musically to each other, structuring "jams" into "songs" with weird tunings, styles and freak-outs.
The opening "Basement Contender" sounds as if it was recorded during the Murray Street era of the group as the beautiful guitar tones and blissful jams float out around the soft drum rolls. Drummer Steve Shelley is the clear MVP on this release as the questioning interplay of the strings needs a foundation to coalesce around and Shelley provides it expertly on all of these efforts.
"In & Out" uses breathy holding vocals from Kim Gordon but doesn't really go anywhere with the droning despite Shelley's upbeat drums. The growly rock and roll of Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore's guitars push "Machine" but it never rises up to the high levels of the band's 2000's strong output, while "Social Static" is just that, experimental feedback that dulls over the almost twelve minute run time.
The album wraps up with the best track here, "Out & In". The ominous meddling rock tone set by Moore and Ranaldo around warbling guitars starts hot with distortion as boiling tension climbs then drops back down in to the muck. Picking right back up, the guitars fluctuate with a bass bumping finale on a track that could run on infinitely in classic SY style.
In/Out/In will not create new fans, and isn't even a truly major release, (the band's periodic live show releases on bandcamp are much more fulfilling) but for longtime fans (RtBE firmly included) any time spent with one of the most underrated bands in history is time well spent.
Hey everybody. This post got delayed a bit, but I have a blog post up on NYPL's site that I think you might get a kick out of regarding the Baseball Hall of Fame and Nicknames:
This summer when Jeff, Hot Tub, Mike and myself drove up to Cooperstown to catch Lee Ranaldo and Wilco play (review here and pics here) we made the obvious trip to the Hall of Fame to check out the history etched there. For those who read the site or know me, my love of baseball knows very few boundaries, and a trip to Cooperstown needs to be done every few years. So much goodness can be seen in those halls and hours can get lost. While checking out the plaques I started taking pictures of some of my favorite nicknames and it was suggested I should do a blog post for this. So during the world series I got one up on NYPL blogs.
Give it a read, feel free to comment (here or there) and let me know what you think....excitingly Spring Training is only a few months away!
That is really all we have to say (not really but we need to stop now or we won't ever), read the review, read our take on YLAOM and watch the videos below...here's hoping they officially release this in the near future, it was pure boosh from the opening to closing notes.
"Little Fury Things" with Lee Ranaldo on vocals
"Tame" Pixies Cover with Frank Black
"Alone" with Kyle Spence, Al Cisneros and Kurt Vile
"Don't" with Kim Gordon fucking killing it one of the most emotional/symbolic outings I have seen. Everyone was thinking of her divorce and it made it even more amazing....
With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can.
Starting tonight there will be six nights of live reading of Emily Watson's recent translation of The Odyssey which (shockingly) is the first English translation by a woman:
Some RtBE favorites such as Lee Ranaldo will be joining the live read. To get in the mood for tonight's event here is some reading of the epic in Ancient Greek:
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