ASK: LEE RANALDO – SONIC YOUTH ARTIST/MUSICIAN

lee disputing his shadow in david shrigley’s skate-park pool, malmö, sweden, may 2009. photo by carlos van hijfte.

my favorite _____ is:

-book: “what we talk about when we talk about love“, by raymond carver, one of my
favorite authors, one whose stories changed my view of the world we live in— what more can one ask of a work of art?

-album: blue, by joni mitchell, has been sustaining me these last few weeks as our
tour has grown long, playing over and over on repeat in my iTunes. what an
amazing achievement this record is.

-cities: right now i’m infatuated with all things portland (OR) — hands down the hippest city in USA right now. close seconds: paris, tokyo, marrakech, melbourne.
-place: place de vosges, paris.

-films: pierrot le fou, godard; late autumn, yasujiro ozu; ali: fear eats the soul,
rainier werner fassbinder; don’t look back, D.A. pennebaker; the gleaners,
agnes varda. this list, as with many of these, could go on and on…

-restaurant: chez panisse in berkeley — good vibes and good food.
-hotel: of late, from our recent summer tour, W hotel, dallas. not a city one needs to visit, really, but a killer hotel.

-hobby: bicycling. I’ve spent the summer bicycling my way across the country as sonic youth has toured. fantastic rides everywhere: montana rocky mtns, okla
cornfields, portland streets & bridges, st. louis mississippi river basin,
milwaukee, boise, san fransisco to the foot of the golden gate—you name
it, every city in the US is improving their cycling system.