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.

-band: pavement, the most rocking and literate band of the 90s.

-prized possession: my just-released fender signature model jazzmaster guitar (the lee renaldo fender jazzmaster was released on july 1st).

-drink: single malt scotch on ice

-way to go: parched in the high desert.

www.leeranaldo.com

www.sonicyouth.com


LP art may be back : ITUNES COCKTAIL

ziggy quit smoking right after this album

and michael schenker went to jail right after this album!!! **

sonic youth, david bowie, glenn gould, scorpions. enter “cocktail”: thanks to apple, here is a new digital music format that the creators of itunes are developing with record labels. the new format will go beyond a simple PDF file of liner notes, and instead bundle photos, videos, lyrics and other assets with an album’s music. details remain slim, but label sources confirming the effort’s existence point to it as the digital version of the record sleeves of the old days. by dd

** scorpions shocking cover was released in 1976 stirring controversy in the UK, US, and elsewhere resulting in an alternative cover of the band in some countries and making this a collectors item. in 2008, the image again gave rise to controversy, when the british internet watch foundation placed pages from wikipedia containing the cover on its blacklist, causing significant public debate. the decision was reversed by the IWF after four days of blocking.

Faust Vinyl


faust’s first album 1971, surely a collectors item now, was originally printed on clear vinyl in a clear sleeve with a silk screen of an x-ray of a human fist on the sleeve. very cool to have clear vinyl especially for the time. by dd

FAUST: rare footage of a great band

the german krautrock band faust with werner “zappi” diermaier, hans joachim irmler, arnulf meifer, jean-hervé péron, rudolf sosna and gunter wüsthoff. suddenly the can seems melodic!

with fond memories of sheen. by dd

beck X tom waits


irrelevant topics is a new section of beck’s website featuring conversations between beck himself and musicians, artists, writers, etc. on various subjects, without promotional pretext or editorial direction. for the first in this series of conversations, the legendary musician and performer, tom waits agreed to lend an hour of his time to talk about anything and nothing in particular. great!!! on beck’s website (here) photos:hedi slimane / russ flat by pp’

RECORD COVERS



we miss real records; the physical object, the collectors item, the amazing cover designs and the real scratching dj’s. i guess we are not the only ones!
by kv

sparklehorse & dangerous mouse genius blank cd


after radiohead giving away its album for any donation, the greatest move against the musical industry comes from sparklehorse (mark linkous) and nyc producer dangermouse. after recording “dark night of the soul” (featuring david lynch, iggy pop, suzanne vega, julian casablancas from the strokes, wayne coyne from the flaming lips…) EMI decided that they wouldn’t release the record as they’re still pissed off at danger mouse for the grey album that he gave away for free download on his website. the grey album was a record that mixed the beatles’ white album with jay-z’s black album (jay-z’s label was ok, EMI representing the beatles was not). whatever, sparklehorse are selling a blank cd in a book designed by david lynch, and you can download for free the music on their website to burn it on your blank cd! just great! by pp’

R.I.P. michael jackson

i always wished for those lanky daddy long legs of his, but i was never a fan. owned ‘off the wall’ at some point, and never another album, but you can’t deny his genius! an amazing dancer, a gentle being, not a child molester. different of course, but no more of a freak than pamela anderson or tom cruise, and at least jackson had a reason to be strange, plus he delivered something unlike the other two losers… and for those of you who want to know the truth about all the stories may we suggest this documentary. by dd