The year 2000 Geffen release from Sonic Youth. AFAIK, their first explicit lyrics album. The guitar sounds are occasionally rock out cheezy on renegade princess and at the same time insanely free and not too highly distorted (on small flowers crack concrete). I must admit that this is a very new york album, including commentary on the recent Police brutality/murdering that has been going on lately. Overall, this album seems more aware of its surroundings than any sonic youth album since Daydream Nation, including a harkening back to a song about the subway (Silver Rocket) with streamXsonik subway. Also, small flowers crack concrete has some intense drug war commentary.
This album was produced by Sonic Youth themselves and Jim O'Rourke of Gastr del Sol fame. He has really influenced them recently, even just with guitar sound. His bass shows up on tracks 1 and 4 and some powerbook (i bet) stuff on track 5. Rafael Toral gives "spacestatic" guitar to track 2. William Winant adds percussion on track 5. Wharton Tiers did the recording.
here is the track listing, enough babble:
- free city rhymes
- renegade princess
- nevermind (what was it anyway)
- small flowers crack concrete <- this one gives me goosebumps
- side2side
- streamXsonik subway <- a future trip
- nyc ghosts & flowers <- can i say orgasmotronic
- lightnin'