June 9 : Sonic Youth’s ‘The Eternal’ with BEGN option

Sonic Youth’s 16th album, ‘The Eternal’, will be released on double vinyl, compact disc, and digital album by Matador Records on June 9. Produced by John Agnello and the band.

Recorded through November and December of last year at the band’s Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, NJ, ‘The Eternal’ features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston, and Lee, and the studio debut of former Pavement/Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold, a member of Sonic Youth’s touring band for the past few years.

A Beck/Sonic Youth split 7″ is being released by Matador on April 18 for Record Store Day.

Matador will shortly announce a Buy Early Get Now scheme for the album with some very interesting bonus material.
track listing...
1. Sacred Trickster
2. Anti-Orgasm
3. Leaky Lifeboat(for Gregory Corso)
4. Antenna
5. What We Know
6. Calming The Snake
7. Poison Arrow
8. Malibu Gas Station
9. Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
10. No Way
11. Walkin Blue
12. Massage The History

 

That's awesome news

Thanks for the heads up-this one kinda snuck up on me

 

Can't wait. June's a long way off.

Sonic Youth has been one of my all time favorite bands ever since I first heard Evol upon it's release. If this builds on the progression of their last three efforts, well... I never want to set my expectations too high, but anyway, I'm really looking forward to this one.

 

THE ETERNAL: BUY EARLY GET NOW APRIL 28

From the Matador Blog: As announced previously, the new Sonic Youth double LP/CD/digital album, 'The Eternal' is coming out on June 9. However, the album will be available to those taking part in Matador's Buy Early Get Now campaign on April 28. Along with your preorder of 'The Eternal' on LP or CD, you'll get an instant stream of the album, and later (either picking it up at your favorite local store or through the auspices of the U.S. Postal Service) a bonus limited edition live LP* culled from Sonic Youth's July 4, 2008 show in Battery Park, NYC, which will contain an exclusive poster. Additional MP3's will be delivered via the Buy Early Get Now site before and after the release date of 'The Eternal' (but not from the post office). The album can be preordered from a trusted local retailer STARTING ON MARCH 24 or directly from Matador starting April 28. *- while supplies last

Though we're keeping a rather tight lid on the musical contents to 'The Eternal' between now and late April, there's a a somewhat truncated preview that's just been posted at matador.com

 

Wow! Great deal. This whole BEGN has been amazing from the start. The extras are really worth it. If this live LP is anywhere near as good as the Pavement one, we're in for a treat.

 

Woohoo!!! Another great BEGN offering. I wish I'd kept up with all of them, from the beginning. I only joined for the most recent Pavement one, and I agree with SP68 that the live LP included with that one was fantastic.

I'll be doing this Sonic Youth one as well.

Craig(VC).

 

Don't worry--you didn't miss out on too much before the Pavement live LP. That's been the best yet. The free 7" and live mp3's from the Wowee Zowee reissue were pretty cool though.

 

the sampler mp3 thing is...well...less than satisfying...

 

I guess I'm falling behind the times, 'cause I wish they would just put out the same set of tunes in however many formats they choose and do it on one day. No special promotions, tie-ins, 7", downloads, T-shirts, what have you.

I've always loved the band but they haven't made a record since Thousand Leaves that I found to be particularly special. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the economy. I don't know. I just feel that all this hype and promotion is the antithesis of what I love about music and what attracted me to the music of groups like Sonic Youth.

I'm not gonna say they've changed or hope that it fails. I hope they succeed on a massive scale. They deserve it. I just wish it could be kept simple and on a strictly musical level.

 

This is what they need to do to sell a product in a time where downloading stuff for free is just so damn easy. I think it works much better than a stupid RIAA anti-piracy seal on the back.

And it's not like they're giving out samples of Tide with the record. These are things I think people would genuinely want.

 

The streaming montage of the album sounds excellent - I can't wait.

Here is a link: http://www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/sonic_youth/sonic_youth_eternal_montage.mp3

 

I'll probably give it a shot, when all is said and done. If I had enjoyed their most recent albums as much as I liked Dirty, Goo, Thousand Leaves, and Jet Set I would be salivating more. As it is, my mouth is kinda dry these days.

 

I'm not the biggest fan, but I though Murray Street, Sonic Nurse, and Rather Ripped were their three best records. I'm curious to see whether the move from a major back to an indie changes their sound at all. I kind of doubt it.

 

The montage sounds pretty darn good. Of all the post-punk bands who started out unable to play their instruments, Sonic Youth may have progressed the most as musicians, while still somehow retaining the original attitude that made them cool when they couldn't yet play their instruments.

 

Nice to see that somebody loved them. Fortunately I can go back for further listenings and perhaps I should try that.

 

I'll definately second driver 8's opinion. I became a fan after hearing Murray Street and then started exploring their back catalogue. Still, A Thousand Leaves up through Rather Ripped get the most play from me out of all of 'em.

 

"The album can be preordered from a trusted local retailer STARTING ON MARCH 24 or directly from Matador starting April 28. *- while supplies last "

OK, I'm new to the BEGN thing. Can I do this with Amazon? You know, seeing as how there *aren't* any local sellers around much anymore. Or just through Matador's web site?

 

When I did BEGN for the Pavement deluxe reissue last year, I ordered it through www.insound.com .

Craig(VC).

 

I think the last new SY album I bought prior to Murray Street was Goo. Murray Street blew me away. I'll confess that I haven't heard all of the 90s albums in their entirety, although I do know the "hits" from them.

 

I don't share all of Driver 8's enthusiasm for Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped, which are good, but to me second line records. Murray Street, on the other hand is, I think, the masterpiece of the most recent phase of the band's career. I think you, in particular, might also find giving NYC Ghosts and Flowers another listen worth your while. It's one of the best of the recent sets for the more abstract, mournful side of the band's work. Not particularly tuneful, but the soundscapes are very involving and beautiful if you give yourself over to them.

L.

 

So, the entire album is set to stream tomorrow for the BEGN subscribers. For those who preordered, they have a stream of one track, Sacred Trickster, which is a Kim Gordon number with some nice guitar parts. Good stuff. Has anyone else already pre-ordered?

I'm definately checking out the stream when it's released. From reading the past In Rainbows discussion thread, I know some people here prefer to wait until a high resolution version is available to make first listens, but I would rather be familiar with the music before I give my vinyl a spin in June. Anyone else?

 

I'll probably give it a listen tomorrow.

 

Lschwart is correct. NYC Ghosts and Flowers is the overlooked masterpiece of the catalog, a gorgeous, self-aware paean to aging bohemia, and Murray Street is a wonderful, accessible record of pop songs jammed out. What's up with the funky sound quality, though?

I'm past the time where I get really juiced about a new Sonic Youth, but when I did get to them, the last two were quite good as well. But I don't think they are capable of a bad or even mediocre record--I think good to very good is their floor.

 

Agreed about Murray Street, a very strong album with an interesting sound (thanks to Jim O'Rourke who produced it).
Rather Ripped was IMHO a masterwork, so I'm excited about the new one.

 

Bring on July 4th.