A

The first section evokes restless animals or someone laying on an old-fashioned door buzzer. It is unsettled and frizzy, but then it breaks towards calm. I love the way the entrance of the simple drums anchors the listener amid the swirling sounds, and then dismisses them, leaving behind almost nothing but the slow-steady rhythm. This middle section is my favorite part. The dynamic shift is so dramatic that it takes a few bars to recognize that the band is “playing” the background noise and hum from their amps. Then, suddenly, there is a wash of tonality, a warm and generous fanfare, a release. I can never predict the moment, but when it comes it feels right. Almost as soon as the catharsis has been established, a quick fade-out concludes the song, but in a way that paradoxically suggests expansion and continuation.

It is a rather conventional Aristotelian story arc for this wildly unconventional song that on first listen, sounds unmanicured, meandering, but on hundredth listen, reveals itself to be so taut and satisfying with nothing superfluous. Coming in at 2:54, it suggests the cliché of the three-minute pop song.

B

The release of this EP in June 1997, marked the beginning of Sonic Youth’s most self-consciously avant-garde period. The SYR releases, of which this was the first, were characterized by instrumental noise improvisation. The pieces were decidedly abstract, prioritizing texture, but often retaining the feel of songs, with structurally distinct parts, come-and-go rhythms, and suggestions of melodies.

This was before the infamous theft in 1999 of all of Sonic Youth’s prodigious collection of circuit-bent, custom gear.

C - Memories

BYU Recording class. Film soundtrack for Allyson Edward’s movie project

D - Thoughts

expand on the subject or memory

E - Flights

free association