Washing Machine

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That A Thousand Leaves was void of “classic song ideas” might have fueled some critics’ disdain for it in ’98, but much of the record has aged well in the past 20 years. “Sunday,” an undeniable gem that marries Sonic Youth’s dual tendencies toward melody and experimental spinouts, was an early single, paired with a Macaulay Culkin-starring music video directed by Harmony Korine. “Sunday” also received the commercial radio treatment, its original five minutes chopped to three. The truncated version sadly omits the song’s most interesting passage: a mess of squeals and gasps from Moore’s and Lee Ranaldo’s guitars around the three-minute mark. As their gnarled instruments unspool, Moore deadpans: “With you, Sunday never ends,” just before the lights dim and the song is snuffed out. This is a bait of a record which is able to hook anyone forever to the heavenly machinery of these noise jacobites. Never before had they combined the poetics of the most immense electricity and the industrial aggression. The refreshing and dream breeze against the unchained tempest.

a b c d e Davis, Erik (December 1995). "Sonic Youth: Washing Machine". Spin. Vol.11, no.9. pp.118–119 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. The album was released the following week, after which they embarked on yet another tour in October/November. This time around, the venues were comfortable theatres and clubs, but the set list variation was not affected. While on a 2-day, 3-show stop in NYC, they performed "The Diamond Sea" on another TV show, "The State". The sonic tour wheel did not stop spinning -- an Australian/New Zealand tour in late December took them into the new year, followed by a brief tour of some new territory (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Phillipines, and Hong Kong) with the Foo Fighters and the Beastie Boys. Less than 2 months later, they were on the road again, for the first real Washing Machine European tour, in March and April. Upon their return home, they made another TV appearance, their first on Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien. They did not, however, play current single "Little Trouble Girl", instead they tore through a furious version of "Junkie's Promise". After 2 more stray shows, they slowed down a bit -- though they did make their first of 3 consecutive annual appearances at the Tibetan Freedom Concert, on June 16th, 1996 in San Francisco. They performed only 4 songs, the inseparable "Bull in the Heather"/"Starfield Road" combo, "Saucer-Like", and a lengthy version of "The Diamond Sea" (which was the standard set closer at virtually every show in '95 and '96). In August '96 they travelled to Hungary and Israel for the first time, and finished this 6-date tour at the Reading Festival in England. After one more show in Spain in November, Sonic Youth's extremely busy 2 years of touring was finished, and the band took a well-deserved break from serious touring in 1997, free to focus on their new studio and a slew of new recordings. a b "Sonic Youth". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012 . Retrieved July 14, 2014.

Washing Machine is the follow-up to Sonic Youth's 1994 DGC album Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. [1] After Experimental Jet Set, the band decided to take a hiatus from performing live and concentrated on numerous side projects. Band member Kim Gordon played with Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore in Free Kitten, drummer Steve Shelley performed with Jad Fair in Mosquito, guitarist Lee Ranaldo played with free jazz drummer William Hooker and singer and guitarist Thurston Moore released his first solo album, Psychic Hearts. [1] Moore and Gordon also had their first child, Coco. According to Moore, their daughter had provided a different perspective for the band: "I'm more focused and level-headed. There's a sublime awareness factor of your spiritual place in the world. I feel more at ease with myself... Babies are little Buddhas. They're completely great". [1] Tantalising overreach, the catchiest hooks this side of Murray Street, and a heaped helping of ‘Kim Power’– Washing Machine is one of Sonic Youth’s more underplayed, but underrated works

Kot, Greg (September 29, 1995). "Sonic Gold". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 . Retrieved June 26, 2016. Kot, Greg; Leland, John; Sheridan, David; Robbins, Ira; Pattyn, Jay. "Sonic Youth". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. What do you make of the, by now, completely expected but sexually primal vocals of Kim Gordon? They're an acquired taste to be sure.Sonic Youth - Little Trouble Girl". MTV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014 . Retrieved July 6, 2014. Jenkins, Mark (October 13, 1995). "Looking Up To Sonic Youth". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019 . Retrieved June 4, 2018. Though not executed quite as extremely as on the previous 2 albums, Lee and Thurston's guitars are once again isolated to their own speakers -- Lee is in the left, Thurston is in the right. The Diamond Sea". Sonicyouth.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012 . Retrieved July 6, 2014. a b Christgau, Robert (October 24, 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014.

a b "Washing Machine". charts.nz. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019 . Retrieved July 14, 2014. This brings us to the obvious question: why would a band at, or near the apex of its powers and prowess, want to become a different entity – and one with no history or expectation? It is a sad fact of life that even a history of achievement and innovation can result in tremendous amounts of pressure, and that even circumstances that are objectively good do not always guard against a profound ennui. Sonic Youth had a desire to escape those burdens even as they were fully coming into their own. Whether the desire was half-joking or half-serious, they saw a need to change things up. Washing Machine gave them the chance to evolve from a band viewed as mostly ‘punk’ to one that was considered mostly ‘indie’ in sound if not in label affiliation. a b Schnipper, Matthew (May 9, 2019). "Sonic Youth: Washing Machine". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019 . Retrieved May 9, 2019.

Kind of an underrated album in the SY canon, but it just might be my favorite. It's nothing they haven't done before, and I'm not sure what to make of the spoken-word song "Skip Tracer," but there are a lot of brilliant moments here.