Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has never been constrained by being in one of the planet’s coolest and always-interesting bands. Since the late Eighties he’s released a string of collaborations and solo releases that are mainly experimental, atonal or outré – he still issues material solely on cassette. Enthusiasms define who he is and as a card-carrying record collector he’s never been shy of declaring his favourites. Holding a torch for improvisers like Derek Bailey, he’s also a supporter of outer-edge folk artists like Ed Askew. His new, Beck-produced solo album is the culmination – so far - of his fascination with the acoustic.
It's a shock just how beautiful Demolished Thoughts is. Opening cut “Benediction” is a gentle, drifting, string-infused slow-mo reverie. Sparing harp adds ethereal texture. Strumming an open-tuned guitar – he’s heard sliding up the neck – Moore sings in an intimate, almost resigned tone. E flat, B flat, D, F, B flat, C is the tuning here. His descending arpeggios on the similarly tuned “Illumine” echo the structure of a Sonic Youth classic like “Silver Rocket”, demonstrating that his day job is as much about melody as the medium of delivery. “Circulation" (12-string guitar: D, D, A, F sharp, A, D) is another dream-like meditation where he declares “needle hits black lacquer, speakers forgive lies” in tribute to the power of vinyl.
With folk as the jumping-off point, familiar elements of the songwriting and playing styles of Sonic Youth remain on Demolished Thoughts. But previously imagining them in this gentle setting would have seemed a stretch too far, despite the reflective moments of Sonic Youth albums like Murray Street and Moore’s previous solo set, Trees Outside the Academy. Beck and Moore have created a masterpiece.
Listen to "Benediction" from Demolished Thoughts
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