Sonic Starbucks
Daydream Nation is 20 years old and to celebrate Sonic Youth is releasing a greatest hits album via your local Starbucks.
I haven't been a big fan of SY since Goo. Signing with Geffen didn't do anything for their music or creativity. I think Geffen owed them big though after Kim turned them on to a little band named Nirvana. Maybe staying with a major label through the crumbling of the "record industry" was a master plan of theirs climaxing with the ultimate cashing in and cashing out. I don't know if that's a bad thing. More money for more creative freedom in the future is a good thing, that much I know. Here's where I get all Andy Rooney... Is this what happened to indie rock? art rock? subculture?
It gets married, buys a house and has lattes- I mean babies. I don't expect bands to not want bigger audiences and nicer stuff but when it seems like Starbucks is the final destination for SY, I feel silly about starting the journey with them. I don't drink Starbucks and I don't really listen to SY anymore so I guess one of us has moved on to broader pastures.
But here's little taste of what was brewing 20 years ago:
June 11, 2008
Drink Up
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5 comments:
i don't drink coffee and this is still the best music video ever.
Yeah, I pretty much warped the tape listening to that song. But I think I never saw the video except maybe once on 120minutes at my Bubby's because she had cable.
i remember seeing it on 120minutes also. at chris' house freshman year. dinosaur jr.'s just like heaven also. those two videos were seared into my brain.
sonic youth never really made a point about being anti-corporate. it's not like they were fugazi or something, so this kind of thing doesn't really surprise me. i always liked how they used the spotlight to promote bands other than themselves. thurston moore's album 'root' from a little while back is pretty good. every song is a collaboration with some other band like stock, hausen and walkman, bruce gilbert from wire, third eye foundation, etc. what i can't figure out is who buys starbucks compilations or for that matter cds anyway. its kind of crazy how in terms of selling out, indie labels vs. corporate labels was such a big thing not so long ago and now the whole music industry is imploding and wondering what its future is. i think i heard somewhere that some hip hop acts gross more profit off of ringtone sales than recording sales.
on the el in philly people use their cell phones as an ipod. just blast ringtones at full volume. lil wayne over and over..
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