[nicfit]

he he,chabib has more power than we can even imagine in my opinion...well,just out of curiousity i checked soulseek,all that i could find was a lame 96kbs mp3 version of rather ripped.i didn't download it,coz i just want to wait and have "the thing in my hands",but if that is the version that people are so excited about,either their ears are damaged (a 96kbs mp3 sounds definitely crappy),or this record sounds so great that even "ruined" with such compression still is good.

[sandwich mulroney]

No doubt nicfit... I'm not bothered by the difference in mp3s and CDs most of the time, but when I hear 96khz I expect an overly enthusiatic DJ yapping about traffic on the thruway.

Ever had/been sent a 48khz mp3? God, it's like someone jammed cotton onto a 20-year old tape.

[hebbel]

Originally Posted by nicfit

well,just out of curiousity i checked soulseek,all that i could find was a lame 96kbs mp3 version of rather ripped.

i found it in 128kbps... sounds wack (the quality)...


won't be any spoilers, just my 2 cents...


first of all, i don't think i have ever listened to an album with such contrasts... the songs i like are unbelievable, the rest sounds horrible... except for rats wich i assume will grow on me... didn't think much of "paper cup exit" at first either...


will def pick this one up...



greatness:

reena
incinerate
do you believe in rapture?
jams run free
turquoise boy
the neutral
pink steam


lameness:

sleepin around
what a waste
lights out
or


mediocre:
rats



ok, just a semi-spoiler... on turquoise boy they recycle a riff from "heather angel"... not saying which one

[schizophrenicroom]

this is an a+ thread

[Everyneurotic]

Originally Posted by !@#%$!

Dude, you rule!

Like a friend of mine always says, "REAL SY FANS BUY THEIR MUSIC!"

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

this is too fucking much!!!!!!

schizo is right, but i see your a+ and raise it to a++

[schizophrenicroom]

Originally Posted by Everyneurotic

schizo is right, but i see your a+ and raise it to a++

i agree with yr statement, every-e!

[Everyneurotic]

"REAL SY FANS BUY THEIR MUSIC!"

HA!!! you have nothing on me!!! i'm trve kvlt sonik yovth black death!!!

i will download the album on the 6th of june of 2006, under a bad funeral moon rising!!!! EVOL putrifies my soul!!!!

[spirale]

Hey, did anyone notice that thurston part on Turquoise Boy is just an electric version of Altar Boy, Church Basement that appears acoustic on the "hurrycane floyd" cd and that he played live again in holland on the 21st sept 2002??? Check out saucerlike dot com for the live version....

[whorefrost]

firstly i'd like to call bullshit on all the people claiming that the inferior quality of mp3s makes a leaked copy unlistenable. there were a lot of people on this board happily circulating a bootleg of the concert that went on to become SYR6. A bootleg for christ's sake! A bootleg of a CD that was for a charitable cause. I can imagine these are the same people who are refusing to download rather ripped.
Ok, i've only listened to this once but my intial impression is one of severe disappointment. As one interviewer noted, it sounds like "classic Sonic Youth." You can hear echoes of a lot of more melodic SY moments. The song Rats even has a riff which, to my ears, sounds like it could have been directly lifted from Disappearer.
RR is a definite continuation from the previous two records but it does not progress on them in any way. Unless you call using chorus pedals during solos and singing in key an exciting new progression. It just sounds like a predictable SY record, sans the noise. sans the edge and excitement. It is sadly predictable, most songs utilising rapid melodic fingerpicking reminiscent of Rain on Tin or Dripping Dream. Throw in some token noisey-ish solos and you bland lyrical content/delivery and you've got the new SY record.
Thurston's vocals sound OK for the most part although his lyrics seem uninspired. Thurston often writes throwaway lyrics but in a good way; in a dadaist surrealist spontaneous way. On the last track, Or, he sounds weary and unconnected to what he is singing.
Kim's lyrics are the biggest disappointment for me. When I listen to ATL or Nurse I always marvel at her ferocious, idiosyncratic vocal delivery. this is sadly absent from RR where she seems to be emulating Thurston in an attempt to deliver breathy, standard rock style vocals w/ sub-par lyrics to match.
Most of the songs are pretty catchy like Do You Believe in Rapture and Sleeping Around. I just expect a lot more complexity and depth from a Sonic Youth record. There are no experimental song structures or sounds. It is almost as if they have been overly inspired by remastering Goo and Dirty. It could be construed that the whole LP is an experiment in that trying to write a straight up rock record is an experiment for Sonic Youth. But I don't really buy that; they went far enough in that direction with Nurse and Murray Street whilst still maintaining their avant-garde sensibilities and integrity. The only thing I can think of, and it is rather cynical, is that they are trying to endear themselves to Geffen and a more mainstream audience in the hope of having their contract renewed. I'm sure being on Geffen affords them a comfortable income that they would do well to maintain. They aren't quite at retirement age yet after all, and still probably have mortgages to pay off. This is just my theory, but to me it sounds as if they are playing it safe, co-opting their art in favour of playing the corporate game.
Anyway, I await your flames.

[whorefrost]

i should have put a disclaimer stating that i often change my opinions radically... i'm always going back on myself, revising my opinions... these are just my initial impressions for anyone who may be interested...
i intend to listen to it a lot more but at the moment i am convinced that in ten years time, people will look back and place Rather Ripped amongst SY's weakest output...
that said, Reena is growing on me in particular... so maybe there is still hope...

[whorefrost]

i guess it's not terrible, it's just not really where i'm at right now.. i'm noticing a lot of recycled riffs as well... echoes of kotton krown... new hampshire... it has that sort of melodic SY feel... I will post my thoughts again after several more listens...

[pao-lino]

a a good italian as I am, post-porvenzano capture, I make of
omertà
my biggest value
.

[atari 2600]

Originally Posted by whorefrost

there were a lot of people on this board happily circulating a bootleg of the concert that went on to become SYR6. A bootleg for christ's sake! A bootleg of a CD that was for a charitable cause. I can imagine these are the same people who are refusing to download rather ripped.

the concert took place on 4/12/2003, & SYR 6 didn't come out until 12/06/2005. So let me see if I have your logic correct, whorefrost. People who enjoy listening to & collecting Sonic Youth bootlegs are to be faulted because they are not psychics that would know that a certain performance was eventually going to be released as an SYR? The recording existed & was being traded around. It started circulating before SYR 6 was ever announced. After the SYR 6 plans were revealed, some people (including myself) did share & download it, yes, but I still think yours is a misplaced analogy. So you would consider, whorefrost, that providing 25 ysi download links for an audience recording is really the same as putting a unreleased studio recording on a peer-to-peer network? Damn, you're one hard-line fundamentalist there when you want to be. (when it's convenient for you to be for effect only) You go on to rip on yr Rather Ripped rip & call the album "one of their weakest." That's okay, only a few of us here have any class. Maybe you should start a charity for people without any.

[whorefrost]

think of the rather ripped leak as a bootleg for hardcore fanatics... i went to atp, booted the set months before nurse came out so by the time nurse came out i was familiar with the songs and loved them even more on the official release.. i still intend to purchase rather ripped on vinyl! i don't care about people who shared bootlegs of what became syr6, as long as they don't attempt to take a moral high ground in this situation

[samuel]

it's interesting how people are saying some riffs are being recycled
can't wait to hear it, I have a couple months to wait

[pao-lino]

I wonder: who puts these records available online months before their release?
it's someone who already has his hands on it somehow to work it or someone really steals it?

[Jef Mertens]

Rather Ripped

haven't heard the album yet but i'm starting to think that the title means they ripped themselves off. Mabey each song has been recycled or has riffage from another SY- or sideproject related tune.

Heather Angel riffs, Altar Boy Church Basement, Incinerate (Teenage Riot), Reena (Stones) and what else.

[naomi]

Originally Posted by Jef Mertens

Rather Ripped

haven't heard the album yet but i'm starting to think that the title means they ripped themselves off. Mabey each song has been recycled or has riffage from another SY- or sideproject related tune.

Heather Angel riffs, Altar Boy Church Basement, Incinerate (Teenage Riot), Reena (Stones) and what else.

interesting thought

I noticed the heather angel one right away, and was semi bothered by it, but turquoise boy is a good song.

[pokkeherrie]

yes, it's an interesting discussion... however, i guess the altar boy, church basement is an intentional one, just like how another riff from that tune ended up on rain on tin years later. that's just how they work, a lot of sy album songs have riffs that were first heard in instrumentals played a few years earlier than the album songs. i did notice it right the first time i heard it though.

but in other cases, like the heather angel one, i'm not so sure about it being intentional. i would suspect it's not. all in all my first impression is one of disappointment, but i don't really want to listen to it at this point. i'll save my verdict for when i can get a real copy.

[selkcip]

i thought nurse was more of a "pastiche" of older sonic youth. both dripping dream and rain on tin derived bits from 'church boy alter basement,' whereas turquoise boy takes it entirely and embellishes it into a pop song. peace attack lifted the riff from elegy and new hampshire is like a souped-up sunday. new hampshire is one of the best tracks on nurse, it also has an ascending melodic bit from church boy alter basement.

i've only heard 3/4 this album and it already exceeds both murray street and nurse in my ears. even in 128 kbps. it reminds me of dirty (tuff rock) in places, but with the vibrant chiminess (clean) of their more recent albums.