eMusic Review
A strong subtext of the idea of progress in pop has been its relationship with two models of the classical form — orchestral music, rooted in 19th century Romanticism, and developments post-Schoenberg, where 12-tone, minimalism and electronics conspired to take modernist music into some pretty challenging spaces. It's the latter that Sonic Youth, the so-called Velvet Underground of the post-punk scene, pay homage to on this two-CD set from 1999. Interpreting work by chance man John Cage, AMM founder Cornelius Cardew and Fluxus luminary Yoko Ono, among others, Sonic Youth spotlight the maverick architects of High Modernism while also revealing the roots of their experimental rock & roll. It's no po-faced exercise, either: a youth Sonic offspring contributes the three screams that make up Ono's "Voice Piece for Soprano," while "Piano Piece 13" involves the destruction of the instrument by hammering nails into the keys.
