By Douglas Wolk, eMusic ContributorThere's a quietly telling scene in Young Adult, last year's Charlize Theron vehicle about a woman pining for her lost youth. Theron's character Mavis Gary plays an old boyfriend's mixtape: "The Concept," by Teenage Fanclub,… more »
By Steve Holtje, eMusic ContributorNow that indie rock's caught up to where Yoko Ono was on her 1970 debut LP, her new album – her most challenging in more than three decades – fits the zeitgeist perfectly. The 10-minute… more »
By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorI remember hearing about Sonic Youth co-founder Kim Gordon's Mirror/Dash collection for Urban Outfitters a few years ago, but what I didn't know was that her experience with fashion design goes back nearly two decades.… more »
By Tobi Vail, eMusic ContributorI grew up with a rock 'n' roll mama. Even though my dad was the one who played in bands, it was my mom who saw the Beatles (twice!) and the Rolling Stones and Miles… more »
By Jason Diamond, eMusic ContributorThere are reports via Twitter that Harry Crews passed away yesterday at the age of 76. The author of novels A Feast of Snakes and The Hawk is Dying, Crews might be best known to Sonic… more »
By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorAll good things must come to an end and, in 2011, a whole lot of good things did exactly that. Indie rock godfathers R.E.M. released their 15th album - the sturdy, rewarding Collapse Into Now… more »
By Seth Colter Walls, eMusic ContributorJim O'Rourke never really quit music after resigning from Sonic Youth to "make films." He just went to Japan and indulged his even less pop-friendly fascinations. When not composing solo electronic pieces all on his… more »
By Michael Azerrad, eMusic ContributorIn 1986, Sonic Youth was one of the most exhilarating live bands you could see. Their show was an electric firestorm, with all the lunging, flailing and hammering of a massacre in a Hollywood mansion,… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorThey're one of the greatest bands to emerge in the last 30 years and have released as many consistent and interesting albums as bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and contemporaries Radiohead. They do… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorIt's perhaps the single most important recording to come out of indie rock ever, cracking the code for hundreds of bands to follow, from Nirvana and Pavement to newcomers like Deerhunter and No Age. It… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorRight from the gorgeous chiming riffs of opener "Schizophrenia," Sonic Youth clearly favored hooks and tune over noise and static for their fifth album. The band even ratcheted up their ambitions by holing up in… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorFor their third album, Sonic Youth moved up to the bigger indie label SST and hired the tighter and more technically proficient drummer Steve Shelly to replace Bob Bert, resulting in the first album to… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorSonic Youth's self-titled EP may have sketched out the band's artistic vision but their debut full-length is the band's mission statement—and a psychotic, dark, twisted, and often thrilling one, too. It kicks off with "(She's… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorSonic Youth had only played a handful of local New York shows when they cut this album in 1981 with their mentor Glenn Branca, the avant-garde composer known for his wild guitar symphonies. It's a… more »
By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorIt's perhaps the single most important recording to come out of indie rock ever, cracking the code for hundreds of bands to follow, from Nirvana and Pavement to newcomers like Deerhunter and No Age. It… more »
By Lenny Kaye, eMusic ContributorSleazy does it. In the realm of anti-pop generations, the years of the early-to-mid '90s represent, for me, the last hurrah of the anything-goes downtown New York scene, in all its desperate clatter and high-strung… more »
By Philip Sherburne, eMusic ContributorTo the uninitiated, a drone is a drone is a drone. To the really uninitiated, of course, the very word means little, so let's define: a drone is a sustained tone (or tones) that runs through… more »
By Douglas Wolk, eMusic ContributorThe three Ramones we've lost so far — Joey, Dee Dee and now Johnny — are remembered as the progenitors of punk rock, and some of the most influential performers who've ever graced a rock… more »
