Ok, I've been wanting to post on this for a few weeks now but I wanted to wait till I had my fancy new MacBook to do it with. Now that time is upon us so here goes...

I guess blogs are all about letting people know about new and relatively underground music, so on these criterion, my post breaks both cardinal rules. I want to tell you about some guys that virtually everyone has heard about these days, 'Sonic Youth'.

Why Sonic Youth and why now? Well, I've never been a particularly massive SY fan, I was always irritated both by their Sacred Cow status and because I reckon that only around 25% of their output is worth listening to in the first place. I wasn't expecting to like their new record particularly. Don't get me wrong, I like 'Murray Street' a lot (although I found 'Sonic Nurse to be a bit dull), but I just wasn't that interested in this new one. But sometime recently I became intrigued by 'Rather Ripped', or rather intrigued by what I'd heard. Firstly, it irritated some Sonic Youth fans (a definite bonus) and secondly, it it had been hailed as a 'pop' record.

Is it a pop record? No. What it does showcase is the bands unquestionably remarkable gift for melody, which is sadly overlooked in favour of their less subtle and less interesting noisey tantrums. This makes it a far more interesting album for me. With no noise and no bullshit to hide behind, all that's left is creepy atmospherics ('Do You Believe in Rapture') and, well, pop ('Reena'). The track I've chosen, though, is 'Incinirate'; one of the singles. I really love this song not just because it has a really smart (and really simple) top line but because it reminds me of one of their best songs and one of my favourite songs ever; 'Schizophrenia'. So here's a link to download 'Incinerate' and a special youtube video I found on the SY myspace...

Sonic Youth - Incinerate:

http://download.yousendit.com/CD4018837C689AB3

A Suprise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBeFL3qI-n8