Thurston Moore - Trees Outside of the Academy
by Bari
genre:
Arts & Photography
description:
I don't feel comfortable giving any art a number rating but it's my job, or it used to be my job I do mostly interviews now. ALso I didn't think of the title and they spelled my name wrong.
chapters
chapter 1:
Trees Outside of the Acadmey review
Trees Outside of the Acadmey review
chapter 1
—
updated 10/25/07
—
2670 characters
—
1 person liked it
—
1 review
Ear Candy (September 19, 2007)
Sep 18, 2007, 10:50
Email this article
Printer friendly page
Chillin' with Cool Old Uncle Thurston
Thurston Moore
Trees Outside The Academy
Ecstatic Peace
After getting over the shock of hearing an acoustic Thurston Moore and the yearning for him to decimate my face with sharp attacks of noise and squealing dissonance, I realized what I always knew: Moore is an excellent composer/musician and not just a noise whore. He uses the noise when appropriate during his composition and not as filler or a gimmick.
The same could be said for lack of noise in this record. Moore’s second proper solo release (by "proper," I mean by what most people consider proper, and what most people consider proper is something like 12-15 pre-composed songs, not 45 minutes of wandering noise), Trees Outside the Academy is mainly an acoustic-and-vocals record. There are spots of noise trickling in throughout, but none of it is dominating. The noise plays as a cool, subtle compliment massaging the melody.
It’s sort of like Dylan goes electric, but backwards, and without the widespread sense of disappointment and outrage. So Trees is more like, Moore goes acoustic and plays guitar with a great sense of empathy.
Violinist Samara Lubelski fills out most of the compositions playing gracefully along with Moore, which is an interesting alternative to Lee Ranaldo’s guitar. Steve Shelly secures his spot as Moore's go-to drummer, and with good reason: his drums sound gentle and perfectly in tune with the record. The beat is there — quiet, almost subliminal and exceedingly potent.
Trees might not be face-decimating, but it does bring to mind a more constructive, introspective journey from Moore — the most notable difference is the overall tone in the record from his previous efforts.
The feeling of paranoia and anxiety some early Sonic Youth brings forth is replaced by a sense of consolation and compassion. Moore isn’t grabbing your shoulders, shaking you, screaming, "Panic!"
Trees comes off like a series of relaxing pep talks from your cool uncle who knows it’s all shit but still sees something worth seeing.
The sound is sharp and the message lucid; there is no fuzz to blur any edges here, which makes it maybe the most alien work Moore has done from Sonic Youth. If you’re looking for the return of big noise, keep looking. But if you’re looking for some sort of holistic Xanax, Trees delivers.
Notable tracks are the poppy “Fri/End," Moore’s minimalist reassuring duet with Charalambides' Christina Carter, “Honest James” and the instrumental title track. — B. Kahn
back to top
Sep 18, 2007, 10:50
Email this article
Printer friendly page
Chillin' with Cool Old Uncle Thurston
Thurston Moore
Trees Outside The Academy
Ecstatic Peace
After getting over the shock of hearing an acoustic Thurston Moore and the yearning for him to decimate my face with sharp attacks of noise and squealing dissonance, I realized what I always knew: Moore is an excellent composer/musician and not just a noise whore. He uses the noise when appropriate during his composition and not as filler or a gimmick.
The same could be said for lack of noise in this record. Moore’s second proper solo release (by "proper," I mean by what most people consider proper, and what most people consider proper is something like 12-15 pre-composed songs, not 45 minutes of wandering noise), Trees Outside the Academy is mainly an acoustic-and-vocals record. There are spots of noise trickling in throughout, but none of it is dominating. The noise plays as a cool, subtle compliment massaging the melody.
It’s sort of like Dylan goes electric, but backwards, and without the widespread sense of disappointment and outrage. So Trees is more like, Moore goes acoustic and plays guitar with a great sense of empathy.
Violinist Samara Lubelski fills out most of the compositions playing gracefully along with Moore, which is an interesting alternative to Lee Ranaldo’s guitar. Steve Shelly secures his spot as Moore's go-to drummer, and with good reason: his drums sound gentle and perfectly in tune with the record. The beat is there — quiet, almost subliminal and exceedingly potent.
Trees might not be face-decimating, but it does bring to mind a more constructive, introspective journey from Moore — the most notable difference is the overall tone in the record from his previous efforts.
The feeling of paranoia and anxiety some early Sonic Youth brings forth is replaced by a sense of consolation and compassion. Moore isn’t grabbing your shoulders, shaking you, screaming, "Panic!"
Trees comes off like a series of relaxing pep talks from your cool uncle who knows it’s all shit but still sees something worth seeing.
The sound is sharp and the message lucid; there is no fuzz to blur any edges here, which makes it maybe the most alien work Moore has done from Sonic Youth. If you’re looking for the return of big noise, keep looking. But if you’re looking for some sort of holistic Xanax, Trees delivers.
Notable tracks are the poppy “Fri/End," Moore’s minimalist reassuring duet with Charalambides' Christina Carter, “Honest James” and the instrumental title track. — B. Kahn
Did you like this?
vote
(1 person liked it)
