This Week's Soundtrack

Slint, Tweez
Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation and Dirty
Dinosaur Jr., Bug
Drive Like Jehu, Yank Crime

I've been reading Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life for the last week—can you tell? I'm on a steady diet of '80s and '90s indie rock right now. I even got all anal with my iTunes and created a genre for "Classic Indie"—basically anything from 1985–1995. (Prior to '85 it's punk; after '95, it's just indie rock.) I've also got a long list of holds at eMusic for when my monthly allowance comes in on Monday—albums I've either never heard (Mission of Burma) or that I've sold/misplaced over the years (Fugazi). Of course, when my wife saw that I'd created something called "Classic Indie," she groaned. Then she broke a hip while chasing kids off our lawn.

• Sonic Youth: Eric's Trip

Comments

[Sam]

I can't tell you how big a treat you are in for with Mission Of Burma (assuming you start with "Signals," I haven't really dug into the rest yet, so I can't vouch for those.)
1)You get the genesis of a lot of the smart, twisted postpunk ground that Jehu explored.
2)"Outlaw" is secretly the greatest No Wave song I've ever heard.
3)"All World Cowboy Romance" anticipates the more spine-tingling threads of Post Rock by nearly ten years, and thoroughly nails all of them.

Also, "Our Bad Could" be your life was pretty huge for me. In addition to being an awesome exploration of things that happened when I wasn't even born yet, it probably hipped me to 10 or 15 records that I still spin pretty consistently.

[scott pgwp]

I downloaded "Signals" yesterday - listened to it twice through this morning for the first time. It's terrific, though I've not really wrapped my head around it. Definitely digging it.

[Roc]

i changed the genre name after i downloaded it. i think everything you said in this post is pointless and stupid but thanks for the tune.

[scott pgwp]

You're welcome, asshole!

[Richard]

Allow me to echo the first part of Sam's comment, except that I'm not a huge fan of Signals (I mean, it's good, but I never listen to it)... Vs., however, is completely awesome in every way.

[wifey]

wow, that sam wasn't even born for much of this stuff makes me feel even more like a geezer. yeesh.