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Sonic Life

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Sonic Life

By: Thurston Moore
Narrated by: Thurston Moore
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About this listen

'Were you there? Well this is as close as it gets! Thurston Moore's compelling and spirited account of the streets, the songs, the clothes, the clubs and the contenders! A sensitive and authentic testimony to Moore's life lived through art and music. Beats with the heart of a true artist and mutineer.' Viv Albertine

'Downtown scientists rejoice! For Thurston Moore has unearthed the missing links, the sacred texts, the forgotten stories, and the secret maps of the lost golden age. This is history-scuffed, slightly bent, plenty noisy, and indispensable.' Colson Whitehead

A music-obsessed retrospective, beginning with his childhood epiphany of rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s into an infatuation with the subversive world of 1970s punk and no wave blasting forth from New York City - where he eventually runs off to join a band in 1978. By 1981 Moore would form the legendary and notorious experimental rock group Sonic Youth, who proceeded to record and tour relentlessly for almost 30 years, always progressing, always exploring.

Along the way we meet a constellation of artists and musicians who colluded and collided with Sonic Youth including Velvet Underground, Stooges, Patti Smith, Television, Sex Pistols, Clash, Nirvana, Hole, Beastie Boys, Neil Young and a cavalcade of other musical visionaries, as well as figures from the art world - Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Gerhard Richter.

Simply put, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth changed the sound of modern alternative rock music and opened the minds of a generation of artists to new possibilities within the form. This is essential reading.

'I thoroughly enjoyed Thurston Moore's trip down the gauntlet of memory lane, dodging beer bottles and pools of blood as he balances the demands of art and survival. Plus I'm a sucker for anyone who name-checks Saccharine Trust. A raw, rollicking document.' Nell Zink

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Thurston Moore (P)2023 Faber & Faber
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Sonic rambles

It’s good but a bit rambly. Name dropping all the bands of the time. He doesn’t go much into their albums and how they were created which I kinda wanted to know or his midlife crisis affair. Its sonically fine

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Art/Music

A great account of 70-80s New York underground music and art scene, opening up to the rest of USA and the world as the band’s star rises. Through all the iterations of punk to noise, art projects, experimentation, Moore was there. Listening to all those stories was a real blast!!

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I mean, I am a fan so…

If you aren’t interested in the New York music scene of the mid to late 1970’s then this probably isn’t the book for you. If, like me, you are fascinated by this incredible period of music then you’ll find this very interesting indeed. Even more so if, like me, you’re a longtime fan of Sonic Youth.
If you’re looking for salacious gossip about the marriage break up then move on. You already know more than you need to know anyway.

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