Sister (Sonic Youth album)
Encyclopedia
Sister is the fourth album by alternative rock
band Sonic Youth
, released in 1987 on SST Records
. It was re-released in late 1994 on DGC
.
The album furthers the band's move away from noise rock
towards more traditional pop structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach. It received universally-positive reviews. A loose concept album (like its follow-up Daydream Nation), Sister was in part inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick
. (The "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life.) The album features aggressive noise songs such as "White Cross" and "Catholic Block," plus haunting noir ode "Pacific Coast Highway". The group has regularly played songs such as "Schizophrenia," "White Cross" and "Kotton Krown" long after the album's release. CD bonus track "Master-Dik" is a strange rap song which mentions Ciccone Youth
; its title is a reference to New York City
mastering facility Masterdisk
. As usual, Moore and Gordon handled most of the vocal duties on the album, but Ranaldo sang "Pipeline/Kill Time".
The album was recorded entirely on analog tube equipment, giving it its characteristic "warm" vintage feel. Videos were shot for "Beauty Lies In The Eye" and "Stereo Sanctity." The black-and-white "Stereo Sanctity" video, featuring clips of whirring factory machinery and brief live shots of the band, can only be seen on a rare 1980s SST video compilation entitled Over 35 Videos Never Before Released.
The black area on the front cover was originally the photograph "Sandra Bennett, twelve year old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980" http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp05a.jpg taken by Richard Avedon
, but was removed after the threat of a lawsuit. At first the picture was merely covered up with a black sticker, but on later pressings, it was deleted. The same was done with a photo of Disney's Magic Kingdom
on the back cover http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp05b.jpg. Very early promotional posters and pressings of the album do feature these photos, but later ones do not. The DGC CD edition features the Magic Kingdom photo, but it is partially obscured by the barcode http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=885158.
Pitchfork Media
named Sister the fourteenth best album of the 1980's. NME
rated it number eighty in their 'Greatest Albums of All-Time' list, and number thirty-seven in their '50 Greatest Albums of the 80's' list. In July 1995, Alternative Press magazine voted Sister the third best album of the decade spanning 1985–1995.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, released in 1987 on SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
. It was re-released in late 1994 on DGC
DGC
DGC can refer to:*Discontinuous Gas Exchange Cycles*Geffen Records*DGC Records*Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie*DARPA Grand Challenge*Digital gold currency*Di Gi Charat*Distributed Garbage Collection*Durban Girls' College...
.
The album furthers the band's move away from noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
towards more traditional pop structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach. It received universally-positive reviews. A loose concept album (like its follow-up Daydream Nation), Sister was in part inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. (The "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life.) The album features aggressive noise songs such as "White Cross" and "Catholic Block," plus haunting noir ode "Pacific Coast Highway". The group has regularly played songs such as "Schizophrenia," "White Cross" and "Kotton Krown" long after the album's release. CD bonus track "Master-Dik" is a strange rap song which mentions Ciccone Youth
Ciccone Youth
Ciccone Youth is an experimental band which was formed in 1986. It is a side project of Sonic Youth members Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Thurston Moore, with Minutemen/fIREHOSE member Mike Watt....
; its title is a reference to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mastering facility Masterdisk
Masterdisk
Masterdisk is an audio mastering and multimedia company in New York City, located on West 45th Street in Manhattan. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production....
. As usual, Moore and Gordon handled most of the vocal duties on the album, but Ranaldo sang "Pipeline/Kill Time".
The album was recorded entirely on analog tube equipment, giving it its characteristic "warm" vintage feel. Videos were shot for "Beauty Lies In The Eye" and "Stereo Sanctity." The black-and-white "Stereo Sanctity" video, featuring clips of whirring factory machinery and brief live shots of the band, can only be seen on a rare 1980s SST video compilation entitled Over 35 Videos Never Before Released.
The black area on the front cover was originally the photograph "Sandra Bennett, twelve year old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, August 23, 1980" http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp05a.jpg taken by Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, but was removed after the threat of a lawsuit. At first the picture was merely covered up with a black sticker, but on later pressings, it was deleted. The same was done with a photo of Disney's Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
on the back cover http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/lp/lp05b.jpg. Very early promotional posters and pressings of the album do feature these photos, but later ones do not. The DGC CD edition features the Magic Kingdom photo, but it is partially obscured by the barcode http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=885158.
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
named Sister the fourteenth best album of the 1980's. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
rated it number eighty in their 'Greatest Albums of All-Time' list, and number thirty-seven in their '50 Greatest Albums of the 80's' list. In July 1995, Alternative Press magazine voted Sister the third best album of the decade spanning 1985–1995.
Track listing
All songs written by Sonic Youth, except where indicated.- "Schizophrenia" (lyrics/vocals Gordon and Moore) – 4:38
- "(I Got A) Catholic Block" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:26
- "Beauty Lies in the Eye" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 2:20
- "Stereo Sanctity" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:50
- "Pipeline/Kill Time" (lyrics/vocals Ranaldo) – 4:35
- "Tuff Gnarl" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:15
- "Pacific Coast Highway" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 4:18
- "Hot Wire My Heart" (Johnny StrikeJohnny StrikeJohnny Strike is an American writer, mostly known as songwriter, guitarist and singer for the proto-punk band Crime based in San Francisco.-Songwriter and Musician:...
) (vocals Moore, Gordon, and Ranaldo) – 3:23 - "Kotton Krown" (lyrics/vocals Gordon and Moore) – 5:08
- "White Kross" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 2:59
Personnel
- Lee RanaldoLee RanaldoLee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Kim GordonKim GordonKim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitar, vocals - Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
– guitar, vocals, Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled... - Steve ShelleySteve ShelleySteven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, programming - Walter SearWalter SearWalter Edmond Sear was an American recording engineer, instrument importer, instrument designer, inventor, composer, tuba player, movie producer, synthesizer pioneer, and vintage recording equipment guru...
– programming - Bill Titus – engineer