LEE RANALDO - Between The Times And The Tides

Who knows if there's a betting agency out there offering odds on whether Sonic Youth will break up or not; what's certain is that the band hasn't held back on anything. Guitar experiments that are still studied today, original melodies that have likewise become a source of inspiration for countless bands, an indie path that emerged from the murkiest corners of downtown New York between the 70s and 80s to arrive, in the 90s, at MTV rotation and a major-label deal in hand.

And now, more recently, even the gossip columns and tabloids have gotten involved. The split of the apparently unshakeable couple Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon left everyone stunned, confirming the theory that love isn't forever, but above all leaving a big question mark over the future of the American band.

Meanwhile, in 2011 Moore released the well-received "Demolished Thoughts", an album with a distinctly acoustic, intimate mood, far removed from electric interplay and noise.

Now it's the turn of the group's other "sonic" guitarist, that Lee Ranaldo whose skewed imagination has always been a precious, if not essential, element in the quartet's success, both in more underground, hardline circles and in more mainstream ones.

Let's say it right away. This is an honest record, very "traditional", nothing more. In fact, the artist has stated that the songs were initially born after he was invited to play an unusual acoustic set in France in 2010 at Midi Festival. The tracks took shape, were polished, and were then electrified alongside partners and friends such as Jim O'Rourke, Alan Licht, Steve Shelley, Irwin Menken, Nels Cline and John Medeski.

What comes through on "Between The Times And Tides" is simply the pleasure of playing, rather than any attempt to seek out jarring or forcibly difficult paths. If anything, what clearly emerges are certain loves, or unconscious influences, for heroes of the last forty years of rock, at times blended together.

All this is evident right away on the opening track "Waiting On A Dream", where the driving riff openly quotes the iconic one from "Paint It, Black!" by the Rolling Stones, while the vocal line is clearly reminiscent of "Darkness Before Dawn" (from 1985's "Night Time") by Jaz Coleman's Killing Joke.

It should be noted that we're talking about the vocal line here, while the overall timbre of his voice and his intonation are very close to Michael Stipe of Rem, truly often bordering on tribute-quotation.

More than once, listening to the CD absent-mindedly, you might mistake it for an album by the Athens band, dug up from some unreleased material from the '80s and perhaps ideally remixed by Sonic Youth themselves. Tracks like "Off The Wall", "Xtina As I Knew Her" and "Angles" lean in that direction even in terms of arrangement, writing that even stumbles into the electro-acoustic-ballad Bob Mould of the Sugar era ("Fire Island").

Ultimately, this isn't one of those essential records you absolutely must own, but it's best approached as a meeting with a dear friend, a chance to spend some fun, relaxing time together without getting lost in deep musings on the great questions of life that make your head spin.

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26/03/2012