Sonic Youth Plan Brief North American Tour

Well, I'll be goddamned if it isn't Sonic Youth. A touring Sonic Youth, even. Still? Well, "again" is perhaps slightly more accurate. A mere month after wrapping up a headlining tour (in lieu of Lollapalooza), the seminal New York art-rockers are venturing out for a few more shows in support of Sonic Nurse-- including one show with renowned torch vamp PJ Harvey (who, awesomely, was spotted by a Spin reader recently wearing her own vintage "50 Ft. Queenie" t-shirt). The tour commences tonight in-- lucky guess!-- New York City, where they'll be rocking the previously-reported-upon Johnny Ramone benefit. And on the 24th, the jaunt will be given closure with a performance at the Shoreline Bridge School Benefit in San Francisco. Dates:

10-08 New York, NY - Spirit (Johnny Ramone Benefit)
10-13 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-16 New Orleans, LA - City Park Voodoo Fest
10-17 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater (w/PJ Harvey)
10-21 Mexico City, Mexico - Circo Volador
10-23 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Bridge School Benefit
10-24 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Bridge School Benefit

Now, let's wax hypothetical for a second. Say that you're a Sonic Youth fan from way back, but you just lost your ears in a fire. Well, guitarist/singer Lee Renaldo has just released a new book. Entitled Lengths & Breaths, and according to Sonic Youth's official site, it functions as a collection of "poems, lyrical memoirs, road visions and more," peppered with photos from Cynthia Connolly.

In another bit of Sonic news, Artemis Records has just released a 1994 live performance of Allen Ginsberg's Wichita Vortex Sutra, which features Renaldo as well as drummer Steve Shelley, in addition to Ginsberg, Lenny Kaye, Philip Glass, Marc Ribot, Arto Lindsay, Michael Blair, Christian Marclay, David Mansfield, Stephan Smith, and Elliot Sharp. We're gonna go out on a limb and guess that the recording is a bit experimental. But who knows, maybe they're doing standards.