Pitchfork

Remember in 1999, when a vanload of Sonic Youth's gear was stolen in southern California? It seems the band is making baby steps towards recovering the precious cargo of custom-modified instruments, amps, and accessories. According to Los Angeles CityBeat, this summer, a mysterious fan approached the Sonics, claiming a family member was responsible for the theft, and delivered some of the goods. The band recently posted on their website that two of Lee Ranaldo's guitars have been reunited with their owner. "Thanks to the helpful folks who made the recovery possible," they wrote. "It seems that some or most of the stolen gear might still be in California." So keep your eyes out!

Hey, maybe they can stop being a hippie jam band now and get back to the rawk. After finishing a busy few months of touring, it would seem that Sonic Youth could once again do great deeds with those noisemaking machines. However, the gear's triumphant homecoming (no doubt heralding many proclamations of "Sonic Youth return to form, for real") may be less anticipated by the time the band gets through with everything planned for the next few months.

As a group, Sonic Youth will release the sixth recording on their SYR label probably before the end of the year. SYR 6, which is close to being completed, documents a performance with drummer/percussionist Tim Barnes on April 12, 2003 at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Portions of the profits will benefit AFA.

On the reissues front, Sonic Youth released the "deluxe edition" of their 1990 album Goo on September 13. The band expects their long-lost eponymous EP from 1982 to be re-released by Geffen in early 2006. The band's oddball homage to Madonna, Ciccone Youth's The Whitey Album will also be reissued around the same time, as will Thurston Moore's 1995 solo album, Psychic Hearts.

As usual, the individual Sonics have plenty of solo/side project action going on. Moore will contribute songs to the second annual Deathbomb Arc Tape Club series, which has begun accepting subscriptions. The series will also include work from Tussle, Books on Tape, Chaki, Skull Skull (featuring members of Liars and Young People), and nearly 20 more artists dedicating to re-calibrating your aural senses. Moore, as well as fellow SY guitarist Lee Ranaldo, also have separate art shows running in New York, while Gordon has recently finished work on a collaborative film entitled Perfect Partner: Everything You Ever Wanted in a Car which has been screening in Europe the past week. So. Excuse Sonic Youth if they don't immediately hurry off and play with their newly recovered toys. They do, however, have a few live shows lined up in the near future. Maybe the toys will get a workout here:

10-26 Paris, France - Cite de la Musique (John Lennon tribute)
10-27 Paris, France - Cite de la Musique (John Lennon tribute)
10-28 Valencia, Spain - Greenspace
11-26 Sao Paulo, Brazil - Claro E Rock Festival
11-27 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Claro E Rock Festival

The band is currently in pre-production for their next studio album, tentatively titled Sonic Life, which will be the final record of their contract with Geffen records. Kim Gordon recently told the Belgian magazine De Morgen that the disc will be "very song-oriented". Who knows, maybe they'll deliver that Top 40 hit we've been waiting for. The Grateful Dead pulled it off over twenty years into their career, why can't SY?

Besides the inclusion of the newly returned instruments, Sonic Life will feature another change from the Sonic Youth formula of recent years. That same Los Angeles CityBeat article hints at a rumor that has been flying around the interweb recently: that Jim O'Rourke's time with Sonic Youth has ended. "Guitarist Jim O'Rourke, who joined the band as its fifth member in 1999, is here too, but won't be on the next SY album, set to begin recording next spring," it says. "He's moving on." Ooh, mysterious. But fear not, dear reader. We're on the case.