Thurston Moore: Lost To The City/Noise To Nowhere

Perhaps if Jimi Hendrix had decided to delve into free-rock-jazz or if Albert Ayler was an electric guitarist they respectively may have come up with something similar to this new release featuring - Sonic Youth - guitarist, Thurston Moore. Naturally it is fun to speculate yet we must bestow credit where credit is due as Moore has been an innovator in his own right for many years. Here, along with master drummers William Winant and Tom Surgal, Moore exhibits his free-jazz roots and/or tendencies on this release, which was recorded, live in Zurich, Switzerland 1997. Lost To the City/Noise To Nowhere is not only the title but also represents the two lone tracks on this power packed and thoroughly exhilarating effort.

Thurston Moore’s long standing affiliation with the New York City based experimental rock band – Sonic Youth - is well documented; however, many of the group’s fans might not be fully cognizant of Moore’s ongoing involvement with the avant-garde or “new jazz” scene. Once again, the guitarist transposes his idiosyncratic guitar expertise to the improvised or free jazz realm along with the stirring support of Winant and Surgal. “Lost To The City” is the 54-minute opener and features the guitarist building themes in gradual fashion while skillfully utilizing controlled-feedback, volume control techniques and rippling harmonics as part of his explosive yet generally thought provoking style of execution. Moore directs the overall volume of the proceedings as he constructs themes and motifs that seemingly propagate into layers that compound or multiply yet often segue into other passages that in turn spawn new notions and sequences. Throughout, Winant and Surgal are a 2-man army, as this trio often resembles a larger ensemble mainly due to the great wall of sound and the dual drummer’s aggressive onslaught..... If you thought that electronic feedback was annoying or perhaps the result of a faulty sound system, then you might reconsider upon hearing Moore’s wailing yet at times poignant articulations while performing on his heavily amplified electric guitar. Essentially, this is improvised music of a high order. Perhaps, Moore, Winant and Surgal were engaged in some form of spiritual bliss yet the overall state of being is left to the listener’s imagination where time and place does not really matter! Recommended. * * * *

* The CD liners also includes a very insightful interview with Thurston Moore

Visit the Intakt website at: www.intaktrec.ch or email the nice folks at Intakt Records: [email protected]

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