Skip to product information
1 of 1

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth - Spinhead Sessions 1986 (LP)

Sonic Youth - Spinhead Sessions 1986 (LP)

Regular price $18.30
Regular price Sale price $18.30
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Ships in 1-2 Business Days!

Low stock: 2 left

View full details
View Artist: Sonic Youth
SKU: HEHOEM-P3L3-00

  |  UPC: 787996802114

Like Smart Bar: Chicago 1985, Spinhead Sessions is another fascinating document from the years between Sonic Youth's no wave beginnings and their time as college and alt-rock titans. Named for the studio in which they were recorded, Spinhead Sessions collects 1986 rehearsals for their music for Ken Friedman's dark, cross-country road movie Made in USA. They're markedly different from the finished score, which was released in 1994 by Rhino Records. The band embarked on this project after releasing the haunting EVOL, and while Made in USA nodded to that album, it often felt curtailed and slick, sending up budding indie rock cliches with an irony the band used more artfully on its '90s albums. By contrast, Spinhead Sessions goes deeper into EVOL's sullen mix of chaos and dead calm: the lumbering beat and brittle guitar harmonics on "Theme with Noise" could be the mirror twin of "Tom Violence." However, Sonic Youth uses a more limited palette than they did on either EVOL or Made in USA to conjure the promise and menace of the open road on these dark, expansive tracks. On songs such as the nearly 17-minute-long opener "Ambient Guitar & Dreamy Theme," feedback, drones, and wind chimes evoke the faint but persistent smoke of Centralia, Pennsylvania, where a coal mine fire has burned for decades and the film's journey begins. The band allows these elements to float, sink, and collide at will throughout Spinhead Sessions: "High Mesa," for example, begins with a tumbling rhythm, then quickens into what could be the backdrop for a chase scene before coalescing into low-slung rock. Even shorter tracks such as the implosive "Scalping" and "Unknown Theme" and lighter cuts like "Wolf" and "Theme 1 [Take 4]" maintain this shadowy, searching quality, and take the experiments of this era to a logical extreme. As hypnotic as Spinhead Sessions is, its tracks may have been too attention-getting in their own right to be used as a film score. Nevertheless, it's something of a gold mine for fans of Sonic Youth's mid-'80s output, which was some of the most challenging and beautiful music of their career. ~ Heather Phares

  • Format: Vinyl
  • Genre: Rock, Soundtrack
  • Remember, for our lowest prices, always order directly from our official JocoRecords website!

Track Listing:

Ambient Guitar & Dreamy Theme    16:39
Theme With Noise    4:16
High Mesa    8:36
Unknown Theme    2:41
Wolf    1:37
Scalping    3:57
Theme 1 (Take 4)    2:32

Carbon-neutral shipping with Shopify Planet
Joco Records Funds Carbon-Neutral Shipping on ALL Orders
11596kg
shipping emissions removed
That's like...
29685
miles driven by an average gasoline-powered car
We fund innovations in...
Soil
Forest

NOTE:

ALL albums listed on our website are 100% brand new and sealed. We only sell vinyl, and no other media format. We do not sell used vinyl. We also use industry-leading packaging to prevent damage during shipping. Shipping insurance is optional at checkout but is still highly recommended. Please Read our shipping and returns policy if you have any further questions.

We work hard to keep as many albums in stock as we possibly can. However, if the desired item is currently out of stock, we highly recommend joining the waitlist by entering your email address or phone number on this page. By doing this, we can notify you the second the item is back in stock. We will never spam or sell your information. :) 

Meta Artist: Sonic Youth


Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)