One of the inserts in my copy of this album is the programme (?) for the 2007 Don't Look Back shows where Sonic Youth played Daydream Nation from start to finish at the Roundhouse. I remember very little about that performance. Apparently it was Time Out's gig of the year, but Gideon Coe gave me a deservedly sarcastic nod for being first to say "not like it was in the old days" when I emailed him:
They were good, but don't believe all the gushing that some people have been doing. They were fresher when they were playing new material than when they were playing Daydream Nation. No big surprise in that, but I'd rather see a regular SY gig than this slightly stilted version… but then I have to say that because I was there in '89, of course.
I'll never forget that night in 1989, mainly because I feared for my life on the way there. Driving to Manchester from Sheffield in a car rented under someone else's name (uninsured and paid for by our employer — it hadn't even occurred to me that this was illegal), a snowstorm began just I entered the Peak District. Radio traffic bulletins and roadside signs said the Snake Pass was closed, and there were no cars ahead of me, visibility no more than 20 yards. I could have turned off at the Ladybower Reservoir, but there was no alternative route that would get me there in time for the gig, so I pressed on. As I began the steep descent to Glossop a number of lorries were jacknifed and stalled in the opposite direction. But I made it, and still arrived before the doors into the hall at Manchester Univesity opened. When they did, we surged through to find Mudhoney already on stage, heads bobbing Quo-style. By contrast, Sonic Youth's entrance was anti-rock. Thurston wandered onto the stage casually, as if to check that everything was set up OK ("'Scuse me while I just fuck with my gear for a bit"). Next Lee and then Kim, or Kim and then Lee, came on, and also picked up their instruments. But still they were tuning up, solitary meddling rather than ensemble playing. I guess Steve came on and hit a drum, apparently randomly. This went on for a few minutes, and gradually the realisation dawned: This is it; the gig has begun.
The other insert is a signed poster of Sonic Youth, a limited edition bonus when the album was first released in 1988. Proving the authenticity of the signatures would be a challenge. "DUDE! Lee" says the clearest one. Steve looks to have got as far as "Ste" and then lost interest after crossing the t with a flourish. Kim and Thurston appear to have used the same fading marker pen. I'm guessing the "Burp!" is Thurston's — it seems a blokish thing to write. Whatever Kim's scrawl is meant to be, it's completely illegible.
The guy at Record Collector who sold me this forced me to justify my choice of vinyl. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't want the CD version, which had all the songs neatly and cleanly presented on one side, instead. I explained that the CD didn't have the limited edition poster, but even as I said this I wondered whether I was being lame and stupid. Twenty two years on, a preference for limited edition vinyl over shitty little CD is taken-for-granted orthodoxy among all music snobs — the guy in the independent record shop would reward any customer opting for the latter with a trademark sneer — but back then it was fringe.
And while I've got the hindsight goggles on, Daydream Nation seems now like the highwater mark of a particular era of guitar rock. It seems like a savvy eighties update on the line that runs from The Stooges and The Velvet Underground through Pere Ubu, and still retains an experimental edge (Providence is one of my favourite tracks). Soon after this the downhill slide into plaid, grunge and Nirvana. Arguably rock has yet to recover again: Stephin Merritt says Psychocandy is the last rock album, and, though I could makes a case for Raygun Suitcase, Vision Creation Newsun and a few others, there's never since been the critical mass of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Pixies, Loop and many others all at their peak at the same time. Then again, I was 23 when I bought this record, I'm nearly twice that now, so WTFDIK?
It's easy to see why Daydream Nation is the Sonic Youth album that got chosen for the Don't Look Back nostalgia tour. It's got lots of good songs with what they call mainstream crossover potential: catchy tunes and pumping riffs alongside the unusual guitar tunings. Listening to it is like being reacquainted with an old friend — quite the opposite from the meh feeling that the likes of Washing Machine, Dirty, …Jetset&hellip and Murray Street give me. However, I think my personal favourites of theirs include albums they did both before and after this one.
MusicBrainz entry for this album
This is an outstanding piece of work. One of those rare albums that immediately encapsulates a moment in time, both personal and within a wider social context.
Those opening guitar rings give me shivers, and I melt when Kim says "You're it. No, you're it."
Brilliant.
Posted by: M.J. Nicholls | 13 February 2010 at 06:13 PM