When I read about this album, it seemed like such a great idea that I knew I had to buy it. Once I listened to it, well, I wasn't so sure.
On listening again now, I think my initial response may have been a rush to (non-)judgement. At first, listening in background, it felt like Sonic Youth had smoothed out the differences between the compositions by arranging them all for guitar-led rock band. Then I listened again, and realised how completely false that impression had been, as this video makes clear.
Yet still the Pauline Oliveros piece doesn't sound very Oliverosy; the Steve Reich piece isn't so Reichy. The Yoko Ono piece, yes, that twelve seconds of wailing is indeed pretty Onoey; and performed by the five-year-old daughter of two members of the band — a bit cheeky? The earliest of the pieces is from 1951, so it's actually Goodbye Latter Half of 20th Century. Sonic Youth doing Rite of Spring, Ionisation or Vexations ‐ that might have been fun. Kinda.
So I'm still not so sure. When in doubt, check out what other people think. Turns out they're all not so sure. The critics, represented by allmusic, say,
a minimal album of silence occasionally interrupted by strange dissonance that quietly reaps noisy havoc on your mind. The many collaborators make Goodbye 20th Century a curious listen — certainly not your standard Sonic Youth album. Actually, it's not too far removed from the other SYR EPs, especially in terms of production sound.
The fans, collected at Rate Your Music, have a very broad spread of ratings, from 0.5 to 5 out of 5. Many find their patience tested by the sheer volume of material:
I'm sick and tired of this whole over-experimental stuff. And always it has to be so long. Why can't I just have the best of this (Piano Piece #13 (Carpenter's Piece)), why do I have to listen to 100 minutes random noises put together in a slow unexciting way?
The answer is, of course, you don't have to. Nobody's forcing you to buy this, and it's on the SYR label to signal that it's a side project. Go ahead, ignore it. And now you can just download your favourite piece(s) from iTunes or eMusic, if you wish.
Me, I hope to give it another listen when I've got time to sit down and pay more attention.
MusicBrainz entry for this album
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