Released November 16, 1999 Length 105:42 Release date 16 November 1999 | Recorded March–August 1999, NYC Artist Sonic Youth Label Sonic Youth Recordings | |
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Producer Sonic Youth, William Winant, Jim O'Rourke SYR4 Goodbye 20th Century
(1999) NYC Ghosts & Flowers
(2000) Genre 20th-century classical music Similar Sonic Youth albums, Noise rock albums | ||
Christian wolff edges
SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century is the 11th studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It is a double album of versions of pieces by avant-garde composers, performed by Sonic Youth and collaborators.
Contents
Sonic youth four6 john cage
Background
SYR4 featured works by avant-garde classical composers such as John Cage, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich and Christian Wolff, played by Sonic Youth and several collaborators from the modern avant-garde music scene, such as Christian Marclay, William Winant, Wharton Tiers and Takehisa Kosugi.
Unlike other entries in the SYR series, SYR4's liner notes were written in English.
Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's daughter Coco Hayley Moore provided the vocals for "Voice Piece for Soprano" on disc 1.
Release
SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century was released on CD and vinyl. The vinyl version had a slightly different track order, due to the side length constraints of the format. The first disc of the CD edition contained a QuickTime video of a performance of "Piano Piece No. 13 (Carpenter's Piece)", which showed Sonic Youth nailing piano keys down one by one.
Critical reception
SYR: Goodbye 20th Century received mixed reviews from critics, but most praised the group's efforts at popularizing and reinterpreting the composers' works.
Songs
1Edges16:04
2Six (3rd Take)3:03
3Six For New Time (For Sonic Youth)8:06