Thurston Moore – Rad/ATL

December 15, 2024December 16, 2024 RadATL Podcasts & Interviews

Sonic Life: Scenes from an evening with Thurston Moore at The Tara Theater

Thurston Moore at the Tara Theater. Photo by Jeff Shipman

A fun and dynamic evening unfolded at the Tara Theater on Tuesday, December 10, as Thurston Moore appeared in conversation with yours truly, Atlanta music writer Chad Radford.

Introduced by Randy Gue, Assistant Director of Collection Development & Curator of Political, Cultural, & Social Movements for Emory University’s Rose Library, and presented by A Cappella Books, the night was anchored by Moore’s 2023 memoir, Sonic Life. He also reflected on a career that reshaped the alternative and underground musical landscapes of the 1980s, ‘90s, and beyond. In a candid exchange, Moore opened up about the forces that inspired Sonic Youth, navigating the post-punk and no wave underbelly of New York City and the ferocious hardcore emanating from Los Angeles in the early 1980s.

Moore also relived heading out on the road with his Sonic Youth bandmates–Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, and original drummer Bob Bert–for their first out-of-town trek. The “Savage Blunder Tour” carried Sonic Youth and Swans from New York to Atlanta culminating with a deranged performance at the legendary 688 Club.

Later, Moore revealed how writing Sonic Life freed up his mental space, and paved the way into a new creative chapter. His latest album under his name, Flow Critical Lucidity, stands as a testament to this state of mind, blending his signature dissonant guitar textures, rhythms, and space with introspective clarity.

The conversation ranged from the personal to the esoteric, touching on topics like the divisive Faith/Void split 12-inch on Dischord Records, a perennial argument-starter among D.C.’s hardcore purests. Moore’s infectious enthusiasm for such musical touchstones reminded everyone why he remains a revered cultural figure.

Moore also recounted Sonic Youth’s participation in Stuart Swezey’s legendary Desolation Center concert series, playing the 1985 Gila Monster Jamboree in the Mojave Desert. He described the surreal experience of channeling their avant-garde energy into a setting as raw and untamed as the music itself. This set the stage for the night’s closing event: a screening of “Desolation Center,” the documentary that chronicles Swezey’s revolutionary desert concerts.

The evening offered a rare chance to glimpse into Moore’s world through his own words and to explore the intersections of music, memory, and creative reinvention.

Check out a gallery of images from the evening below.

If you missed out, A Cappella Books still has a limited number of signed copies of Sonic Life for sale in the shop.

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November 21, 2024January 11, 2025 RadATL Uncategorized

An Evening with Thurston Moore at The Tara: ‘Sonic Life’ book talk & ‘Desolation Center’ screening on Tuesday, December 10

From the founding member of Sonic Youth, a passionate memoir tracing the author’s life and art—from his teen years as a music obsessive in small-town Connecticut, to the formation of his legendary rock group, to 30 years of creation, experimentation, and wonder.

https://www.acappellabooks.com/pages/events/1157/an-evening-with-thurston-moore-at-the-taraA Cappella Books welcomes Thurston Moore to The Tara to discuss his new book, Sonic Life: A Memoir, on Tuesday, December 10, at 7 p.m. Moore will speak with yours truly, Chad Radford, music writer and author of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History.

Following the conversation, The Tara will host a screening of director Stuart Swezey’s documentary film, Desolation Center, featuring performances by Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, and more. Moore will introduce the film.

A note on the THREE types of tickets available for this event:

Book Talk Ticket
Includes a signed paperback edition of Sonic Life and admission for the 7 p.m. book talk and signing. ($20 + tax)

Book Talk and Movie Ticket
Includes a signed paperback edition of Sonic Life, admission for the 7 p.m. book talk and signing, and the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($36 + tax)

Movie Ticket
Admission to the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($16 + tax)

About the Book
Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds—the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music—to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire.

His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore co-founded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo. Sonic Youth became a fixture in New York’s burgeoning No Wave scene—an avant-garde collision of art and sound, poetry and punk. The band would evolve from critical darlings to commercial heavyweights, headlining festivals around the globe while helping introduce listeners to such artists as Nirvana, Hole, and Pavement and playing alongside such icons as Neil Young and Iggy Pop. Through it all, Moore maintained an unwavering love of music: the new, the unheralded, the challenging, the irresistible.

In the spirit of Just Kids, Sonic Life offers a window into the trajectory of a celebrated artist and a tribute to an era of explosive creativity. It presents a firsthand account of New York in a defining cultural moment, a history of alternative rock as it was birthed and came to dominate airwaves, and a love letter to music, whatever the form. This is a story for anyone who has ever felt touched by sound—who knows the way the right song at the right moment can change the course of a life.

About the Author
Thurston Moore is a founding member of Sonic Youth, a band born in New York in 1981 that spent 30 years at the vanguard of alternative rock, influencing and inspiring such acts as Nirvana, Pavement, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and Beck. The band’s album Daydream Nation was chosen by the Library of Congress for historical preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2006. Moore is involved in publishing and poetry and teaches at the Summer Writing Workshop at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He divides his time between the USA and England.

About the Film
Desolation Center is the previously untold story of a series of early ’80s guerrilla music and art performance happenings in Southern California that are recognized to have inspired Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella, collective experiences that have become key elements of popular culture in the 21st century. The feature documentary splices interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic and more, documenting a time when pushing the boundaries of music, art, and performance felt almost like an unspoken obligation.

Directed by Stuart Swezey, the creator and principal organizer of these unique events, Desolation Center demonstrates how the risky, and at times even reckless, actions of a few outsiders can unintentionally lead to seismic cultural shifts. Combining Swezey’s exclusive access to never-before-seen archival video, live audio recordings, and stills woven together with new cinematically shot interviews, verité footage and animated sequences, Desolation Center captures the spirit of the turbulent times from which these events emerged.

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August 24, 2023September 15, 2024 RadATL Uncategorized

CANCELED: An Evening with Thurston Moore at The Plaza Theatre: ‘Sonic Life’ book talk & ‘Desolation Center’ screening on Monday, October 30

CANCELED: This live appearance has been canceled, but you can hear Thurston Moore’s interview with Chad Radford on 90.1 FM/WABE’s “City Lights” on Monday, October 30 at 11 a.m. and again at 8 p.m.

A Cappella Books welcomes Thurston Moore to The Plaza Theatre to discuss his new book, Sonic Life: A Memoir, on Monday, October 30, at 7 p.m. Moore will speak with your truly, Chad Radford, music journalist and author of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History. Moore will also perform a short musical set.

Following the conversation, The Plaza will host a screening of director Stuart Swezey’s documentary, Desolation Center, featuring performances by Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, and more. Moore will introduce the film.

A note on the THREE types of tickets available for this event:

Book Talk Ticket:
Includes a pre-signed copy of Sonic Life + admission for the 7 p.m. book talk. ($35+tax).

Book Talk and Movie Ticket:
Includes a pre-signed copy of Sonic Life + admission for the 7 p.m. book talk, and the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($45+tax).

Movie Ticket:
Admission to the 8:30 p.m. screening of Desolation Center. ($20 + tax)

If you have enjoyed reading this post, please consider making a donation to RadATL. Venmo to @Chad-Radford-6 or click on the Paypal link below.

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 RadATL New music

Sonic Youth unleashes Blastic Scene (Live in Lisbon 1993)

Blastic Scene (Live in Lisbon 1993) was a semi-official bootleg, now unleashed via Bandcamp, celebrating 26 years of Sonic Youth’s 1994 album, Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star.

In many ways, Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star is a revelatory album for the group. Songs such as “Bull In the Heather,” “Self-Obsessed and Sexxee,” and “In the Mind of the Bourgeois Reader” distil the sharp songwriting honed between 1988’s Daydream Nation through 1992s Dirty with the roughly-hewn drone and clatter of 1985’s Bad Moon Rising.

Blastic Scene captures a live, 17-song set, recorded July 14, 1993, in a bullring in Campo Pequeno, Lisbon. The recording stamps in time Sonic Youth’s first ever concert in Portugal. It also offers an early snapshot of many of the songs that later ended up on Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star when they were still works in progress.

The texture and the urgency that binds a number like “Skink” to careening renditions of “100%,” “Screaming Skull,” and “Sugar Kane” underscores the symbiotic flow and propulsive motion of the group’s larger vision.

“Starting around the time of Daydream we loved taking new material out and playing it live a few times before we recorded the new songs in the studio,” says drummer Steve Shelley. “Sometimes [we’d do it] in smaller clubs like the original Knitting Factory, where we previewed early Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No songs during an Ecstatic Peace! showcase, and later at T.T. the Bear’s Place in Boston where we played Daydream Nation material before it was recorded as the Steve Shelley Experience.”

For this summer of ’93 European festival tour, the group rolled out five or six Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No songs each night. “Playing the songs live before we recorded helped see what worked—it’s kind of like sink or swim—either the material worked or it didn’t and needed more help in the rehearsal room,” Shelley says.

The Blastic Scene recordings were previously released in Portugal via Moneyland Records in 1995. A portion of the CD pressing was made available via the group’s Sonic Death fan club and zine.

The recording, mastered by then unknown producer and electronic and avant-garde music composer and performer Rafael Toral captures all of the atmosphere and the energy in one cohesive swoop.