A Thousand Leaves
Studio album by
Sonic Youth
ReleasedMay 12, 1998 [CD], April 21, 1998 [vinyl]
StudioEcho Canyon (New York City)
Genre
Length73:36
LabelDGC
Producer
Sonic Youth chronology
SYR3: Invito al ĉielo
(1998)		 A Thousand Leaves
(1998)		 Silver Session for Jason Knuth
(1998)
Sonic Youth studio album chronology
Washing Machine
(1995)		 A Thousand Leaves
(1998)		 NYC Ghosts & Flowers
(2000)
Singles from A Thousand Leaves
  1. "Sunday"
    Released: April 23, 1998

A Thousand Leaves is the tenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on CD and cassette on May 12, 1998, by DGC Records. A double-LP vinyl issue had been released three weeks earlier (April 21, 1998) on My So Called Records. It was the band's first album recorded at their own studio in Lower Manhattan, which was built with the money they had made at the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. Since the band had an unlimited amount of time to work in their studio, the album features numerous lengthy and improvisational tracks that were developed unevenly. The highly experimental extended plays Anagrama, Slaapkamers met slagroom, and Invito al ĉielo were recorded simultaneously with the album.

A Thousand Leaves reached number 85 on the US Billboard 200 and number 38 on the UK Albums Chart. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the lengthy, quiet guitar interplay between band members Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. However, some criticized the forced vocal delivery of member Kim Gordon and found several tracks to be unnecessarily long and poorly constructed. The song "Sunday" was released as a single with a music video directed by Harmony Korine and starring American actor Macaulay Culkin.

Background and recording

A Thousand Leaves is the follow-up to Sonic Youth's 1995 album Washing Machine, which was released shortly after the band concluded their stint headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza music festival.[1] With the money they had made at the festival, the band decided to build a recording studio, called Echo Canyon, on Murray Street in Lower Manhattan.[1][2] The span of nearly three years between Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves also represented the longest gap between studio albums in Sonic Youth's career at the time. Singer and guitarist Thurston Moore explained that the band needed a break, noting that they had been touring non-stop for 16 years. He said, "We're having children, we're getting older, let's just cool out a little bit and build this workshop, and go that way, work that route."[3] In their new studio, the band began writing new songs from extended improvisations in rehearsal.[3] Several instrumental jams were released as extended plays through the band's own record label, Sonic Youth Recordings, and distributed by Smells Like Records, an independent record label previously formed by drummer Steve Shelley.[3] These include Anagrama, Slaapkamers met slagroom and Invito al ĉielo.[3]

Since A Thousand Leaves was the first Sonic Youth album that was recorded in their own studio, the band had more time and freedom to work on it.[3] As a result, the songs evolved unevenly and were recorded from an early stage of development.[4] According to guitarist Lee Ranaldo, the album is "a reflection of where we were at the time. We weren't into making anything concise. We were just playing what we felt like playing. We really didn't feel like what we needed to be doing was producing another record like Goo."[1] The 11-minute song "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)" was initially intended to be released on one of the EPs as an instrumental track, but it was ultimately included on the album with vocals.[3] The album was co-produced by the band and Confusion Is Sex producer Wharton Tiers and mastered by Greg Calbi at Masterdisk in New York City.[5]

Music and lyrics

Musically, A Thousand Leaves was considered more expansive and relaxed than previous Sonic Youth albums, with less feedback and more guitar playing and improvisation.[3][6] According to David Browne, the record explored post-rock sounds that were "subtler" and "quirkier" than most mainstream rock at the time.[1] The title of the album was inspired by Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.[7] According to Moore, "The same way he improvises with images and words, we improvise with sounds and notes".[7] He also attributed the style of the album to the fact that the band was getting older, commenting, "You also become much involved with your thoughts about life experience in general. Having children is incredible in that way."[3] The song "Snare, Girl" explored these topics.[1] The longest song on the album, "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)", referenced American poet Allen Ginsberg and contains an instrumental interlude that was described as "a subtle, drawn-out passage of Morse code guitar lines and lazy afternoon with wah-wah pedal licks—bliss in slow motion."[1]

Like previous Sonic Youth albums, A Thousand Leaves also contains songs that deal with gender roles and stereotypes.[8] The song "Female Mechanic Now on Duty", sung by band member Kim Gordon, was a reaction to how journalists categorize female musicians.[9] It was inspired by Meredith Brooks's hit "Bitch".[1] Similarly, in "The Ineffable Me", Gordon expressed her opposition to such limitations.[9] The song "Karen Koltrane", sung by Ranaldo, is about a lover from his college days who had "a far less extraordinary adulthood" than he had first thought,[1] while "Hoarfrost", which was originally titled "Woodland Ode", was inspired when Ranaldo and his wife Leah Singer went for a walk in the snow during a visit they made to Singer's parents in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.[1] The track "Sunday" is generally considered the album's most accessible song.[10][11] It was originally recorded for Richard Linklater's 1997 film SubUrbia, but was later re-recorded for A Thousand Leaves.[1]

Release

A Thousand Leaves was released on vinyl, CD, and cassette formats on May 12, 1998, by DGC Records.[12] The album cover features an artwork by artist Marnie Weber, which depicts a hamster and Weber herself at age 12 sporting animal horns.[13] According to Moore, the image is a reference to the Unlimited Edition compilation album by German experimental rock band Can.[4] Originally, the album was titled Mille Feuille (French for A Thousand Leaves) and was intended to feature an image of Moore holding a pastry as the cover art.[1] To promote the album, a radio edit version of "Sunday" was released as a single to modern rock, college, and public radio in April 1998.[3] The band also supported the album with a tour across the US and Canada from May to June 1998.[14]

Upon release, A Thousand Leaves reached No. 85 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 38 on the UK Albums Chart.[15][16] The album also charted in other countries, including France, Belgium, Sweden and Norway.[17][18][19][20] The single "Sunday" reached No. 72 in the UK Singles Chart and was eventually released on vinyl and CD on July 14, 1998, containing a Nirvana cover, "Moist Vagina", as one of its B-sides.[16][21] A music video directed by Harmony Korine and starring Macaulay Culkin was made for the single.[22] The band chose Korine due to his work on the films Kids (1995) and Gummo (1997), the first of which featured several young actors who previously appeared in the music video for the band's 1993 single "Sugar Kane", including American actress Chloë Sevigny.[22] As of July 1999, the album had sold 54,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.[23] And as of 2005, the album had sold 66,000 copies.[24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[25]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[10]
The Guardian[26]
Los Angeles Times[11]
NME9/10[27]
Pitchfork7.1/10 (1998)[28]
7.6/10 (2019)[29]
Rolling Stone[30]
Spin7/10[8]
The Village VoiceA+[31]

A Thousand Leaves was well received by critics, some of whom regarded it as one of Sonic Youth's best albums yet.[32] Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album as "the band's most challenging and satisfying record in years" and praised its quiet guitars and unpredictable twists, which kept the lengthy songs captivating.[6] Pitchfork editor Brent DiCrescenzo cited "Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)" as the album's centerpiece and highlighted the album's jamming, improvising, and guitar interplay between Moore and Ranaldo.[28] David Stubbs of Spin criticized Gordon's weak singing and forced guitar playing on "Contre le sexisme", "Female Mechanic Now on Duty", and "The Ineffable Me", but nevertheless judged the "continually inventive fretboard effects" of Moore and Ranaldo, which "[sparkle] gold-plating adornments that cut open and irritate [the album] at every turn."[8]

Other reviews were less enthusiastic. Sara Scribner from Los Angeles Times said that A Thousand Leaves was a monotonous "experimental, psychedelic record" that felt "like a passionless, less thoughtful shadow of [the band's] former self".[11] J.D. Considine of Entertainment Weekly stated similar cons, calling the record "the sort of thing that gives art rock a bad name."[10] Ben Ratliff of Rolling Stone found the songs to be unnecessarily long and sluggish, commenting that the album "really does sound like a demo — eleven songs waiting for better organization and cliché removal".[30] Similarly, Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club felt that the album rarely contained fully formed songs and that the band should start "completing its ideas before recording them for posterity."[33] Orlando Weekly criticized Gordon's "contrived and annoying" vocal delivery, saying that many songs are "merely lengthy feedback collages with pasted-on vocals and gobs of art-school pretension", but also admitted that the album contains some "hidden gems" like "Sunday" and "Wildflower Soul".[34]

In a very positive review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called A Thousand Leaves a mature and beautiful record, commenting: "It's the music of a daydream nation old enough to treasure whatever time it finds on its hands. Where a decade ago [Sonic Youth] plunged and plodded, drunk on the forward notion of the van they were stuck in, here they wander at will, dazzled by sunshine, greenery, hoarfrost and machines that go squish in the night."[31] Although the album was not ranked in the Top 40 of The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1998, Christgau, the poll's creator, placed it at No. 3 in his own "Dean's List".[35][36] He would later name it one of the 10 best records of the 1990s.[37] Similarly, the editors of NME placed the album at No. 40 in their year-end top 50 list.[38] The Wire named the album its record of the year in its year-end critics' poll.[39]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sonic Youth

No.TitleLyricsVocalsLength
1."Contre le sexisme"GordonGordon3:55
2."Sunday"MooreMoore4:52
3."Female Mechanic Now on Duty"GordonGordon7:43
4."Wildflower Soul"MooreMoore, Gordon (background vocals)9:04
5."Hoarfrost"RanaldoRanaldo5:01
6."French Tickler"GordonGordon4:52
7."Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)"MooreMoore11:05
8."Karen Koltrane"RanaldoRanaldo, Moore (background vocals)9:20
9."The Ineffable Me"MooreGordon5:21
10."Snare, Girl"MooreMoore6:38
11."Heather Angel"GordonGordon6:09
Total length:73:36

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[5]

Sonic Youth

Technical

Charts

Album

Chart performance for A Thousand Leaves
Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[40] 66
Belgian Albums Chart[18] 28
French Albums Chart[17] 32
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 84
Norwegian Albums Chart[20] 37
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 43
UK Albums Chart[16] 38
US Billboard 200[15] 85

Singles

Song Chart (1998) Peak
"Sunday" UK Singles Chart 72[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Browne, David (May 2008). "Chapter 11". Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306815157.
  2. ↑ DeGroot, Joey (September 29, 2014). "6 Albums Named After The Place Where They Were Recorded: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, And More". Musictimes.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Morris, Chris (April 11, 1998). "Geffen's Sonic Youth Turn Over Sound With 'Leaves'". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 15. pp. 14, 64. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Coley, Byron (1998). A Thousand Leaves One Sheet (CD liner notes). Deerfield, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Sonic Youth (1998). A Thousand Leaves (CD booklet). New York City: DGC Records. DGC #25203.
  6. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "A Thousand Leaves – Sonic Youth". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  7. 1 2 McCutchen, Andrew (June 1, 2000). "Sonic Youth: An interview with Thurston Moore". Spike Magazine. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Stubbs, David (June 1998). "Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 6. pp. 128–129. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Raha, Maria (December 2004). Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground. Seal Press. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-1580051163.
  10. 1 2 3 Considine, J.D. (May 15, 1998). "A Thousand Leaves". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Scribner, Sara (June 12, 1998). "Album Review". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ "A Thousand Leaves". Sonicyouth.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Marnie Weber: Send in the Clowns". Juxtapoz. September 19, 2016. Archived from the original on January 1, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Sonic Youth Preparing To Release 'A Thousand Leaves' As Tour Looms". MTV. May 4, 1998. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  15. 1 2 "Sonic Youth". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Sonic Youth". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  17. 1 2 "A Thousand Leaves". Lescharts.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  18. 1 2 "A Thousand Leaves". Ultratop. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  19. 1 2 "A Thousand Leaves". Swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  20. 1 2 "A Thousand Leaves". Norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Sunday". Sonicyouth.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Thurston Moore Talks About Teaming With Harmony, Macaulay For New Video". MTV. May 5, 1998. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  23. ↑ Boehm, Mike (July 1, 1999). "Emerging From Under Rock". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  24. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (July 25, 2005). "You Thought I Was Backing Out". Sashafrerejones.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  25. ↑ Larkin, Colin (September 2007). "Sonic Youth". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1846098567.
  26. ↑ Sweeting, Adam (May 22, 1998). "Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves (Geffen)". The Guardian.
  27. ↑ Cameron, Keith (May 9, 1998). "Sonic Youth – A Thousand Leaves". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  28. 1 2 DiCrescenzo, Brent (June 1, 1998). "Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  29. ↑ Bloom, Madison (May 9, 2019). "A Thousand Leaves". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  30. 1 2 Ratliff, Ben (May 6, 1998). "A Thousand Leaves". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  31. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (June 2, 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  32. ↑ Buckley, Peter (November 2003). "Sonic Youth". The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 977. ISBN 978-1843531050.
  33. ↑ Thompson, Stephen (May 29, 2002). "Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Review - A Thousand Leaves". Orlando Weekly. June 4, 1998. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  35. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 2, 1999). "The 1998 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  36. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 2, 1999). "Pazz & Jop 1998: Dean's List". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Answers From the Dean: Online Exchange with Robert Christgau, Part V". Rockcriticsarchives.com. July 1, 2002. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  39. ↑ "98 Rewind: 50 Records of the Year". The Wire. No. 179. January 1999. p. 27 – via Exact Editions.
  40. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 260.
  41. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Sonic Youth – A Thousand Leaves" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
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