SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century

SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century
Studio album by Sonic Youth
Released	November 16, 1999
Recorded	March–August 1999, NYC
Genre	Modern classical, harsh noise, experimental
Length	105:42
Label	SYR
Producer	Sonic Youth, William Winant, Jim O'Rourke
Sonic Youth chronology
Silver Session for Jason Knuth (1998) SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century (1999) NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000)

SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century is an 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.

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, about 5 years old at the time of recording, 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Alternative Press	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	C+ [4]
NME	7/10 [5]
Pitchfork	8.5/10 [6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin	favorable [2]
Sputnikmusic	3.5/5 [8]

SYR: Goodbye 20th Century received mixed reviews from critics, but most praised the group's efforts at popularizing and reinterpreting the composers' works. The album placed second in The Wire 's annual critics' poll for record of the year. ^[9]

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performers	Length
1.	"Edges"	Christian Wolff	Wolff, Jim O'Rourke, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Takehisa Kosugi, Thurston Moore, William Winant	16:03
2.	"Six (3rd Take)"	John Cage	O'Rourke, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	3:03
3.	"Six for New Time (For Sonic Youth)"	Pauline Oliveros	O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Moore, Winant	8:06
4.	"+–"	Takehisa Kosugi	O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	7:01
5.	"Voice Piece for Soprano"	Yoko Ono	Coco Hayley Moore	0:17
6.	"Pendulum Music"	Steve Reich	Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Moore	5:55

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)		Length
1.	"Having Never Written a Note for Percussion"	James Tenney	O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	9:09
2.	"Six (4th Take)"	Cage	O'Rourke, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	2:10
3.	"Burdocks"	Wolff	Christian Marclay, Wolff, O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	13:12
4.	"Four6"	Cage	O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant, Wharton Tiers	30:01
5.	"Piano Piece No. 13 (Carpenter's Piece) (For Nam June Paik)"	George Maciunas	Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Moore	3:58
6.	"Pièce enfantine"	Nicolas Slonimsky	Ranaldo, Winant	1:28
7.	"Treatise (Page 183)"	Cornelius Cardew	O'Rourke, Gordon, Ranaldo, Shelley, Kosugi, Moore, Winant	3:25

Personnel

Sonic Youth

• Thurston Moore – vocals, guitar, production
• Kim Gordon – vocals, guitar, bass, production
• Lee Ranaldo – vocals, guitar, production
• Steve Shelley – drums, percussion, production

Additional personnel

• Jim O'Rourke – bass, production
• William Winant – percussion, production
• Takehisa Kosugi – violin
• Christian Wolff – keyboards
• Christian Marclay – turntables
• Coco Hayley Moore – vocals

Technical

• Wharton Tiers – recording
• Luc Suer – recording
• Steve Fallone – mastering
• Chris Habib – sleeve graphics

References

1. Birchmeier, Jason. "SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century – Sonic Youth : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
2. "Sonic Youth - SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century CD Album". CD Universe . Retrieved June 21, 2013.
3. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Sonic Youth". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
4. Farber, Jim (January 14, 2000). "Goodbye 20th Century". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
5. "Album Reviews - SYR4 - Goodbye 20th Century". NME . December 1, 1999. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
6. Sirota, Brent S. (January 31, 2000). "Sonic Youth: Goodbye 20th Century | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
7. "Sonic Youth: Album Guide". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
8. Butler, Nick (January 17, 2007). "Review: SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
9. "99 Rewind: 50 Records of the Year" . The Wire . No. 190/191. London. January 2000. p. 67. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018– via Exact Editions.(subscription required)

External links

• SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century information on the band's official website
• SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century at Discogs (list of releases)