Every few years New York's finest, Sonic Youth, release a new album and music fans of a certain stripe (ie someone like me) go all warm inside. Their new one, the aptly named The Eternal was released this week and is being streamed here.

I was first introduced to Sonic Youth in my late teens when my history teacher, of all people, recommended I listen to EVOL; the first in a trio of glorious late 80s albums of strange noise, great rock tunes and weird experimentation that placed them at the top of the US alternative music scene. While EVOL remains my personal favourite, the third of those records, Daydream Nation from 1988 is probably their most revered.

I've put together a playlist of a few of my favourite Sonic Youth tunes. Though there are so many to choose from I could have come up with an entirely different list on a different day - I even managed to include the opening track from NYC Ghosts & Flowers, perhaps their most reviled album; Pitchfork awarded it a score of 0.0 (out of ten), however I rather like it and this review provides a good argument for its merits.

Click here to listen to the playlist on Spotify (free registration required).

Pitchfork has been enjoying something of a Sonic Youth week on their site - there's a live studio performance, an art film and a nice interview with the band up there thus far. Here's a bit of the interview (look out for the anecodote Thurston Moore tells about quitting his school flute class as a teenager because his teacher tried to make him wear a bow-tie for a performance - it's little wonder they became one of the coolest bands around).



Not surprisingly the web is a beacon for Sonic Youth fans. It's great to be able to find videos of the band that you're unlikely to ever see on TV. Their own website is a great resource too, while on YouTube is a great South Bank Show documentary about the band from the late 80s. 

Here's the video for "Dirty Boots", complete with an unlikely mosh-pit romance.



Here's the collage video for "Teenage Riot". How many musicians and counter-culture icons you can name? Answers on a post-card...