Lee Ranaldo, co-founder of avant-garde rock group
Sonic Youth, was born in 1956 in East Norwich, NY. In addition to constant touring with
Sonic Youth,
Ranaldo has been extremely active in the New York music scene for the past 20 years, recording and collaborating with numerous acts, producing discs, and publishing several books of poetry and journal entries.
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Lee Ranaldo, co-founder of avant-garde rock group
Sonic Youth, was born in 1956 in East Norwich, NY. In addition to constant touring with
Sonic Youth,
Ranaldo has been extremely active in the New York music scene for the past 20 years, recording and collaborating with numerous acts, producing discs, and publishing several books of poetry and journal entries.
After moving to New York in 1979,
Ranaldo briefly attempted to revive the Fluks before playing in a series of acts including
Rhys Chatham and Plus Instruments (with whom he recorded an LP in 1982). Through
Chatham,
Ranaldo met the charismatic composer Glenn Branca, who created
avant-garde pieces for electric guitar ensembles. Through the burbling downtown no wave scene of the early '80s,
Ranaldo met future
Sonic Youth bandmates
Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon.
Throughout the '80s, the band worked hard to sustain themselves, recording and touring constantly. The early years of the band are documented in a book of road journals written by
Ranaldo and published by Soft Skull Press in the mid-'90s. In 1987, he released his first solo album, From Here to Infinity, on SST Records, a vinyl release with locking grooves at the end of each track.
By the early '90s, after the completion and subsequent canonization of their seminal
Daydream Nation (and probably partially by dint of sheer survival),
Sonic Youth was looked up to as elders in the fledgling alternative music scene, acting as mentors to dozens of younger bands (including
Nirvana). In this role,
Ranaldo has produced albums for
Babes in Toyland,
You Am I, Deity Guns, and others.
Ranaldo's role in the ever-
experimental Sonic Youth has been an important one, acting as a textural axis for Gordon and Moore. Though he typically only contributed a handful of songs to each
Sonic Youth recording,
Ranaldo quickly developed his own songwriting style -- throbbing beats topped with beat-influenced, half-spoken/half-sung poetry delivered in
Ranaldo's reassuring, gently confident voice, such as "Eric's Trip" on
Daydream Nation and the title track off of 1999's NYC Ghosts & Flowers.
In addition to releasing a book of his poetry (also published by Soft Skull Press),
Ranaldo has also edited a volume of tour journals from the 1995 Lollapalooza Tour written by Moore,
Beck,
Stephen Malkmus (of
Pavement),
Courtney Love, and others.
Ranaldo also has an ongoing collaboration with
jazz drummer William Hooker. The two create dissonant music -- Hooker on drums,
Ranaldo on modified guitars, synthesizers, and other electronics -- while taking turns reading and improvising poetry. ~ Jesse Jarnow, All Music Guide
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