Sonic Youth

Master-dik

Goofin'

CD $9.50

09/25/2015 787996801421

GOO 014 CD

MP3 $13.50

03/11/2008 787996801421

GOO 014

FLAC $13.50

03/11/2008 787996801421

A slight hiccup in our production? This is the infamous EP that Blast First label head Paul Smith begged us not to release. It has long been reviled or misunderstood by many! The song itself, Master-Dik – possibly a play on words related to Masterdisk, where we mastered our albums in those days – first saw light of day in a different version as a bonus track on the Sister CD when it came out. That was the ‘non-beatbox version’ (meaning Steve was playing the drums). The version on this EP has full beatbox in effect. J Mascis even puts in an appearance on lead guitar! In essence, although this track was recorded during and associated with the Sister era, it actual looked ahead to the making of the Ciccone Youth Whitey Album about 18 months later. It was the first appearance by the Royal Tuff Titty, who at one point even declares “We’re Ciccone!”

Following Beat on the Brat, Side 2 journeys thru a sonic wonderland of 14 selections (or is it 15? 13?), beginning with an except from a live Radio Suisse broadcast as we goofed around with Beatles and George Benson covers (you kinda had to be there) and a bunch of other soundscapes, rehearsal takes and sound effects, including one of my favorite tracks from this period, ‘Our Backyard’ (not kidding). We were playing with ‘scope, expanding and contracting in new and different ways. In any case, love it or hate it, we went ahead and released it over Paul’s objections, and, defying predictions, it didn’t derail our career. The Peter Anderson photos with the spray paint spiral behind became emblematic of this period and were widely seen at the time.

- - Lee Ranaldo