Confusion Is Next

In the years since its formation in 1981, the New York experimental indie rock outfit Sonic Youth has become a touchstone for alternative musicians and fans alike. Its constantly evolving musical palette has embraced such like-minded souls as avant-garde musicians and composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca as well as an obsession with Madonna, while its single-minded determination to chart an independent artistic course has both endeared it to a fiercely loyal fan base and, improbably, gained it considerable commercial success. CONFUSION IS NEXT, Alec Foege`s biography of the band, traces its formation in New York`s hothouse downtown music scene of the early 1980s, through its involvement with British avant-garde label Blast First, to its subsequent early `90s signing with major label Geffen Records. The Sonic Youth story contains all the usual tensions of art versus commerce, though it ends better than most: wiser in the ways of business, but still unimpeachably hip, Sonic Youth continues both to have a productive relationship with Geffen, and to produce intriguing, challenging music. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.