Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities

Sonic Youth: Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Thurston Moore.
Additional personnel: Jim O'Rourke.
Although it's almost impossible to avoid the whiff of contractual obligation surrounding the release of Sonic Youth's 2006 rarities comp, DESTROYED ROOM (the band's long-running stint with Geffen was drawing to a close at the time of the record's release), the various live tracks, outtakes, b-sides, and compilation tracks (culled mostly from the band's early-2000s catalog and chosen by the band members themselves) should still hold plenty of interest for SY fans. The standout cuts include a track from an Alice Cooper tribute ("Is It My Body"); a trio of improvised tracks from the Noho Furniture Sessions that perfectly capture the band's stake in the 21st-century musical avant-garde; a lovely Japanese-only instrumental from SONIC NURSE entitled "Kim's Chords"; and an alternate version of one of Sonic Youth's finest songs, "The Diamond Sea." DESTROYED ROOM isn't up there with the band's classics--albums, experimental ephemera, or otherwise--but this 12-track collection reinforces Sonic Youth's status as one of the most prolific and restlessly creative bands in rock.