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Classic Album Review: Sonic Youth + ICP + The Ex | In the Fishtank 9

The New York noisemakers & two Dutch act team up for some freewheeling jams.

This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Yes, it’s a new Sonic Youth release. And no, they’re not collaborating with Insane Clown Posse.

This latest instalment in the collaborative In The Fishtank EP series teams most of the New York noise-rockers (Kim Gordon is AWOL, but Jim O’Rourke is here) with members of two Dutch acts: The avant-jazz Instant Composers Pool Orchestra and post-punks The Ex. Given free rein over an Amsterdam studio for a day, the players combine their talents to create a series of numbered — and presumably improvised — instrumental soundscapes that straddle the line between free jazz, post-rock, downtown skronk and math-rock. Fair warning: Nothing here delivers the jolt of, say, Expressway To Yr. Skull. But with a good pair of headphones and the right mood, it could still spark a journey to the centre of your mind.

 

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