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Thurston Moore
Moore in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Thurston Joseph Moore
Also known as	Mirror Fred Cracklin
Born	(1958-07-25) July 25, 1958 (age 60) Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock[1] noise rock[2] avant-rock[3] post-punk[4]
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter musician poet publisher editor teacher
Instruments	Vocals guitar bass piano drums
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Caroline International Matador Ecstatic Peace! DGC SST
Associated acts	Sonic Youth Ciccone Youth The Coachmen Swans[5] Thurston Moore Band[6] Mirror/Dash Even Worse Velvet Monkeys Dream/Aktion Unit Bark Haze Dim Stars Original Silence Northampton Wools Demolished Thoughts Chelsea Light Moving Caught On Tape Twilight Pvre Matrix

Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958)^[7] is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked 34th in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."^[8] In May 2012, Spin published a staff-selected list of the top 100 rock guitarists, and ranked Moore and his Sonic Youth bandmate Lee Ranaldo together at number 1.^[9]

In 2012, Moore started a new band Chelsea Light Moving, with their first track, "Burroughs", released as a free download.^[10] Chelsea Light Moving's eponymous debut was released on March 5, 2013.

Early years

Moore was born July 25, 1958, at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, to George E. Moore and Eleanor Nann Moore, and moved with his family (including brother Frederick Eugene Moore, born 1953, and sister Susan Dorothy Moore, born 1956) in 1967 to Bethel, Connecticut.^[11] He attended St. Joseph's School in Danbury, followed by St. Mary's School in Bethel and attended Bethel High School from 1973–76. He enrolled at Western Connecticut State University in fall 1976, but left after one quarter and moved to East 13th Street between Aves A and B in New York City to join the burgeoning post-punk and no wave music scenes.^[12] It was there that he was able to watch shows by the likes of Patti Smith and spoken-word performances by William S. Burroughs.^[13] In 1980 he moved in with Kim Gordon to an apartment at 84 Eldridge St. below artist Dan Graham, eventually befriending him, sometimes using records from Graham's collection for mix tapes.^[14]

Once in the city, Moore was briefly a member of the hardcore punk band Even Worse, featuring future The Big Takeover editor (and future Springhouse drummer) Jack Rabid. After exiting the band, Moore and Lee Ranaldo learned experimental guitar techniques in Glenn Branca's "guitar orchestras."^[12] Moore has spoken about influences on his music tastes at this time, including British bands Wire, the Pop Group, the Raincoats, the Slits, and Public Image Ltd ("I used to have these fantasies in the 70s about leaving New York and coming to London to hang out with Public Image").^[15]

Sonic Youth

Moore met Kim Gordon in 1980 at the final gig of The Coachmen, the band he was in with J.D. King, Daniel Walworth (replaced by Dave Keay), and Bob Pullin. Moore, with Gordon, Anne Demarinis and Dave Keay formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding and Red Milk and the Arcadians, before settling on Moore's choice of Sonic Youth just before June 1981.^{[citation needed]} The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery, where Lee Ranaldo was playing as a member of Glenn Branca's electric guitar ensemble as well as in duo with David Linton as Avoidance Behavior.^[16] Moore invited Ranaldo, who he had known when The Coachmen shared a CBGB stage with Ranaldo's 1970s band The Flux, to join the band. The new threesome played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer.^[17] Each band member took turns playing the drums, until they met drummer Richard Edson.^[18] The band signed to Neutral Records, then to Homestead Records, and then to SST Records.^[19]

Live in the Netherlands (with Sonic Youth), 1991

Moore and Ranaldo make extensive use of unusual guitar tunings, often heavily modifying their instruments to provide unusual timbres and drones. They are known for bringing upwards of fifty guitars to every gig, using some guitars for one song only.^[12] In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Moore and Ranaldo the 33rd and 34th Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 2011, Moore and his wife, Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, announced they had separated; shortly afterward, Ranaldo announced that Sonic Youth was on indefinite hiatus.^[20] Though his marriage was ending Moore never claimed that Sonic Youth was finished.^[21]

Work outside Sonic Youth

In addition to his work with Sonic Youth, Moore has also released albums as a solo artist. He and Gordon released a few songs as Mirror/Dash. Moore established Protest Records as an online gesture of activism but the project has since lapsed. Moore has collaborated with scores of musicians, including Maryanne Amacher, Lydia Lunch, DJ Spooky, William Hooker, Daniel Carter, Christian Marclay, Mike Watt, Loren Mazzacane Connors, William Winant, The Thing, Nels Cline, Cock E.S.P., John Moloney, Glenn Branca, Yamantaka Eye, My Cat is an Alien.^{[citation needed]}, John Russell, Steve Noble, John Edwards, Haino Keiji, John Zorn, Yoko Ono, Takehisa Kosugi, and others.

In the early 1990s, Moore formed the side band Dim Stars, with Richard Hell, Don Fleming, Steve Shelley with a guest appearance by Robert Quine. Moore performed solo on the side stage of the 1993 Lollapalooza tour. Additionally, Moore also contributed guitar work and backing vocals on "Crush with Eyeliner", which appeared on R.E.M.'s Monster. He played Fred Cracklin in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode dedicated to Sonny Sharrock. In 2000 he contributed improvised guitar pieces for a collaborative project with conceptual artist/guitarist Marco Fusinato.^[22] Since 2004, he has recorded and performed with the noise collective To Live and Shave in L.A., the lineup of which also features Andrew W.K.. He recorded with the band at Sonic Youth's former studio in Manhattan, and later performed with them at the George W. Bush "anti-inaugural" Noise Against Fascism concert in Washington, D.C., which Moore curated, named in reference to Sonic Youth's 1992 song "Youth Against Fascism". Moore curated the "Nightmare Before Christmas" weekend of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in December 2006.^[23]

On June 21, 2007, Moore revealed to Spin Magazine that he would be releasing a solo album titled Trees Outside The Academy. The album was recorded at J Mascis' studio in Amherst, Massachusetts. The album features Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and violinist Samara Lubelski. The album also features collaborations between Mascis and Charalambides' Christina Carter, who performs a duet with Moore on the track, "Honest James." The album was released on September 18, 2007, on Moore's label Ecstatic Peace.^[24]

On September 24, 2008, Pitchfork Media reported that Moore was working on a song with former Be Your Own Pet vocalist Jemina Pearl, a cover of the Ramones song "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker". The song was recorded for the teenage drama Gossip Girl and was featured in the episode "There Might Be Blood".

Since 2008, Moore has provided narration for a variety of documentaries on the National Geographic Channel. His work includes Inside: Straight Edge and the Hard Time series about life in prison.

In 2012 Moore and Kim Gordon announced that they were working on a collaborative album with Yoko Ono to be titled Yokokimthurston. The album was released on September 25 through Chimera Records.^[25]

Moore announced in 2012 that he was to start a new band called Chelsea Light Moving. Their first track, "Burroughs", was released as a free download.^[10] Their eponymous debut album was released on March 5, 2013. The release coincided with the 2013 SXSW Festival where they made numerous appearances including a free show at Mellow Johnny's bike shop.

In July 2012 Nachtmystium vocalist/guitarist Blake Judd announced that Moore had joined the black metal super group Twilight.^[26]

On November 24, 2013, he played guitar on "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" alongside Ron and Russell Mael in a Sparks concert at the Union Chapel, Islington, London.

In September 2014, Moore released The Best Day, a solo album featuring Steve Shelley and My Bloody Valentine's Debbie Googe as rhythm section, and James Sedwards on guitar.^[6][27]

In April 2018, Moore presented at London's Barbican Centre his work 'Galaxies', an experimental 12-string guitar ensemble. Among the twelve person orchestra were Deb Googe, Jonah Falco, Rachel Aggs, Joseph Coward and others.

Work on film soundtracks

Thurston Moore performing with Sonic Youth at the 2005 Roskilde Festival.

In 1994, Moore teamed up with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, Don Fleming of Gumball, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, to form the Backbeat Band, which recorded the soundtrack album to the movie Backbeat. In 1998 Moore played on the soundtrack of the film Velvet Goldmine as a member of Wylde Ratttz. Moore composed original music for such films as Heavy (1995), Bully (2001), and Manic (2001). In 2007, Moore also appeared with noise/improv group Original Silence, featuring Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, guitarist Terrie Ex, Jim O'Rourke, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and bassist Massimo Pupillo. The group released the live album The First Original Silence in 2007, on Oslo (Norway) label SmallTown Superjazz, and a second album The Second Original Silence in 2008.^[28]

Record label and writings

Moore and other Sonic Youth members published the irreverent music zine Sonic Death. Moore runs the record label Ecstatic Peace!. Beginning in 1993, this label jointly released records with rock critic Byron Coley's label, Father Yod, as Ecstatic Yod Records.

Moore reviewed new music in Arthur Magazine in a column entitled "Bull Tongue" written jointly with Byron Coley. Since the demise of Arthur, Bull Tongue exists as a fanzine edited by Coley an features a wealth of underground music writing. Moore created, with Chris Habib, the website Protest Records, named for its protest against United States' invasions in the Middle East. Moore was the editor/overseer of the 2005 book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture. He published a highly influential list of collectible free jazz records in Grand Royal magazine.^[29]

Ecstatic Peace Library is the book publishing company founded by Thurston Moore and visual book editor Eva Prinz in 2010.^[30] The company publishes mainly poetry, but also a collection of books about Norwegian Death metal, experimental jazz from the 70s and other niche subjects.

Teaching

In 2015 Moore was appointed Honorary Professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he periodically conducts workshops and master classes.^[31]

Personal life

On June 9, 1984, Moore married Sonic Youth bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon. The pair have a daughter: Coco Hayley Moore (born July 1, 1994). On October 14, 2011, the couple announced that they were separating^[20] due to an extramarital affair Moore engaged in with married art book editor Eva Prinz.^[32] They divorced in 2013. Moore currently resides in London.^[33]

Equipment

Moore is known for using a large selection of Fender guitars during Sonic Youth gigs, most frequently a Jazzmaster. His primary stage amp has been the Peavey Roadmaster paired with a Marshall cabinet. He has used the ProCo Rat, Big Muff, and MXR Blue Box pedals in various combinations to achieve his unique distorted and feedback-laden guitar sound.

Moore is a key figure in the popularization and resurrection of the Fender Jazzmaster. In 2009, Fender introduced a Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a Sapphire Blue Transparent version featuring two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and a Forest Green transparent finish for Moore, equipped with a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Jazzmaster single-coil pickups.^[34]

In 2016 Yuri Landman made a special 10-string drone guitar for Moore at the request of Premier Guitar.^[35]

Principal solo discography and collaborations

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article. (Discuss) (April 2017)

Solo albums

• 
  Psychic Hearts (1995, Geffen Records)


• 
  Trees Outside the Academy (2007, Ecstatic Peace!)


• 
  Demolished Thoughts (2011, Matador Records) (UK chart peak: #119)^[36]
  


• 
  The Best Day (2014, Matador Records) (UK chart peak: #78)^[37]
  


• 
  Rock n Roll Consciousness (2017, Caroline) (UK chart peak: #65)^[37]
  

Other

• 
  Root – Remix Project (1998, Lo Recordings)


• 
  Solo Acoustic Volume Five – Part of the VDSQ (Vin Du Select Qualitite) acoustic guitar series (2011)

Albums with Sonic Youth

Albums with Chelsea Light Moving

• 2013 – Chelsea Light Moving
  

Albums with Pvre Matrix

• 2015 – Burning Sulfur^[38]
  

Collaborations

• 1990 – Barefoot in the Head – with Jim Sauter & Don Dietrich, liner notes by Thomas Pynchon
  


• 1993 – Shamballa – with William Hooker & Elliott Sharp
  


• 1995 – Klangfarbenmelodie & the Colorist Strikes Primitive – with Tom Surgal


• 1996 – Pillow Wand – with Nels Cline
  


• 1996 – Piece for Yvonne Rainer – with Yoshimi & Mark Ibold
  


• 1997 – MMMR – with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera & Lee Ranaldo (Numero Zero Audio)


• 1998 – Foot – with Don Fleming & Jim Dunbar
  


• 1999 – The Promise – with Evan Parker & Walter Prati


• 2000 – New York – Ystad – Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Mats Gustafsson


• 2000 – TM/MF – Thurston Moore, Marco Fusinato


• 2001 – Three Incredible Ideas – Thurston Moore / Walter Prati / Giancarlo Schiaffini


• 2012 – Yokokimthurston – Yoko Ono, / Thurston Moore / Kim Gordon


• 2013 – "@" – John Zorn / Thurston Moore


• 2014 – Cuts of Guilt, Cuts Deeper – Merzbow / Balázs Pándi / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore


• 2014 – Live – The Thing & Thurston Moore


• 2018 – Cuts Up Cuts Out - Merzbow / Balázs Pándi / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore

Limited Edition Noise, experimental, drone projects

• 2006 – Flipped Out Bride 12'' (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 500 blue marbled vinyl


• 2006 – Free / Love EP (2006, Blossoming Noise), Limited Edition of 90 Cassettes only


• 2007 – Black Weeds - White Death (2007, Meudiademorte), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only


• 2008 – Sensitive / Lethal


• 2008 – Blindfold (Destructive Industries), Limited Edition of 200 Cassettes only


• 2008 – Built For Lovin' (Lost Treasures of the Underworld), Limited Edition of 500 vinyl only


• 2010 – Suicide Notes For Acoustic Guitar EP


• 2010 – Schwarze Polizei (with Kommissar Hjuler, Goaty Tapes), Limited Edition of 50 Cassettes only

Free Improvisation Albums

• 2004 - Thurston Moore - Kapotte Muziek By Thurston Moore ( CD, Korm Plastics, Kapotte Muziek) ^[39]
  


• 2007 – The Roadhouse Session Vol. 1 [Thurston Moore / Chris Corsano / Paul Flaherty / Wally Shoup 4tet]


• 2008 – Untitled [Paul Flaherty / Thurston Moore / Bill Nace]


• 2011 – Les Anges Du Péché [Jean-Marc Montera / Thurston Moore / Lee Ranaldo]


• 2013 – "@" [John Zorn / Thurston Moore]

Live Albums

• 1996 – Piece for Jetsun Dolma - Live improvisation with Tom Surgal and William Winant at Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville), released on Les Disques VICTO


• 2012 – Play Some Fucking Stooges - Mats Gustafsson & Thurston Moore, on tour in 2009. Limited edition of 450 copies.


• 2013 – Vi Är Alla Guds Slavar - Mats Gustafsson & Thurston Moore, Cafe OTO, September 22 & 23, 2012. Limited Edition of 1000 copies.


• 2013 – The Only Way to Go is Straight Through - Thurston Moore & Loren Connors, NYC 2012. Limited Edition of 3,000 copies.


• 2013 – Comes Through in the Call Hold -Clark Coolidge, Thurston Moore, Anne Waldman], the Harry Smith cottage at Naropa, June 30, 2012, and released by Fast Speaking Music.


• 2013 – Last Notes- Joe Mcphee, Thurston Moore, Bill Nace, Roulette NYC, May 31, 2012. Limited Vinyl LP Edition of 250 copies.

Caught on Tape series (documenting the free improv touring of Thurston Moore & John Moloney)

• 2012 – Fundamental Sunshine (Antwerp-Paris-Rotterdam-Amsterdam March 20–23, 2012. Cassette)


• 2012 – Caught on Tape (Recorded live to cassette in Europe – March 2012. Limited edition of 133 hand numbered copies)


• 2013 – Acting the Maggot (recorded at the Beachland Ballroom 2012. Limited edition of 120 lps)


• 2013 – Fundamental Sunshine (Cassette)


• 2013 – Banjaxed Blues (Recorded in Baltimore, MD in December 2012 and Belfast, Northern Ireland in January 2013. Edition of 45 copies)


• 2013 – Irish-American Prayer (Live in Brooklyn December 2012. Limited CDr)

Albums with Diskaholics Anonymous Trio [Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustafsson, Thurston Moore]

• 2001 – Diskaholics Anonymous Trio (Recorded at Kulturbro Ystad-Österlen, Sweden, 2000)


• 2006 – Weapons of Ass Destruction (Recorded Live, Ystads Teater, Sweden, October 6, 2002)


• 2006 – Live in Japan Vol. 1 (Recorded Live, Tokyo, Japan, 2002)

Albums with Original Silence

• 2007 – The First Original Silence (Recorded Live, Teatro Ariosto, Reggio Emilia, Italy, September 30, 2005 )


• 2008 – The Second Original Silence (Recorded Live, Brancaleone, Rome, September 28, 2005 )

Early work with Glenn Branca

• 1981 – Symphony No. 1 "Tonal Plexus" (w/Glenn Branca, Lee Ranaldo, Anne DeMarinis & others)


• 1982 – Symphony No. 2 "The Peak of the Sacred"


• 1983 – Symphony No. 3 "Gloria" – Music for the first 127 intervals of the harmonic series

Early work with the Coachmen

• 1979 – Failure to Thrive
  

Singles

• "Sputnik" 7" (1997) Thurston Moore and Don Fleming on one side, Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom on the other. Gilltery vinyl.


• "Wonderful Witches" single (2007)


• 1995 – "The Church Should Be for the Outcasts, Not a Church That Casts People Out" (7") [as Male Slut]

Split LPs

• 
  From the Earth to the Spheres (2004, split with My Cat Is An Alien)


• 
  Thrash Sabbatical (2008, Deathbomb Arc, four-way split 12" + 2x7" w/ Men Who Can't Love, Barrabarracuda, Kevin Shields)


• 
  Mature, Lonely + Out of Control/Alternative Hair Styles (2008, Nihilist Records, split LP with Graham Moore)

Album appearances

• 1992 – Do You Wanna Dance (by Dim Stars)


• 1994 – Monster (by R.E.M.)


• 1997 – Legend of the Blood Yeti (by XIII Ghosts & Derek Bailey)


• 1998 – Velvet Goldmine – Music From The Original Motion Picture ("T.V. Eye" with the Wylde Ratttz)


• 2007 – Touch The Iceberg (by Owl Xounds Exploding Galaxy)


• 2017 — 7/11, Moore's remix of L'homme à la caméra by Un Drame Musical Instantané (transparent vinyl)

Music videos

• "Ono Soul" (1995)


• "Circulation" (2011)


• "Speak To The Wild" (2014)


• "Smoke Of Dreams" (2017)


• "Aphrodite" (2017)

Books

• 
  Alabama Wildman (2000)


• 
  Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture (2005)


• 
  Grunge (with Michael Lavine, 2009)


• 
  Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy (with Abby Banks, Timothy Findlen, 2007)


• 
  No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976–1980. (with Byron Coley, 2008)


• 
  James Hamilton: You Should Have Heard Just What I Seen (with James Hamilton, 2010)


• 
  Lion: Only Noise (And Poems) (2011)

References

External links

• 
  Official website
  
  
  
  • 
    Official Myspace page for "Kill Your Idols", a documentary about the Cinema of Transgression featuring Thurston Moore
  
  
  • 
    Sonic Youth.com – Official Sonic Youth website
  
  
  
  


• 
  Ecstatic Peace! Records.


• 
  Spike magazine interview.


• 
  Writings by Thurston on 2003 NYC power blackout.


• 
  Thurston Moore's "Skrewer Boy" published on the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine @ Ubuweb
  


• Pichfork article Working with Jemina