Country : Spain / United States Label : Mute Genres and styles : Art Rock / Experimental / Contemporary / Rock Year : 2020

Names of North End Women

· by Michel Rondeau

It’s been almost ten years since Sonic Youth suspended activities. Since then, although he was already quite active in this respect during SY’s time, Lee Ranaldo has been accumulating collaborations. We find him here in the company of Barcelona musician and producer Raül Refree (Raül Fernandez Miro, by his real name), who had already produced the very pop-rock Acoustic Dust, by Lee Ranaldo and the Dust, in 2014, and then co-produced the more experimental Electric Trim, which featured a host of musicians, including Nels Cline, Alan Licht, Kid Millions and Sharon von Etten, released in 2017. (Refree also, by the way, made a superb record with Richard Youngs last year, in the folk vein: All Hands Around the Moment). 

With Names of North End Women (the title refers to the Winnipeg neighbourhood whose streets all bear feminine first names), we move away from the indie-rock universe to venture into less charted territory. It’s indeed from improvisation sessions that the pieces were assembled and constructed. Composite soundscapes, sparse, using an old Studer tape recorder and a cassette recorder rigged as samplers, with here and there electronic punctuations or noise, a rhythm most often provided by the marimba or vibraphone and the occasional presence of choirs, serve as a background for lyrics that are both abstract and poetic, sometimes recited, sometimes sung, to catchy melodies, especially on “Humps (Espriu Mix)” and the title piece, which turns into a real sing-along. Unclassifiable, we’re tempted to say, and interesting enough.

Latest 360 Content

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

ALICE on Her X

ALICE on Her X

FIJM  | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

Subscribe to our newsletter