Can you think of a more fitting way to celebrate International Women’s Day than a lengthy, music-centric chat with alt/indie/noise-rock pioneer and founding member of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon? Yeah, we couldn’t either so that’s exactly what we have on deck for March 8, 2024.
In conversation with KCRW Music Director and DJ Anne Litt, Gordon is filling us in on all the inspo behind her new LP The Collective (out TODAY via Matador Records), including a recent re-read of Octavia Butler’s 1993 speculative fiction novel Parable of the Sower which takes place in the imagined future of… 2024. She describes parallels from the novel which line up unnervingly with our 2024 reality, and how this informed her songwriting for The Collective. She also notes that this was a “beats first” project, shaped in many ways by her producer Justin Raisen. And while the sound is very much in line with the hardest-hitting trap stylings of ultra-modern hip-hop, it still fits within a noise rock tradition which has always existed.
Hear Gordon and Litt delight in making each other say “pussy” repeatedly while setting up “It’s Dark Inside” as a glimpse into what the new record has to offer. Plus, Gordon reflects on her “unofficial first solo record,” Olive's Horn (Syr 5) released in the year 2000 and Body/Head, her "eccentric music" experimental electric guitar duo with Bill Nace. Scrub to 1:00:32 using the player button to your left to get right to it, or settle in for the full show which is guaranteed to meet all of your New Music Friday needs.
Want even more Kim Gordon in your life? Catch her live at the Regent Theater on March 27.