Sonic Youth share rare archival live album from 1993 | NME

Sonic Youth unearthed a rare live tape from their archives on Monday (May 4), uploading it to Bandcamp. The album, entitled ‘Blastic Scene’, was recorded at a live show in Lisbon in 1993.

Sonic Youth released ‘Blastic Scene’ as an authorised bootleg in 1995. However, just 1,300 copies were pressed, and the album was only ever available in Portugal. Fans can now purchase the record digitally for US$8 on the group’s Bandcamp site.

It isn’t the first time in 2020 that Sonic Youth have shared live music from their archive. In March, the band uploaded 12 archival live sets onto Bandcamp, including a 1988 tape from iconic New York venue, CBGB’s. Other notable recordings include a 2007 Glasgow show at which the band played landmark record ‘Daydream Nation’ in full, and a show performed in Moscow towards the end of the Cold War.

“We recorded every night pretty much,” drummer Steve Shelley said of their archival releases to Rolling Stone.

“So there is tons of stuff in the archive, and we’re all self-quarantined right now, so it’s a good time to go through it.”

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has also been unearthing items from his career outside Sonic Youth. On Sunday (May 3), Moore posted a rare track recorded with his Thurston Moore Group, entitled ‘May Daze’, to Bandcamp. He has also shared material recorded with his Chelsea Light Moving project.

Similarly, Sonic Youth co-founder, Lee Ranaldo, is using quarantine to go through his own archival recordings. In April, he shared two full-length projects which had previously only merited limited releases, entitled ‘DEMONS: MUSIC FOR STAGE AND SCREEN’ and ‘Scriptures Of The Golden Eternity’. He also posted a cover of Hanatarash’s ‘My Dad Is A Car’, recorded in 1995, to Bandcamp.

Head here to purchase ‘Blastic Scene’ on Bandcamp.