FREE GIRL IN A BAND: A MEMOIR PDF Kim Gordon | 288 pages | 01 Dec 2015 | Dey Street Books | 9780062295903 | English | United States Kim Gordon's memoir Girl in a Band: 10 things we learned | Kim Gordon | The Guardian Sonic Youth was one of the most influential bands to emerge from the art and music scene of downtown New York in the s. Gordon was raised in Los Angeles in a conventional middle-class family save for her brilliant and manipulative older brother, Keller, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and institutionalized. She moved to New York in with Mike Kelley and struggled to establish herself in the art world. The Conceptual artist Dan Graham suggested that she form an all-girl band to accompany one of his performance pieces. Though the band was a total flop, one of her bandmates introduced her to Moore. The pair became an instant couple and formed Sonic Youth in We strummed and made droning sounds on our guitars. Nevertheless, Sonic Youth got gigs Girl in a Band: A Memoir recorded a cheap EP for a record label run out of an art gallery. As they developed their signature sound, the band won influential fans, including Greil Marcuswho wrote them up in Artforum. After their Girl in a Band: A Memoir, Coco, was born inGordon and Moore decided to leave New York for western Massachusetts — a conscious decision to raise Coco outside of the spotlight. When Gordon might have understandably fallen apart amid revelations of the affair, she recounts experiencing a creative renaissance. She began a new musical partnership with the experimental guitarist Bill Naceand returned part time to L. This book is not flawless. Then Gordon flies back to L. She portrays taking control as a kind of triumph. And in no small way it is. Allyson McCabe teaches narrative nonfiction and writing for radio at Yale University. E-mail: books sfchronicle. Outdoor dining in this SF neighborhood scared me. Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon Prurience will drive sales of this memoir. When Kim Gordon — bassist in the totemic band Sonic Youth — and Thurston MooreGirl in a Band: A Memoir Youth guitarist, announced their separation and the end of the band inanother woman was involved. Broken-hearted fans and 90s bystanders alike will want to know more, and year-old Gordon — as much of an art-world creature as she is an indie rock totem — is candid about what went down, factually and emotionally. Texts are intercepted. Smutty videos are exchanged. Attempts are made to patch things up. When they broke up, the indie dream shrivelled a Girl in a Band: A Memoir. The observation is telling; it is both visual and quotidian. Here are tales of touring in school holidays, Girl in a Band: A Memoir leaking breast milk, of not bickering with your partner in front of bandmates. Alarmingly, Thurston Moore drives like he plays guitar. To react to Keller was to be targeted anew, and Gordon writes movingly about taking on classic female roles — conciliation, self-effacement — but wrestling free of them through art and music. People will come to this memoir for the gory details of who did what to whom, but there are greater truths to be savoured: how one woman made unconventional art and domestic bliss work, more or less, for 27 years. Spike Jonze graduates from filming skateboarders to making pop videos via Sonic Youth. Kurt Cobain is depicted as a bundle of fury and haunted gentleness. Throughout, Gordon is front and centre, solo — a suburban, middle-class girl, but complicated. Part connected alterna-celeb, part watchful outsider, she makes some peace here with her own background. Facebook Twitter Pinterest. Topics Music books The Observer. Reuse this content. Order by newest oldest recommendations. Show 25 25 50 All. Threads collapsed expanded unthreaded. Loading comments… Trouble loading? Most popular. Girl in a Band - Wikipedia Here are 10 salient details, from how nobody likes Jeff Koons to Henry Rollins inventing twerking. But it does give an insight into the life of true alt-rock royalty. Girl in a Band: A Memoir studying in Toronto in the mids under Fluxus film-maker George ManupelliGordon formed Below the Belt as a college project with friends, including two Chileans who also played in 70s cult prog band Los Girl in a Band: A Memoirand a school friend who played in an early incarnation of Oingo Boingo. Thurston Moore loves DIY culture; is less fond of staplers. It scared me. Sonic Youth nearly changed their name to Washing Machine. Our record company thought we were insane. Back in California to visit her family, Gordon and Moore went to a house party in Hermosa Beach, where Black Flag were playing a gig in the kitchen. After meeting Love inGordon recognised a possible similar borderline personality disorder from which her brother Keller suffers. I have a low tolerance for manipulative, egomaniacal behaviour, and usually have to remind myself that the person might be mentally ill. I thought, Ewwwwat even the mention of Billy Corgan, whom nobody liked Girl in a Band: A Memoir he was such a crybabyand Smashing Pumpkins took themselves way too seriously and were in no way punk rock. Unknown director Spike Jonze shoots a video. Later Keanu Reeves swings by to lend them a bass rig. Jason Lee appears and makes a cameo. This is a typical two-page extract. Music blog Kim Gordon. Kim Gordon's memoir Girl in Girl in a Band: A Memoir Band: 10 things we learned. Kim Gordon: scared by Thurston Moore hurling a stapler. Ben Myers. Mon 2 Feb Her first band was a Fluxus-inspired art project While studying in Toronto in the mids under Fluxus film-maker George ManupelliGordon formed Below the Belt as a college project with friends, including two Chileans who also played in 70s cult prog band Los Blopsand a school friend who played in an early incarnation of Oingo Boingo. Henry Rollins invented twerking Back in California to visit her family, Gordon and Moore went to a house party in Hermosa Beach, where Black Flag were playing a gig in the kitchen. She knows a lot of famous people Unknown director Spike Jonze shoots a video. .