Sonic Youth have announced a partnership with nugs.net to release archived audio and video content in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their landmark album Daydream Nation. The material is available to be downloaded in a variety of formats, including MP3 and hi-resolution audio, as well as on CD.

This is a unique opportunity for the completist fans of this iconic noise-rock band, as they famously took their songs on wildly different paths when performing them live. These performances are available now and include a pair of 1988 sets from the Cabaret Metro in Chicago and CBGB in New York City. Additionally, there are shows from 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. Each set can be purchased from $7.95 to $12.95, depending on the format. The band’s 1988 Chicago set includes a cover of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and is led off by one of the band’s most well-known songs “Teenage Riot.”

“Through the years and as the times changed we recorded our live shows as often as we could, on cassettes, DATs, CD-Rs and later on multi-track recorders,” said drummer Steve Shelley. “We collected fan-generated audience tapes, shady bootlegs and anything we could get our hands on. We now maintain an archive of hundreds of hours of Sonic Youth concerts and we’d like to share some of our favorites, often from the best uncirculated source possible via nugs.net.”

“Sonic Youth’s music has influenced innumerable artists across many different genres, past, present, and will continue to do so into the future,” said nugs.net CEO Brad Serling. “For fans this is an incredible opportunity to revisit what they delivered as a live band touring the planet for three decades.”

Available Sets:

11/05/1988 Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL USA
12/13/1988 CBGB’s, New York, NY USA
08/17/2002 Metro, Chicago, IL USA
08/22/2007 ABC1, Glasgow, Scotland*
10/21/2009 Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany
08/12/2011 Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, NY USA

This archival program is in addition to previously-announced plans for three-fourths of the band to speak at special “30 Years of Daydream Nation” events across the country. Thurston Moore will not participate.

11/24/2018 – San Francisco, CA, New Mission Theatre: Discussion panel featuring Lance Bangs, Steve Shelley, Sonic Youth archivist Aaron Mullan and Brian Turner in conversation.
11/11/2018 – Chicago, IL, Music Box Theater: Discussion panel featuring Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, and Sonic Youth archivist Aaron Mullan.
11/12/2018 – Austin, TX, Alamo Drafthouse-Ritz: Discussion panel featuring Lance Bangs and Matador Records’ Gerard Cosloy in conversation.
11/18/2018 – Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA: Discussion panel featuring Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley in conversation.
11/19/2018 – Brooklyn, NY, Alamo Drafthouse: Discussion panel featuring Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, Lance Bangs, and photographer Michael Lavine in conversation.