''From Here to Infinity'' (rendered on the cover and label art as ''From Here → Infinity'') is the first solo album by the

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

guitarist/songwriter

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

. The album consists of several compositions performed by Ranaldo with guitar, amplifier feedback, and guitar

stompbox A stomp box (or stompbox) is a percussion instrument consisting of a small box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a singe ...

effects recorded onto extended

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among cont ...

Album history

The album was originally released by

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipm ...

on lock groove vinyl, which allowed the listener to listen to the remaining few seconds of each composition for as long as they desired. On the original vinyl recording, Ranaldo created a few of the tracks directly in the mastering studio where the cutting of the original vinyl version took place.Lee Ranaldo, untitled liner notes from ''From Here to Infinity'' CD, dated December 1987, SST Records In addition to the locked grooves, the LP was mastered at 45 RPM (although the vinyl's record label also gave a "varispeed" designation, suggesting that the record could be enjoyed at any speed) and also contained on the album's second side an engraving of the serpent designed by

Savage Pencil Edwin Pouncey (born June 1951), also known by the '' nom de plume'' Savage Pencil, is an English comics artist, musician, and music journalist. Biography As Savage Pencil and otherwise, Pouncey has contributed to magazines such as '' Sounds' ...

, which was given its own track number, title, and facetious "

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

" track length. The spontaneous insertion of recordings during the vinyl cutting stage proved to be both a blessing and a minor setback when it came time for the compact disc edition of the album to be created, according to Ranaldo's sleeve note on the CD edition; Ranaldo utilized a combination of the original master tapes, and recordings taken directly from a vinyl copy of the album to reproduce the tracks that Ranaldo had done in the mastering studio. Ranaldo also extended the length of many of the tracks, and cut new tape loops based on the original recordings "to replace certain lock grooves" that the artist "wasn't altogether happy with" on the original record. The utilization of some transfers from a vinyl copy inspired Ranaldo to boast on the bottom of the sleeve note that the CD edition of ''From Here to Infinity'' was "the only compact disc with

surface noise In sound and music production, sonic artifact, or simply artifact, refers to sonic material that is accidental or unwanted, resulting from the editing or manipulation of a sound. Types Because there are always technical restrictions in the way a ...

". The album reached #20 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, spending six weeks on the chart.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980 - 1989'', Cherry Red Books, The title was taken out of print after a business dispute between Sonic Youth and SST led to the deletion of all Sonic Youth titles from the SST catalog, although the title did remain on SST catalog inserts for a few years afterward;SST Super Store Catalog #MO5, ca.1994 as of the spring of 2007, no new edition of ''From Here to Infinity'' is planned, although used/leftover copies of the CD trade for an average of $14 to $28 on such sites as Half.com.

Track listing

Original vinyl edition

Side one

#"Time Stands Still" – 2:40 #"Destruction Site" – 1:17 #"Ouroboron" – 0:46 #"Slo Drone" – 1:10 #"New Groove Loop" – 0:48 #"Florida Flower" – 0:40 #"Hard Left" – 0:18

Side two

#"Fuzz/Locusts" – 1:04 #"To Mary" – 0:40 #"Lathe Speaks" – 1:39 #"The Resolution" – 0:48 #"Sav X" – ∞ #*This track is actually an etching of Savage Pencil's dragon from the front cover. #"The Open End" – 0:24

Compact disc edition

#"Time Stands Still" – 3:51 #"Destruction Site" – 2:17 #"Ouroboron" – 1:41 #"Slo Drone" – 2:25 #"New Groove Loop" – 2:50 #"Florida Flower" – 1:05 #"Hard Left" – 1:43 #"Fuzz/Locusts" – 2:06 #"To Mary (X2)" – 3:26 #"Lathe Speaks" – 1:58 #"The Resolution" – 2:13 #"King's Ogg" – 4:15 #* Savage Pencil's dragon etching (aka the "track" "Sav X" from side two of the vinyl) is reproduced on the CD's silkscreened label.

References

External links

Vinyl track listing
an
cover, label, and vinyl art
at Discogs.org {{DEFAULTSORT:From Here To Infinity 1987 debut albums Lee Ranaldo albums SST Records albums Blast First albums