Demolished Thoughts (Bonus Track Version)

Sonic Youth guitar genius Thurston Moore ping-pongs — in his “spare” time — between coaxing his instrument to produce ungodly experimental sounds and making folky, Sonic Youth-goes-indie-pop music. Demolished Thoughts is closer to Moore’s acoustic flavored Trees Outside the Academy than to 2008’s unsettling Sensitive/Lethal, and is, in fact, surprisingly delicate in tone. The record eschews electric guitars for 6- and 12-strings, and with scant percussion and an abundance of violin and harp, it evokes the music of Nick Drake in its most intimate moments. Produced by Beck, Demolished Thoughts is a mature, deeply thoughtful and heartfelt musical artwork that benefits most from focused listening, at least on the first couple of plays. Songs like the achingly gorgeous “Benediction” and “Illuminine” are graceful and hushed, with strings and airy spaces as critical as Moore’s carefully plied guitar notes. Now and again, a song like “Circulation” or “Orchard Street” hints at a Sonic Youth palette, with a brooding melody or dark, descending guitar lines; these tracks might be amazing S.Y. songs in another life.