Pitchfork

There's never a dull moment for indie rock's resident Energizer Bunnies Sonic Youth, who have swiftly followed up news of more art-world dabblings and the unlikeliest festival appearance in the history of ever with a flaming slew of activity.

On the release front, Kim and the boys recently served up a remastered reissue of 1987's Master-Dik EP, marking the release's debut in compact disc format. The EP includes a Ramones cover ("Beat on the Brat") and a "sound collage of psycho-distorto-soundscapes" (ooo!), among other sonic treasures. Copies are available right now, exclusively via the band's website.

Sonic Youth also keep going and going and going with the seventh SYR release, due April 22. The limited edition self-released slab of vinyl includes an NYC Ghosts & Flowers-era "22 minute drone-piece" and a composition intended for an aborted collaboration with a fashion designer. Keen!

On the live front, you can't sneeze over the next couple months without getting germs all over a member of Sonic Youth performing in some capacity. In addition to the full band's sure to be legendary appearance at the Dickson St. Music Festival and a gig the night before in Nashville, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore will team as Mirror/Dash tonight (March 11), Moore will bring all manner of ruckus to SXSW this week and No Fun Fest in May, and Lee Ranaldo will team with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and hit up No Fun himself. We've put our asterisks to good use below in the hopes of sorting everything out for you; have a look.

Finally, Free Kitten have returned! And a few more details recently came to light regarding Sonic Youth's career-spanning traveling art exhibit: it's called "Sonic Youth Etc.: Essential Fix", and it has a museum tour of its own shaping up. Get your "Essential Fix" at Saint-Nazaire, France's LIFE from June 17 to September 9, Bolzano, Italy's Museion from October 10 to January 4 of next year, and Dusseldorf, Germany's Kunsthalle from January 31 to April 26, 2009.

Tum tum tum tum tum tum tum tum...

Master-Dik:

01 Master-Dik
02 Beat on the Brat
03 Under the Influence of the Jesus and Mary Chain/Ticket to Ride/Master-Dik (Version)/Introducing the Stars
04 Ringo/He's on Fire/Florida Oil Drums/Westminster Chimes
05 Chinese Jams
06 Vibrato/Guitar Lick/Funky Fresh
07 Our Backyard
08 Traffik

SYR 7:

A1 J'Accuse Ted Hughes
B1 Agnes B Musique

Sonic Youth and portions thereof:

03-11 Amherst, MA - Hampshire College Red Barn *
03-13 Austin, TX - Threadgill's (Roky Erickson's Psychedelic Ice Cream Social SXSW party) #
03-13 Austin, TX - The Hideout (SXSW showcase) ^
03-14 Austin, TX - The Mohawk (Ecstatic Peace SXSW showcase) #^
03-15 Austin, TX - French Legation Museum (Ground Control Touring SXSW party) #
03-29 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club ^$
04-12 Chapel Hill, NC - UNC !
04-25 Nashville, TN - City Hall
04-26 Fayetteville, AR - Walton Arts Center Parking Lot (Dickson St. Music Festival)
05-16 New York, NY - Knitting Factory (No Fun Fest) +
05-18 New York, NY - Knitting Factory (No Fun Fest) ~

* Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon perform as Mirror/Dash
# Thurston Moore and the New Wave Bandits
^ Thurston Moore and Bill Nace perform as Northampton Wools
$ with Boredoms
! Bang on a Can All-Stars with Lee Ranaldo
+ Thurston Moore and Nancy Garcia
~ Lee Ranaldo performing "Blind Piece #2"