VH1 100 GREATEST: KIM GORDON

I was kinda bummed not to be included in the segment on VH1's 100 Greatest Women countdown about Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. She's an incredible musician and a great presence.  I've seen a number of SY shows. On a great night, they are pretty powerful, and they usually have great nights. I always felt like Kim was the band's leader, I don't know why.  She sang some of their coolest songs (like "Kool Thing" and "100%") and had the most charisma.

Although I'm sometimes critical of the indie rock scene that Sonic Youth are icons of, I think that SY is one of the best bands of the past 30 years (and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ought to recognize that, and soon). They've certainly been one of the most influential.  It's kind of a bummer that the band is most likely splitting up, but they ended on a high note: their last two albums, 2006's Rather Ripped and 2009's The Eternal were really great. But for me, their best LPs are 1986's EVOL (which features the great "Expressway To Yr. Skull"), 1990's Goo, 1992's Dirty, 1994's Experimental Jet set, Trash and No Star. But my favorite two are 1988's Daydream Nation and and 1995's Washing Machine. I don't know what I'd recommend as far as a starting point, they're so uncommercial and it's hard to "get" them at first. But once you do, it's worth it.

THE RETURN OF THE PLASTIC ONO BAND

Earlier this week, Yoko Ono put on a show with a new (and almost definitely one-off) version of The Plastic Ono Band at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It featured former Plastic Ono Band members - bassist Klaus Voorman and, um, Eric Clapton (but not Yes drummer Alan White!). But also: Sean Ono Lennon, Mark Ronson, Bette Midler, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Paul Simon.  Weird bunch, and it's hard to imagine anyone other than Yoko pulling that off.  Read a review of the show at Rolling Stone. It sounds like the show was a great tribute to the band's original co-leader, John Lennon.