Master=Dik is the EP by Sonic Youth, which directly followed their landmark 1987 "Sister" LP.
Master=Dik is a smörgasbörd of many different musical ideas, all thrown together onto a twelve inch slab of vinyl. (it was never released on CD) Master=Dik is one of those one of releases that befall every bad. A quick one of, to keep fans busy before the monumental release that was Daydream Nation. Probably released as an inside joke, something to completely throw off SY's fans, because this release is so "out there"
, it is hard to imagine anyone truly knowing what would come next.
Side A
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Master=Dik (Beatbox Version)
Side B
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Beat on the Brat (Ramones cover)
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Under the Influence of Jesus & Mary Chain
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Ticket To Ride (Beatles cover)
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Master=Dik (version)
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Introducing The Stars
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Ringo
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He's On Fire
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Florida Oil Drums
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Westminster Chimes
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Chinese Jam
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Vibrato/Guitar Lick/Funky Fresh
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Our Backyard
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Traffik
Track 1 includes lead guitar lines from one of Thurston Moore's favorite indie guitar heroes, (J Mascis) and tracks 2, 3, 4 & 5 were recorded live on Swiss radio, July 1987. They can often be found as a single Mp3 under the title "Fucking Around"
because that is basically what they were doing. Thurston Moore starts off with this little warning: "We really suck tonight ladies and gentlemen..."
The album is an amalgamation of riffs, vocal jams, and avant-garde noise/tape experiments, combined together to make for an interesting, if not always enjoyable listen. The only things that even resemble "Songs"
in the classical sense would be, Beat on the Brat, and Master=Dik (beatbox version). The former, Sonic Youth's take on the Ramones classic, which they often performed live around this period. The later, a different version of the CD release of Master=Dik. Which leads one to wonder, "Where did the CD version come from?"
Just like the majority of Sonic Youth releases, this one indeed comes with etchings on the vinyl. For those of you not in the know, in the 80's (to a lesser extent recently), indie bands were fond of etching short little messages into the vinyl for anyone who cared enough to search for them. The etchings on the vinyl read as follows:
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Side A: CICCONE DEATH ROCK DREAM TINKLE
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Side B: HUMPY PUMPY PSYCHOACOUSTIK FRENCY
One could attempt to decrypt the lyrics to
Master=Dik, but
Thurston Moore has a habit of fading away. Due either to the fact that he was tired/stoned when he recorded it, or he didn't have a full set of lyrics made up, and ended up throwing in various bits of
riff-speak.
"London fuck, you're pissing me off..."