Sonic Youth Prepping Slew of Archival Releases

Sonic Youth are working on releasing a slew of archival audio and video material, guitarist Lee Ranaldo revealed during an interview with BBC Radio 5.

In the interview – which you can listen to here – Ranaldo mentioned the band has 30 years worth of material that they've been digitizing in order to preserve it all. Currently in the works is a 1986 tour film that's almost done being edited, while the group is also planning to release audio from a 1985 live performance "in the next couple months." Ranaldo added that Sonic Youth also has an unreleased collection of film music that they recorded over the years.

Ranaldo also mentioned that the band is compiling demos from their 1987 record Sister, which would be bonus material for a possible deluxe reissue of the album.

The guitarist also spoke about the future of Sonic Youth, which has been on hiatus after frontman/guitarist Thurston Moore and bassist Kim Gordon split last year. Ranaldo said he speaks and remains on good terms with the rest of the band, but added "there's definitely a lot of stuff shaking out right now.

"There’s ways in which the four of us will be tied to each other for so long, just in so many ways," Ranaldo said. "As far as whether there’ll be new recordings or new performances, it’s completely impossible for us to say right now."

He added: "I think after 30 years, unfortunate as it was the way it came about, maybe it is kind of a good time for an extended break. And if we do come back together, I imagine we'll be rejuvenated in a bunch of ways and maybe looking to explore new avenues at that point. It's impossible to say what the future holds."

Ranaldo recently sat down at the Rolling Stone studios to discuss and play a few cuts from his debut solo record, Between the Times and the Tides.