Sonic Dan alternates the songs of Steely Dan and Sonic Youth—two bands that by 1994 had recorded the same number of albums—alongside a recording of Anton Webern’s complete string quartets. Stephen Prina performs Sonic Youth songs in reverse chronological order, while covering Steely Dan songs in chronological order. The first Sonic Youth album was released in 1982 and, at the time Sonic Dan was composed, the last Steely Dan album had been released in 1980. Splitting the difference with the year 1981, Prina inserts his performance of Billboard’s number one single for 1981, Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.”
New York premiere
Previous performances: MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA (premiere); SO36, Berlin, Germany; Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna, Austria
Tickets will be made available on October 1. If the event is sold out, there will be a first-come, first-served standby line beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the night of the event.
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