Consumer Guide Album

Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts [Matador, 2011]
Just like Paul Simon, Moore constructs a singer-songwriter album where the attraction is, of all things, the music. Stranger still, it's the guitar strumming. Just as Moore's tunings sharpen noise-rock intellectually, they tone up pretty-folk physically--as do Samara Lubelski's violin and producer Beck Hansen's synths. The melodies are strong, and Moore's murmur serves them well. But ultimately singer-songwriters are supposed to deliver lyrics, and unlike Simon's, these come with postage due. Beyond "Benediction"'s comfort and "Orchard Street"'s flaming youth, confusion is still sex in Moore's philosophy. For all we can tell, he thinks it's love, too. A-