Just in time for Halloween, Lee Ranaldo has released the brand new video for “Uncle Skeleton,” a track taken from his latest album for Mute Records, Electric Trim. The former member of Sonic Youth, recently began his tour across North America with dates into November, before embarking on a European tour starting next February.

Lee Ranaldo on “Uncle Skeleton”:

“The tune for ‘Uncle Skeleton’ put me in mind of those dusty old cowboy ballads that ‘60s bands often psychedelicized. In particular I had Papa John Phillips’s ‘Me and My Uncle’ in my head, a track that was covered by the Grateful Dead and others. An early video of Joni Mitchell (then still Joni Anderson) performing the song on some old Canadian TV show stuck with me and informed the tune as I worked on it. The verses were mostly written with Jonathan Lethem, my collaborator throughout the Electric Trim album. At first his sheet of lyrics didn’t make any sense to me, but they seem to drop into the tune like they were designed exactly for it. Only later did I learn that his lyrics about stripping the flesh off the bones came directly out of the pages of his most recent book, A Gambler’s Anatomy. The video was created by Elisa Ambrogio, visionary singer/guitarist of the band Magik Markers.”

Electric Trim was recorded in New York City and Barcelona in collaboration with producer Raül “Refree” Fernandez and extends the work of Ranaldo’s solo canon, the most recent being his 2013 album, Last Night On Earth.

Lee Ranaldo is a co-founder of Sonic Youth, a visual artist, producer and writer. In addition to Fernandez, he worked with several special guests on Electric Trim, including Sharon Van Etten who sings on six of the tracks and duets on “Last Looks” and Kid Millions (aka Man Forever) as well as longtime friend and collaborator Nels Cline (Wilco). In addition, the album features Ranaldo’s band The Dust (fellow Sonic Youth member Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Luntzel).

LEE RANALDO
2018 TOUR:

October 24 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon
October 25 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
October 27 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
October 28 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
October 29 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt
November 1 – Burlington, VT – ArtsRiot
November 2 – Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa
November 3 – Toronto, ON – Great Hall
November 4 – Detroit, MI – El Club
November 5 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
November 6 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
November 8 – Boston, MA – ONCE Ballroom
November 9 – Brooklyn, NY – Bell House
November 10 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
November 11 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
December 16 – Santiago, Chile – En Orbita Festival
February 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo
February 17 – Madrid, Spain – Moby Dick
February 20 – La Rochelle, France – La Sirene
February 21 ­– Nantes, France ­– Stereolux
February 22 – Rennes, France – Route Du Rock D’hiver at Antipode
February 23 – Paris, France – La Maroquinerie / Honzai Night
February 24 – Tourcoing, France – Le Grand Mix
February 28 – Gent, Belgium – Vooruit
March 1 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet
March 2 – Hamburg, Germany – Kampnagel
March 3 – Berlin, Germany – Roter Salon Am Volksbühne
March 4 – Heidelberg, Germany – Karlstorbahnhof
March 6 – Trento, Italy – Teatro Sanbapolis
March 7 – Milan, Italy – Magnola
March 8 – Winterthur, Czech Republic – Salzhaus
March 9 – Metz, France – Les Trinitaires
March 10 – Lyon, France – Epicerie Moderne