Sonic Youth - The Empty Page

What this video is

Released in 2002 as the lead single and opening track of Murray Street, 'The Empty Page' arrived in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks — recording sessions at the band's Echo Canyon studio on Murray Street in lower Manhattan were halted by the disaster. The video's digicam tour-footage aesthetic, rapid editing, and warm, underexposed tones reflect both the practical constraints of early-2000s indie…

Why it matters

As the opening track and lead video from Murray Street, 'The Empty Page' is a key artifact of early-2000s American noise rock's return to song-based accessibility. Its digicam aesthetic presages the broader explosion of DV and later iPhone-shot music videos across indie rock in the mid-2000s. The…

The director

Thurston Moore (b. 1958) is the co-founder and guitarist/vocalist of Sonic Youth, one of the most influential American experimental rock bands. Moore has an extensive history of involvement in the New York avant-garde and noise scenes. Chris Habib is a New…