Thurston Moore

Thurston Moore does not miss many opportunities to make new music. Since cofounding Sonic Youth 45 years ago, Moore has made some 1,000 records, becoming both a completist’s dream and nightmare. Those Sonic Youth records, of course, gave indie rock its abrasive edge, but Moore has taken his bloodlust for noisy improvisation into so many contexts it feels like a fool’s errand even to sample them. For starters, he’s been in a black metal band, started an act with Richard Hell, drifted away with The Bark Haze, stormed ahead with noise supergroup To Live and Shave in L.A., and jammed with Sunburned Hand of the Man ace John Moloney in Caught on Tape. From drummer William Hooker to horn wildman Mats Gustafsson, from turntable innovator Christian Marclay to harsh noise god Merzbow, Moore seems ever-willing to go for it. At Big Ears 2026, he will perform in a to-be-determined duo, following his collaboration with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones here in 2024.