Sonic Youth   (Photo: Richard Kern/Courtesy of Geffen Records)

1. Still Kicking
In a different, more mixed-up New York—like, say, the New York of 1982—Ghostface Killah and Sonic Youth would already have made a single together. They’d know each other from the gallery scene, they’d hang at downtown clubs. This may not be that New York, but that doesn’t mean we can’t note the similarities between them, and think about how cool it would be if they got together. In a music scene dominated by blog hype and MySpace hits, these veterans have not only withstood the cruel ebb and flow of fashion, they’ve improved with age. Sonic Youth’s Rather Ripped is a paean to the city’s great legacy of guitar rock, expertly wedding melody and texture. Meanwhile, on the fabulous Fishscale, Ghostface rolls up the past, present, and future of New York as if into a $100 bill—for snorting, naturally.