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I just got into Pavement over the summer, while on a lo-fi binge...:lol: I think I'd say that Wowee Zowee's my favorite album of theirs, but I've admittedly not spent a lot of time with Brighten the Corners or Terror Twilight. Wowee Zowee's got "AT &T" and "Grounded", enough said.

I've been loving the line, "Swinging nachos like you just don't care" from "Unfair" too though.

As for solo Malkmus, I like most of his albums. I'm especially loving Real Emotional Trash, and "Baby C'mon" from Face the Truth.

I'm excited to get the reissue of Brighten the Corners too; it'll give me a chance to absorb the album.
 
I thought that Trash was good (a whole lot better than I expected, too!), but that was about it. Like the last few TVOTR releases, it was music I could easily appreciate, but seldom genuinely, uninhibitedly enjoy. After a few weeks, I never again felt the urge to dive in and listen. According to iTunes, I haven't given it a spin since the fourth of April.
 
Would you guys say that Real Emotional Trash is Malkmus's best solo work? Or would there be a better one to check out first?
 
I think it's the best. If you like the ROCK, the Jicks bring it here more than on any other album, and Janet Weiss on drums and b.vocals can not be undervalued. Most importantly, Malkmus's guitar playing on this album is arguably the best of his entire career, and there are only 2 songs shorter than 5 minutes if I'm not mistaken--it's definitely a "stoner" record, and I mean that in the best way possible. You can get lost in this music.

If you're more into a collection of distinct, quirky/humorous songs, then I would start with the first, self-titled one.

But I would rank them like this (and I don't think any of them are less than great):

1. Real Emotional Trash
2. Pig Lib
3. Stephen Malkmus
4. Face the Truth
 
Streaming on October 10 for all the Buy Early, Get Now-ers, everybody! I am not quite sure as to whether or not that stream will include the bonus tracks, but I sure hope so...otherwise, this post is largely without merit. Sorry, in advance.
 
Bonus tracks included in the stream! Huzzah! Some good stuff. Can't wait for my live LP!

Laz,

This album is a good deal better than I remember it being, but it's still nothing too special. "Date w/IKEA" is no "Kennel District," but it's gotta be one of Stairs's best tracks (I have a soft spot for that guy). Singles are all still strong, and the record has enough depth to merit the listens I have given it, over the years, but I still say that it doesn't merit much more. The lyrics and their delivery aren't what they were on the previous records, and things are a bit too Byrds-like and loose (in a traditionally jammy sense, rather than a Slanted and Enchanted sense), from time to time, for my taste. In conclusion, I have to say that I'm happy to own this package, as a die-hard Pavement fan, but I probably wouldn't be so happy, if I were listening to this for the first time, rather than for the first time in a few years. I think that the difference between me and those who find true genius in the last two Pavement records is that they're Malkmus fans, whereas I am not. I am a Pavement fan, first and foremost. Always will be. Gary Young FTMFW.

--If you shout...

And don't worry--I'm not saying that you, Laz, or anybody else isn't a Pavement fan. I just think that these last two albums (especially Terror Twilight) don't sound as much like Pavement as they do like Malkmus solo warm-ups (Corners) and straight-up solo albums (Twilight). Always has bothered me, and probably always will. I cling to "IKEA" and "Passat Dream," on this record, like stink to a monkey, just because they help to mix things up, a bit, and remind me of what Pavement was supposed to be--SM, Spiral Stairs, and a couple grease monkeys helping to hold it all together.
 
Re: "Fin"

I just saw this on SongMeanings and thought it merited a posting. Quite beautiful and honest, I say:


his voice is great on this. the second verse, culminating in 'i trust you will tell me if i am making a fool of myself' fucking kills me.

just a beautiful song; and with a quite staggering piece of malk-soloing for the last couple of minutes. just the solo manages to convey love and loss somehow, quite apart from the lyrics.

i have a home video from a few years ago where i was sitting in a car with this on the stereo. my then girlfriend had gone out to get something and it was a time at which i knew the relationship was about to go south. i was just filming the bright sunshine and waiting for her to get back in. somehow, music makes its moments; and that music was perfect in that moment.


That sounds about right, by my reckoning. I have probably a few dozen similar Pavement-centric real-life moments of my own which sound eerily similar to this guy's (even today, I listened to Brighten The Corners for the first time in ages during, you guessed it, the late afternoon...and while thinking about past relationships). Maybe this is worth discussing, since the vast, vast, vast majority of my memorable listening-to-Pavement experiences have come during the late afternoon/sunset hours...

Is Pavement the best late afternoon band in history? I think that it just might be.
 
I too had forgotten about Fin (despite saying BtC is my fav Pav album) until reading both of your comments here. Good stuff, thanks doodz. :up:
 
I heard 'Harness Your Hopes' on the radio Saturday night, loved it. Maybe I'll have to buy the deluxe version of BtC.
 
I had a nice amount of mental confusion at Sonic Youth yesterday when the band took the stage and I instantly thought, "Wait a second......is that the bass player from Pavement? No, that can't be him. It looks just like him. It can't be him. Seriously, that looks JUST like him. Why would be he playing with Sonic Youth, it can't be him. IT LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM." I had the same mental confusion for the following 2 hours, and finally had a chance this morning to look up who's touring with the band right now, and sure enough, Mark Ibold has been apparently been touring with Sonic Youth for a few years now.
 
So is Mark Ibold playing bass with Sonic Youth? What is Kim Gordon doing, then?

Also, doesn't Queef owe us some album reviews? Wowee Zowee and BTC I think?
 
Listening to Slanted and Enchanted right the fuck now. I have no idea how this is anything other than anyone's favorite or second-favorite Pavement album. This and Wowee Zowee is all I need, when the dust settles.
 
lazarus said:
So is Mark Ibold playing bass with Sonic Youth? What is Kim Gordon doing, then?
Click to expand...

She's also playing bass. I don't know if they're both playing different parts, or she's not actually plugged in, or what. There were a few songs where she just sang without the bass, and he played.

Slanted and Enchanted is probably my personal favorite Pavement album, Shouter. Even though later albums were more polished and even had some better songs, Slanted still has my heart.
 
If you shout... said:
Listening to Slanted and Enchanted right the fuck now. I have no idea how this is anything other than anyone's favorite or second-favorite Pavement album. This and Wowee Zowee is all I need, when the dust settles.
Click to expand...

Nope. I love it and it's an indie classic, but not really an illustration of what the band was capable of. Even Frontwards and Shoot the Singer smoke eveything on there.

And I say this as someone who got into the band right before the release of Crooked Rain.
 
lazarus said:
So is Mark Ibold playing bass with Sonic Youth? What is Kim Gordon doing, then?

Also, doesn't Queef owe us some album reviews? Wowee Zowee and BTC I think?
Click to expand...

I haven't listened enough to discern a track-by-track review, but:

1. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
2. Wowee Zowee
3. Slanted and Enchanted

I don't have the others. This is what you get.

I enjoy all of them. I like Pavement. I think I'll also begin exploring the Jicks soon.
 
Well, I'm going away and will have some time to do some more listening during travel so I'll have more to tell you when I return.
 
I've always liked CR, CR and Wowee Zowee a lot more than Slanted and Enchanted. I guess I dig their more polished sound when it comes down to it. Brighten the Corners is awesome too. "Fin" just fucking slays...that guitar solo to end it...I think I could die to that, seriously. :love:
 
We all seem to have our own favs with Pavement. Wowee Zowee is actually my least favorite of their albums. :shh:
 
Wowee Zowee was the last of their albums I picked up, and for some reason Grounded is the only track that's completely won me over from it. It's always much better than I remember when I hear it, but I'm still not crazy for it for some reason.

I probably rate them on personal preference like this:

1. Slanted & Enchanted
2. Brighten the Corners / Crooked Rain (never sure which I like more, depends on the day)

4. Terror Twilight
5. Wowee Zowee
 
1. CR, CR
2. Slanted
3. Woweeeeeee
4. Brighten
5. Terror

CR, CR will always be my personal favorite because it was the first one I fell in love with. And I've always found it to be the most intoxicating and engrossing album of the bunch. I don't know. But they're all great. I might do a list of favorite Pavement songs here in a minute if I can get my head on straight.
 
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