Stephen Malkmus

dog latin? didn't you used to frequent the old warp records message board, before they took it down?

at least two of the new songs they played sounded like the doors to me. i can't decide if that's a good thing.

1. The Zombies "Time of the Season"
2. Yoko Ono "Walking on Thin Ice"

no, sir. i am not. if i'm anything, it's disappointed that someone w/ so much potential. so little returns

idk where 2 put this but i liked this a lot in 2005 and it's still dear 2 me

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6424258467693494613

now stefan malkamus is walking around w/ my face

This is a very good and interesting interview!
http://www.cowbellmagazine.com/home/2011/8/1/rule-portlandia.html

Good interview but interjections like this remind me why I hate (music) journalism:

In the time of Ke$ha and Katy Perry, in the post-empire era of the music-industrial complex, when radio has become the horse-drawn carriage of the Information Age, songs no longer “mean a lot when songs are bought.”

What does this even mean?

I'm so jealous he's moving to Berlin.

What does this even mean?

I think he's trying to say that it doesn't matter as much as it used to to get a song on the radio.

http://mentholmountains.blogspot.com/2011/08/la-guns-intangible-showdown.html#more

haha

I don't want anybody to get hurt.
I can just see the two factions healing their schism
and coming after you with both barrels blazin.
These headbangers are angry and vindictive.
They've been looking for revenge since '92
and let's face it--
you weren't far from the scene of the crime.

new album sounds good! streaming on the npr today.

lol

Yeah, the new album sounds really good. I've got the NPR thing streaming the thing in full so I'm not sure of the exact track name I'm on right now, but the guitar workout a couple tracks after "Senator" is awesome.

this album is kinda crazy. all over the place. some of it sounds like demos to me. liking the alex chilton-y Tune Grief.

no one is (as i are be) sounds like ode to billie joe.

so excited to listen to this!

"gorgeous georgie" is song titles v much in character

i'm only half-listening to this but this is real clean sounding - the short track lengths and the lightness of his vocals give it this real airy feel. it's all very agreeable, this sounds like the style i want malk to be going for at this stage in his career. i think i'm going to like this

each song is a jam. another great album. malkmus solo > pavement

http://www.avclub.com/articles/stephen-malkmus-forced-to-rename-his-album-out-of,60486/

"fall away" is really nice

"stick figures in love"

Yeah I was just listening to this earlier thinking Fall Away is my favourite song, it's really sweet. The whole album is really enjoyable.

one of these nights i'll have to listen to this when i haven't been drinking but i'm pretty sure i like this album a good amount

there was an ad for the this in spotify telling me to listen to it so i clicked on it and it wasn't available for me to play

this album is already growing on me big time

there was an ad for the this in spotify telling me to listen to it so i clicked on it and it wasn't available for me to play

Yeah, that happened to me too. The ad's popped up several times a day for the past couple of days, not sure who's to blame for that one, but its annoying to keep getting promised something I can't listen to. Luckily we have the NPR stream for now.

ok serious lols at that whole mail exchange

you never know what an unsophisticated consumer might think.

yeah honestly, berman and malkmus need to make another record again.

While I feel a little jaded on the whole Malkmus Schtik this record sounds like his best set of songs since Crooked Rain.

!

that's a big claim

more like dinglepicker

Yeah well it is a big claim I suppose, but I didn't really rate the consistency of latter period Pavement myself. And found the other solo records, apart from the first to be collections of mostly jams in search of songs, or an excuse to show us how much he had improved his soloing. As I implied upthread I'm a bit over his whole style anyway and so I can't say my comment comes for someone who is truly invested and cares deeply about the guys work anymore. I feel a lot more detached than I was when Westing or Slanted or Watery Domestic came out and he meant everything to me. I listen to his stuff now out of respect for those earlier records but not expecting much. Hell, its only a claim - an early claim at that, I've only listened a couple of times and was pleasantly surprised- if unexcited. Thanks anyway Buzza for yer constructive and enlightening reply.

first malkmus solo album was his best set of songs since 'crooked rain.' pavement is his buffalo springfield and the jicks his crazy horse. looking forward to seeing these new jams live

bullshit analogy imo, and i like solo Malkmus

pavement kind of sucked after their first two albums

die

this is awesome partly because it is sooo late pavement

be mellow bro

i was just foolin

Yeah I see the sound of this as somewhere between Wowee Zowee and Brighten the Corners and as being overall more consistent than both. It has the kind of laid back, off the cuff feel of WZ combined with some of the more elegant, composed BTC feel. Nothing as good as We Dance though, and maybe Grounded.

You guys get pretty 'het up' if anyone expresses an opinion different to your own, for Malkmus stuff. I don't feel like I am being unreasonable. Must be Sacred Cow syndrome. If you don't agree then explain why and get a conversation going- after all that's the point of this thread and board isn't it?

new board description

explain why and get a conversation going about music.com ??

maybe not. tee he.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/arts/music/stephen-malkmus-the-jicks-and-beck-mirror-traffic.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28 Malkmus and Beck and bandmates

Mr. Malkmus generally stuck to his songwriting strategy of creating riffs inspired by favorite or recently heard songs and improvising his lyrics on the spot. (This accounts for tracks like “No One Is (As I Are Be),” which combines the gentle acoustic guitar of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” with the Malkmusian line “I cannot even do one sit-up, sit-ups are so bourgeoise.”) Mr. Hansen said he tried not to put his thumb on the scale too much, though he was sorry to see Mr. Malkmus lose a lyric that rhymed “Vietnam” with “lip balm.”

The decision to write and record “Mirror Traffic” before last year’s Pavement reunion tour, Mr. Malkmus acknowledged, was his, though he could not say for certain if that impending commitment had an effect on the album.

“I knew that it was coming,” he said, “so if people try to say it’s somehow Pavement-y, it could be in my mind, that I had to do that tour.” He corrected himself. “Or wanted to do that tour.”

I hate the way the article starts.

This, on the other hand, is a great quote:

“I don’t think Steve Malkmus gets wildly excited about much except fantasy sports,” said Janet Weiss

and whoa @ Beck producing Dwight Yoakam!

last time i checked that damn spotify banner ad telling me to listen to this album still didn't work -- you click on it and it shows the record and tells you it's not available or whatever u_u

just stream it on the NPR all songs considered site for now

ty for the tip, will do

P/u on LP yesterday and listening now. Is it just me or the does the vinyl master sound a bit thin? It sure isn't my setup ...

Malkmus' remark about nothing happening in the nineties is an example of the kind of stupid rock star narcissism of which careers are made.

Since this doesn't even get physically released until Tuesday BlackIronPrison, not sure anybody's able to compare just yet. Jealous that you found a copy already, or did you do a preorder?

streaming this now, it's pretty great!

srtephen malkmomus

Jon - Permanent Records on Chicago Ave. had it out Saturday - maybe someone made a boo-boo ... It really is such a leap in a different direction than R.E.T. ... I like it and I think I really place Malkmus and Pavement in different camps ...

Nice. Yeah, I try to avoid comparing Pavement and Malkmus' solo stuff, different beasts completely imho. I've only listened to the stream once, but it sounded really good. Excited to dig in more later this week.

Different but the same. A lot of these tunes sound like Pavement songs to me- why pretend anything different? I don't think this is a surprise or that there is anything wrong with this- he was the main songwriter in Pavement after all. I think the last couple of records the difference was more marked but on this one not so much.

why pretend anything different?

Completely different backing musicians, for one. I really don't think most of his solo stuff sounds Pavement-y, tbh. I mean, yeah sure, in that he's the same vocalist playing vaguely indie-rock driven music.

Ok then guess we must be hearing different things. Sounds pretty similar sort of songs to my ears. Sure the rest of the group is different but the composition, melodies, lead guitar, lyrics etc all sound close enough to (middle/late era Pavement) be almost interchangeable to a lost Pavement album to me. Not worth having a bath over though.

and whoa @ Beck producing Dwight Yoakam!

― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, August 21, 2011 7:01 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

omg

also what is this record called so i can pirate it reliably

l.a. gunz

lol

>:[

mirror traffic

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/08/10/malkmus2_wide.jpg

"am i really in a band with these pricks?"

malkmus interviewed by dean wareham (!)

http://www.salon.com/news/music/index.html?story=/ent/tv/feature/2011/08/22/malkmus_wareham

This is another Pretty Good Record.

nycers, playing two in-stores on thursday, one at other music and one at academy in brooklyn..

I like the way the new album starts off but I got a bit bored halfway in (that's on my first listen to the NPR stream that was available) says this Slanted and Crooked Rain fan. This is getting great reviews so far(here and everywhere), so maybe I need to give it more time.

more or less what others said already:

1. i like it after the first listen.
2. it definitely has a pavement feel to it, more later than early pavement of course.
3. during the second half i got bored a little as well, it gets a little jammy at some point.

The two songs over five minutes are the worst.

why do you guys hate to rock

the question is why does Malkmus.

love when malkmus gets jammy, six minutes, eight minutes, more!

^^ (xp ian)

i like "brain gallop"

i prefer light & wispy malk actually

'Share the Red' is a decent synthesis of these types I think.

The reason I like this record so much is that it does a nice job of both the playful Malkmus and the jammy, hippie Malkmus. I like both.

Again, this is another decent record which happens to be at least 20 minutes and five tracks too long; and the opening line in "Tigers" about the girl in the Birkenstocks almost made me hurl.

this record is great, cool and breezy, not too long at all!

For me I reach a point with a former guitar/weirdo hero (David Byrne, Verlaine, Dean Wareham) or band when the decent craftsmanship doesn't compensate for the blahs.

dunno, with those artists you mention (throw in robyn hitchcock there too), they've got styles i love so much that i generally enjoy everything they put out. some albums might be more inconsequential than others, but i still get a buzz from hearing "this guy". i probably have low expectations.

There's so much music to listen to that I've reached the ate at which thinking, "Cool, another B+ Malkmus record" is almost a waste of time .

*age

line up for the comfort ate

i mean, it's basically comfort music for me, but sometimes a cheeseburger is all i want. i'm a simple guy.

man don't talk about cheeseburgers when I ate lunch more than two hours ago.

alfred how old are you??

I've seen a third of a century elapse.

ha you always make yourself seem older than you are

i'm up at school a week before classes start doing nothing but play basketball, read, watch tv, and golf; i'm realizing how much i am going to love retirement

I've seen a third of a century elapse.

Yeah, I was all like "lol u old", oh, wait, so have I. Dammit.

i'm up at school a week before classes start doing nothing but play basketball, read, watch tv, and golf; i'm realizing how much i am going to love retirement

Malkmus material.

I thought you were older too, kev!

We wear the bottoms of our trousers rolled.

i'm 22

Why you whippersnapper you, you aren't even out of goddamn short pants yet! What do you know about old man rock n roll?

and he holds his own so well on the politics thread!

since when do old people know about politics

I've pretty much gone through the same cycle with each Malkmus solo album:

1st phase - "Hey, this is pretty good! This might be his best solo album yet!"
2nd phase - "Yep, still pretty good. I should play this more often."
3rd phase - "It's been a while since I've listened to that. Should I put it on... Nah."

I feel the same as O Nate up there. Heres A review that sums it up for me too. From Collapse Board.

By Scott Creney

Stephen Malkmus’s new album is simply brilliant. Mirror Traffic is boiling over with ideas about 21st Century life. Most of the lyrics examine the collapse of global capitalism through a range of emotions comparable to the stages of grief: ideological denial, explosions of anger and attempts at bargaining, followed by depression and withdrawal. It’s a rollicking soundtrack for the economic Armageddon exploding all around us.
Just kidding. Mirror Traffic isn’t about any of those things. As far as I can tell, it isn’t about anything at all. It’s just one more congested mess of whimsy from the former boy genius.

Oh how we loved Stephen Malkmus in our youth! One of the few indie rock Prime Ministers to ever be elected to a second term. Oh how you dominated the 90s with your style and wit, your passion and melody. But those days are over. Your riddles have run dry. Your mystery is no longer engaging. Your sense of abandon morphed along the way from ‘not giving a fuck’ into ‘not giving a shit’. Even your high-faluting, scrabble-playing, crossword-solving intellect seems to have deserted you (using ‘bourgeoisie’ as an adjective, really Stephen).

Mirror Traffic is stuffed with ideas, but nearly all of them feel half-baked. Songs are crammed with lyrics upon lyrics, multiple chord changes, key changes, varied instrumentation, tempo changes, etc., but for no discernible reason, to no real effect. Only a fool would ask what the songs on Mirror Traffic are about. It’s a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that upon completion reveals a brown wooden duck. ‘Brain Gallop’ has a nice melodic hook, but it’s attached to a lyric — “There’s not that much left inside my tank today/There’s just enough to go and blow you away” — that, in its unearned simplicity, undercuts whatever momentum the song might be building. Then Malkmus shifts into that mocking, half-assed falsetto that suggests he thinks the whole thing is a god-damned joke and you just have to throw your hands up in the air. If you’re smart, you’ll skip ahead before the goofy/silly/tongue-in-cheek guitar solo comes along.

What about that sardonic wit Malkmus is so famous for? Well, I’ve always thought the word ‘witty’ was a word people use to describe someone who isn’t actually funny — the funny person makes you laugh where the witty person makes you smile. I don’t know. Does this make you laugh?
SENATOR VIDEO
I know what the senator wants. What the senator wants is a blowjob.
I know what everyone wants. What everyone wants is a blowjob.

Yowsa! Zing! I mean, as comedy goes, SM was always more Jerry Seinfeld than Bill Hicks, more David Sedaris than Richard Pryor. But ‘Senator’ is probably the high point of this album. You can decide for yourself whether that’s high enough. By the way, How the fuck does something “fade away like a stone”?

It’s hard not to shake the feeling of pointlessness hanging over the album. The songs are stuffed with chords because the songs are stuffed with chords, not because they take the song anywhere. All the fussiness feels like an attempt on SM’s part to try and keep things interesting — not for us, he could care less — but to try and keep things interesting for himself. A heavy weight of obligation hangs all over this album. One pictures SM shrugging his shoulders before mumbling, ‘That’s OK, right? It’s got some okay moments, doesn’t it?’

And one pictures Beck, the (all but invisible, inconsequential) producer of Mirror Traffic, nodding his support.

Here’s a link to the first video, courtesy of The New York Times. Take the time to read some Paul Krugman while you’re over there, and try not to think too hard about Bobbie Gentry.
The list of songwriters who did their best work after leaving their original band is a short one. There’s Peter Gabriel. [You crazy fool! - Genesis-hating Ed] There’s, um … George Michael? Joe Walsh? There’s probably a reason for this. As long as Paul McCartney was in The Beatles, he had to live up to being a Beatle. But as Paul McCartney? Well shit, anything he recorded would live up to being Paul McCartney. And the same thing’s probably true with Stephen Malkmus. Not to say that a Pavement reunion would produce anything better, I just think an artist’s ‘solo career’ is always going to be underwhelming to some extent.

‘Tune Grief’ has some good energy; in some places it’s almost fun. But it doesn’t move me. Is it my fault? The album goes on for over 50 minutes, most of it wandering from one place to another without ever really accomplishing anything. You need Mirror Traffic the way the ocean needs more salt. It’s about as necessary as a manual typewriter, and every bit as interesting to listen to. It has the same vigor, the same sense of purpose, the missionary zeal, of a grey turd floating in a bathtub.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with ambiguity. I keep listening to Mirror Traffic (decent title, by the way — giving credit where credit is due), but I hear vagueness instead of mystery. Instead of a beguiling labyrinth, I’m simply trapped in a room with too much furniture and not enough art. There’s moments every so often — they last for 15 seconds or so — that make me think Malkmus may have something (ahem) left in the tank, that he may still possess some of the genius he once flung around so casually and endlessly in his youth. Hell, maybe he just needs to go back and listen to The Fall instead of Smog or The Sea And Cake, or whatever the fuck he listens to these days. But this album isn’t even close to genius. Not by a long shot. At its best, the album is pleasant. And there’s too much goddamn great music out there for us to waste our time on things that are merely pleasant.

ugh

ugh

kinda odd the whole band is playing a free show tonight at 6pm in LA with no other tour dates (including later tonight) for another month?

Not feeling that review at all. Mostly because I hate that mislead style, "this is a brilliant album! just kidding, it sucks!". Also, wtf does "in its unearned simplicity" even mean? How does something "earn" simplicity? Either it is, or it isn't.

the real question is does this review earn simplicity

http://www.nerve.com/advice/sex-advice-from/sex-advice-from-stephen-malkmus

I haven't heard anything from the new one yet, but I think the diminishing-returns effect I get from Malkmus's solo output is that he seems to be returning to hoe the same row a few times too many. The amount of stylistic variation seems to be getting vanishingly tiny. He's clearly a guy who knows what he wants to do and just keeps doing it. I think the best thing for him would be a radical departure in style. All said, I still think his solo career has been less disappointing than say Frank Black's.

See I think the new one reminds me the most of his first solo album and branches out in a few playful directions. I don't know just yet how successful those forays are, need to spend more time with it, but it certainly feels like he's having a little more fun this time.

The decision to write and record “Mirror Traffic” before last year’s Pavement reunion tour, Mr. Malkmus acknowledged, was his, though he could not say for certain if that impending commitment had an effect on the album.

“I knew that it was coming,” he said, “so if people try to say it’s somehow Pavement-y, it could be in my mind, that I had to do that tour.” He corrected himself. “Or wanted to do that tour.”

From the NY Times interview linked upthread.

Jon: I think 'unearned simplicity' might mean that sometimes its ok to have a simple, rhyming line "like theres just enough to blow you away" but that the rest of the songs lyrics need to set this up, because are also quite consistently vague so it just isn't necessary and lacks some kind of authenticity. But yep, it is a confusing phrase. Good that you at least gave a reason for your dislike of the review - rather than jsut a straight 'ugh'. Were those ugh remarkers just disagreeing with what the review was saying or the style of the review. Both I guess. Perhaps you could post a review of the record which you think is in a style you prefer or nails the albums worth better or at least explain why you didn't like it. I like a lot of the insights in this review and agree that while the record is pleasant it is also unnecessary. I think the phrase that sums up why i am no longer passionate about SM is "vagueness instead of mystery"- previously there was something mysterious, magical and intense in the songs and now using the same tics and tropes that he created earlier ,it just feels like he is going through the motions.

Thats kind of why I am persisting with this thread when most people seem to think I am some kind of annoying buzzing fly. I think its interestng how precious a lot of the Malkmus fanbase are- and as I have already said i was one of thiose slavishly devoted quite a few years ago. Which is fine but not many people are really prepared to explain comments beyond 'ugh' etc... Its ok to like the album but why don't you explain why?

Like I said, I've only heard it once via the NPR stream so I'm trying to withhold final judgement until I spend more time with it. But, based on that one listen, it sounds really promising! And hits at a lot of what I like about Malkmus. My "ugh" was referring to the tone and style of the review, as I said, I don't like those headfake reviews - just be straight up with me.

I'm definitely not a Malkmus apologist, by any means, but I don't see how we have to be slavishly devoted to like this album? I mean, the funny thing is, I was all set to NOT like it because of the Beck production. I think he's got a little bit too heavy of a hand sometimes (see the overwhelming string arrangements on the Thurston Moore record) and I didn't think he'd at all be a good fit for Malkmus. But he surprised me.

Oh how we loved Stephen Malkmus in our youth! One of the few indie rock Prime Ministers to ever be elected to a second term. Oh how you dominated the 90s with your style and wit, your passion and melody. But those days are over. Your riddles have run dry. Your mystery is no longer engaging. Your sense of abandon morphed along the way from ‘not giving a fuck’ into ‘not giving a shit’. Even your high-faluting, scrabble-playing, crossword-solving intellect seems to have deserted you (using ‘bourgeoisie’ as an adjective, really Stephen).

i think this is awful. that is what made me say "ugh." how old is this writer, 20? i just think it's nonsense, a refusal to take a record on its own terms, instead trotting out tired cliches about the guy.

dusted review: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6637

He has revealed himself to be kind of a sphinx without a secret, no? And I like him!

Yeah, I really like that Dusted review.

i think this is awful. that is what made me say "ugh." how old is this writer, 20? i just think it's nonsense, a refusal to take a record on its own terms, instead trotting out tired cliches about the guy.

Even the Pitchfork review pulled a similar line out of the stable -- something about how we thirtysomethings have all longed for dear Stephen to make a solo album as good as a Pavement record. I don't care if he ever does! Why hold on to an illusion?

because you're a dumbass music writer for pitchfork and you cant think of anything decent to say about Malkmus

kidding! i love pitchfork! it's a wonderful website!

but yeah i hate how his stuff is always compared to pavement. i read an interview with joanna, the bass player of his band, and she pointed out she's played with SM as long as anyone from pavement now.

Thanks for engaging people! I like that Dusted review too. It too leans heavily on referencing Pavement and his legacy but goes for a mostly positive spin - but still an interesting take.

"Oh how we loved Stephen Malkmus in our youth! One of the few indie rock Prime Ministers to ever be elected to a second term. Oh how you dominated the 90s with your style and wit, your passion and melody. But those days are over. Your riddles have run dry. Your mystery is no longer engaging. Your sense of abandon morphed along the way from ‘not giving a fuck’ into ‘not giving a shit’. Even your high-faluting, scrabble-playing, crossword-solving intellect seems to have deserted you (using ‘bourgeoisie’ as an adjective, really Stephen)."

Tyler :I guess this just points to the fact that the writer is struggling to overcome the Malkmus past- his 'legacy' etc. Isn't that just being honest about where he is coming from and why?

Does he want a cookie as a reward for his honesty?

Doesn't make him the right guy for the piece & doesn't make it a well-constructed piece. xp

After a listen and a half, I think the record's solid. I know what I like about Malkmus, and a lot of what I like is here. Sometimes I wish he would aim a little higher or step out of his comfort zone or whatever, but I'll take it for what it is - aiming for significance has never been his metier, and he was already a pretty mellow guy at 26. He still writes good songs, but because he's mellowed out even more since Pavement split he'll probably never write anything major again. Just keep cranking out dependable, crafty records. In the context of his solo oeuvre, this is one of the craftiest. And that's OK - I don't need it to *matter*. Anyway, Beck is a fresh and receptive pair of ears - the thing sounds great. Even the throwaways have a flourish here or a guitar line there to recommend them.

He can't aim higher or step out of his comfort zone cuz he's a fortysomething who probably can't, especially after he already recorded Pavement albums that aimed pretty high.

one thing about that dusted review -- "on Mirror Traffic, there’s a recapturing of the joy he clearly felt on Pavement’s final full-length, Terror Twilight."
joy? man, that's not what i hear happening on that record at all. he sounds like he's having a LOT more fun on his first solo rec.

when is he not having fun? Whatever else, the dude likes to sing wacky lyrics and play guitar.

pig lib was not much fun

oh if I have to judge Mr. Malkmus' idea of fun on top of mine I wouldn't have time to eat.

OK, as the Pavement poll thread is dormant here might be the place to ask the stans to recommend some really great writing about the band. I was always a casual fan (though somehow I was at the 1992 show that's preserved on the Slanted & Enchanted deluxe edition) and didn't vote in the poll but I have most of the albums so I created a poll results playlist and was surprised how much of it I loved and how hard I found it to put why I loved it into words given that so many of their signature qualities are, on paper, incredibly aggravating. There was much more emotion beneath the smartassery than I remembered and it doesn't derive from obvious emotional triggers in the lyrics. I feel in need of some smart writing about what made them great.

why do people feel the need to read about bands so much? what are you going to get from a piece of writing that you don't get from the music? serious question.

Christgau's essay-review of BTC contributed to my developing passion. I'll post it in a sec.

what are you going to get from a piece of writing that you don't get from the music?

Seriously? Insights ("I never listened to this song this way") and good turns of phrase.

and a paycheck, xxp

Thanks Alfred.

xp Well I'm a music critic who studied English Literature so this is what I do. I always get something out of good criticism - fresh insights, different angles, sharp observations, clarity of thought. If you don't get why reading criticism is pleasurable fair enough.

i get criticism of English Lit, totally. but even that is ridiculous at times.

I get weary of criticism when it's written badly.

Good criticism is good. Bad criticism is bad.

Malkmus was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me

Reading about music is great, for a ton of reasons. Great understanding of context, culture, etc - especially important when reading about a band or scene from before your time. Lots of funny, interesting studio stories.

Does he want a cookie as a reward for his honesty?

A few problems with this Alfred.
1.He has not stated what his favourite cookies are. We could choose oat and it might be chocolate chip. Therefore the recipient might actually just feel as though we didn't really want want our gift to be seen as sincere.
2.Who would send the cookies? Would this be every person who appreciated his honesty- like me? Or just those who are annoyed by it- like you?
3. There is also a risk that the mail service would crumble parts of the cookie in handling and processing the mail, therefore making the cookie somthing of a 'claytons' gift. Who would want a crumbly mess for a reward?

Malk's lyrics really rub me wrong nowadays. Not sure if my taste has changed or they've actually gotten worse. I think it's the latter.

"will come back to bite you in the rearest of ends"?

groan

"too busy putzin' 'round the Internet"

this album seems ok. definitely picks up steam in the second half.

andrew beckerman is the most tediously self-indulgent dusted reviewer. can't think of a single review where he's so much as mentioned a song title

Malkmus shreds on a few of these tunes.

musical ideas in half?

Despite everything my relationship with the rcord is growing stronger. Catchy bits running round in my head at starnge moments . I like what Beck has done with the vocals - using echo occasionally etc.... I also think the bits where Malk (generally to conclude a song) cranks up the guitar are more interesting, succinct than previously. His best solo record I think.

He shreds musical ideas in half, then multiplies them by two - all the while demonstrating pretty impressive chops for a guy who has never used a pick and who was kind of known as a sloppy musician for a long time.

why do people feel the need to read about bands so much? what are you going to get from a piece of writing that you don't get from the music? serious question.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Que.

Mr. WTF.

'Que?' would've been better I think.

i'm just glad someone came out against music criticism. maybe congress can put an end to this travesty, and soon.
― Mr. Que, Monday, March 22, 2010 4:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you're a weirdo.

new drummer is pretty great!

http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/news/watch-stephen-malkmus-performs-hollywood-in-store/#.TlWUIeYx-wd

Que, I <3 you, I just think it's funny that someone who dislikes the entire enterprise of music criticism hangs out on ILM.

cool dude, <3 u, but it's not called I Love Music Criticisms, ya know? i'm here to shoot the shit and have some laughs

so is most criticism!

joos > jicks > pavement

smh

sb

when SM mockingly refers to his new bandmate as "the only guy left who still buys new R.E.M. albums" does he not realize that that is roughly the same set as "guys who still buy SM/Jicks albums"

shh don't tell the other posters on this thread!

R.E.M. have been horrible since Monster, so, no

'new adventures' was pretty good

roughly the same set as "guys who still buy SM/Jicks albums"
i accept this. i mean, i got into pavement when I was 14-15 years old, they're an ~important~ band to me, in that way that music that you get into when you're 14-15 is maybe more important than any other music you'll hear. so i think there's some element of nostalgia that i'll always have with malkmus. but at the same time, i do really enjoy his jicks records -- i don't think he's ever made a bad album in the same way that REM or say, Paul Westerberg has made a bad album. i'm not desperate for him to just rehash pavement. but i guess i'm just a big fan.

me too. "pink india" speaks more to me than most pavement songs

Isn't talking about music on a forum in itself a form of music criticism though? Unless all you're doing is reading list threads or w/e?

This album isn't really grabbing me. The first three tunes are enticing enough - they cover a modicum of new ground - but by the time he's singing "there's not much left inside my tank today" it's just Malkmus by numbers. That said, every album I've ever heard by Malkmus or Pavement has taken a good few listens to truly love.

I got into Pavement via Blur when they were touting the band as a major influence. There was a segment about them on television with Malkmus singing a live version of Stereo: "What about the voice of Geddy Lee/[Helium voice] Why does it sound like this?...". I was struck by how amusing this line was and how it was delivered in this shambling US drawl with stumbling instruments barely able to drag themselves up off the floor, yet somehow maintaining coherence through some idiot logic of their own. I couldn't tell if it was out of tune or out of time or what, but it sounded so different compared to the bright'n'bouncy sounds of most UK Britpop of the time. A skewed house of cards sound with these archly labyrinthine lyrics that only just hinted at solid concepts but poked and tickled the receptors with their wordplay.

Once I'd listened to the albums a bit more, I'd find myself being plagued by these lyrics. They'd just float into my head completely unannounced: "One of us is a cigar stand/And one of us is a lovely blue incandescent guillotine", "The tiger reaps his own reward/Serengeti nightmare for the eco-tour", "Oh intuition/On your docks we're fish'in/Come on now give us a grade". It got to the point where I could recite the whole of the Brighten The Corners album without really trying or even looking at the lyric sheet - and I'm NOT a lyrics man. It's this knack Malkmus has for imaginative word combinations that does it I think. He would have made a brilliant hip-hop artist - the doors within doors within doors automatic writing - Stereo being a case in point. He's like the indie ODB (*ducks*).

But yeah, it can take a while for a Pavement/Malkmus album to sink in. I thought Pig Lib was a major snooze when I first heard it. Now it's my favourite rock album of 2003 - a true masterpiece and the last really great thing he ever put out. Since then it's all gone a little wincey. I have no qualm with the prog direction he's been pushing lately - it's more the lyrics I think. They've gone a bit obvious and cutesy. Songs about dragonflies and wicked witches and shit - it's more like someone doing an impression of Malkmus than anything else and a major stumbling block for me on the last two albums.

I was a huge R.E.M. fan who gave up on them shortly after Reveal. Bought Accelerate and it reminded me why I'd given up on them in the first place. Malkmus doesn't make exciting records anymore, but he still makes good ones, and I suspect he always will. Even if I hadn't heard and liked it on Spotify, I'd be buying Mirror Traffic. The cutesy stuff can be annoying, yeah, but I don't think it's gotten substantially worse since Pig Lib. It certainly hasn't reached McCartney levels, anyway.

i think he has an "admiral halsey/uncle albert" or two in him. kinda feel like the more apt comparison in terms of stature and influence is lou reed though, except malkmus solo is better than pavement, and lou barely ever measured up again to what the velvets did

He's definitely got some noticeable Lou Reed moments on this album

i always thought "the hook" was lou solo-y. hope he never does a 'new sensations'

That song which uses "alacrity" – it's towards the end – makes me boil.

i'm pretty sure you mean makes you "boogie"

alfred, did you like this movierecord i dont remember?

Btw, does Malkmus' delivery in a couple of these songs make you think he's been listening to a lot of his buddy DB's records? Can't remember specifics right now, but listening this morning i remember several times thinking, "that line belongs on a Jews record".

Malkmus is infinitely less perverse and substantially easier to listen to than solo Lou Reed. I mean, Lou hasn't even attempted to sing on key since at least 1972.

those buzzing guitars when he sings the line "there's not much left in my tank today." totally rule my world, they literally make me dizzy. later on the song turns into a progrock guitar jam. a little disappointing but isn't this typical for malkmus, experimenting a little and then coming back to normal life. there are lots of codas on this, a real malkmus song is almost unthinkable without a coda, isn't it? i think this album to which i must have listened at least 5 times by now is absolutely wonderful. i love the guitars on "stick figurs in love". sunny and breezy at the same time. this album is one of the best i have heard this year. which doesn't say much as i didn't listen to many and most of those were pretty unexciting. "long hard book" is another killer song. it switches from melancholic guitar ballad to country and then to god knows what. there are so many ideas on this albums, it sparkles like a crazy star in the milky way. but you have to look closely at the night sky to see all those rays going in all directions.

only songs i don't really like on this are "senator", "spazz" and parts of "gorgeous georgie"

"fall away" = strings of nashville 2

“Unfortunately the Jicks songs are too difficult to play behind my head or fall to my knees so often. I end up looking down more often than I’d like. But those Pavement ones are in these totally remedial tunings, and I know ’em so well I can just play them with my eyes closed. That allowed me to have some fun playing the guitar, which I like. That was more showmanship, but I’ve been playing more, y’know, considered guitar for a pretty long time. Since [2003’s] Pig Lib people have been throwin’ that (expletive) around.”

This quote from an interview with Aussie website the vine kinda explains why I like Slanted / Crooked Rain era Pavement more than anything else he's done

"Senator" is actually a really great song, I feel like too many people are letting the awkward "blowjob" lines ruin the song completely.

I still hear Pig Lib as his peak, and the new album sounds a little too polite or something, but I like the fact that he's able to put out fairly solid albums in the same general style year after year. Off the top of my head I can't think of too many other reasonably talented indie folk who've been able to pull that off. Like his solo career has a pleasing lack of urgency that does remind me of the 70's.

Oddly, Mirror Traffic doesn't show up on Spotify when I search for Malkmus (his other solo albums do) but they do have it (under Malkmus and the Jicks). On Rhapsody it turns up in the Malkmus search. Interesting, and worth remembering... I did wonder why Rhapsody would have it first.

Either he's become a less interesting singer or uninterested in rhythm or both, or I've lost interest in his disinterest in them.

Was he once interested in rhythm? Maybe. Ever since he started talking more about prog and late-60s and early 70s Brit folk, and his guitar playing, vocals, and song lengths began to reflect that, I became less interested. But lots of folks here seem to like that.

sloppy grammar there.

It needn't be a binary though. Lots of early seventies Britfolk moved more interestingly than Malkmus' tunes.

Martin Lamble is a drummer that I like a lot.

If Malkmus could only bring that Fairport Convention drummer back from the beyond.

sm + jicks actually covered "tale in hard time" a few years back. it was great.

brain gallop -> jumblegloss -> asking price -> stick figures in love

^^A++++

brain challops

this is a really swell autumn is coming album

sorry if this was already posted, but did you see the email exchange b/w Malkmus and David Berman regarding the original title, L.A. Guns, along with a bunch of entertainment lawyer worrying about getting sued by people confusing the title with the 80s glam metal band L.A. Guns? Berman posted the email chain in its entirity: http://mentholmountains.blogspot.com/2011/08/la-guns-intangible-showdown.html#more

it's pretty lol

x-post

How is it "Autumn is coming"?

yes! this is amazing

I don't want anybody to get hurt.
I can just see the two factions healing their schism
and coming after you with both barrels blazin.
These headbangers are angry and vindictive.
They've been looking for revenge since '92
and let's face it--
you weren't far from the scene of the crime.

curmudgeon, autumn is on the way. summer is almost dead.

Not around here. 108F tomorrow. Damn it.

x-post- so any album released in August that you like is a " swell autumn is coming album"? Uh, thanks. Now tell me again why you hate music criticism.

Wish I could place what old song 'Gorgeous Georgie' threatens to turn into at 0:57, something by Built To Spill off 'Keep It LIke A Secret', perhaps?

I still hear Pig Lib as his peak

otm. nice in-store at academy records the other day. benny!

x-post, Was thinking of The Move's 'Do Ya.

http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/videos/stephen-malkmus-2011.html

Ok, finally figured out why the Senator/blowjob line irritates me: it's too reminiscent of the Bob Packwood line from Vanessa From Queens. Like if you're going to go for such an attention grabbing line, it shouldn't be a retread...

^^^ that's what I said in my review. He wants to make sure we hear the vulgarity.

Yeah, when I was relistening to this over the weekend, it did bug me how much he overemphasizes that bit. Still not enough to completely ruin the song though.

just now really digging into this record. mixed bag, maybe, but lots of great moments.

I don't know what to say about the legacy overall, except that a certain strata of middle-class hipsters (lthe word laughs in parens, which ILM doesn't seem to like) share Pavement, and that's great. Hipsters (in quotes, which ILM also doesn't seem to like) doesn't have to be a pejorative or about trend-jumping, either. I wouldn't want to be called a hipster, but there's nothing really wrong with it. To me, it can be just about exploring, or an openness to finding the best things.

wait, Malkmus reads ILM?

No, remember, he only likes fantasy baseball--repeat ad nauseum

Is baseball stage chatter a regular thing w/ Malkmus? Only saw him live once, and I remember him doing it then.

It's more like a constant refrain in many articles about him, usually his band members talking about he could care less about following music, etc

“Stephen is a pretty difficult guy to access,” Nastanovich explains via telephone, calling from a racetrack in Illinois where he’s working. “If you’re not in the same town with him, you don’t really hear from him. I’ve found that the easiest way to get in touch with him, even if it’s about a Pavement-related issue, is to propose a trade in one of our fantasy leagues and attach my question in an e-mail memo.”

after about ten listens:
1) best album i have listened to this year, clearly distancing the low album which hit directly into the middle of my heart but which is a little too simple to be truly great.
2) best album of malkmus and/or pavement. i said it upthread, it is extremely varied & full of ideas & tunes. somehow it reminds me of the early roxy music albums, songs start & stop n the middle, never go where you expect they would go, a bag full of surprises. pure genius.
3) the last couple of songs before "georgeous georgie" are not really essential but quite ok.

Wow.

I cannot bring myself to care about this album, despite the praise it's getting. Couldn't get into the last one either although i enjoyed solo Malkmus up to that point

I haven't stopped listening to the six songs I like but the whole thing is quirky in an anodyne way that bugs the hell out of me.

but quirky nails quite well what was always great abour pavement & malkmus. i wouldn't call the music anodyne though, it's more like relaxed or slack. another quality i have always like about them.

this album is seriously great, been listening to it a lot. i agree with alex that it's his best solo album, by far even. so relaxed and so melodic. i'm genuinely shocked he can still make an album this good.

yeah this isgood

I like "Tigers" a whole lot, and "Stick Figures in Love" is really nice, too -- the rest is decent but nothin' special.

this is his best record since Wowee Zowee I think

Last album's "Gardenia" is slyer and faster than most everything here.

so?

so get yourself to "Gardenia"

such a lame use of "bourgeoisie" as an adjective in whatever the first single is called! how did his reader david berman let that get through?

i'm not sure that the fact that this record sounds like Pavement is an advantage,cause it says something about the artist when he fails to develop from his roots. and it's now Wowee Zowee.
it was maybe better if it wasn't like Pavement, but still great (as they were).
still, a nice record.

anyone doubting the new record should watch/listen to this, i think they totally shred

http://pitchfork.com/tv/dont-look-down/1793-stephen-malkmus-and-the-jicks/

yeah, those are great. jicks really are a pretty killer band, even with the revolving drummer door. i think they've really figured out how to play along/be flexible with malkmus' eccentricities in a way that pavement never did. of course, in some ways that push and pull was what made pavement great, but i really dig what the jicks are doing.
loving mirror traffic more and more. beck & his engineer did a nice job, guitars/drums have a great sound.

yah totally on the sounds of the record

the sound/engineering of the pitchfork video is excellent as well

The album's a grower, his guitar playing more than makes up for how tossed off the lyrics are. Maybe it's me, but been listening to MT against Brighten the Corners and I don't think he's lost much -- it's just a more laid back style. Hardly McCartney, or Wilco (The Album) for that matter.

Saw him last night in Portland. At about the hour mark of his set, i.e. 11:15 pm, my wife, who was tired and had to get up at 6 am, told me she needed him to play something faster so she wouldn't die. Cue a 15-minute version of 'real emotional trash'; the last four minutes of which featured the entire band staring at S.M. expecting the song to end at any second. My favorite song from that record, but I was dragging at that point as well. Saw 'Baby C'mon' from the back then left before encore(s). Didn't play 'senator' since i assume they were saving it for the end but that is one of my least favorite songs from the record, not sure why it warrants a jack black/gary cole video.

I think mirror traffic is great but overall disappointed with the live experience.

Highlight was opening act Ty Segall, who you should see live before his vocal cords explode in 2 months.

Seeing a Jicks show 2/22 in Austin! FINALLY!!

haha, my much younger self started this thread. hello young dog latin

i was a little disappointed of the berlin concert a couple of weeks ago too. according to the papers he lives in berlin now but his german was totally inexistant, he said "danke" at one point, that was it. the problem with the band was that it seemed very much focussed on him, somehow he behaved a little like a prima donna, eg getting a different guitar from the roadie after almost every song. the drummer reminded me of ringo starr, his drumming was rather basic and not really exciting. all in all it was a nice evening but i found that the album which they more or less played completely was much stronger than the live performance.

yeahhh, i'm going to see him in Boulder next month. haven't seen a jicks show since 2003, for some reason. he's been doing the "different guitar for every song" thing since pavement i think. he's got a lot of tunings!

Good show last night in Austin, heavy on MT tunes

Will report back soon w more details

Alex: the Austin show was a lot like what you describe, though I'd add that Mike Clark is like the band's Flea or something

Also: set needs more blasted oldies

posted this over in some other malkmus thread:
Saw malkmus/jicks this week in boulder-- pretty sweet show, though some of the long jams never quite reached the climaxes they seemed to be searching for. it was pretty proggy, that's for sure. jicks are an excellent band, they really seem to have figured out how to play with malkmus. whereas he always had to kind of carry pavement up the hill (not necessarily a bad thing) he can groove with the jicks a bit more. anyhoo, just found a recording of the show over yonder: soundcloud.com/fatah-ruark/sm-jicks-the-fox

so the Can - EgeBamyasy cover turned out to be quite awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eUFQ3Ue-rBs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Loju93Ep57c#!

ha, I like that, but something tells me that the people who were aghast at the very idea of malkmus doing this won't be convinced.

i see where you're coming from, but i'm enjoying this

http://25.media.tumblr.com/5c58c382810248f28a8bfcef5e237f97/tumblr_muf3rgNdDl1r2xls3o1_400.jpg

I thought that was a new picture for a second

apparently he's one of those rare individuals that is skinnier as an adult than as a high schooler.

ha that's so perfect

Pumped for his new album Athletics, Punk Band

^hahaha

Cate is in Carpenteria not Santa Barbara, just a little pedantism from yours truly.

Carpinteria, even.

pedantry

More errata from the article: http://www.stereogum.com/1015681/see-stephen-malkmus-in-high-school/news/

It says the article is from Cate's paper but that's not true...

Malkmus went to Cate for grades 9-10, then got kicked out of the elite preppy boarding school for alcohol/drugs violation and then got shipped home back to Stockton. That clipping is from Tokay High School's paper after Malkmus had returned home. Located in nearby Lodi, the Tokay Tigers are the arch-rivals of the Linden Lions.

Haha, sorry about the misspell!

Okay, the story is actually all in the comments: he got busted from shrooms and got expelled. That's fantastic.

haha he really is @StephenMalkmus1.

Wow! Just read all this thread and I had previously been under the impression that most people liked Malkmus solo just as much or more than Pavement. I like the solo stuff more, I think Pig Lib is enormous fun and the best thing he ever done (tho I think I'm missing some Pavement eps, haven't heard his stuff with Robert Pollard and I've only heard my brother play the recent Malkmus album a couple of times, but it sounded very good).

No mention of "Wicked Wanda"? I really think that is one of the best songs he ever done. Real Emotional Trash is probably my second favourite.

you're definitely in the minority although i agree that most of his solo stuff is excellent and a little under-appreciated. i wouldn't put any solo album over any of pavement's first three, but everything else is about on the same plane for me

early pavement's not bad but his first two solo albums are my favorite things he's been involved with besides american water. what a charmed life dude's had. the grace kelly of indie rock indeed

i def listen to his solo stuff more than pavement these days, but not sure i would ever say it's better. pavement is so tied up with high school and tons of different personal stuff for me.
real emotional trash easily my least favorite of his solo albums though

I thought Face The Truth was the weakest, but still good. "Pencil Rot" was awesome. I hope he releases a b-side compilation someday, the Pig Lib bonus tracks were amazing. It scares me to think of how many good b-sides I've never heard by all sorts of bands. Waahhhhh, I wish singles didn't exist, everything is easier when they just stick to albums and eps.

Not mad on the last three albums, the first two are great though.

pig lib and real emotional trash are my favorites.

i really loved "mirror traffic". it is amazingly consistent and tuneful. i just realized that it is already two years old. has he done anything after that or is there something in the pipeline?

i think there is a new album finished, maybe coming out early next year?
i agree, mirror traffic is quite good. i dunno, i like most everything this guy does.

yup

re-fell in love with "jenny and the ess dog" this week after not hearing it for probably years, and actually paid attention to the lyrics this time. kind of brutal!

Have been re-acquainting myself with Pig Lib in the car this last week. Every track is a winner - top top album. Picked up Real Emotional Trash not long after it came out and it's still sitting in a box somewhere. Will dig it out.

OTM >>>

i def listen to his solo stuff more than pavement these days, but not sure i would ever say it's better. pavement is so tied up with high school and tons of different personal stuff for me.

― mizzell

if SM was a record label he'd be my answer to that "what record label best approximates your own personal taste?" thread.

xp: jenny + ess dog is so great...

i think there is a new album finished, maybe coming out early next year?

Lol at the Day Nasty reference, don't see many of those in 2013

dag neither

terrible cover

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/bp/malkmus-lp.jpg

01 Planetary Motion
02 The Janitor Revealed
03 Lariat
04 Houston Hades
05 Shibboleth
06 J Smoov
07 Rumble at the Rainbo
08 Chartjunk
09 Independence Street
10 Scattegories
11 Cinnamon and Lesbians
12 Surreal Teenagers

Ouch.

10 Scattegories

Lol

11 Cinnamon and Lesbians

tasty things that go together?

If ever tracklist cried out for Ilx precovers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYC5JASqWnI

into it

haw, nice sun city girls reference. i like it! actually has a crooked rain vibe, which is a little bit surprising.

P. good. Also I'm in love with that girl

j smoov better be about detroit pistons' josh smith

The cover sucks so hard

but the title owns

xpost Malkmus is a basketball fan, so it probably is.

Well, he probably got the name directly from josh smith, in any case. I don't imagine Malkmus actually wrote a ballad about him.

j smoove bricks have inspired a lot of depressing feelings the hearts of many men. it's an underrated subject

has SM made any statements about Lou Reed's passing?

nah, he did this though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ-fi_2uYgc

Inexplicable decision to leave that off Brighten The Corners.

Nah, that is one of my favorite Pavement tracks all time, but it's the epitome of a fucking awesome b-side

ok love this song and 100% surprised he hadn't already gotten to the "we lived on Tennyson and Venison and the Grateful Dead" lyric before now, such an all-time Malkmus line!

This song is completely awful.

Scattegories

it's spelled Scattergories though?

Wig Out At Jagbags is inspired by Cologne, Germany, Mark Von Schlegell, Rosemarie Trockel, Von Spar and Jan Lankisch, Can and Gas; Stephen-Malkmus-imagined Weezer/Chili Peppers, Sic Alps, UVA in the late 80′s, NYRB, Aroma Charlottenburg, inactivity, Jamming, Indie guys trying to sound Memphis, Flipper, Pete Townshend, Pavement, The Joggers, The NBA and home life in the 2010′s...

song is good. lyrics are kinda dumb. haven't really been feeling him on the lyric front post-Pig Lib - but i haven't actually purchased or spent any significant amount of time with any of those records, either.

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/an-empty-gesture-where-the-cover-should-be

it's an album cover, man

man grumpy people are really getting desperate in creating covers (see what i did there?) for their real agenda of thinkpieces bemoaning how times are changing and how people don't experience albums like they SHOULD.

i'm not sure why people hate the cover...seems fine to me.

everyone knows parquet courts have taken over the pavementy album cover gambit

hate the title but love the cover. song sounds good but i've thought that the past few albums and then never had any urge to revisit them after a month or so.

needs it's own thread

or deserves one, a new album is good news and one in 2013 works.

on board with that new song. his best since the solo debut? i shouldn't say that ... I haven't given anything since a ton of spins.

that tune has a nice fuzzy laid-back vibe a la CRCR, tho.

no idea what that videos all about. another bizarre clip from SM.

new album, full stream:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001922841

sounding very good on first listen

really like this; it might be second to pig lib for me.

Heard "Stick Figures In Love" today and to these ears it sounded like something off an early MBV EP (Ecstasy or Strawberry Wine?)

Okay, so they closed the encore last night at the Bowery with a great new song apparently called "Kite In A Closet".

Now here's the thing (cue Boards of Canada marketing campaign anthem):

As of right this moment (2/27/2014, 3:35pm EST) if you google "kite in a closet" (with quotes), you get only about 10 results...

One of which is an ILX thread, this message in particular:
Kites

help us out here...where you goin' with this

Big Malk a.k.a. the Pavedriver

chocolate malk

If anyone cares, Malkmus is on WTF today: http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/episode-493-stephen-malkmus

any good?

Just about to start listening.

it's not bad. not great but not his worst

Heard "Stick Figures In Love" today and to these ears it sounded like something off an early MBV EP (Ecstasy or Strawberry Wine?)

I dunno those MBV songs but "Stick Figures in Love" rules.

Happy bday Malkmus, still nifty at 50.

Does Maron talk vaguely about the two Pavement albums he had in college for the duration, lacking a grasp of song titles etc. as usual

Dunno why ppl like that guy (Maron), he's so annoying and not an especially great interviewer

does anyone like him?

He seems to be very popular

He lived too late to be a great prog-rocker, which is a loss to us all. His whole career is sort of like Peter Hammill accidentally joins Swell Maps.

Jicks' Dead cover on that new tribute thing is pretty damn good.

One of only 6 tunes I ripped from that lousy thing before giving it away to a friend who loves Real Estate

i was taken aback by that cover, it sort of lurches along in a weird way for me. although i'm used to the medley on europe 72 which just feels so effortless. i'll have to give another listen

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/middle-america/

love this new one

wow that's great

Co-sign

best thing he's done in ages

Got so fed up with his schtick for a while, he was bordering on self parody on Wig Out at Jagbags. Can't forget how terrible that song that went 'Scattegories, categories, Condoleeza's Rice scattered on the floor' was

i don't remember a note of any of the last... two? three? this is sounding nice though

I found Mirror Traffic was the best album of Malkmus entire career including the Pavement stuff. It had the upbeat punch and the tunes. He really has got that knack for melody.

"Lariat" was a great single off the last one and very memorable imo

even that one had some horribly formed 'wordplay'

all i recall of that is something something lariat secretariat (?)

I keep wanting to get into "Middle America," but can't. Hate the title, for one thing.

Lyrics are why I couldn't listen, eventually. Loved him on American Water.

I really like this new song

I must give Mirror Traffic another listen. It made no impression on me whatsoever last time I heard it.

His voice sounds so thin, this weak weird half falsetto on the high notes. Also, Drums also sound anemic and his interplay with rhythm - not to mention just enjoying Gary and Steve - that was so good in pavement seems absent. But I like the buildup to the chorus, reminds me of some p-ment song I can’t think of atm.

I must give Mirror Traffic another listen. It made no impression on me whatsoever last time I heard it.

― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Tuesday, February 13, 2018 3:46 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it has its highs and lows but i ride hard for "stick figures in love"

"Tigers", "Stick Figures", "No One Is"... "Share The Red" is like an American Water outtake. I'd take all of those over "Shady Lane" or "Ann Don't Cry" or whatever late Pavement throwaways that people clutch close to vest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm_BsWO_jrQ

Spiral Stairs 50th Birthday

Thumbs Off (The Clean cover)
Cinnamon and Lesbians
Spazz
Away (Meat Puppets cover)
Golden Brown (The Stranglers cover)
Scattegories
The Janitor Revealed
J Smoov
My Kingdom (Echo & The Bunnymen cover)
Real Emotional Trash
Fall Away
Cocaine (J.J. Cale cover) ;-)
No One Is (As I Are Be)
Forever 28
Androgynous (The Replacements cover)

Encore:
Falling Away (Preston School of Industry cover) (with Spiral Stairs)
Date w/ Ikea (Pavement cover) (with Spiral Stairs)
Kennel District (Pavement cover) (with Spiral Stairs)
Summer Babe (Pavement cover) (with Spiral Stairs)

that's a fun show! thx for sharing.

Yes, what CAD said, thanks! Good to see Spiral in action, too.

A Malkmus/Jicks tracks poll would be welcome at this stage. Although I can kind of imagine people just voting for the whole of Pig Lib

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCNJytiXyLE&feature=youtu.be

our man S.M. is finally starting to show his age

Have yet to hear Sparkle Hard but this already feels like one of those times where a late period album by a prestige indie artist suddenly gets a load of attention for some reason and I'm the only person who prefers the previous album that was either ignored or outright eviscerated

Like for instance I thought Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle was soooo much better than Apocalypse

And I'm one of the six or seven people who thought Wig Out At Jagbags was great

these songs sound wonderful

This is nice, if you haven't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpi9cAmnfo

Alpine Static's youtube is a dead link for me. What is it?

It's this (I had to search, as well):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCNJytiXyLE

Malk and a 12-string is a good combo

And I'm one of the six or seven people who thought Wig Out At Jagbags was great

Haven't heard much of the new one, but I still think Jagbags was really good!

sorry bout the bad link

ty morris, np alpine!

Opening shot of what you initially think is a tube amp being switched on turning out to be a tennis ball pitching machine = maybe most Malkmus thing ever

I haven't cared about anything he's done post-Pavement but that film was p fun

^^ same

I mean, I care ... it just all falls short to me. I wish it weren't so, but it is.

that being said, i'd watch/listen/read an interview with him anytime. last night i watched that video above, then went and listened to his 90-minute WTF podcast ... which wasn't even that interesting!

I thought this was an interesting/entertaining podcast: https://soundcloud.com/thetalkhouse/stephen-malkmus-with-emil-amos

Indeed, that one is really good. Much better than Maron.

That one made headlines because of his (very interesting) comments on working w/ Nigel Godrich, and how you ought to be able to make a really good record for what they spent.

Yeah, I saw Nigel said something on Twitter in his "defense"; like, "I slept on a friend's floor the whole time we were making that record!" -- which didn't seem to really address the critique.

As an addendum: I’m not sure how much better the album could have been with a different producer. But the experience w/Godrich is kind of a bummer, for the band’s swan song.

He seems amiable in this interview:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/arts/music/stephen-malkmus-jicks-pavement-sparkle-hard.html

I saw a mother in Toni Tennille — like, a perfect mom. She was a mother that I wanted to [make love to], but I didn’t know how to yet.

Haha, nice edit

Gerard Cosloy [the editor of Conflict], was snarky and sarcastic, like Mad Magazine gone hipster, with music. And there were really bitchy bands, like Royal Trux.

Jennifer called Pavement “boring” in a recent magazine interview (and Neil was like, “She said it, not me!”). Wonder if this is payback...

As an addendum: I’m not sure how much better the album could have been with a different producer. But the experience w/Godrich is kind of a bummer, for the band’s swan song.
― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Tuesday, May 15, 2018 8:41 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I love Terror Twilight

noted!

What did they think it would sound like w/ Goodrich at the helm? It's warm and bubbly and years on I find it an easier listen than BTC

It’s not a a terrible album by any means, but the bringing in of “pro” musicians and stuff was kind of a drag of a way to go out. I’ve never really understood why the guys went along with it... they seemed like a band that would want to always be themselves, for better or worse (they ain’t the Smashing Pumpkins!). Maybe it was their “sure, we’ll try anything” attitude; or maybe they had monetary hopes and thought that a more “commercial” sounding album would sell better.

(For more context – SM said in that interview that the other guys “barely played on” the “difficult song” that Nigel wanted to lead off the album with. He doesn’t name the song, but I assume it’s “Platform Blues.”)

Where can I find the proposed Godrich tracklist? I know I've seen it somewhere.

Terrible record, saw SM do quite a bit of it solo (with a groovebox) and it was much more engaging. The Godrich touches have aged like 80s CGI.

godrich's tracklist:

Ground Beef [AKA Platform Blues]
The Hexx
You Are the Light
Jesus in Harlem [AKA Cream Of Gold]
Ann Don't Cry
Folk Jam
Major Leagues
Terror Twilight [AKA Speak, See, Remember]
Carrot Rope
Shagbag [A short instrumental track that was never released]
Billie
Spit on a Stranger

Not bad! I would switch tracks 1 & 2

yeah I gotta listen to that now

Malk and a 12-string is a good combo

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, May 15, 2018 4:54 PM (six hours ago

yeah this is so good. love the video

Wow that looks like a very sluggish A-side xps

not wrong...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KQP3Cbt_g

was this posted? this guy

xxp

Malk, re: the big tracklist argument: So Nigel was like “I’m done with this. This is the wrong move. We made a stoner album and you’re going halfway.” He’s right probably.

I think where the Nigel tracklist falls apart is toward the end (after “Speak, See”).... I can’t see “Carrot Rope” working anywhere other than as an addendum/bonus track.

What did they think it would sound like w/ Goodrich at the helm? It's warm and bubbly and years on I find it an easier listen than BTC

― DACA Flocka Flame (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 16 May 2018 01:35 (ten hours ago)

I've grown to love TT over the years. BTC is a bit of a slog nowadays.

He's a good interview (doing them with everyone for this record), but I am not sure I will like the new album

unless you count westing as the debut then sparkle hard is one "more" album than pavement ever did. go jicks

Think it’s technically his 7th album with the Jicks (counting his first, in 2001 – Malk wanted to credit the band on it, but Matador said no). Pavement was around 10 years, and he’s spent 17 years with the Jicks so far... time flies.

Sparkle Hard ranks with the first three Jicks LPs for me.

So Malkmus recorded another album that Matador won't put out yet:

Malkmus, wearing a trucker’s hat and T-shirt, brought a laptop, picked up a microphone and sang an album’s worth of the songs he planned to release as his next record.

“I was blown away,” said Steve Doughton, who helped organize the event meant to kick off PICA’s exhibition of his 1997 art film, ­“DELTA.” “The album is phenomenal.”

Malkmus had created the music in his basement with Pro Tools, Ableton software and keyboards. It felt good to experiment, to move away from the guitar-driven songs that dominated his catalogue. Then he dropped the files to Matador Records. It had been more than three years since the last Malkmus record. His longtime label wasn’t thrilled to get a keyboard-based set driven by drum pads.

“They didn’t want to put it out,” said Malkmus. “Or they thought it was dumb to put it out first because it was a head-scratcher. Maybe some of my more traditional fans that know Pavement would scratch their heads.”

...This is the first time Matador rejected anything from Malkmus. But instead of rage, the label’s dis actually inspired a name for his then-untitled electronic album: “Groove Denied.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/stephen-malkmus-had-his-groove-denied-he-was-upset-for-about-five-minutes/2018/05/17/384e7994-57a2-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?utm_term=.e79f43ed86aa

Last year, in the midst of the “Groove Denied” dilemma, Lombardi and Matador co-president Gerard Cosloy flew out to see Malkmus to explain why they thought the electronic album would be wrong right now. Lombardi remembers Malkmus answering the door.

“Am I dropped?” he asked.

lol

What did they think it would sound like w/ Goodrich at the helm? It's warm and bubbly and years on I find it an easier listen than BTC

― DACA Flocka Flame (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 16 May 2018 01:35 (ten hours ago)

I've grown to love TT over the years. BTC is a bit of a slog nowadays.

― well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Wednesday, May 16, 2018 7:01 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

these are some wild bad opinions

lol at "Groove Denied" ...

malk's publicist is really earning their pay for this album, feel like i see stuff about it absolutely everywhere

he says in that interview he wants to give the press what they want doing promotion this time and get more attention than usual, seems to be working so far

curious about Groove Denied though i have no idea if it'll be any good

Last month, during a Malkmus appearance at New York City’s Town Hall for public radio’s “Live From Here,” host Chris Thile gushed about one of his favorite rhymes, of “Tennyson” with “venison” in the 2011 song “Lariat.”

“Where did it come from?” Thile pressed.

“Well, Tennyson just comes to my mind,” Malkmus said, without a pause. “I think I like tennis a lot. I like sons. I like daughters. And then Venice. I like the town of Venice a lot. It’s both in Los Angeles and Italy. And I also love the sun. Who doesn’t? Today was a beautiful, sunny day!”

Good snappy answer to a stupid question. Who asks a songwriter that – “where did that rhyme come from?”

Id rather hear groove denied than another jicks album

I'm reasonably certain I won't like Lariat but his answer there is lol because it's just more wordplay/misdirection

Lariat (and video) is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYC5JASqWnI

Four thoughts:

1. Lariat is my favorite Jicks song in recent memory.

2. Thile's question isn't *that* dumb. It's not complex, but it's fine for one celebrity asking another celebrity something in a public setting, imo.

3.

Last year, in the midst of the “Groove Denied” dilemma, Lombardi and Matador co-president Gerard Cosloy flew out to see Malkmus to explain why they thought the electronic album would be wrong right now. Lombardi remembers Malkmus answering the door.

“Am I dropped?” he asked.

This is amazing.

4.

Id rather hear groove denied than another jicks album

― calstars, Thursday, May 17, 2018 9:37 AM (two hours ago)

yeah, this is about where I'm at.

seems like a safe-ish guess that Groove Denied sounds something like what's at the beginning of this video, doesn't it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpi9cAmnfo

if it is, it just confirms that i'd be more interested to hear it than new Jixx. (though i also would assume that it will wear out its welcome quickly.)

Oh wait – Chris Thile is the guy from Nickel Creek, who did that great Pavement cover! I thought he was a radio host or something. Yeah I agree it’s different, one songwriter to another.

that show was the new prairie home companion but then got re-titled after the keillor scandal

pretend the crowd is germany

"kite" (welcome to the top / well i thought so / bring it to an end without hassle / no disaster, i guarantee / do do do do do do)

Sign me up for the SM/ Berman tour in ‘28. Until then zzz

When they play self ignition, that’s the joint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bISQXWdgRzQ

Prime-time Berman is still so, so good

Thank you Ray

I live to serve

Mirror Traffic is better than any of the other albums after Pig Lib, right?

I always wondered if this song was about mr godrich but not sure if the chronology works out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTqiKgAux-k

This seems to be a newly posted promo film thing (of course, the album’s out today):

https://youtu.be/MSFTlFEQXW4

Mirror Traffic is better than any of the other albums after Pig Lib, right?

― alpine static, Thursday, May 17, 2018 9:40 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would agree but Face The Truth exists, and every time I revisit it it's better than I'd remembered it being.

Can we talk more about the press/promotional push this thing is getting?

I'm sure there have been bigger/more expensive ones for pop stars and arcade fires or whatever ... but this record? For Malkmus? At this time? This is crazy.

I wonder why. Why this record, why now?

Does Matador think the time is ripe for appreciating an indie rock icon?

Do they just think this record deserves way more ears than, like, Jagbags got? (They'd be right.)

Does S.M. have two girls to put through college in a few years and so he's willing to play the game?

I'm just very, very curious about the roots of this.

I get that you put out a record and you promote it, especially one of your best-known artists. But this has been something else. Dude must've spent all winter doing interviews.

He talks about it in that WaPo interview -- wanting to make more noise with this one, make more $$, play bigger venues, etc. Don't know if the add'l press will deliver that goal.

Also, reading between the lines a bit, my guess is he told Matador something like -- "OK, we'll hold off on the electronic album and release the rock LP first, if that's what you think is the way to go, but then you need to really try to move the needle on this one...".

digging sparkle hard so far!

i want to hear the synth record

maybe that castle he bought in PDX costs a lot to heat

I wonder how "well" his albums generally sell... that article said that each Jicks release has done worse than the one before it; and the last one (Jagbags) sold 21,000 copies. I have no idea where that ranks in the indie world, compared to Parquet Courts albums or whatever.

Are any of his "peers" (indie folx from the '90s) still trying to move units in any significant way? Seems they've mostly settled into niches or gotten into other things.

I mean I think that's what's so striking about this push, is that he seemed to (rather happily) settle into his niche years and years ago.

i think all the old-timers just rely on superfans to keep them going. i doubt most people who own pavement records buy the new stuff. people like robert pollard and malkmus become boutique businesses. like candle shops.

as far as I can tell, Malkmus is one of the few 90s guys left that has never licensed anything anywhere. The closest he came was doing the sdtk for that Will Arnett show, which is obviously different. So that's one common income stream for people nowadays that he doesn't have.

alpine -- my guess is that the expense of kids does figure into it (as you said). His wife's an artist, he's an indie rocker... I'm sure any increase in cashflow helps.

his stop here in the cities sold out very quickly, which i didn't expect since i've seen him numerous times and the shows were only moderately attended

lots of old indie people tour a ton. and make their money for the year. they are the new tom rush and eric andersons of the world. its not usually about some new hot album for most of them. though they will tour behind albums. my neighbor lou barlow tours like a crazy person! solo and dino and sebaloo...

malkmus has never really fallen into the standard narratives of a solo career ... the back to basics record, the divorce/sober record, the record with a big name producer, the experimental record (maybe "Groove Denied" will fill that last role). and he's never crashed and burned personally (as far as I know) so there's not some narrative to latch onto there. I don't know, it's kind of admirable in a weird way. he's a musician!

yeah, they just do what they do. it's what they do.

a true corporate player, he made sure to name drop two other artists on matador during that talk house thing, car seat headrest and Kurt vile

He probably gets promo copies of all Matador stuff.

oh no he mentioned other bands what a sellout

He talked about fantasy and playoff basketball for 10+ mins too, he's probably an ESPN brand ambassador...

malkmus has never really fallen into the standard narratives of a solo career ... the back to basics record, the divorce/sober record, the record with a big name producer, the experimental record (maybe "Groove Denied" will fill that last role). and he's never crashed and burned personally (as far as I know) so there's not some narrative to latch onto there. I don't know, it's kind of admirable in a weird way. he's a musician!

The flipside to this (and I'll choose my words carefully) is that he also arguably hasn't done a lot to change things up, work with new people, keep listeners following his career, etc. Like (I suspect) a lot of Pavement fans, I bought his first 3 or 4 records and then stopped buying them. The electronic album seems like a good move, because at least it's something different than "album #7 with the Jicks."

malkmus has never really fallen into the standard narratives of a solo career ... the back to basics record, the divorce/sober record, the record with a big name producer, the experimental record (maybe "Groove Denied" will fill that last role). and he's never crashed and burned personally (as far as I know) so there's not some narrative to latch onto there. I don't know, it's kind of admirable in a weird way. he's a musician!

― tylerw, Friday, May 18, 2018 1:05 PM (one hour ago)

yeah the thing I appreciate most about malk is he's just a totally normal seeming dude. watching him hit tennis balls in that video really got to me for some reason

The flipside to this (and I'll choose my words carefully) is that he also arguably hasn't done a lot to change things up, work with new people, keep listeners following his career, etc. Like (I suspect) a lot of Pavement fans, I bought his first 3 or 4 records and then stopped buying them. The electronic album seems like a good move, because at least it's something different than "album #7 with the Jicks."

i don't disagree with tylerw's points, but this is pretty much exactly how i view the way he has handled his post-Pavement career. which, again, is why i think the hype surrounding Sparkle Hard seems like such a major (and unexpected) change of pace.

I'm a rare mega-Pavement fan who feels that his solo work (& American Water) is stronger than BTC & TT...

I'm always a little late to the party (eg, I didn't hear Real Emotional Trash until after Wig Out At Dankos).

He says he's moving to LA near his sister in a recent interview, maybe he'll do more soundtrack work.

lol, dankos = jagbags (brain typo)

and, again, is why i wonder what changed, and who decided it should change.

like, there were *not* major feature stories in every print and online publication around Mirror Traffic or Jagbags.

maybe it's that his kids were smaller then and he wanted to just be Dad for several years, and now they're older and they're developing their own lives and he feels like he can go back to being Stephen Malkmus a bit more. that lines up w/ what everyone says about parenthood - that eventually you get your freedom back.

sorry, that was xpost to my previous comment.

Al - do you have a link to that interview where he says he's moving? i haven't seen that one.

It was a podcast, I think either Emil Amos or Vish Khanna or ??? My short-term memory is terrible.

I'm a rare mega-Pavement fan who feels that his solo work (& American Water) is stronger than BTC & TT...

I def. rate “American Water” above BTC / TT... not his solo stuff, tho. Except the “Pig Lib” bonus disc – that was as special thing.

Mirror Traffic is better than any of the other albums after Pig Lib, right?

yes.

new one is sounding better than mirror traffic imho

who's doing PR for this one? A different company than for previous SM albums? Because isn't that all we're talking about here? Matador springing for a major PR push? Call me cynical.

yes. but why now, is what i'm saying. what changed.

it's not a huge deal, i'm just interested in that kind of stuff.

he's one of a few whose new stuff is pretty eagerly awaited i'd say and discussion doesn't need much pushing from matador or billions or whoever

Maybe Malkmus and Matador just feel he has a strong record here and want to give it the push it deserves? Sparkle Hard definitely sounds more carefully crafted and has a higher standard of quality than most Jicks albums. I'd be proud of it too.

This is the guy who greeted his last album with a pull quote that "nothing classic is probably going on here, let's face it" so I take the increased push now as a way to broadcast that this album is a little more special than your usual Jicks release

“America’s Favorite Slacker Grows Up and Buckles Down”

I guess Corgan was right all along, Malkmus says, looking genuinely contrite as he gazes into his coffee cup. It took me all these years to realize the importance of a rock ‘n roll work ethic. I hope Billy accepts my apology...

bunny slopes probably otm

Anyone who hasn't read the Washington Post story needs to

“Slanted and enchanted” his greatest turn of phrase imho

Should make its way to the OED

“America’s Favorite Slacker Grows Up and Buckles Down”

/I guess Corgan was right all along,/ Malkmus says, looking genuinely contrite as he gazes into his coffee cup. /It took me all these years to realize the importance of a rock ‘n roll work ethic. I hope Billy accepts my apology.../

Just some speculative fiction (lol)

“Slanted and enchanted” his greatest turn of phrase imho

I think that was “Crooked Rain (x2)”?

“The title Slanted and Enchanted is taken from the title of a cartoon made by Silver Jews frontman David Berman.”

From wiki. Not sure about Crooked Rain. Great title nonetheless. Enjoy them both immensely as lyricists, as different as they are. Always be a Berman man myself if I had to choose, though.

Oh wow. I didn’t think DB could improve in my estimation but yet.

DB:slanted and enchanted::SM:wowee zowee

well there is a Zappa song called Wowie Zowie

Hence also the ingeniously triple-entendre–titled odds ’n ends bootleg “Stuff Up the Cracks” (also a Zappa title) – which I think actually came out before “WZ,” so not sure how they anticipated the title?

DB:slanted and enchanted::SM:wowee zowee

― calstars, Friday, May 18, 2018 7:39 PM (three hours ago)

another nope:

The album's title is an homage to former drummer Gary Young, who would frequently yell "Wowee zowee!" when excited.

really into "solid silk"

yes, this album is really good, one of his best. "bike lane" is Malk at his most political and angry

i'm at peace with my mentors

This is really good. Highlights after the first few listens:

-the little instrumental breaks after the verses on "Bike Lane"
-Kim Gordon!

not sure I'm ready for Woke Malkmus tbh

I don't know what that even means tbh

"Malk at his most political and angry" sounds exactly like "Malk not being political and angry at all" to me fwiw

I mean he literally namechecks Freddie Gray which is kinda tough to imagine on...any other Malkmus record

Oh I know, I was just saying that it still sounds like Stephen Malkmus, and in no way did it even occur to me that someone would hear it and think "oh man, I am not prepared to process this stage of this man's career."

he did write Senator on the last record though - which i took to be obviously political - i think he should do more of this stuff - to my ears it was his best song in an age because it seemed to be so pointed

But Senator was two records ago! #justiceforjagbags

oh sorry i am sure you are right - yep - just making the point that he hasn't been entirely apolitical this whole time

(apologies for the unnecessarily pedantic post that really was just an excuse to post a hashtag that I thought was funny)

He referenced Bob Packwood's sexual harassment scandals about 15 years ago in "Vanessa From Queens".

Oh I know, I was just saying that it still sounds like Stephen Malkmus, and in no way did it even occur to me that someone would hear it and think "oh man, I am not prepared to process this stage of this man's career."

― cwkiii, Tuesday, May 22, 2018 9:41 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wasn't thinking "oh man, I am not prepared to process this stage of this man's career," was thinking "this artist who has built a career on sarcasm and above-it-all ironic detachment is now obliquely referencing social justice in a way that seems conspicuous and a tad insincere given that he has been basically shrugging at such things for decades"

I guess if part of what someone enjoys the most about him is his sarcasm and above-it-all ironic detachment then if they pay attention to the lyrics of this one song they might be slightly let down? But it's a really good song! Especially if you dig him as a guitarist.

I get how that could bug you but it was kind of a bummer to think that it would dissuade you from checking out the record because, like I said before, it still sounds like a Malkmus song and it doesn't scan as like, preachy or whatever.

it's like processing that joe strummer grew up relatively privileged

fwiw, he did write that Pavement song “Grounded”

conspicuous? yes.
a tad insincere? i don't hear/believe that.
a little disjointed / not fully formed as a concept / political statement? yes, i think that's a fair criticism.

Writing a (good) politically / socially conscious song must be particularly challenging for even a good songwriter

Maybe "insincere" is harsh, I take that back. I mean, I'm quite sure the guy's heart is in the right place. I just don't listen to Malkmus wanting or expecting social commentary. Does anyone?

FWIW I repped hard for Jagbags (see upthread) and am definitely a fan, in case that wasn't clear.