Stephen Malkmus

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

wow i like basically all of the names they scribbled on the notepad more than the one they chose

for reference: https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2024/07/IMG_9625-1720632519-844x1500.jpg

i would've gone with iron chai or the divorce doulas

Will it be on Matador or Drag City?

Matador still has a fax machine so probably them.

Ha ha, great reference

The Shaaak Jumpahs (to be spoken in an Aussie accent by Jim White--with respect to all these guys, this name/campaign has jumped off mighty rough IMO)

(or: Emm's Atomic Dustbin)

divorce doulas is so good

Been getting my son into Pavement. He thinks it’s hilarious. Listening to crooked rain a lot and it’s crazy how much mileage they get out him as a vocalist on that album. His, what I’ll call slacker scat, where he creates these great melodies just riffing on the last word of the verse, are so catchy. Does anyone in rock sing like this anymore

― Heez, Tuesday, July 16, 2024 3:59 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

The many ways he sings the word "underused" in "We Are Underused" are just incredible

divorce doulas is so good

That was my pick as well, but I get why they wouldn't use it.

xpost my favourite example of that is the catchy coda from 'Shoot The Singer': "don't expect, don't expect..."

I don't think I've even felt more seen by a lyric than: "It was Mudhoney summer, Torch of Mystics, Double Bummer."

setting the scenes

at last an indie supergroup to challenge the dominance of Shrinebuilder and Drag City Supersession

Was trying to think of a list of who Matt/Emmett/Jim have all backed/collaborated with before (albeit separately):

Will Oldham
Chan Marshall

been revisiting Mirror Traffic which seems to be the only solo malkmus album we don't have a bespoke thread for but it's my favorite. feels like the Wowee Zowee of his solo career

<3 Janet

It’s a strong one for sure.