terror twilight

Man, the live versions, and even the 7" version of The Hexx sound so much heavier than the album version.

godrich's second best production work imo

(#1 is the silver sun debut)

Cream Of Gold is underrated I reckon

whn's the redux out?

did the band know they were about to break up when they made this record? i remember every review of it at the time mentioned malkmus going solo. whatebs i still enjoy it quite a bit. "folk jam" "spit on a stranger" "major leagues" and "my dreams are beige" are all great.

"spit on a stranger" from the original tracklisting woulda been a great swansong. shame they had to change it.

What's My Dreams Are Beige?

Cream of Gold, I suppose.

Finding myself enjoying this record more than I did initially. Ann Don't Cry/Billie/Speak, See, Remember are closer to b-sides than anything, and no great producer could have saved that uninspired sequence, in my opinion. The rest is pretty good/excellent.

no great producer could have saved that uninspired sequence

agree w this. some terrible lyrics in these too

brighten the corners completely opened up to me after 7 listens or so.. this one not so much. second side is not good. "cream of gold" has a good riff. if i had to pick one, it'd be "you are a light".

"ann don't cry" was really really good when i saw them live on the TT tour, though, really pastoral kind of grateful dead vibe.

"Folk jam" all the way for me. I enjoy the buildups, jamming, and singing.

A personal go to.

"You are a light" for my least favorite song. All around good album imo, not sure why ppl hate on it so much.

because Nigel Godrich is horrible and half the songs suck

fuck it, I'm not going to defend this album. I'm not head over heels for it but I have enjoyed it from time to time over the years.

yes but do you believe in leprechauns

i remember being overly bummed out at the digital delay/pitch shifting on "the hexx", like 'ick gross, stick with the tube amps and such'

haha is the first verse of Billie a dig at Jeff Mangum or is that overreaching

I don't know whether I've listened to this since I did upthread but I am listening now and it is still effectively poignant and shit

musically the godrich noises at the end of the hexx do nothing for me but they work ~~conceptually~~ so

people overhate on this record, it's fine if uninspired

it feels like such an odd mismatch of band/producer i just wonder if it would've worked any better with a different producer

"Billie" is fine, knaves.

love the lyric 'sue the fortune-teller, rue the rising tide'

it's fine if uninspired

with friends like these

it feels like such an odd mismatch of band/producer i just wonder if it would've worked any better with a different producer

― some dude, Monday, July 7, 2014 4:46 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

or NO producer, as they had on every previous album

i remember being overly bummed out at the digital delay/pitch shifting on "the hexx", like 'ick gross, stick with the tube amps and such'

― brimstead, Monday, July 7, 2014 3:58 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes! the version on the carrot rope 7" is so dope

i was trading tapes of Pavement shows back then and The Hexx seemed to be an absolute beast when they were playing it live ahead of the release of TT. it got neutered in the studio, tho.

just listened to this album for the first time in, i don't know, a dozen years? it might actually be worse than i remember. little bits of good here and there, but mostly pretty forgettable.

I was disappointed by TT when it came out but I really like it now. "brighten the corners" otoh hasn't aged well. I loved it when it came out but it sounds so sluggish now.

I really like the Hexx. I really like this album.

The only reason I was disappointed by TT when it came out was because I'd already heard a lot of the songs.

oddly finding this album more enjoyable with the track order in reverse

Starlings of the Slipstream is the best track on BTC imo

it's weird how from Wowee Zowee on Malkie wrote so many ballads in the same plodding time signature/rhythm - I like a lot of them but really they all sound like variations on the same song

i like speak see remember. some fun lyrics on it

After slowly (!) making my way through many of Malkmus' solo albums, I'm amazed how much he improved after BTC/TT which were the nadir of Pavement. I was on a road trip and listened to WZ->American Water->Stephen Malkmus and it made a bit more sense.

https://i.imgur.com/5cNG9nI.jpg
La Grande Menace
Jean Lurçat
1957
440x900 cm
Les Musees d'Angers

!

oooooooo

Pretty intense:
http://musees.angers.fr/collections/oeuvres-choisies/musee-jean-lurcat-et-de-la-tapisserie-contemporaine/jean-lurcat-la-grande-menace/index.html

(via Google Translate:)

The "great threat" is the nuclear danger embodied by an eagle spreading its wings over the Earth. This one drops a bomb on our planet, symbolized by a circle on which one can recognize big capitals (bell-towers of Moscow, Eiffel Tower of Paris, skyscrapers of New York, pyramids of Cairo, pagoda of Beijing, temple ancient Athens or Rome). Through the flames of an explosion, one can read "HIROSHIMA". Under the Earth, a volcano is erupting. Jean Lurçat materializes here the idea that "the world lives on a volcano".
On the right, a man at the rudder of a boat moves away from the threat by carrying various animal species. Most are in grisaille. They are contaminated by the buffalo that spreads flames, symbols of atomic fallout.
However, a note of hope is emerging. Three animals stand out and seem to take care of the destiny of the man and his boat: the dog, the owl and the rooster, respectively symbols of loyalty, wisdom and hope. At the front of the boat, a vine takes root and seems to indicate that life is reborn.

With this vessel gathering the various species of creation, Lurçat resorts here to a biblical reference, the episode of the Flood and the ark of Noah in Genesis. Steeped in Judeo-Christian culture, he is inspired by it in his creation.
We also discover here the richness of his bestiary.

Sometimes I get in the mode of listening to “The Hexx” and the two versions of “And Then...” (its predecessor song), over and over. The studio take of “And Then” seems like the first time Malkmus is taking the band through the song (announcing the changes, etc.); and he’s basically singing “dummy lyrics.” The lyrics of the live take are more fleshed-out, but still pretty random and provisional-seeming.

By the time the song was reworked for “The Hexx,” however, Malkmus had written ornate and highly developed lyrics for the verses that were different from most his others (http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/43974/). It’s the only Pavement song where the lyrics don’t scan well for me; they feel belabored, like the song trips over them. (It also seems like a series of elaborate non-sequitors to me; but others seem to find “meaning” in the song.)

Maybe “The Hexx” was just overworked? I like what they did to it musically – it’s cool how the chorus comes just once, early in the song; and the vibe is unique – but I’m not sure it’s necessarily an “improvement” over the “And Then...” template.

always liked Silkworm's version

https://youtu.be/MrFpl6_Rq28

Nice, I'd never heard that. It's always seemed like a good candidate for covers.

Cool, they actually used the Godrich sequence for the new (LP) tracklist:

PAVEMENT ANNOUNCE
“TERROR TWILIGHT: FAREWELL HORIZONTAL”
 
4LP / 2CD EXPANDED REISSUE OF PAVEMENT’S FINAL ALBUM OUT APRIL 8TH pic.twitter.com/dh6YJSJWfs

— PAVEMENT (@pavement_band) January 11, 2022

Not sure I understand why they didn't use it for the 2xCD version as well, but still excited for this!

me neither, that’s a slight bummer

I mean, I can rip it and reprogram it but it seems like part of the point of this whole release is taking a fresh look at the album. Just seems like a weird choice.

they wanna sell more of the $75 LP set, would be my guess

I was just scanning that longish post about The Hexx upthread, thought “this is pretty good,” then realized I wrote it (duh/lol)

what is #shagbag ?

This is from the Pitchfork Sunday review of Terror Twilight from 2019:

(Only one, an instrumental freakout dubbed “Shagbag,” didn’t make the final cut.)

I’m so glad this is finally coming out.