Stephen Malkmus

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.