just now really digging into this record. mixed bag, maybe, but lots of great moments.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 August 2011 15:04 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:00 (twelve years ago) link
wait, Malkmus reads ILM?
― Number None, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:03 (twelve years ago) link
No, remember, he only likes fantasy baseball--repeat ad nauseum
― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:05 (twelve years ago) link
Is baseball stage chatter a regular thing w/ Malkmus? Only saw him live once, and I remember him doing it then.
― boxall, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:08 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:16 (twelve years ago) link
“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.”
― Puff Daddy, whoever the fuck you are. I am dissapoint. (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 01:20 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
Wow.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 September 2011 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Number None, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 September 2011 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 21:25 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― sonderangerbot, Friday, 9 September 2011 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
yeah this isgood
― ciderpress, Friday, 9 September 2011 18:18 (twelve years ago) link
I like "Tigers" a whole lot, and "Stick Figures in Love" is really nice, too -- the rest is decent but nothin' special.
― *ter jacket (jaymc), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:37 (twelve years ago) link
this is his best record since Wowee Zowee I think
― Mr. Que, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
Last album's "Gardenia" is slyer and faster than most everything here.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
so?
― Mr. Que, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link
so get yourself to "Gardenia"
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
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?
― Iago Galdston, Friday, 9 September 2011 22:21 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― nostormo, Friday, 9 September 2011 22:43 (twelve years ago) link
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/
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 6 October 2011 17:28 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― tylerw, Thursday, 6 October 2011 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
yah totally on the sounds of the record
the sound/engineering of the pitchfork video is excellent as well
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 6 October 2011 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― answering_machine, Friday, 14 October 2011 10:37 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― Chuck Lint, Saturday, 15 October 2011 01:21 (twelve years ago) link
Seeing a Jicks show 2/22 in Austin! FINALLY!!
― Raymond Cummings, Thursday, 19 January 2012 13:11 (twelve years ago) link
haha, my much younger self started this thread. hello young dog latin
― I want your nose, your shoes and your unicycle (dog latin), Thursday, 19 January 2012 13:31 (twelve years ago) link
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.
― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 19 January 2012 14:43 (twelve years ago) link
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!
― tylerw, Thursday, 19 January 2012 14:49 (twelve years ago) link
Good show last night in Austin, heavy on MT tunes
Will report back soon w more details
― Raymond Cummings, Thursday, 23 February 2012 06:03 (twelve years ago) link
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
― Raymond Cummings, Thursday, 23 February 2012 06:05 (twelve years ago) link
Also: set needs more blasted oldies
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 24 February 2012 13:38 (twelve years ago) link
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
― tylerw, Friday, 24 February 2012 14:24 (twelve years ago) link
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#!
― nostormo, Friday, 7 December 2012 13:28 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― tylerw, Friday, 7 December 2012 15:42 (eleven years ago) link
i see where you're coming from, but i'm enjoying this
― Raymond Cummings, Saturday, 8 December 2012 03:53 (eleven years ago) link
http://25.media.tumblr.com/5c58c382810248f28a8bfcef5e237f97/tumblr_muf3rgNdDl1r2xls3o1_400.jpg
― mizzell, Thursday, 10 October 2013 17:44 (ten years ago) link
I thought that was a new picture for a second
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 10 October 2013 18:18 (ten years ago) link
apparently he's one of those rare individuals that is skinnier as an adult than as a high schooler.
― mizzell, Thursday, 10 October 2013 18:24 (ten years ago) link
ha that's so perfect
― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 10 October 2013 18:42 (ten years ago) link
Pumped for his new album Athletics, Punk Band
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 10 October 2013 18:51 (ten years ago) link
^hahaha
― Evan, Thursday, 10 October 2013 18:54 (ten years ago) link
Cate is in Carpenteria not Santa Barbara, just a little pedantism from yours truly.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:23 (ten years ago) link
Carpinteria, even.
― how's life, Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:30 (ten years ago) link
pedantry
― Hip Hop Hamlet (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:30 (ten years ago) link
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.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link
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.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:37 (ten years ago) link
haha he really is @StephenMalkmus1.
― oxnard christian soldiers (get bent), Thursday, 10 October 2013 19:43 (ten years ago) link