terror twilight

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.

What do you guys think of "Be the Hook"? Nice little jam...

It’s … it’s fun, you know? It makes me think of a day in the studio where the whole band is in a bad mood so the leader tries to instigate a party. Very very difficult from the ultimate form the song would take on the self titled debut Malkmus record.

Different, not difficult

Oh, I didn't know it was on there... will have to go back to that one.

Yeah, very different! I didn’t even realize it was the same song until I heard the guitar solo

Looks like they’re using the Godrich sequencing for the digital release too

...oh yeah, I know this song ("The Hook")

Let's just say... it's a Terror Twilight evening for me.

I've said it here and elsewhere: this is nowhere near my favorite Pavement record, and arguments about its place in the discographies are always a bummer.

BUT

It has some very strong and satisfying component parts that, when they're on, kick my ass. The 3-4 songs that (imo) don't work, or just feel too un-Pavement wind up overshadowing the rest, sadly.

Maybe not "un-Pavement" - maybe they just don't quite resonate for me or something. That's songs like "Ann Don't Cry," "Billie," "Major Leagues." (Brighten The Corners has a couple songs like this too.)

Eh, "Major Leagues" is pretty good.

I always forget about this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1APx-M5UY

Glad the reissue is finally happening; I love this album. It was the first Pavement I heard, at age 13 when it came out. It was this blurb review in Time magazine that piqued my interest:

Listening to this avant-rock band's new album is like arriving late to a mystery movie. You wonder, "Have I missed something?" In the case of Terror Twilight, you haven't. About a third of the songs on this album lack musical coherence, substituting aimless dissonance and artless artiness for melody and emotion. On a few tracks, however, Pavement lives up to its cerebral reputation; these boast a smart mix of studied elegance and ethereal sweetness. Still, this is a band that needs to replace indulgence with consistency.
--By Christopher John Farley

I was starting to get into "the hard stuff" around this time, so "avant-rock," "artless artiness" and "aimless dissonance" sounded promising to me. When I finally checked the album out at a record store listening station I was very surprised to find that it was by and large mellow, pretty, and conventionally melodic, with only the occasional measured diversion into noisy weirdness (e.g. the deliberately ugly chorus of "Billie"). At any rate, I loved it and bought it and got really deep into Pavement shortly thereafter. I still think Terror Twilight is a better album than Brighten the Corners, though BTC has the higher highs.

In retrospect this whole episode taught me to read album reviews with a great deal of skepticism and to trust my own ears more. So thanks, Christopher John Farley, for missing the mark on Terror Twilight!

This reminds me a bit of the Rolling Stone review for Wowee Zowee. The writer was like the father of a misbehaving child - “I’m not angry, and just really disappointed” - and that bristling exasperation made me curious enough to buy that tape and ultimately become a big fan.

Farley! I remember that byline!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/wowee-zowee-114288/amp/

the Nirvana-like “Kennel District”

Surely he meant "Flux = Rad"? How do you confuse those two songs

Only thing I was mad about WZ was that it only had three sides.

I remember the cool-guy record store clerk saying he didn't like it (and was only into their early stuff).

That review is a very one listen response to wz and of its time as I remember it being a high point of "alternative rock" popularity and people were expecting them to build on the "success" of cut your hair and they dropped this sprawling mass of a record & blasted through the songs in front of empty pavilion seats at daytime lollapaloozas. Looking back now, it's clearly a masterpiece and shows the band's progression as artists, but this is the terror twilight thread and that album is underrated, the production & sequencing were great on cd & hold up just fine.

terror twilight was actually the first pavement record i heard somehow, i was smitten with malkmus's songwriting and lyrics and esp guitar playing

WZ is my favorite now tho, most 'pavement-y' to me

wait that RS review of CR,CR mentions flying burrito brothers? what flying burrito brothers sounds like that record??

I guess "Range Life" could be construed as "a nod" to the Burrito Brothers?

I remember the cool-guy record store clerk saying he didn't like it (and was only into their early stuff).

When I bought the album the summer after it came out the record store guy excitedly told me "This album restored my faith in music!" (RIP Aboveground Records, Edgartown MA). I find it enjoyable enough but always felt sort of let down after that build-up.