Pavement | ||
| Allmusic Biography : With their fractured songs, unexpected blasts of feedback, laconic vocals, cryptic literate lyrics, and defiant low-fidelity, Pavement were one of the most influential and distinctive bands to emerge from the American underground in the 90s. Pavement, along with Sebadoh, were the leaders of the lo-fi movement that dominated U.S. indie rock in the early 90s. Initially conceived as a studio project between guitarists/vocalists Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg in the 80s, Pavement gradually became a band during the early 90s. Along the way, their initial EPs and debut album, 1992s Slanted & Enchanted, earned a devoted following of musicians, indie fans, and critics. Before long, the groups aesthetics -- a combination of elliptic, cryptic underground American rock, unrepentant Anglophilia, a fondness for white noise, off-kilter arrangements and winding melodies, songs that frequently had shifting titles, and literate, clever lyrics -- were imitated by underground bands through America and Britain. By that point, Pavement had become an actual band, one with a notorious, acid-fried ex-hippie drummer called Gary Young. Young left the band in 1993 as the band made the move to clean up their sound, if not their sensibility, on 1994s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Their revampment resulted in a near-hit with "Cut Your Hair," but the mainstream decided Pavement were too strange for their tastes and the band decided it preferred the underground, leaving the group as one of the most popular -- and the most influential -- American indie rock bands of the 90s. Stephen Malkmus (vocals, guitar) had finished studying history at the University of Virginia and returned to Stockton, CA, when he formed Pavement with childhood friend Scott Kannberg (guitar, vocals) in 1989. Pavement released their first 7" EP, Slay Tracks: (1933-1969), by the summer of 1989. Recorded for 800 dollars at the small local studio Louder Than You Think -- which was owned by Gary Young, a fortysomething drummer who appeared on the EP -- and released on the duos own indie label, Treble Kicker, Slay Tracks demonstrated sonic debts to the Fall, R.E.M., the Pixies, and Sonic Youth. While there were only a couple hundred copies pressed of the EP, it managed to work its way to several influential people within the underground industry, including British DJ John Peel. Furthermore, the EP, which was credited only to "S.M." and "Spiral Stairs," became something of an enigma, since it was supported by no press releases or information about the band. By the 1990 release of Demolition Plot J-7, the band had begun to forge these influences into its own signature sound. Pavement moved to Drag City Records and added Young as a member during the recording of Demolition Plot J-7, but the band didnt perform any concerts until after the 1991 release of Perfect Sound Forever. During preparation for their first concerts in 1991, Pavement added bassist Mark Ibold and, in order to bolster Youngs shaky timekeeping, a second drummer named Bob Nastanovich, who had attended college with Malkmus. The new lineup appeared on the bands first full-length album, Slanted & Enchanted, although the group didnt record any of the album as a full band; instead, it was pieced together by Malkmus and Kannberg. Before it was released on Matador Records in the spring of 1992, Slanted & Enchanted created extremely good word-of-mouth praise; before the album was even available promotionally, critics were lavishly praising it in the press. Initially, the bands following was based upon critics and fellow musicians, but soon word began to spread on the street as well. Pavement supported the album with their first national tour, and while it didnt reach many cities, it became notorious for the bands sloppy sound and Youngs grandstanding. He would greet the audience at the door, shaking their hands; he would perform handstands during the show; he would hand out salads at the door; he would occasionally collapse drunk. Young was asked to leave the band during 1993; his last release with the group was the EP Watery, Domestic, which was released in the fall of 1992. He was replaced by Steve West, a friend of Nastanovich. After West joined the band, the bands early EPs were compiled on Drag Citys 1993 collection Westing (By Musket and Sextant). Pavements sound cleaned up somewhat after Youngs departure; it was a combination of having a steady drummer and recording in real studios. Some pundits predicted that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, the 1994 follow-up to Slanted & Enchanted, would be Pavements breakthrough into the mainstream. To a certain extent, it was. The album debuted on the U.S. charts at 121 and "Cut Your Hair" became a Top Ten modern rock hit and MTV hit. But despite the albums overwhelmingly positive reviews, Crooked Rain simply expanded Pavements cult dramatically, confirming their status as underground, not mainstream, stars. Following the release of Crooked Rain, Pavement recorded sporadically during 1994; Malkmus and Nastanovich also contributed to Starlite Walker, the full-length debut by the Silver Jews, which was led by their college friend David Berman. Pavement returned with their third album, Wowee Zowee, in the spring of 1995. More sprawling and eclectic than either of its predecessors, the album proved once again that Pavement were a leader of the underground instead of alternative rocks Next Big Thing. Despite the mixed response Wowee Zowee received from critics -- which sparked a Pavement backlash in the press that continued for the next two years -- most of the groups die-hard fans embraced the album. The band also landed a spot on the fifth Lollapalooza, which featured likeminded artists such as Beck and Sonic Youth. Though it may have been financially lucrative, the gig proved frustrating for the band; sandwiched in the middle of the main stages bill, Pavement found themselves playing to fewer people than they might have, had they headlined the second stage. The group began 1996 with the release of the Pacific Trim EP and spent the rest of the year recording their fourth album with producer Mitch Easter. Released in early 1997, Brighten the Corners was seen as a return to the groups more accessible, Crooked Rain-like sound; it was greeted with positive reviews and debuted at number 70 on the American charts. After extensive touring in the U.S. and worldwide, Pavement took a break for the first half of 1998. That summer, among the bandmembers off-duty activities, both Malkmus and Kannberg performed solo gigs: Malkmus introduced new Silver Jews and Pavement songs at the two L.A. dates he played with Scarnella (Nels Cline and the Geraldine Fibbers Carla Bozulichs side project), while Kannberg played drums with Half Five Quarter to Six (an impromptu 80s cover band featuring other San Francisco-based musicians) at a charity event called One Night Stand. Kannberg also started his own label, Pray for Mojo (later renamed Amazing Grease), which featured bands like the psych-pop combo Oranger. That fall, Pavement regrouped and recorded Terror Twilight with producer Nigel Godrich, whose intricate, polished style graced albums by Natalie Imbruglia, Beck, and, most famously, Radiohead. That groups guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, played harmonica on the albums sessions. When Terror Twilight arrived in the summer of 1999, it won uniformly positive reviews, but its bigger, cleaner sound and lack of any Kannberg songs made it feel suspiciously like a disguised Stephen Malkmus solo album. The Major Leagues EP did feature songs from Kannberg -- which he recorded with Gary Young at Louder Than You Think -- but this did little to dispel the breakup rumors Pavement had been dodging since Malkmus solo gigs, in which he admitted that the bandmembers desires to live outside of Pavement could spell the groups end. He announced that the band was indeed finished at their November 20, 1999, date at the London Brixton Academy: with a set of handcuffs hanging from his mic stand -- which he said symbolized being a part of a band -- Malkmus thanked Pavements fans "for coming all these years." However, the official word from the band and Matador Records was that Pavement were merely on hiatus. But, in the spring of 2000, word got out that both Kannberg and Malkmus were readying solo projects: Kannbergs, named the Preston School of Industry, reunited him with Gary Young; Malkmus was initially called the Jicks, then rechristened Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and included drummer John Moen, formerly of the Dharma Bums and the Fastbacks, and bassist Joanna Bolme, who had also worked with the Minders. An interview with Malkmus in the November 2000 issue of Spin confirmed Pavements breakup for once and all. Ibold, West, and Nastanovich also stayed busy during the groups "hiatus": Ibold started his own label, West toured and recorded with his project Marble Valley, and Nastanovich maintained his horse-racing tip sheet Lucky Lavender. Late in 2000, it was announced that Malkmus solo album -- which had the working title of Swedish Reggae -- would be known simply as Stephen Malkmus, and that he and the Jicks would tour in the spring of 2001 with Elasticas Justine Frischmann joining on as an additional guitarist and Nastanovich as their road manager. Kannberg and his group also began playing dates in early 2001. Despite the bands somewhat confusing and frustrating end, Pavement helped steer the course of 90s indie rock in a consistently intelligent, unpredictable -- and even fun -- direction. In late October of 2002, Matador released a massively expanded version of the seminal Slanted & Enchanted. The version contained an astounding 36 bonus tracks ranging from an entire live performance to revealing B-sides. A retrospective double-DVD set entitled Slow Century was welcomed concurrently. Matador then released a similarly expanded edition of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain in 2004 and Wowee Zowee in 2006, all the more confirming Pavements legacy as indie rock trailblazers. In 2009, the band announced a series of 2010 benefit shows in New York Citys Central Park and the U.K. that evolved into a full-fledged reunion tour in 2010. That year also saw the release of a compilation album called Quarantine the Past: The Best of Pavement. Following this burst of activity, the band once again went their separate ways. In 2015, they reactivated their archival project with the release of Secret History, Vol. 1, a compilation that issued rarities from the 2002 Slanted & Enchanted [Luxe & Reduxe] reissue on vinyl. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 15 Title: Slanted and Enchanted Released: 1992-04-30 Tracks: 14 Duration: 39:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Summer Babe (Winter version) (03:16) 2 Trigger Cut / Wounded‐Kite at :17 (03:16) 3 No Life Singed Her (02:09) 4 In the Mouth a Desert (03:52) 5 Conduit for Sale! (02:52) 6 Zurich Is Stained (01:41) 7 Chesley’s Little Wrists (01:16) 8 Loretta’s Scars (02:55) 9 Here (03:56) 10 Two States (01:47) 11 Perfume‐V (02:09) 12 Fame Throwa (03:22) 13 Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era (03:21) 14 Our Singer (03:09) |
| Slanted and Enchanted : Allmusic album Review : Listening to Slanted & Enchanted is like listening to a college radio station that you can barely tune in -- melodies are interrupted by shards of white noise, only to have a simple hook pull everything back into focus. On their first full-length album, Pavement constructed a cycle of gleeful guitar noise punctuated by fragments of melody floating in and out of the chaos. Aesthetically, the thin, noisy low-fidelity production is appealing and uncompromising, but what makes Slanted & Enchanted remarkable is the songwriting. Instead of disguising an underdeveloped sense of songcraft, the production embellishes and subverts the bands gift for unusual, catchy hooks. Surrounded by fuzzy, noisy guitars, white noise, and Stephen Malkmus languid vocals, the pure pop melodies of "Trigger Cut" and "Summer Babe" sound foreign, but the production gives context to the gorgeous melancholy of "Here" and the brooding "In the Mouth a Desert." Some listeners may initially find the lo-fi sound of the record inaccessible, but the sheer strength of Pavements songs settles in after a few plays. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 15 Title: Watery, Domestic Released: 1992-11-25 Tracks: 4 Duration: 11:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Texas Never Whispers (03:08) 2 Frontwards (03:04) 3 Lions (Linden) (02:00) 4 Shoot the Singer (03:15) |
 | Album: 3 of 15 Title: Westing (by Musket and Sextant) Released: 1993-03-22 Tracks: 23 Duration: 48:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Youre Killing Me (03:20) 2 Box Elder (02:26) 3 Maybe Maybe (02:14) 4 She Believes (03:02) 5 Price Yeah! (03:00) 6 Forklift (03:27) 7 Spizzle Trunk (01:23) 8 Recorder Grot (02:08) 9 Internal K-Dart (01:51) 10 Perfect Depth (02:43) 11 Recorder Grot (Rally) (00:21) 12 Heckler Spray (01:06) 13 From Now On (02:03) 14 Angel Carver Blues / Mellow Jazz Docent (02:30) 15 Drive-By Fader (00:28) 16 Debris Slide (01:56) 17 Home (02:23) 18 Krell Vid-User (01:26) 19 Summer Babe (Winter version) (03:16) 20 Mercy: The Laundromat (01:39) 21 Baptiss Blacktick (02:03) 22 My First Mine (02:20) 23 My Radio (01:21) |
| Westing (by Musket and Sextant) : Allmusic album Review : A collection of all of Pavements low-fidelity early singles and EPs, which feature considerably less melody than Slanted and Enchanted. Its nice to have this rare material on one CD, although the music is defiantly anti-CD. Those who boarded the train with the acclaimed Slanted and Enchanted should catch up on what theyve missed. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 15 Title: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain Released: 1994-02-14 Tracks: 49 Duration: 2:38:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Silence Kid (03:00) 2 Elevate Me Later (02:51) 3 Stop Breathin (04:27) 4 Cut Your Hair (03:06) 5 Newark Wilder (03:53) 6 Unfair (02:33) 7 Gold Soundz (02:39) 8 5 − 4 = Unity (02:09) 9 Range Life (04:54) 10 Heaven Is a Truck (02:30) 11 Hit the Plane Down (03:36) 12 Fillmore Jive (06:38) 13 Camera (03:45) 14 Stare (02:51) 15 Raft (03:34) 16 Coolin’ by Sound (02:50) 17 Kneeling Bus (01:34) 18 Strings of Nashville (03:46) 19 Exit Theory (00:59) 20 5 − 4 Vocal (02:08) 21 Jam Kids (04:54) 22 Haunt You Down (04:51) 23 Unseen Power of the Picket Fence (03:51) 24 Nail Clinic (02:25) 1 All My Friends (05:12) 2 Soiled Little Filly (02:08) 3 Range Life (04:11) 4 Stop Breathing (03:54) 5 Ell Ess Two (02:44) 6 Flux = Rad (02:11) 7 Bad Version of War (03:27) 8 Same Way of Saying (04:35) 9 Hands off the Bayou (02:43) 10 Heaven Is a Truck (Egg Shell) (02:20) 11 Grounded (03:35) 12 Kennel District (03:24) 13 Pueblo (Beach Boys) (03:47) 14 Fucking Righteous (02:47) 15 Colorado (01:13) 16 Dark Ages (02:39) 17 Flood Victim (01:17) 18 JMC Retro (00:52) 19 Rug Rat (03:05) 20 Strings of Nashville (instrumental) (03:50) 21 Instrumental (03:40) 22 Brink of the Clouds (03:48) 23 Tartar Martyr (03:13) 24 Pueblo Domain (04:18) 25 The Sutcliffe Catering Song (03:22) |
| Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain : Allmusic album Review : It may be a bit reductive to call Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanteds Murmur -- not to mention easy, considering that Pavement recorded a song-long tribute to R.E.M.s second album during the Crooked Rain sessions -- but theres a certain truth in that statement all the same. Slanted & Enchanted is an enigmatic masterpiece, retaining its mystique after countless spins, but Crooked Rain strips away the hiss and fog of S&E, removing some of Pavements mystery yet retaining their fractured sound and spirit. Its filled with loose ends and ragged transitions, but compared to the fuzzy, dense Slanted, Crooked Rain is direct and immediately engaging -- it puts the bands casual melodicism, sprawling squalls of feedback, disheveled country-rock, and Stephen Malkmus deft wordplay in sharp relief. Its the sound of a band discovering its own voice as a band, which is only appropriate because up until Crooked Rain, Pavement was more of a recording project between Malkmus and Scott Kannberg than a full-fledged rock & roll group. During the supporting tour for Slanted, Malkmus and Kannberg recruited bassist Mark Ibold and percussionist Bob Nastanovich, and original drummer Gary Young was replaced by Steve West early into the recording for this album, and the new blood gives the band a different feel, even if the aesthetic hasnt changed much. The full band gives the music a richer, warmer vibe thats as apparent on the rampaging, noise-ravaged "Unfair" as it is on the breezy, sun-kissed country-rock of "Range Life" or its weary, late-night counterpart, "Heaven Is a Truck." Pavement may still be messy, but its a meaningful, musical messiness from the performance to the production: listen to how "Silence Kit" begins by falling into place with its layers of fuzz guitars, wah wahs, cowbells, thumping bass, and drum fills, how what initially seems random gives way into a lush Californian pop song. Thats Crooked Rain a nutshell -- what initially seems chaotic has purpose, leading listeners into the bittersweet heart and impish humor at the core of the album. Many bands attempted to replicate the sound or the vibe of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but they never came close to the quicksilver shifts in music and emotion that give this album such lasting appeal. Here, Pavement follow the heartbroken ballad "Stop Breathin" with the wry, hooky alt-rock hit "Cut Your Hair" without missing a beat. They throw out a jazzy Dave Brubeck tribute in "5-4=Unity" as easily as they mimic the Fall and mock the Happy Mondays on "Hit the Plane Down." By drawing on so many different influences, Pavement discovered its own distinctive voice as a band on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, creating a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground rock in the 90s and one of the great albums of its decade. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 15 Title: Wowee Zowee Released: 1995-04-10 Tracks: 18 Duration: 56:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 We Dance (03:01) 2 Rattled by the Rush (04:16) 3 Black Out (02:10) 4 Brinx Job (01:31) 5 Grounded (04:14) 6 Serpentine Pad (01:16) 7 Motion Suggests (03:15) 8 Father to a Sister of Thought (03:30) 9 Extradition (02:12) 10 Best Friends Arm (02:19) 11 Grave Architecture (04:16) 12 AT&T (03:32) 1 Flux = Rad (01:45) 2 Fight This Generation (04:22) 3 Kennel District (02:59) 4 Pueblo (03:25) 5 Half a Canyon (06:10) 6 Western Homes (01:50) |
| Wowee Zowee : Allmusic album Review : With its vast array of musical styles, Wowee Zowee isnt as accessible as Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or as immediate as the bracing, noisy pop of Slanted & Enchanted. Pavement never abandon their warped pop aesthetic, they simply expand it, incorporating elements of folk-rock, English music hall, soul, jazz, country, as well as adding asides to such contemporaries as Suede ("We Dance"), Ween ("Brinx Job"), and Stereolab ("Half a Canyon"). Alternating between majestic epics like "Grounded" and ragged narratives like "Rattled by the Rush" and "Father to a Sister of Thought," to song fragments like "Brinx Job" and the punkish "Serpentine Pad," the record might seem disjointed at first. After repeated listens, the songs play off each other, creating a dense collage of 90s rock & roll that recasts the past and present into one rich, kaleidoscopic, and blissfully cryptic world view. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 15 Title: Pacific Trim Released: 1996-02-27 Tracks: 3 Duration: 07:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Give It a Day (02:38) 2 Gangsters & Pranksters (01:30) 3 Saganaw (03:32) |
 | Album: 7 of 15 Title: Brighten the Corners Released: 1997-01-08 Tracks: 15 Duration: 51:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Stereo (03:07) 2 Shady Lane (02:40) 3 J vs. S (01:26) 4 Transport Is Arranged (03:52) 5 Date With IKEA (02:39) 6 Old to Begin (03:22) 7 Type Slowly (05:20) 8 Embassy Row (03:51) 9 Blue Hawaiian (03:33) 10 We Are Underused (04:12) 11 Passat Dream (03:51) 12 Starlings of the Slipstream (03:08) 13 Fin (05:24) 14 Wanna Mess You Around (01:27) 15 No Tan Lines (03:11) |
| Brighten the Corners : Allmusic album Review : Theres a difference between accessibility and focus, which Pavement illustrate with their fourth album, Brighten the Corners. Arriving on the heels of the glorious mess of Wowee Zowee, the cohesive sound and laid-back sarcasm of Brighten the Corners can give the record the illusion of being accessible, or at the very least a retreat toward the songcraft of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. And the record is calm, with none of the full-out blasts of noise that marked all of their previous releases. It would be easy to dismiss the absence of noise as mere maturity, or a move toward more accessible songcraft, but neither statement is entirely true. Brighten the Corners is mature but wise-assed, melodic but complex -- its a record that reveals its gifts gradually, giving you enough information the first time to make you want come back for more. At first, the dissonant singsong verse of "Stereo" seems awkward, but its all pulled into perspective with the gleeful, addictive outburst of the chorus, and that is a microcosm of the albums appeal. The first time around, the winding melody of "Shady Lane," the psycho jangle pop of "Date With Ikea," the epic grace of "Type Slowly," and the speedy rush of "Embassy Row" make an impression, but repeated listens reveal sonic and lyrical details that make them indelible. Similarly, Stephen Malkmus hip-hop inflections on "Blue Hawaiian" and the quiet beauty of "Transport Is Arranged" unfold over time. While the preponderance of slow songs and laid-back production makes the album more focused than Wowee Zowee, it doesnt have the rich diversity of its predecessor -- "Type Slowly" comes closest to the grand, melancholic beauty of "Grounded" -- but it remains a thoroughly compelling listen. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 15 Title: Shady Lane Released: 1997-06-10 Tracks: 5 Duration: 11:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Shady Lane (Krossfader) (02:37) 2 Slowly Typed (02:51) 3 Cherry Area (01:34) 4 Wanna Mess You Around (01:26) 5 No Tan Lines (03:00) |
 | Album: 9 of 15 Title: Terror Twilight Released: 1999-05-24 Tracks: 11 Duration: 44:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Spit on a Stranger (03:04) 2 Folk Jam (03:34) 3 You Are a Light (03:54) 4 Cream of Gold (03:47) 5 Major Leagues (03:24) 6 Platform Blues (04:42) 7 Ann Don’t Cry (04:09) 8 Billie (03:44) 9 Speak, See, Remember (04:19) 10 The Hexx (05:39) 11 Carrot Rope (03:52) |
| Terror Twilight : Allmusic album Review : Since Pavement switched course with each record -- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was nothing like Slanted & Enchanted, and Brighten the Corners was decidedly different from the brilliant, warped Wowee Zowee -- its a little disarming to realize that Terror Twilight merely deepens the sound of its predecessor. Guitars burst to the forefront every so often -- most notably on the dense jam "Platform Blues" and the shouted choruses of "Billie" -- yet theyre usually used as texture. Nothing rocks hard and "The Hexx," which was heard on the Brighten tour as a metallic epic, has been transformed into a surrealistic dream, reminiscent of the Velvet Undergrounds "Ocean." Thats typical of Terror Twilight -- its reflective, with the occasional flight of fancy that fits neatly into the laid-back flow. Its also the tightest record Pavement ever made, largely due to producer Nigel Godrich, who helped reign in excessive tendencies in Radiohead and Beck and does the same here. The band still sounds like Pavement -- their loping interplay is unmistakable -- and Stephen Malkmus songs are typically dense and literate, yet theyre easier to digest. That, along with the lack of Spiral Stairs songs, gives Terror Twilight a cohesion missing even on earlier Pavement albums, no matter how great they were. All the focus makes the album feel a little less like Pavement -- after all, this is a band whose imperfections were among their most endearing qualities -- and a bit more like Malkmus first solo album, which it essentially is. Though its hard not to miss the gloriously messy sprawl of Pavement at their peak, this carefully crafted, languid recasting of their signature sound is effective and winds up as a fitting, bittersweet farewell for the best band of the 90s. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 15 Title: Spit on a Stranger Released: 1999-06-22 Tracks: 5 Duration: 15:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Spit on a Stranger (03:04) 2 Harness Your Hopes (03:27) 3 Roll With the Wind (03:17) 4 The Porpoise and the Hand Grenade (02:47) 5 Rooftop Gambler (03:19) |
 | Album: 11 of 15 Title: Major Leagues Released: 1999-09-27 Tracks: 7 Duration: 22:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Major Leagues (03:01) 2 Your Time to Change (03:10) 3 Stub Your Toe (02:34) 4 Major Leagues (demo) (03:07) 5 Decouvert De Soleil (02:07) 6 The Killing Moon (05:15) 7 The Classical (03:26) |
 | Album: 12 of 15 Title: Welcome To... Pavement Released: 2007-02-04 Tracks: 5 Duration: 20:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Stop Breathin (04:27) 2 Range Life (04:54) 3 Rattled by the Rush (04:16) 4 Stereo (03:07) 5 Shady Lane / J vs. S (03:51) |
 | Album: 13 of 15 Title: Live Europaturnén MCMXCVII Released: 2008-12-09 Tracks: 13 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Father to Sister Thought (?) 2 Shady Layne (?) 3 Silence Kid (?) 4 Stereo (?) 5 Remake/Remodel (?) 6 Blue Hawaii (?) 7 Painted Soldier (?) 8 Cut Your Hare (?) 9 Stopp Breathing (?) 10 Joe Boyd (Stringband) (?) 11 Loretta Scars (?) 12 Tusk (?) 13 Range Lifer (?) |
 | Album: 14 of 15 Title: Quarantine the Past: The Best of Pavement Released: 2010-03-08 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:13:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Gold Soundz (02:39) 2 Frontwards (03:04) 3 Mellow Jazz Docent (01:52) 4 Stereo (03:07) 5 In the Mouth a Desert (03:48) 6 Two States (01:47) 7 Cut Your Hair (03:06) 8 Shady Lane / J vs. S (03:51) 9 Here (03:56) 10 Unfair (02:33) 11 Grounded (04:14) 12 Summer Babe (Winter version) (03:16) 13 Range Life (04:54) 14 Date w/ IKEA (02:38) 15 Debris Slide (01:56) 16 Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse) (03:15) 17 Spit on a Stranger (03:04) 18 Heaven Is a Truck (02:30) 19 Trigger Cut / Wounded‐Kite at :17 (03:16) 20 Embassy Row (03:51) 21 Box Elder (02:26) 22 Unseen Power of the Picket Fence (03:51) 23 Fight This Generation (04:22) |
| Quarantine the Past: The Best of Pavement : Allmusic album Review : Pavement’s first compilation takes its title from a lyric Stephen Malkmus sings on “Gold Soundz,” a line about how “you can never quarantine the past” -- which, of course, is precisely what a retrospective like this intends to do, to present a nice, tidy overview to accompany the group’s 2010 reunion. Of course, it’s always difficult to assemble a best-of package for a band that never had any hits, and Pavement only had one -- 1994’s alt rock puncturing “Cut Your Hair” -- which means it’s possible to endlessly quibble about the other 22 tracks on Quarantine the Past, especially since the compilers decided to leave the singles “Father to a Sister of Thought,” “Rattled by the Rush,” and “Carrot Rope” behind, and fan favorite Wowee Zowee is represented by just two tracks, the same number culled from the 1992 EP Watery, Domestic. That might seem an idiosyncratic choice, but there’s no arguing that “Frontwards” and “Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse)” should be here alongside “Here,” “Summer Babe,” “Box Elder,” “Debris Slide,” “Grounded,” “Trigger Cut,” “Range Life,” “Shady Lane,” and “Stereo,” the songs that provide the foundation of any strong Pavement overview. And while it’s possible to make strong arguments that some of the surrounding tracks should have been replaced by other songs -- not just the aforementioned singles, but anything from “Forklift” to “The Hexx” -- everything here is excellent, everything illustrates the range and depth of the best indie rock band of the ‘90s. So, think of Quarantine the Past as a cousin to Hot Rocks or the Red and Blue Albums: it doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, but as a primer, it’s hard to beat. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 15 Title: The Secret History, Vol. 1 Released: 2015-08-11 Tracks: 30 Duration: 1:28:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sue Me Jack (03:01) 2 So Stark (Youre a Skyscraper) (03:00) 3 Summer Baby (7" version) (03:14) 4 Mercy Snack: The Laundromat (01:38) 5 Baptist Blacktick (02:04) 6 My First Mine (02:20) 7 Nothing Ever Happens (02:31) 8 Here (alternate mix) (03:58) 9 Greenlander (03:11) 10 Circa 1762 (Peel Session 1) (03:26) 11 Kentucky Cocktail (Peel Session 1) (03:33) 12 Secret Knowledge of Backroads (Peel Session 1) (03:27) 13 Here (Peel Session 1) (03:48) 14 Rain Ammunition (Peel Session 2) (03:24) 15 Drunks With Guns (Peel Session 2) (01:42) 1 Ed Ames (Peel Session 2) (03:21) 2 The List of Dorms (Peel Session 2) (02:25) 3 Conduit for Sale (live) (03:10) 4 Fame Throwa (live) (02:32) 5 Home (live) (03:14) 6 Perfume-V (live) (02:14) 7 Summer Babe (live) (03:21) 8 Frontwards (live) (03:18) 9 Angel Carver Blues/Mellow Jazz Docent (live) (03:01) 10 Two States (live) (01:54) 11 No Life Singed Her (live) (01:45) 12 So Stark (live) (03:56) 13 Box Elder (live) (02:44) 14 Baby Yeah (live) (02:44) 15 In the Mouth a Desert (live) (03:59) |
| The Secret History, Vol. 1 : Allmusic album Review : The title claims this 2015 vinyl-only collection tells a "Secret History" but its a tale thats been told in daylight, through B-sides and EPs and, of course, the 2002 Luxe & Reduxe double-disc deluxe reissue of Slanted & Enchanted. Secret History, Vol. 1 spins off many, but not all, of the bonus tracks from that release into a double-vinyl set, leaving behind such official releases as the Watery, Domestic EP bus showcasing S&E outtakes, two Peel sessions, and the entirety of a cracking 13-song concert at the Brixton Academy in London on December 14, 1992. The target audience for The Secret History, Vol. 1 is specific -- Pavement nuts who want to own their favorite bands deep cuts on vinyl -- but that doesnt mean the collection isnt useful. These are recordings that have never seen release on vinyl and, collected together, they do amount to a vibrant, exciting snapshot of Pavement at their wildest. For that specific audience, this is certainly worthwhile. | ||