Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Pig Lib Released: 2003-03-17 Tracks: 11 Duration: 47:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Water and a Seat (04:18) 2 Ramp of Death (02:37) 3 (Do Not Feed the) Oyster (04:49) 4 Vanessa From Queens (03:21) 5 Sheets (03:19) 6 Animal Midnight (05:11) 7 Dark Wave (02:26) 8 Witch Mountain Bridge (05:21) 9 Craw Song (02:41) 10 1% of One (09:11) 11 Us (04:16) |
| Pig Lib : Allmusic album Review : Stephen Malkmus wanted to bill his first solo album to the Jicks but was persuaded by Matador to release it under his name. As it turns out, the delay in billing was fortuitous, since Pig Lib, Malkmus second solo effort and the first to share a co-billing with the Jicks, sounds much more like the work of a band than its predecessor. Which, to be honest, is a bit of a mixed blessing, since this record has all the attributes and trapping of a group who feel comfortable playing together. Unlike the ramshackle crew of Pavement, who never could walk a straight line, the Jicks easily follow his every whim, whether its on winding guitar jams or breezy, mid-tempo numbers. This is likely what Malkmus was seeking in a band, since the essential tone, tenor, and aesthetic of his music hasnt changed since he disbanded Pavement. What has changed is the feel. No longer is it sprawling, messy, and unpredictable; its relaxed, meandering, and comfortable. Strangely enough, the jokiness and irrepressibly giddy spirit of the debut have been subdued completely, replaced by a hazy seriousness spiked occasionally by Malkmus notoriously wry wit, and even that has been tempered slightly, since the words and, to a lesser extent, the songcraft have taken a backseat to playing with the band. Now that he has a band he wants to play with, he jams, finally making the Groundhogs and Lobby Lloyd tribute hes been threatening for years. And its not bad. But, apart from the wonderfully elastic, surprising "Us," it doesnt offer anything striking or resonant. True, it breathes more than either of the last two Pavement records, but only a handful of songs are of the standard of its predecessor: the light, lyrical "Vanessa From Queens," "Animal Midnight" with its brilliantly nonsensical coda, the succinct "Craw Song," and the epic jam "1% of One" (not as good as the versions played on the first Jicks tour, though; much like "The Hexx," its been streamlined and isnt as nervy as it was live). Pig Lib is hurt by the odd combination of friendly interplay and a deliberate somberness that creates an album at once enjoyable but not particularly captivating. It surely creates the most consistent mood of any Malkmus album, but part of what made him so much fun was his rough edges, jokes, mistakes, thowaways, and indulgent whims, all of which are sadly missing here. [Actually, theyve all been exiled to the five-track bonus EP included with the initial pressings of Pig Lib. A jumble of outtakes and live tracks, this is loose, funny, rocking, and poetic, everything that great Malkmus music is -- and it only hammers home whats wrong with the proper album.] | ||
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Dark Wave EP Released: 2003-04-28 Tracks: 6 Duration: 20:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Dark Wave (02:26) 2 Dynamic Calories (02:23) 3 Fractions & Feelings (03:28) 4 Old Jerry (06:18) 5 The Poet & the Witch (live in Malmö, Sweden, 2001-02-10) (02:05) 6 Shake It Around (live in Melbourne, Australia, 2001-07-18) (04:04) |
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Real Emotional Trash Released: 2008-03-03 Tracks: 10 Duration: 55:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Dragonfly Pie (05:08) 2 Hopscotch Willie (06:56) 3 Cold Son (03:42) 4 Real Emotional Trash (10:08) 5 Out of Reaches (04:51) 6 Baltimore (06:37) 7 Gardenia (02:53) 8 Elmo Delmo (06:41) 9 We Cant Help You (03:04) 10 Wicked Wanda (05:05) |
| Real Emotional Trash : Allmusic album Review : Stephen Malkmus solo career seems to be settling into a pattern of alternating between skewed, spiky pop albums bearing his lone credit and long, languid collections of jams with the Jicks -- as 2005s Face the Truth belonged to the former category and its 2008 follow-up, Real Emotional Trash, fits neatly into the latter. Thats not to say that this is a retread of the lazily intriguing, formless Pig Lib. Where Pig Lib wandered aimlessly, adrift on its insular guitars, Real Emotional Trash is focused and propulsive, even if the band invariably circles around a point instead of tackling it directly. Perhaps some of this precision is due to the presence of former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss as the Jicks new anchor -- she grounds them and pushes them harder, giving Malkmus a solid foundation hes never quite had either in Pavement or on his own -- but Malkmus also sounds clear-headed here, as any new father of two should be. Hes shed the haziness that plagued Pig Lib, yet hes still intoxicated by the sounds he can make, usually with his guitar but also with his mouth, as his words have never sounded so much like a fanciful collection of sounds, each syllable bouncing off the next in the melody. He sings like he plays his guitar, twisting and turning, grooving on the very sound of it all, and its hard not to ride along on his wave. In a decade when indie rock has been dominated by preciously plucked six-strings and symphonies, its rather thrilling to hear the surge of sound on Real Emotional Trash. It, as much as any modern record could be, is a love letter to the guitar, but Malkmus love of rock & roll arcana has pushed early influences of the Fall and Sonic Youth to the side in favor of the seriously weird, often maddeningly uneven, post-hippie ramble of obscure psychedelia and acid rock. With this incarnation of the Jicks, Malkmus has finally created his own version of Mad River, the Groundhogs, or the Coloured Balls, a band that is casually yet deeply idiosyncratic and certainly not to everybodys taste, including legions of Pavement fans who may miss the mess he conjured a decade ago. Frankly, its their loss if they dont want to follow Malkmus down this road, as Real Emotional Trash is invigorating simply as pure sheets of sound. Its heavy on long tunes -- six of the ten weigh in at well over five minutes, with the title track pushing a bit past ten -- but each cut rides its own rhythm, with the shorter numbers -- the sprightly, bubblegummy "Gardenia" and easy-rolling "We Cant Help You" -- acting as palette cleansers. Real Emotional Trash isnt quite the Jicks spin on Wowee Zowee -- it explores one place thoroughly instead of wandering all over the map -- but it has that same untrammeled spirit that made Pavements third album so addictive, and like that masterpiece, it may be a bit of a litmus test among fans, as a bit of time is required for it to grow. That, more than anything -- more than the heady 70s guitar worship on display, more than the warm growl of the amplifiers -- gives Real Emotional Trash a welcome old-fashioned feeling: its an album meant to be discovered and lived with, revealing its jokes and its beauty over time. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Mirror Traffic Released: 2011-08-17 Tracks: 15 Duration: 50:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Tigers (02:23) 2 No One Is (As I Are Be) (03:58) 3 Senator (04:25) 4 Brain Gallop (05:02) 5 Jumblegloss (01:13) 6 Asking Price (02:41) 7 Stick Figures in Love (03:45) 8 Spazz (02:38) 9 Long Hard Book (02:48) 10 Share the Red (05:19) 11 Tune Grief (02:19) 12 Forever 28 (03:35) 13 All Over Gently (03:10) 14 Fall Away (02:18) 15 Gorgeous Georgie (05:00) |
| Mirror Traffic : Allmusic album Review : Tempting though it may be, Mirror Traffic is not quite Stephen Malkmus response to the 2010 reunion of Pavement. Malkmus and the Jicks entered the studio with Beck prior to Pavement’s international 2010 tour, so any passing similarities Mirror Traffic may have to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain aren’t a reflection of his ‘90s band bleeding back into the Jicks but perhaps an indication that he was now ready to scale back the thick guitar haze of the 2000s and return to easy elegance. Certainly, the Jicks rage and roar -- “Senator” stutters from riff to solo, “Tune Grief” gallops along headstrong -- but the winding jams have been cut away so the brief blasts of sonic ballast are one of the many colors on an album with a rather large palette. Beck doesn’t clutter the record with unnecessary textures but encourages Malkmus and the Jicks to take detours, so Mirror Traffic winds up playing something like a focused update on Wowee Zowee. Unlike Face the Truth, a similarly kaleidoscopic pop album, there’s a casualness to Mirror Traffic that is immensely appealing: when the summer psychedelia of “Tigers” gives way to the folky pluckings of “No One Is (As I Are Be)” or when the loping guitar pileup of “Forever 28” slides into “All Over Gently”s country-rock by way of the Velvet Underground, Malkmus never calls attention to his tonal or stylistic shifts -- it all just rolls along lazily yet with purpose. For as relaxed as Mirror Traffic is, there is real structure to the songs and clarity to the production, two things that turn it into Malkmus’ most satisfying solo album to date. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Wig Out at Jagbags Released: 2014-01-06 Tracks: 12 Duration: 41:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Planetary Motion (03:04) 2 The Janitor Revealed (03:34) 3 Lariat (03:05) 4 Houston Hades (04:45) 5 Shibboleth (02:43) 6 J Smoov (05:06) 7 Rumble at the Rainbo (01:41) 8 Chartjunk (03:48) 9 Independence Street (03:01) 10 Scattegories (01:53) 11 Cinnamon and Lesbians (03:00) 12 Surreal Teenagers (05:38) |
| Wig Out at Jagbags : Allmusic album Review : The title is quintessentially Stephen Malkmus -- a conflation of two slang terms, one dating back to the hazed-out 60s, the other a vulgar remnant of modernity -- and, as it happens, Wig Out at Jagbags also sounds quintessentially Malkmusian. Its elastic guitar rock constructed partially out of cannabis guitar jams and partially out of punk rock squalls, both sides distinguished by wry melodicism and dexterous wordplay, not to mention Malkmus lingering tendency to hide his accessible inclinations under sheets of six-strings. On 2011s Mirror Traffic, producer Beck prevented the Jicks from taking detours, but here the band is producing on its own, assisted by Remko Schouten, so theyre free to follow wherever their whims may take them. In the past, the untrammeled Jicks usually pursued one of their twin obsessions -- either riding out a cool, non-funky groove or opening up the skies with guitars, ideally blending the two -- but here, theres a distinct mellowing as the forays into psychedelia and noise skronk are tempered as Malkmus once again finds fascination in colorful, swaying pop. Often, this takes the form of updated latter-day Pavement -- the sing-song "Lariat" and "Cinnamon and Lesbians" find their roots in Brighten the Corners -- but no matter if Malkmus is singing about "music from the Best Decade Ever," theres no sense of nostalgia here, no suspicion that hed rather be playing with a reunited Pavement than the Jicks, perhaps because Wig Out at Jagbags -- the first album hes recorded since reuniting with his 90s band in 2010; its the also the first without Janet Weiss, who left in 2010 to play with Wild Flag and has been replaced by Jake Morris -- is nimble in a way Malkmus has rarely been. As the Jicks trim their improvisations, they retain a mischievous spirit -- witness the cheery horn stabs of "Chartjunk," which swaggers like prime crossover Spoon and thereby raises the question of whether the song is a piss-take -- which means that even if Wig Out at Jagbags is quieter than, say, 2008s churning Real Emotional Trash, it feels looser than most of the Jicks records; the compositions are tight but the attitude is ragged, which winds up being more infectious and fun than albums where the songs drift but the instruments are tight. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Sparkle Hard Released: 2018-05-18 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cast Off (02:54) 2 Future Suite (02:43) 3 Solid Silk (04:37) 4 Bike Lane (03:34) 5 Middle America (03:31) 6 Rattler (03:08) 7 Shiggy (03:16) 8 Kite (06:40) 9 Brethren (02:51) 10 Refute (03:24) 11 Difficulties / Let Them Eat Vowels (07:03) |
| Sparkle Hard : Allmusic album Review : Sparkle Hard comes into focus slowly and stately, coalescing around crawling piano chords that soon get blown to bits by guitars -- thereby offering a neat encapsulation of how this, the seventh album Stephen Malkmus has made since disbanding Pavement in 1999, walks a fine line between the familiar and the unexpected. Upon the first spin, Sparkle Hard seems to veer all over the place, bouncing from the finely etched pop of "Future Suite" to the Teutonic jam of "Bike Lane," eventually winding up on the country-rock ramble of "Refute," a duet with Kim Gordon, who has never before been heard with anything resembling a twang (and likely never will again). The diversity dazzles, particularly as its filled with elegant new accents to make familiar settings seem fresh, even when theyre firmly within Malkmus laconic wheelhouse; witness his pitch-shifted vocals on "Rattler," which give the songs robotic rhythms a woozy sway, or how the pastoral beginnings of "Kite" get blown out with psychedelic wah-wahs and rushed rhythms. Such flair suggests that Malkmus designed Sparkle Hard as a way to flex his musical muscles, but for as alluring as the albums sound is -- and the record lives up to its title, glistening brightly with its panoramic guitars and coiled rhythms -- it remains compelling upon repeated plays because, beneath the shimmering surface, this is not only one of his best collections of songs, but a record that acts like a casual summation of his enduring obsessions. His youthful sneer has mellowed so much that he now sounds sincere, which helps cast his willful weirdness in a different light. Malkmus may still stand on the outside smirking, poaching different elements of the underground and mainstream, assembling them in a fashion thats undeniably unique, but the craft and cleverness of Sparkle Hard cant disguise the simple fact that he means this music, man. | ||