Jams of the day: Pavement / Live At Maxwell's (08.12.1990)

This is apparently Pavement's 2ND SHOW EVER. Holy fuck. And it is finally surfacing now, thanks to a Soundcloud upload of a cassette tape recording by Maria T (current WPRB DJ), who was at the show. A Crush mag review of the show has also surfaced here. The recording itself is lo-fi and fuzzy, and the vocals are hard to make out, but I like to think that this is just part of the early Pavement aesthetic. I only saw them a couple years ago on their reunion tour, and it felt more like a "play these special songs" show, which was absolutely great the time (my fave show of 2010, actually), but this show feels much more like a live "experience", and makes me yearn to see them in the early days. Enthusiasm was high and predictability was low, and that's potent. Listen in here:



The false-start with Malkmus cursing at the 15:00 mark is fucking priceless.

Get more info from P4k, if you so desire.

The best Pavement album ever?

That's a tough/easy question to answer depending on who you ask, it seems. Sadly, you might hear an answer of, "Who?", on occasion, but if you ask the right party, they'll either have an immediate answer, or they'll say that they can't really decide. At least, this is what I've noticed. The reason I'm bringing this up now is that the following exchange occurred at my place the other night during a weekly poker game. One guy was looking through my vinyl cabinet for something to play, found the Pavement section, and then this happened:


D: Without sounding too uncultured, what's the best Pavement album?

N: Slanted & Enchanted.

S: You said that rather matter-of-factly, N.

N: Well, that's because it's a matter of fact.


(Names abbreviated to unnecessarily protect the completely innocent.)

I chuckled out loud, as did some others around the table, but that was the extent of the discussion. I went back to focusing on losing at cards and forgot about the whole thing. But now that I think about it, I don't really have an immediate answer to that question, like N did. I can think of good sections of albums that I enjoy, a multitude of favorite songs and lyrics and guitar riffs and so on, but none of the albums particularly stand out as an overwhelming favorite to me. I'd like to investigate this further. I recently got the Watery, Domestic EP in the mail from an order I made with Matador Records (in addition to the Slow Century DVD) and that completely rounds out my collection of Pavement vinyl. I've acquired all of the LPs (Slanted & Enchanted; Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain; Wowee Zowee; Brighten The Corners; and Terror Twilight) at various record shops as I find them (all at pretty good prices for new vinyl, I might add). I know there are a bunch of other EPs and singles out there, but it seems like those 5 LPs and 1 EP are the "main discography", so to speak, or at least the easily acquirable ones. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, I hope to devote an entire afternoon (or more) to sitting down and playing them all in a row and settling on a favorite. Maybe one will jump out immediately. Maybe I'll be more confused than ever. Who knows, really? It will be fun, that's for sure.

In the meantime, what's your favorite and why? I'm really curious about the reasons for these types of decisions. Feel free to chime in with just an album name for the sake of a general poll, but I'm more interested in logical and/or metaphysical explanations, here. So have at it.

Cover jam of the day: "The Killing Moon"

Artist: Pavement (covering Echo & The Bunnymen)
Song: "The Killing Moon"
Album: Brighten The Corners (Nicene Creedence Edition) (orig. Ocean Rain)
Label: Matador (orig. Korova)
Released: December 9, 2008 (orig. May 8, 1984)

I like this song. If you've seen Donnie Darko, the film, you undoubtedly like it, too. I was only reminded of this song when it came up as an answer during the "name that tune" section of pub quiz earlier tonight at the Brillobox. I spotted the Echo & The Bunnymen version on the first chord or two, and it immediately reminded me of the Pavement version, for whatever reason. It's not like there are other songs that instantly bring to mind other cover versions, so it was interstingly striking that this one stood out without a second thought.

Anyway, here's the original song:

and here's the cover version:


It's pretty faithful, but it definitely plays the Stephen Malkmus hipster-irony card in a vague sense, somewhat muffling the emo/ghost-story haunting vibe of the original but maintaining the enigmatic intrigue. Yeah, you know what I mean, motherfucker.

Concert review: Pavement!

Pavement
Friday, September 24, 2010
Central Park Summer Stage, New York City

Full write up over on Draw Us Lines.

This was just an all-around good concert. Internet commenters will endlessly make comparisons amongst the various reunion shows, particularly the NYC concerts, but who really cares. The bottom line is that five guys got onstage and made some fabulous music and put on an interesting, exciting, and fun show. Some stray observations from the show:

• Opening band The Beets were pretty fun, even though all of their songs sounded identical. Nothing wrong with having a specific sound, you know? Also, they played a pretty sweet cover version of "Locomotion"! They kept their set short and light, perfect for an opening set for a big show like this. I found it interesting that the drummer stood/jumped the whole time and played with one drumstick and one mallet (he even drummed with a tambourine at some point). Had they not said they were from Queens, I would have guessed California, given their style and sunglasses at 7:05 pm. I've seen some comments on other blogs that were complaining about this band, but I thought they were fine. Also, right before Pavement played I heard someone behind us asking another guy who opened since he got there late and the other guy didn't know either, so I turned around and said "The Beets" and the first guy said, "Oh man, I like The Beets!" So there ya go.
  
• Alcohol was stupid-expensive at the show, but weed was omnipresent. I spotted at least six people within our immediate vicinity blatantly smoking a joint. Sweet.
  
• We brought food into the venue to make sandwiches (Italian bread loaf, fresh mozzarella, one tomato, and a small container of pesto) but there were some food vendors there. One of them was "Asia Dog", selling hot dogs. "Real hot dogs", remarked Leigh.
  
• The music played during the half hour break between sets was an interesting mix. I only recognized one song ("Here Without You" by The Byrds). The last song that was on before Pavement took the stage was a long and droning instrumental piece and it only seemed to remind us of how long we were waiting in anticipation.
  
• When Pavement first walked onstage to a lot of cheering, Ibold and Kannberg kinda waved and acknowledged the crowd, whereas Malkmus did a silly little double fist pump thing. I thought it was odd, but later on when I saw him adjusting his shirtsleeves, I realized that maybe the "fist pump" was actually him just making sure his rolled up sleeves would stay where they were. Guess I'll never know.
  

Jam of the day: "Stereo"

Artist: Pavement
Song: "Stereo"
Album: Brighten The Corners
Released: February 11, 1997

I was fortunate enough to catch Pavement's final Central Park show on Friday night in NYC. Look for a review of that show on Draw Us Lines sometime this week. In the meantime, enjoy this video for "Stereo" where the band plays the song in a faux-Fall setting in front of a white screen playing footage of milk being poured on Cheerios.



"Pigs they tend to wiggle when they walk . . . "

Upcoming concerts: a shitload!

Upcoming concerts: Ted Leo, Drink Up Buttercup, Elf Power, Frontier Ruckus, Margot & The Nuclear So and So's, The National, Cymbals Eat Guitars, PAVEMENT

Okay, so I'm leaving town Thursday afternoon via bus, off to the glorious Big Apple to see Pavement play in Central Park on Friday evening. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited about that show, and it will be great to spend a few days in the city and see some folks, too. Only slightly detracting from those facts is that there are tons of shows happening in Pittsburgh this weekend that I'll be missing. Here's a quick rundown.

Thursday, September 23
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at Diesel. An indie rock legend, for sure. He played at this very venue in June 2009 with Titus Andronicus and locals Landline. It was fantastic. If you're going, get there early. We all know Diesel pretty much sucks.

Drink Up Buttercup at Thunderbird Cafe. I've only heard a few of their songs but they caught my ear with some catchy guitar-driven hooks. Check out last week's feature in the City Paper for more info.

Friday, September 24
Backyard Tire Fire at Schenley Plaza. I really don't know much about these guys, but it could be fun. This is WYEP's monthly Final Friday shindig.
Elf Power at Brillobox. I strongly encourage you to see this one. I wrote about it before; go read that.
Frontier Ruckus and Emily Rodgers at Thunderbird Cafe. I've heard of Frontier Ruckus and heard nothing but good things. I've seen Emily Rodgers a couple times and have seen nothing but good things. This one could be good if you're more into the folksy indie-rock styles.


Saturday, September 25
Margot & the Nuclear So And So's at Brillobox. They've also been here recently. I've heard their album Not Animal and it's pretty solid.
The National at Carnegie Library of Homestead. What can I say? This has been sold out for weeks. They are awesome.

Sunday, September 26
Cymbals Eat Guitars at Brillobox. I saw them earlier this year and it rocked. Openers are locals Satin Gum; they also rock.