― davor, Wednesday, 21 August 2002 23:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Wednesday, 21 August 2002 23:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
(the worst being the goofy Dave Brubeck/Beatles homage (Take 5 - The Fab Four = Unity) or Spiral's song (about the fateful airplane crash in the Andes that ended Donner-esque?) despite Happy Mondays' references called in from the control booth.)
but yeah that outro to Stop Breathing is as good as anything on Spiderland. Newark Wilder is pure cabaret swagger and sleaze, dripping in its tremolo wash... a theme develops (cf, the first part of "fight this generation").
three of us it is enough (jix)it's the simple stuff i need
um, i'll take Slanted though for best Pavement album, side 2, yeah.
― gygax!, Wednesday, 21 August 2002 23:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Thursday, 22 August 2002 00:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Thursday, 22 August 2002 00:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Thursday, 22 August 2002 01:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 22 August 2002 01:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A.V. Alexandre (Keiko), Thursday, 22 August 2002 01:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jody Beth Rosen, Thursday, 22 August 2002 02:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Thursday, 22 August 2002 03:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― daria gray, Thursday, 22 August 2002 03:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― tyler (tyler), Thursday, 22 August 2002 03:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris Ott, Thursday, 22 August 2002 03:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ciaran, Thursday, 22 August 2002 04:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― angelo (angelo), Thursday, 22 August 2002 04:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 22 August 2002 05:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jody Beth Rosen, Thursday, 22 August 2002 06:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
I have NEVER understood the appeal of this album. No, not even when it first came out and it was all HIPSTER COOL round our squat to sit and listen to it obsessively.
― kate, Thursday, 22 August 2002 07:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 22 August 2002 08:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― davor, Thursday, 22 August 2002 09:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 22 August 2002 09:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
"Do the alternarock references in 'Range Life' date it too much?"
They don't date it, as such, they just make me cringe. If they don't like the Pumpkins, they should concentrate on presenting us with an altrernative, rather than whingeing about it. Pretty obvious targets, to be honest. Never liked that song much, its quite thin in the melodic sense to begin with.
"...the first 9 songs are almost perfect - the last 3 are atrocious."
I beg to differ. Spiral's awesome stream-of-consciousness number "Hit the Plane Down" and Malkmus' aching, beautiful "Fillmore Jive" encapsulate what made Pavement great.
Anyone else notice that Silence Kit sounds like "Rollercoaster" by Buddy Holly? Except hit with some sort of American alterna-rock excellence stick?
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 22 August 2002 11:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
― matt riedl (veal), Thursday, 22 August 2002 12:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Thursday, 22 August 2002 12:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 August 2002 13:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Michael Bourke, Thursday, 22 August 2002 14:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
"The jam kids on their Vespas, and glum looks on their faces..."
― Jody Beth Rosen, Thursday, 22 August 2002 14:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 22 August 2002 16:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
_CRCR_ probably could've been a better album with some weirder drumming. I also don't understand why everyone considers them the American Fall. The Fall was always about having a killer rhythm section and those three Rs.
― Ernest P., Thursday, 22 August 2002 18:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
Which is not to say they're not making fun of those two bands at the same time - of course they are.
"I/they don't have no function" is printed right there on the CD art, and I know Malkmus has explained it in at least one interview, so I'm not sure how its ambiguity got past so many people.
― mike, Thursday, 22 August 2002 21:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Micheline Gros-Jean (Micheline), Thursday, 22 August 2002 21:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
did pavement ever tour with STP? no, therefore it would be safe to say that "the speaker" may not be Malkmus, but instead a fictional character... therefore it's hard to draw any conclusions as to whether the "I" in the "I/They" actually represents Malkmus/Pavement's true thoughts.
I see at as more of the POV of a tourmate of STP/SP commenting on alt-rock rather than an indie-rocker commenting on alt-rock.
― gygax!, Thursday, 22 August 2002 21:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
Now there's a reunion tour that I would pay top $ to see. Cantel Vs Malkums like Roth Vs Hagar.
― brg30 (brg30), Thursday, 22 August 2002 22:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
Actually, that's what I meant to say - not that the STP/SP lines are Malkmus' own thoughts, but rather a more general commentary on the divide between the two strata. I think we agree on the main point, though. :)
― mike, Friday, 23 August 2002 00:06 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ron (ron), Friday, 23 August 2002 01:25 (twenty-one years ago) link
― B:Rad, Friday, 23 August 2002 02:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― davor, Friday, 23 August 2002 12:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― davor, Friday, 23 August 2002 12:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Manny Parsons, Friday, 23 August 2002 16:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
1. Slanted and Enchanted2. Brighten the Corners3. Wowee Zowee4. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain5. Terror Twilight
― o. nate (onate), Friday, 23 August 2002 19:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― hstencil, Friday, 23 August 2002 19:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
I once made a short video called "Rabbit Fever" to the tune of "Unity= 5-4". I just filmed stuff around the house and hummed the tune in my head. When I put the music to what I had on the camera, it synched up pretty good.
The video for "Range Life" was wise for utilizing the underused technique of walking backwards through a crowd and was wise for not utilizing an attempted Evan Dando cameo. (The song is great, too. No more dated than "Garden Party".)
What you were supposed to do on a cold night roadtrip is to smoke your cigarette when "Hit the Plane Down" comes on. That comes at a good break, the cold air from your open window gives you that Alive feeling, and you can fell all cozy and warm from the defroster when you row the window back up and "Fillmore Jive" comes on.
Anyone else notice that Silence Kit sounds like "Rollercoaster" by Buddy Holly?
I always thought it sounded more like Holly's "Everyday". Another era that ended in Iowa.
But that's just me. The reissue coming out next month with 39 additional tracks? I'll buy it, but no bonus cut will come close to approximating that feeling I used to get ten years ago.
― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Saturday, 11 September 2004 00:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 11 September 2004 00:11 (nineteen years ago) link
xpost
Thanks for saying "no more dated than 'Garden Party,' BTW. That makes my day. And CRCR is the seventh greatest album of all time.
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 11 September 2004 04:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Saturday, 11 September 2004 05:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 11 September 2004 05:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 11 September 2004 06:31 (nineteen years ago) link
Am I think only one who thought Malkmus was aboot to sing the wrong line and just made a quick recovery? The next line starts with "I".
CR is hardly the best album ever, as it's not even the best Pavement album. It's only on this blasted Internet that people seem to think of it so highly.
― Vic Funk, Saturday, 11 September 2004 13:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Saturday, 11 September 2004 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 11 September 2004 14:17 (nineteen years ago) link
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain is the best album ever
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 January 2014 18:27 (ten years ago) link
This whole thread has gone by without a mention of "Unfair," which has GAINED in force over the last twenty years for me, until by now I think of it as the worldwide anthem of its era, though in fact it wasn't.
That said, the first 20 seconds of "Silence Kit" are the best 20 seconds Pavement ever recorded, and maybe the best opening 20 seconds of any album I can think of.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 16 January 2014 18:38 (ten years ago) link
Good album but it's never been my fave Pave. At the time it came out, I preferred "Slanted and Enchanted". These days I prefer "Brighten the Corners".
― o. nate, Thursday, 16 January 2014 19:41 (ten years ago) link
"Unfair" def the high point of the album (well okay maybe "Gold Soundz"), such a norCal anthem. I have vivid memories of it being the last song they played at the last set they played in SF before the breakup, place went apeshit.
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 16 January 2014 19:44 (ten years ago) link
WOWEE ZOWEE PPL
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 16 January 2014 19:58 (ten years ago) link
obvs this album is amazing but probably their 3rd best
pretty good stereogum thing too, didn't know they actually did original reporting on that site
― k3vin k., Thursday, 16 January 2014 21:24 (ten years ago) link
A friend of mine who knew them back then ran into them while they were recording CRCR and SM joked to him that they were going to call the new album "Stressed and Depressed".
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 16 January 2014 21:33 (ten years ago) link
man i need to listen to this right now. this basically soundtracked the whole of my uni life.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:44 (ten years ago) link
it's definitely their best. maybe not my favourite all the time, but consistently excellent.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:45 (ten years ago) link
somehow these reissues haven't done anything to reignite my interest in the albums. if anything they stopped me going back to them. i'd buy the reissue, listen to all the extra stuff maybe twice and then put the albums away forever. kind of sucks. in a way i wish they'd got rid of some of the crappy jams and demos and released em so they were one disc full album / second disc b-sides.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:49 (ten years ago) link
It is a great record but I was a little disappointed back when it was first released that they had lost the scuzz (and Gary Young) of S+E
― everyday sheeple (Michael B), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:50 (ten years ago) link
this is the slow sick sucking part of me!!!!
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:50 (ten years ago) link
what makes me laugh is that Young was an alleged Yes fan and the Pave-boys would rib him about it, all these years late Malky's sweating to remake The Yes Album in a slacker style.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:51 (ten years ago) link
wrong
― you are kind, I am (waterface), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:51 (ten years ago) link
OTM upthread about Unfair - never really struck me as a highlight at the time which is o_O to me now cos it's an amazing song.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 14:52 (ten years ago) link
pig lib is malkmus's fragile, and "1% of 1" is his "heart of the sunrise." i hope he gets around to pulling a relayer one of these years
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 17 January 2014 15:17 (ten years ago) link
when SM covered ege bamyasi, didn't he say that he listened to it every day for a year or something? i would like to know if that binge listening of can was before or after making the acquaintance of gary young. does anyone know?
― mambo jumbo (La Lechera), Friday, 17 January 2014 15:20 (ten years ago) link
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings)
Yeah this is my favourite too.
1. Wowee Zowee2. Slanted & Enchanted3. Brighten the Corners4. Crooked Rain5. There are no other Pavement albums
― Kitchen Person, Friday, 17 January 2014 15:23 (ten years ago) link
he said it in this 1992 interview with simon reynolds, so if you take him at his word then yeah it has to be before he knew young, right?
http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2008/04/pavement-interview-melody-maker-spring.html
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 17 January 2014 15:25 (ten years ago) link
ah, thanks! i was just wondering. at the time (way back when these records came out) i didn't really know about the before/after gary difference in sound, but i knew there was something different. and now all these years later, i thought maybe what i missed was gary young's sloppy jaki sound. just a passing thought when i realized it had been 20 years since this album came out. whoa.
― mambo jumbo (La Lechera), Friday, 17 January 2014 15:34 (ten years ago) link
xp Reynolds had some funny ideas about good and bad post-Nirvana bands, didn't he
― Kim Wrong-un (Neil S), Friday, 17 January 2014 15:37 (ten years ago) link
I think that Malkmus' time spent in college at UVA listening to WTJU was probably his gateway to Can and German psych-prog of the 60s-70s. I don't think Gary knew who Can was before he met SM and Spiral.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 17 January 2014 16:02 (ten years ago) link
really? huh. he totally sounds like a jaki doll that needs to have its string pulled again to me.
― mambo jumbo (La Lechera), Friday, 17 January 2014 16:04 (ten years ago) link
1. Wowee Zowee2. Crooked Rain3. Slanted & Enchanted4. The BtC songs on those live in europe lps5. "Major Leagues"
― mizzell, Friday, 17 January 2014 16:06 (ten years ago) link
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, January 17, 2014
yeah I grew up with WTJU and it was all great all the time back then, still great now in fact.
― sleeve, Friday, 17 January 2014 16:22 (ten years ago) link
my school sponsored local radio station was like 60% wonderstuff/20% replacements/20% nitzer ebb -- no can anywhere in sight! anyone who manages to hear can on the radio is a very fortunate person imo.
― mambo jumbo (La Lechera), Friday, 17 January 2014 16:32 (ten years ago) link
yeah i never heard can on kfai or w/e the other twin cities alterna station was, or from any punk rock friends or anywhere at all, just read about them repeatedly in OPtion until i was 20 and someone finally taped me cannibalism
― yes, i have seen the documentary (Jon Lewis), Friday, 17 January 2014 17:26 (ten years ago) link
my brother was fortunate enough to find a used copy of Tago Mago at the Rhino Records in Claremont sometime in the late 80s and that was the first I'd heard of it. I want to say that we had previously drawn some connection between them and Savage Republic but I can't remember if that's right or not. Definitely never heard CAN on the local college radio station (which was KSPC and was awesome)
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 January 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
<3 savage republic <3
― yes, i have seen the documentary (Jon Lewis), Friday, 17 January 2014 17:44 (ten years ago) link
the first time i ever saw tago mago was a CD in the glass case beneath the cash register at wuxtry in athens. it was like making it to mecca
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 17 January 2014 17:46 (ten years ago) link
CRCR4LIFE
― calstars, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 02:28 (nine years ago) link
Westy changed the band
― calstars, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 02:58 (nine years ago) link
SLOW SICK sucking part of me?
― calstars, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 03:09 (nine years ago) link
I need favors
The Gary version of Ell Ess Two is really good.
― calstars, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 14:10 (nine years ago) link
don't listen to your grandfather's advice about us, you're solid, kid
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 27 August 2014 14:35 (nine years ago) link
20 years later and we still don't know what their throats are filled with
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 14:41 (nine years ago) link
is "pull out the plugs" a ref to poppers?
― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 14:43 (nine years ago) link
A case could be made for the thing In their throats being vomit
― calstars, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 15:00 (nine years ago) link
that doesn't rhyme though. i bet it's bugs
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 15:28 (nine years ago) link
I only did poppers once (in the Chelsea Hotel, 1989, humblebrag) but don't really remember if there was like something you unpopped/plugged!
― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 15:30 (nine years ago) link
so drunk in the September moon
― calstars, Saturday, 3 September 2016 02:10 (seven years ago) link
omg stfu
― until the next, delayed, glaciation (map), Saturday, 3 September 2016 02:12 (seven years ago) link
Inspired by Cut Your Hair being played as a lockdown anthem on 6 Music I have re-discovered this wonderful record and, whilst it's not my favourite album ever, it still sounds amazing to me.
https://devonrecordclub.com/2020/05/03/pavement-crooked-rain-crooked-rain-round-112-toms-selection/
― yugi ex, Sunday, 3 May 2020 12:29 (three years ago) link
Nice essay. FYI, there may be a misplaced word here (either “all” or “none”?): I’d stopped seeing it holistically and could only consume it as a set of twelve distinct morsels none all of which I had wrung dry.
― I eat fast foods (morrisp), Sunday, 3 May 2020 14:00 (three years ago) link
Cheers, need to proof read my musings!
― yugi ex, Sunday, 3 May 2020 14:40 (three years ago) link
Not sure it has been discussed before on ILM but "5-4=Unity" is a mish-mash-up cover of "Take 5" + "She's So Heavy" (by The Fab 4)... but in 1987 (when Malkmus was DJ-ing at WTJU), SST records released a record by an obscure weirdo band named Lawndale where they covered "Take 5" + "Whole Lotta Love" in a similar mish-mash-up style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j946Wsh7vNA
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 3 May 2020 15:51 (three years ago) link
One odd thing that defines this album is that Steve West could not technically play above a certain tempo so Malkmus had to do the drumming on the faster songs (starting with "Unfair"), likewise Bob's live role went from supporting Gary (too drunk) to supporting Steve (too green) for a couple years (94-96).
Gary is always painted as this "hippy" or "prog-rock acid casualty" but Gary was (albeit briefly) a legit punk drummer in the early 80s. It's kinda funny that indie-darlings Pavement replaced Gary with this younger/"hipper' peer of theirs but in reality was more of a hippy/classic rock guy than the "old dude".
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 3 May 2020 16:11 (three years ago) link
xp That’s interesting about Lawndale. Most the album after “Gold Soundz” has always felt like such a missed opportunity to me, though. I like “Heaven Is a Truck,” but the rest of those songs sounded like misses at the time, and never grew on me. I can’t help think — what if they had made “5-4” a B-side, and promoted “Strings of Nashville” to the album instead? And maybe found room for “All My Friends” in that final stretch? etc. I don’t normally do “rock-band fanfic,” but it’s so tantalizing — instead of an amazing Side A and then “...,” CRCR could have been an even greater all-around album.
― I eat fast foods (morrisp), Sunday, 3 May 2020 16:16 (three years ago) link
(But I’m also one of a select group of Pavement fans who can’t stand “Range Life,” which I admit doesn’t help the matter.)
― I eat fast foods (morrisp), Sunday, 3 May 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link