malkmus PIG LIB: 1% of one

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I'd say Malkmus is Wordsworth to Berman's Coleridge, Eliot to Berman's Pound, Run to Berman's DMC.

I'm a frickin illiterate, so I'll take your word on eliot pount coleridge and wordsworth....but DMC is by no means below Run in terms of importance or delivery....in fact, they are two equally necessary and great parts of the whole....

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 12 January 2004 21:26 (twenty years ago) link

Anyone note the thematic similarities between "1% of One" and the Pixies song "Space (I Believe In)"? Both are somewhat humorous, self-referential tales of a hired gun involved in the recording process who may or may not know much about the band he's working with. Is the Malkmus tune perhaps a bit of a Pixies hommage? In any case, the Pixies song is clearly the better song of the two.

o. nate (onate), Monday, 12 January 2004 21:26 (twenty years ago) link

I wish I were up enough on the Pixies to add something to that. I'm sorta joking about this Metallica thing, but I am catching allusions up the butt all over this album. Like, the "underground" refrain in "Do Not Feed the Oyster"--is that something to do with the Ben Folds song? And why does "Dark Wave" sound like it's making fun of the Strokes? Stephen, why do you lead me to such foolish thoughts and questions?

M@tt, don't take me to mean Run or DMC's better than the other. My point about all those guys is they're word-people who complement each other.

otto, Monday, 12 January 2004 21:38 (twenty years ago) link

gotcha - sorry - I know more about rap than literature, sad to say.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 12 January 2004 21:48 (twenty years ago) link

one month passes...
Love Pig Lib...freakin rocks. Did SM do a song called "Sin Taxi?" and where would I find this. The room is spotless....except for that...you wouldn't know ow ow ow ow inhabitants...inhabited....the room.....ya feel me ..that song...i like ....... es. Thanks.

Mikey P, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 00:11 (twenty years ago) link

Yes he did and it's very good. You can probably get it off of soulseek. don't know what it's on.

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:20 (twenty years ago) link

ah, yes that cover of "Killing Moon" is fantastic.
-- dog latin (doglati...), January 11th, 2004.

That was Spiral, but with another guy (who is pretty dull) singing. Kelly something. -- Matthew Perpetua (fluxequalsra...), January 11th, 2004.

wait a second here... you are saying that that ISN'T malkmus singing on pavement's cover of "the killing moon"??? of course it is!

someoneoneone, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 05:55 (twenty years ago) link

I'm still enjoying this album. Had it over a year now and I still hear new stuff each time. The other day I noticed quite how prog he's become. They're constantly changing time signatures, jamming for 7 minutes (and managing to make it sound interesting for a change) or he's singing about salem witches. Malkmus should be proud of this album.

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 01:43 (twenty years ago) link

four weeks pass...
1% of 1 is not 1. It is .01

Greg Travis, Wednesday, 7 April 2004 20:33 (twenty years ago) link

I think it gets dull in places, but it's good, all right.

Some of the guitar solos seem influenced by Robin Trower - or am I imagining that. That made me think that what was uncool about some of those seventies albums wasn't the guitar solos, as I had begun to think, but the old-fashioned singing style (Trower's singer is unlistenable now, but some of his guitar still stands up, in my opinion. No matter how retro Malkmus tries to get, his voice always sounds 90s slacker-indy, which, in my opinion, is what saves Pig Lib from ludicrousness.

Baravelli. (Jake Proudlock), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 20:43 (twenty years ago) link

that's been bugging me for a while too. Malkmus in not-as-smart-as-he-makes-out shocker? Or does it refer to something else?

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 20:46 (twenty years ago) link

you dudes should turn your analyses over to matt drudge for a thorough lid-blower. i think you guys are onto something really preposterous.

gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 20:53 (twenty years ago) link

that last post was an xpost - was referring to Greg Travis

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 21:04 (twenty years ago) link

thi album is now down to 3 pounds in fopp btw

ambrose (ambrose), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 08:38 (twenty years ago) link

And totally worth your money. Buy copies! Give them to your friends! Give them to people you love! Perfect for the spring time.

John Cei Douglas (John Cei Douglas), Tuesday, 13 April 2004 10:58 (twenty years ago) link

revive for no apparent reason! (other than i'm still listening to the album)

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 26 April 2004 23:46 (twenty years ago) link

one month passes...
revive, because of Billboard magazine.

Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has begun work on a new album which may wind up either as a solo project or a collaboration with his band, the Jicks. "I've been down in the basement working on a different kind of record," he wrote on his official Web site. "The band has been contributing a bit but it has more of a solo vibe than anything I've done in a long time."

Malkmus adds that "we're probably gonna do some group recording" sometime this month. The finished product "looks like a January release though may come earlier," presumably via the artist's long-time label Matador.

Malkmus' last release was 2003's "Pig Lib," which bowed at No. 5 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart and has sold 49,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. He and the Jicks will return to the live stage July 2 at the AV Festival in Malaga, Spain, which will also feature Morrissey, Squarepusher, Stereolab, Trans Am, John Cale, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Four Tet and Shellac.

In related news, Pavement's legacy is chronicled in Rob Jovanovic's new book, "Perfect Sound Forever," released last month by Justin, Charles & Co.

Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 June 2004 14:52 (twenty years ago) link

The words "solo vibe" chill me to the bone.

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 14:58 (twenty years ago) link

Are you, too, afraid that's going to sequester himself with that groovebox?

Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 June 2004 14:59 (twenty years ago) link

No, I'm more concerned about it being overly quiet and acoustic-y. I've been very happy with how Malkmus has avoided that typical "well, now that my famous band is over, I am free to make boring dour sensitive acoustic music which will give everyone good reason to ignore me for the rest of my career" move.

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:05 (twenty years ago) link

No, I'm more concerned about it being overly quiet and acoustic-y. I've been very happy with how Malkmus has avoided that typical "well, now that my famous band is over, I am free to make boring dour sensitive acoustic music which will give everyone good reason to ignore me for the rest of my career" move. Now I'm nervous that he's finally going to go down that road and make "solo artist" music...

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:05 (twenty years ago) link

he was great both times i saw him play solo acoustic (towards the pavement and the solo shows turned out to be miles better than btc or terror twilight).

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:18 (twenty years ago) link

..."towards the end of pavement"

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:18 (twenty years ago) link

I saw a similar solo acoustic show in NYC before the first Jicks album came out - it was enjoyable, but those Jicks songs were so much better with the band. Pop suits Stephen well.

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:27 (twenty years ago) link

who did you go to that show with?

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:31 (twenty years ago) link

a resounding "bah" to piglib.
the music's only 'eh' but the lyrics are "jesus christ! what happened to you?!!!" bad.

i cringe just hearing his name anymore. it's like watching someone become a junkie- a slow, rotting, bore.

where have all the neo-guys gone?

eedd, Monday, 7 June 2004 16:43 (twenty years ago) link

Gygax, I probably shouldn't say.

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago) link

I'll give you a hint: he used to post on that other board you and I used to be on.

Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 7 June 2004 16:49 (twenty years ago) link

MCP, I know who it is I'm just teasing you.

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 7 June 2004 16:53 (twenty years ago) link

eedd: you are very very very very very very very very very very WRONG.

I am really looking forward to the new Malkmus album. I'm still under the impression Pig Lib is (very possibly) the best thing he's ever done. Definitely my favourite album of 2003.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 7 June 2004 19:16 (twenty years ago) link

sixteen years pass...

Hello? Hello hello? Hellooo?

Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Thursday, 21 January 2021 15:21 (three years ago) link

love this album

global tetrahedron, Thursday, 21 January 2021 18:45 (three years ago) link

have listened to this one more than his other solo stuff combined. love the bonus disc too

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 21 January 2021 19:01 (three years ago) link

I saw Malkmus in 2001 at age 14 at a festival and I thought the last song was great, and I spent a while fruitlessly trying to figure out what it was - none of the songs on the s/t sounded like it and I didn't know the lyrics. 19 years later figured out it was "1% of One."

JoeStork, Thursday, 21 January 2021 19:21 (three years ago) link

This is among my favorite Malkmus solo albums - in the top three somewhere

Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 23 January 2021 02:56 (three years ago) link

yeah this was probably his best imo

Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Saturday, 23 January 2021 03:04 (three years ago) link

Until his latest, the last thing I liked that he did. I would probably take it over the last two Pavement albums.

Smokahontas and John Spliff (PBKR), Saturday, 23 January 2021 03:19 (three years ago) link

1. Pig Lib
2. Stephen Malmus
3. Traditional Techniques

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 23 January 2021 03:38 (three years ago) link

Those are my top 3 as well, but I would flip 2 and 3. I like weirdo folky Malkmus.

Smokahontas and John Spliff (PBKR), Saturday, 23 January 2021 20:26 (three years ago) link

1. Pig Lib
2. Stephen Malmus
3. Traditional Techniques

^i need to relisten to the ones that came in between but this feels right. def feel comfortable saying his first two solos deserve to be in the top 3.

Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Saturday, 23 January 2021 21:09 (three years ago) link

Maybe

1. Pig Lib
2. Sparkle Hard
3. Traditional Techniques

Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 23 January 2021 22:18 (three years ago) link

Sparkle Hard is terrific and should be in any SM solo top 3

alpine static, Monday, 25 January 2021 08:23 (three years ago) link

1. Pig Lib
2. Mirror Traffic
3. Sparkle Hard
(4. s/t)

swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Monday, 25 January 2021 16:59 (three years ago) link

you know, the only SM solo album (with or without jicks) I didn't really enjoy is Wig Out at Jagbags, which just felt boring and by the numbers. Agree that Sparkle Hard is extremely strong. Real Emotional Trash also sounded great the last time I played it ...

tylerw, Monday, 25 January 2021 17:17 (three years ago) link

i dunno, jenny and the ess dog, church on white, the hook i like sparkle hard but i don't think it has songs as strong as that
i'll check it out again

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 25 January 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link

Wig Out was where I thought "he's finally totally lost it". It was so Malkmus it hurt, like an impression of himself. But the solo album he released recently made me think he might have found it again.

Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Monday, 25 January 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link

first album has a lot of strong songs and manages to be playful but not annoying

Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin), Monday, 25 January 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link

otm. the 1st album doesnt feel like a lost pavement album to me, but the best (or at least my favorite) songs on it def feel like they could have been from a version of pavement that retained the sense of fun that was ebbing from on the later records. pig lib resonates for me as his first album as a fully formed solo artist, very much its own thing

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, 25 January 2021 18:04 (three years ago) link

xxp That's funny -- Wig Out is the only one that has sort of caught my ear! (not counting the Pig Lib bonus EP, which I do really like.)

You have treated my messenger with contempt. (morrisp), Monday, 25 January 2021 18:06 (three years ago) link

Wig Out was where I thought "he's finally totally lost it".

Have you heard Groove Denied?

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 25 January 2021 18:15 (three years ago) link


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