are malkmus/kannberg the lennon/mccartney of the 90's?

If the question is have they written the best songs/music of their generation, either seperately or otherwise, the answer is still no IMHO.

I do like Pavement though, and yeah 'course they have hummable melodies.

I would say Radiohead are the modern equivalent of the Beatles in the sense of being simultaneously popular and experimental - whether they achieved this in the nineties or the noughties is debateable, as is whether they really are experimental blah blah blah my cousin samples his own farts and it sounds like Funkadelic shagging Steve Reich on futuristic drugs blah blah blah Radiohead might be popular and kinda experimental but at least the Beatles were GOOD blah blah blah.

Blah.

As for the Beatles, I've grown to appreciate Lennon and McCartney as songwriters (well, some of their songs, and those all falling in the later period), but their performances in the studio just don't cut it for me (and maybe that's George Martin that I don't like). Then again, they just aren't the end-all for me like they are for some -- the same goes for Pavement, who seemed to just get worse and worse with each album. Both bands, though, when they are good, aren't innovators or even innovative -- they simply have a knack at putting together preconstructed chunks of music, be it the Fall or Buddy Holly or whatever.

This I agree with. To be the modern Beatles there has to be an element of cultural significance. Great band, but your mum and dad and most of your friends have no idea who Pavement are. Throughout their career, they refined their whimsical sound, but they never came close to CHANGING POP. Beck would be a contender for a 90's Beatles equivalent. He unites the music snobs, pop fans, and those who thirst for innovation.

Pavement do have strong melodies, but they are meandering ones. Not ones that the milkman will whistle, like "All You Need is Love" or "Hey Jude".

Equivalences is a mug's game generally though - look how the NME has run itself into the ground ceaselessly questing for the new Pistols.

in on week in 1965 the beatles had nine singles in the top ten and seven LPS in the top 20 (ok i can't remember the exact figures but somehow i am not imagining pavement will slip past them courtesy my pore old memory)

i expect someone will argue that this distinction is irrelevant, and skew the argt back to the usual neo-platonism

Then your mum and dad are squares! But seriously, Pavement were a quirky (but superb) art-pop group who forged their own wonky path. They weren't an all-things-to-all-men phenomenon like the Beatles. Finding equivalent bands IS a mug's game, but this one is seriously wide of the mark.

(note to self: when I 'grow up' I must remember to destroy all culture).

Radiohead have nothing like the massive crossover appeal the Beatles enjoyed and continue to enjoy but I was only saying that the only equivalent in the 90's in terms of pushing the creative envelope and achieving worldwide popularity (relatively speaking of course) is Thom Yorke and his Wacky Noise Laboratory.

I don't know how the Prodigy have done in the States since going to No. 1 with The Fat of the Land but they're probably another candidate.

The only time they've ever been the Beatles was on that Space Ghost: Coast to Coast show.

U2?

Morning Glory went top five, Be Here Now debuted at number two, the last two debuted in the top thirty. Better than some.

Re Oasis: How many records did they sell? Was it a Wedding Present style 1-week-in-the-top-ten-then-disappears kind of affair or are they multi-multi-platinum over there?

Whereas the Beatles were a moment in history never to be repeated in terms of impact and more importantly to this thread their songwriting.

SM and SK are okay, but like one of the earlier pointa made - you can hum a single one of their tunes.

The next thing that will happen is that someone will announce that Sleeper were better than the Strokes

haha u2's "crossover" appeal = they are equally hated in all marketing sectors

I know what you mean, Benton. Pavement aren't really an equivalent, but for me, they wrote the second most blissful melodies ever. And I don't give a shit about whether you can hum or whistle them - I'm talking about melodies that give you goosebumps.

I started a thread on L/McC equivalents months ago. I reckon the only good ones are Strummer/Jones, Mold/Hart and Forster/McLennan.

great thread.

I love it on old ILX when someone asks a completely ridiculous question and you get all these earnest replies to it.