Pavement Reunion?

[davy]

That I can get behind.

[sashwap]

 


gonna spend some quality time with wowee zowee tonight. i haven't listened to pavement in months! it's always nice to revisit this stuff. i also just realized that i've never really listened to pavement albums with headphones, and in doing so i am picking up a lot of tiny details i never noticed before -- like the low, monotone backing vocals singing "i need to sleep" on "fillmore jive," and other low-mixed malkmus vocals in various songs.

the crooked rain/wowee zowee stuff sounds so messy. in an awesome way.

[davy]

Wanna hear something awesome? Early in 1997, I went to my first Pavement show. I bought two t-shirts, one of which I still wear, and a nightlight--the same one pictured on the back cover of the booklet that came with the BtC reissue.

A few weeks ago, I dug it out of a box and plugged it into the wall of my son's bedroom. What the hell, right? I'll give it a shot.

IT STILL FLICKERS. Over 12 years! And most of that time was indeed spent plugged into one outlet or another. I mean, it's not gonna light your way to the bathroom anymore, but flicker it does.

[Ignatius]

If it's just an issue of the bulb burning out, unless it's a special thing they sell replacement night light bulbs.

[donblood]

Though actually am I the only person for whom in a general way CRCR kind of sticks in your craw as a sophomore slump that sucks but everyone says is great?

If you're wrong it's because of "Stop Breathing"

[Andrew_TSKS]

Took me a while to get used to CRCR after S+E but in the end I liked it a lot, and still do. "5-4=Unity" aint that great a song, but for the most part it's awesome.

[jebreject]

I'm pretty sure CRCR is my favorite Pavement record.

[alex]

Wanna hear something awesome? Early in 1997, I went to my first Pavement show. I bought two t-shirts, one of which I still wear, and a nightlight--the same one pictured on the back cover of the booklet that came with the BtC reissue.

A few weeks ago, I dug it out of a box and plugged it into the wall of my son's bedroom. What the hell, right? I'll give it a shot.

IT STILL FLICKERS. Over 12 years! And most of that time was indeed spent plugged into one outlet or another. I mean, it's not gonna light your way to the bathroom anymore, but flicker it does.

That's neat, but doesn't surprise me very much, actually. Last year, my brother and I were digging through some old boxes of toys that my partents asked us to sift through to decide what we want to keep and what to throw away, and there was my childhood nightlight, also still functional (though probably also a bit less bright than it used to be). My brother was quite jealous, because his wasn't to be found (though he was nice enough to be honest about it, because I wouldn't have known whose it was, but he knew exactly that the orange one was mine and his was green).

[davy]

Took me a while to get used to CRCR after S+E but in the end I liked it a lot, and still do. "5-4=Unity" aint that great a song, but for the most part it's awesome.

I like the song, but the vocal version they put on the reissue is superior. Have you heard that?

There is not another Pavement album that I like more (or think is better) than CRCR, but I couldn't call it my favorite. Wowee Zowee gets that honor for sentimental reasons.

[davy]

Wanna hear something awesome? Early in 1997, I went to my first Pavement show. I bought two t-shirts, one of which I still wear, and a nightlight--the same one pictured on the back cover of the booklet that came with the BtC reissue.

A few weeks ago, I dug it out of a box and plugged it into the wall of my son's bedroom. What the hell, right? I'll give it a shot.

IT STILL FLICKERS. Over 12 years! And most of that time was indeed spent plugged into one outlet or another. I mean, it's not gonna light your way to the bathroom anymore, but flicker it does.

That's neat, but doesn't surprise me very much, actually. Last year, my brother and I were digging through some old boxes of toys that my partents asked us to sift through to decide what we want to keep and what to throw away, and there was my childhood nightlight, also still functional (though probably also a bit less bright than it used to be). My brother was quite jealous, because his wasn't to be found (though he was nice enough to be honest about it, because I wouldn't have known whose it was, but he knew exactly that the orange one was mine and his was green).

Nightlights rule, basically.

[davy]

Hey, I just realized that of the two Pavement setlists I've held onto over the years, one of them is autographed by Bob on the back, and the other seems to have been written on the back of a page from a college English paper on Cormac McCarthy.

Wanna hear what they played on these two occasions? Okay, verbatim:

In 1997:

grounded
westy
shady lane
ikea
new gold
stereo
transport
hex
embassy
perf-v
stop br
kennel
here
cut hair
blue h
passat
unfair
-----------
underused
type sl
summer b

In 1999:

mt
cream
billie
folk jam
hexx
kennel
spit
ground beef
light
cut hair
anne
shady
speak see
major
stereo
summer
------------
grounded
conduit -or-
box
sinister

I'm trying to remember the following: a) what was "new gold?" b) what was "mt?" c) did they play "conduit" or "box elder" that night? d) I'm thinking "ground beef" was an early title for "platform blues?"

And yeah, baby, they closed that second show with a rad-ass CCR cover, "Sinister Purpose."

[sashwap]

MT is "in the mouth a desert." you're right about "ground beef" (so called because it was beefheart-esque, i guess). i can't remember what "new gold soundz" is, but i think it's something off wowee zowee, maybe "blackout"

pavement sometimes nicknamed songs after older songs, i.e. "elevate me later" was "ell ess two" (LS2) for "loretta's scars 2" (seemingly just because of a similar chord progression).

[davy]

MT is "in the mouth a desert." you're right about "ground beef" (so called because it was beefheart-esque, i guess). i can't remember what "new gold soundz" is, but i think it's something off wowee zowee, maybe "blackout"

pavement sometimes nicknamed songs after older songs, i.e. "elevate me later" was "ell ess two" (LS2) for "loretta's scars 2" (seemingly just because of a similar chord progression).

If "Platform Blues" is Beefheart-esque, then I probably need to spend more time with Beefheart.

The "New Gold" thing has me flummoxed, but not for long. I have a tape of that concert somewhere--in my car I think--and I should be able to compare the setlist to the tracklist and figure it out.

I'm listening to Terror Twilight right now and it just hit me that over time, I've come to like the back-half of this album far more than the front. Starting with "Platform Blues," there's not a song I don't really dig. The front half is a lot more vanilla in comparison, and "Ann Don't Cry" does a better job with that style than anything on the front half does. "Cream of Gold" has a killer riff, though.

Edit: particularly the end of "Speak, See, Remember." God damn, that's awesome.

[davy]

Ever since that fateful night in late 1999 when Pavement left the public eye with a final show at London’s Brixton Academy, we’ve often fantasized about the day when we could finally tell the world “yes, Brooklyn Vegan scooped us, Pavement are back.”

Hahaha, I didn't see this until today.

[Maaik]

Wanna hear something awesome? Early in 1997, I went to my first Pavement show. I bought two t-shirts, one of which I still wear, and a nightlight--the same one pictured on the back cover of the booklet that came with the BtC reissue.

A few weeks ago, I dug it out of a box and plugged it into the wall of my son's bedroom. What the hell, right? I'll give it a shot.

IT STILL FLICKERS. Over 12 years! And most of that time was indeed spent plugged into one outlet or another. I mean, it's not gonna light your way to the bathroom anymore, but flicker it does.

That's neat, but doesn't surprise me very much, actually. Last year, my brother and I were digging through some old boxes of toys that my partents asked us to sift through to decide what we want to keep and what to throw away, and there was my childhood nightlight, also still functional (though probably also a bit less bright than it used to be). My brother was quite jealous, because his wasn't to be found (though he was nice enough to be honest about it, because I wouldn't have known whose it was, but he knew exactly that the orange one was mine and his was green).

Nightlights rule, basically.

Don't they fuck up kids' eyesight after prolonged use?  I heard that somewhere and was like "figures."

[kyle]

I'm pretty stoked on Perfect Sound Forever. Is this on some compilation of EPs and singles?

I would go see them on tour. Why not? Could be fun.

[davy]

Yeah, the Perfect Sound Forever stuff is on the compilation of early singles, Westing...By Musket and Sextant.

 

[Andrew_TSKS]

Took me a while to get used to CRCR after S+E but in the end I liked it a lot, and still do. "5-4=Unity" aint that great a song, but for the most part it's awesome.

I like the song, but the vocal version they put on the reissue is superior. Have you heard that?

Yes, and you're totally right! The vocal pulls the song together in a major way and in my opinion makes it twice as good. I understand why they'd rather have put the instrumental on the album, but at the same time I sorta wish they'd gone with the vocal version.

pavement sometimes nicknamed songs after older songs, i.e. "elevate me later" was "ell ess two" (LS2) for "loretta's scars 2" (seemingly just because of a similar chord progression).

I always wondered about that. It says "Ell Ess Two" on the actual CD, instead of "Elevate Me Later" (it also says "Silence Kid," which is obviously the true and correct title of that song), and I immediately thought "Is it supposed to be a sequel to 'Loretta's Scars'?" What you're saying here makes a lot of sense.

[davy]

Their song titles were definitely more fluid than any other band I know of. I mean, look at "The Hexx." That sucker's got like three alternative titles.

And "Easily Fooled" brilliantly began life as "The Sutcliffe Catering Song."

[sashwap]

Their song titles were definitely more fluid than any other band I know of.

same goes for lyrics!

[mixed cats]

ahh yes: "because you are a Sprite drinker / and I am partial to Coca-Cola" from some live-recorded version of "You Are a Light"

[Megan]

I'm flying from CA to see these shows. I have tickets to every night but the third.

I've never been to NY, anyone live there and have tips on which record stores to check out?

[mixed cats]

my tickets came in the mail today. eeeeeeeeeee!

[davy]

I am eagerly awaiting news of non-NYC dates.

[kyle]

So wait, who is next on the great "90s Indie Rock Cash In"?