Pavement Reunion?

[davy]

Welp, here it is:

1. Gold Soundz (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
2. Frontwards (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
3. Mellow Jazz Docent (PERFECT SOUND FOREVER EP)
4. Stereo (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
5. In The Mouth A Desert (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
6. Two States (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
7. Cut Your Hair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
8. Shady Lane / J Vs. S (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
9. Here (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
10. Unfair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
11. Grounded (WOWEE ZOWEE)
12. Summer Babe (Winter Version) (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
13. Range Life (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
14. Date w/ IKEA (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
15. Debris Slide (PERFECT SOUND FOREVER EP)
16. Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse) (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
17. Spit On A Stranger (TERROR TWILIGHT)
18. Heaven Is a Truck (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
19. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17 (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
20. Embassy Row (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
21. Box Elder (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)
22. Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence (NO ALTERNATIVE COMP)
23. Fight This Generation (WOWEE ZOWEE)

I got 2/3 for the early stuff ("Mellow Jazz Docent," wtf), 4/5 from Slanted (they threw in "Two States" and I can't blame them), 1/2 from Watery (the decision to include half of that EP is a little surprising), 4/5 from Crooked Rain ("Heaven Is a Truck?!"), 1/1 from compilations, 1/2 from Wowee Zowee (their 2-song treatment of that album is absolutely stunning), 3/4 from Brighten the Corners (they added Embassy Row), 1/1 from Terror Twilight (...wow, they're not playing favorites, are they?).

I left out "Mellow Jazz Docent," "Fight this Generation," "Embassy Row," "Shoot the Singer," and "Heaven Is a Truck" (the last of which is easily the most bewildering choice on the disc).

Pretty surprising, all around. By far the most shocking revelation is that they limited the Wowee Zowee selection to two songs. What is a Pavement comp without Rattled by the Rush for christ's sake? And there are several singles didn't make the cut, so that strategy went out the window.

Huh.

[davy]

Haha, you motherfuckers scooped me! I obviously spent too long on my post.

[edison]

I know, I was like "whoa, how come davy hasn't posted about this already!"

[davy]

I might've been scooped, but the page broke in my favor!

[davy]

Also, I should've submitted--I got the same percentage correct as the winner of the contest!

[edison]

Deservedly so, since your analysis is much more thorough than mine. I can't say I mind "Rattled By The Rush" not being there, but there should definitely be more Terror Twilight, come to think of it.

edit: x-post

[sashwap]

songs i would've substituted for "heaven is a truck:"

rattled by the rush
blackout
easily fooled
carrot rope
motion suggests
father to a sister of thought

[narlus]

i was thrown for a loop since i constructed my tracklisting before i went to the site, and was dismayed to find that only selected Pavement songs were available.  this was a problem, since i had spelled out "GARY YOUNG WAS IT BUT A DREAM' with the first letters of each song, but 'all my friends' wasn't in the pool and i had to use '...and carrot rope' for the last A.

[sashwap]

i was thrown for a loop since i constructed my tracklisting before i went to the site, and was dismayed to find that only selected Pavement songs were available.  this was a problem, since i had spelled out "GARY YOUNG WAS IT BUT A DREAM' with the first letters of each song, but 'all my friends' wasn't in the pool and i had to use '...and carrot rope' for the last A.

ha! nice. "all my friends" would have been a cool choice for the comp, too.

i just saw this:

Second prize will be awarded to the most imaginative track listing – which will be pressed up into a limited-edition double vinyl LP for Record Store Day (April 17). We will be announcing this later this week, along with the 3 runner-up winners of complete sets of Pavement Matador vinyl.

that's awesome. i should've submitted something for that. oops

[ellaguru]

Second prize will be awarded to the most imaginative track listing – which will be pressed up into a limited-edition double vinyl LP for Record Store Day (April 17). We will be announcing this later this week, along with the 3 runner-up winners of complete sets of Pavement Matador vinyl.

that's awesome. i should've submitted something for that. oops

Yeah, that sounded like a cooler prize to me than first prize, actually.

[narlus]

Second prize will be awarded to the most imaginative track listing – which will be pressed up into a limited-edition double vinyl LP for Record Store Day (April 17). We will be announcing this later this week, along with the 3 runner-up winners of complete sets of Pavement Matador vinyl.

that's awesome. i should've submitted something for that. oops

Yeah, that sounded like a cooler prize to me than first prize, actually.

that's what i was angling for.  we'll see if i was clever enough.

[davy]

songs i would've substituted for "heaven is a truck:"

rattled by the rush
blackout
easily fooled
carrot rope
motion suggests
father to a sister of thought

oh god, all of those, plus Silence Kit, Home, AT&T, Grave Architecture, Give It a Day, Easily Fooled, Kennel District (KENNEL FUCKING DISTRICT PEOPLE), Elevate Me Later, Conduit for Sale, Perfume-V, Ann Don't Cry, Greenlander, Feed 'em to the Lions, hell, even Major Leagues.

I mean, shit. Half their catalog probably. "Heaven Is a Truck" is a fine song, but for me it's never climbed above "marginal" status in the context of Pavement, let alone in the context of Crooked Rain.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I'da switched out "Heaven Is A Truck" for "Rattled By The Rush," no problem, but I'd also switch out "Two States" for "Conduit For Sale" and "Fight This Generation" for "Grave Architecture."

I feel vindicated by the inclusion of "Mellow Jazz Docent," though if they cut off the "Angel Carver Blues" intro, all 45 seconds or so of it, I will be annoyed.

[narlus]

songs i would've substituted for "heaven is a truck:"

rattled by the rush
blackout
easily fooled
carrot rope
motion suggests
father to a sister of thought

blackout could be the most underrated song Pavement has.  incredible song.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

I'd probably put Heaven Is A Truck in my Pavement top 15. That thing is pretty as fuck.

[davy]

I've honestly never even considered it being a top-tier Pavement song. All it has ever been to me is a pleasant throwaway on Crooked Rain. This is so weird.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I'm with you, davy. I don't see it deserving a place on this LP at all.

[Benmont Tench]

I'm equally puzzled regarding the inclusion of "Heaven is a Truck". If they wanted another Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain track, "Elevate Me Later" would have been a much better choice. Also discouraging is the lack of "Perfume-V", probably my favorite Pavement song of all. "Kennel District" also should have definitely made the cut. As for what actually did, I'm quite pleased with "Box Elder"s inclusion. All this being said, I'll likely still buy the compilation, as the tracklist is still beyond solid.

[reebty]

That your submission? Haha.

If "Coolin' by Sound" makes the cut, I'm burning down Matador HQ.

Nah, I was just fucking around. If I had made a real tracklist, one thing I can tell you is I wouldn't have made it Death to the Fucking Pixies and included only one song from Terror Twilight. To me, Terror Twilight h8ers are one notch below child molesters and one above people who drink white tea.

[davy]

Yeah, I don't get the hate either. It has this reputation for being bland, or representing some creative cop-out, but I think it might be their strangest recording. It's not my favorite, but I definitely appreciate it.

[elpollodiablo]

So the day these tickets went on sale, I was excited to have bought them, and I mentioned to the 5 other people in my office that I had. Not a single one of them had ever heard of Pavement. They ranged in age from 22 to 45. One of them has been a DJ for 20+ years.

No point in this story except I was thinking just now how limited the appeal of even the biggest indie bands is outside the bubble.

[davy]

That is just wack.

By the way, the guy who won the tracklisting contest? He must've scored a lot points on the sequencing because his song selection is pretty strange ("Huh?" songs in bold):

1. Gold Soundz (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
2. In The Mouth A Desert (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
3. You’re Killing Me (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)
4. Heaven Is a Truck (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
5. AT&T (WOWEE ZOWEE)
6. Shady Lane / J Vs. S (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
7. Major Leagues (TERROR TWILIGHT)
8. Date w/ IKEA (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
9. Frontwards (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
10. Painted Soldiers (KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY OST)
11. The Hexx (TERROR TWILIGHT)
12. Cut Your Hair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
13. Range Life (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
14. Grounded (WOWEE ZOWEE)
15. Debris Slide (PERFECT SOUND FOREVER EP)
16. Spit On A Stranger (TERROR TWILIGHT)
17. Here (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
18. We Dance (WOWEE ZOWEE)
19. Summer Babe (Winter Version) (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
20. Box Elder (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)
21. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17 (SLANTED AND ENCHANTED)
22. Stereo (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
23. Fight This Generation (WOWEE ZOWEE)

Like I said before, I got as many right as he did. But the ones I got wrong are way better than his. And I mean, before we get into a whole thing, I love all these songs. They're all great songs. BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A BEST OF PAVEMENT CD. You have 75 minutes. You don't use up 3 of them with "We Dance" (and another 6 for "The Hexx") for christ's sake. I didn't bold "AT&T" because I believe it IS one of Pavement's best moments. But the fact remains that it never had a shot at the best-of. I also find it strange that he didn't follow the include-the-singles strategy, and yet he still chose "Major Leagues." If I was going to start cutting out singles, I'd probably start there.

And if Matador hadn't backed him up on it, I'd bold "Heaven Is a Truck" too.

[alex]

I don't know, davy, perhaps the difference is just that he sent in his tracklisting while you, y'know, didn't. I don't think they distinguished between "more wrong" and "less wrong" choices among the wrong choices.

[davy]

Well, I'm assuming he won because his sequencing was the closest.

It would be interesting to know what their tiebreaker system was, though.

[Benmont Tench]

"Painted Soldiers" is really good, though. I'd have no issue if it were actually included.