What new music did you buy today.

[Benmont Tench]

I've been considering delving into solo Malkmus lately, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus pick on his best album. Suggestions?

[edison]

The first self-titled one remains my favorite - good if you're into poppy Malkmus; if you're more into the idea of a jammy/guitar-solo-y Malkmus (with Janet Weiss drumming!) Real Emotional Trash is your choice. The other albums combine the two tendencies quite adeptly but have a slightly lesser ratio of great/good songs

[nonotyet]

Half of this was new to me, half of it was I had it 3 or 4 iPods ago and am just replacing it now. (Next up in the latter category is John Legend's entire discography.)
I have new music! For the first time in a really long time!

edit: no, I can't make the 4 cover any smaller

[jebreject]

The first self-titled one remains my favorite - good if you're into poppy Malkmus; if you're more into the idea of a jammy/guitar-solo-y Malkmus (with Janet Weiss drumming!) Real Emotional Trash is your choice. The other albums combine the two tendencies quite adeptly but have a slightly lesser ratio of great/good songs

I like the jammy/guitar god Malkmus stuff much better, myself. I've only recently come around to the s/t one in any big way, and I think that's why I don't like the new one much.

Pig Lib and Real Emotional Trash are my favorites (the latter being slightly better than the former), but Face the Truth has some really great songs too. S/T has some awesome songs amidst a lot of boring ones, and so far the new one is all boring.

[RavingLunatic]

Half of this was new to me...

Surely you're talking about the half that is not August & Everything After and Graceland? Either way, those are two all-time classics in my book. I really need to explore the Paul Simon discography some more. In fact, I think that's a worthy topic to start a new thread for.

[nonotyet]

Right, although Graceland is new to me in the sense that I have heard it several times but never owned it on any iteration of mp3 player or otherwise, and I am collecting travelin' music as I am preparin' to go travelin'. I imagine "Run The World (Girls)" is going to go over particularly well with the boyfriend.

[davy]

Pig Lib is my favorite, especially if you factor in non-album b-sides and such. (Most pressings came with a bonus disc with 6 awesome tracks, four of them studio recordings.) I like the new one a lot, but time will tell where it falls in the discography.

I actually think Face the Truth is kind of terrible, outside of a few standout tracks. The nadir of his career, probably.

I'll say this about Mirror Traffic -- it really does remind me of Wowee Zowee. The structure and length of it, the mix of songs, the playfulness, even the guitar tone. I've really enjoyed comparing the two.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

More new records. I was meant to be saving money but that didn't work today:


Ed Askew - Imperfection (Drag City Reissue)


Kourosh Yaghmaei - Back From The Brink
Mammoth triple LP anthology of his work. He had a great track on that wonderful Pomegranates thing so it seems worth jumping in feet first.

I like those images together. Also got:

Nig Heist - S/T (Drag City reissue).
Dan Melchior - Assemblage Blues
The Spits - Another of their self titled albums. The one with the woman and robot on the front.
Native Cats - Process Praise

[ellaguru]

Picked up a used but pristine copy of the swanky deluxe Signals, Calls and Marches record by Mission of Burma, which, for some reason, also included an extra record with Vs. on it. Record seller guy said it came in that way and that he was confused by it too but that the original owner had claimed it was a special edition or something. Anyway, sweet deal for me, because I had lusted in my heart after those reissues but they were too expensive for my blood.

[reebty]

"Original Album Series" entries for Echo & the Bunnymen, Wilson Pickett and Emmylou Harris; five albums each, $20 per set, of which the first Harris album is the only one I already owned, although I'm doubling up on some of Pickett's hits as well.

[narlus]

the local shop didn't haev Mirror Traffic nor Let It Beard but i got the new Premonition 13 cd.

[auto-da-fey]

I actually think Face the Truth is kind of terrible, outside of a few standout tracks. The nadir of his career, probably.

weird that this is being discussed right now--somehow, despite a multiplicity of factors that would seem to make this unlikely, I'm not even sure I knew this album existed. I guess my sense of SM is kind of "I have and love all of Pavement's albums and then the first solo thing bored me and he receded to the far backroom of my mind." I know the boards here light up when he puts new stuff out, but even when I used to read every thread my eyes would just sort of glaze over.

but this past week we were browsing the Out of the Closet thrift store on Hollywood and Western, where I barely looked at the CDs on the grounds that all the good stuff would have been picked clean immediately, and M bought this for two bucks. We both had really low expectations, and maybe that helped, but honestly, I kind of loved it (her too). We played it through three times, and I just gave it another spin back home, and I'm really surprised by how much I dig it. So now I'm curious about the other stuff, too.

[auto-da-fey]

also, things I bought in L.A. included

Mia Doi Todd, zeroone
Darker My Love, Alive as You Are
The Negro Problem, Post-Minstrel Syndrome
Rickie Lee Jones, The Evening of My Best Day

and some cool 7"s at Amoeba, like

Strapping Fieldhands, "Future Pastoral" etc
Trumans Water, Our Scars Like Badges
Diskothi Q, "Heartland Feeling"
Cringer, Live in Europe
GBV, Tigerbomb
and three by the Grifters

[davy]

but this past week we were browsing the Out of the Closet thrift store on Hollywood and Western, where I barely looked at the CDs on the grounds that all the good stuff would have been picked clean immediately, and M bought this for two bucks. We both had really low expectations, and maybe that helped, but honestly, I kind of loved it (her too). We played it through three times, and I just gave it another spin back home, and I'm really surprised by how much I dig it. So now I'm curious about the other stuff, too.

I'll say this about it: When I first heard it, and for maybe a couple of weeks after, I thought it was maybe the best thing he'd ever released.

[davy]

Couple weeks' worth:







(red vinyl!)

[jebreject]

but this past week we were browsing the Out of the Closet thrift store on Hollywood and Western, where I barely looked at the CDs on the grounds that all the good stuff would have been picked clean immediately, and M bought this for two bucks. We both had really low expectations, and maybe that helped, but honestly, I kind of loved it (her too). We played it through three times, and I just gave it another spin back home, and I'm really surprised by how much I dig it. So now I'm curious about the other stuff, too.

I'll say this about it: When I first heard it, and for maybe a couple of weeks after, I thought it was maybe the best thing he'd ever released.

I still think it's really really good!

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Great day. Some fantastic second hand scores:
Comets On Fire - Bong Voyage
Premiata Forneria Marconi -The World Became The World
Shocking Blue - Scorpio's Dance
Shocking Blue - Venus (best of)
Magma - S/T

I don't usually get that excited about original pressings but that Magma record is the orig French pressing and is in ridiculously mint condition. It basically looks brand new.

New stuff:
John Fahey - Requia & Other Compositions For Guitar Solo
La Dolca Vita - OST
8 1/2 - OST
Zomby - Dedication

[davy]

I still think it's really really good!

Even Loud Cloud Crowd and Post-Paint Boy?

[DanielBurns11]

Went to my local dying Borders, a 60% storewide sale on CD's. Picked up these...


 

Not bad for $25. Although there were a few things I decided to leave behind. Maybe next time.

Oh, and in the mail

[reebty]

Every Malkmus previous Malkmus album has made end of year top 10 except Pig Lib, and Face the Truth was number 1, but then I've just stopped listening at some point and none of them made my end of decade top 50.

[auto-da-fey]

I still think it's really really good!

Even Loud Cloud Crowd and Post-Paint Boy?

just played these this very second to confirm, and ... 2 votes for yes and yes here!

I mean, Post-Paint Boy is a pretty clear reliving-1995 kinda tune for SM, but seems like by 2005 he'd earned the throwback.

[davy]

It sounds to me like Cliffs Notes Malkmus or something.

[reebty]

Those are definitely my least favourite songs on FTT. Loud Cloud Crowd is aural tofu. However, I really like Kindling for the Master, which I've seen cop some serious shit.

[davy]

I did at first but now it just sounds silly. And not in a good way. I didn't mention that one because he deserves props for reaching out stylistically, and it's definitely an attention-grabber. But yuck.

[Andrew_TSKS]

If we're talking about Malkmus solo, we need to be talking about Real Emotional Trash. Whit, get that album. It's fucking GREAT.