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July 19th 2006

Wowee Zowee Secrets Revealed!

Patrick from Matador recently informed me of some details about the upcoming Wowee Zowee Reissue.
As of now I must remain vague, so here is what I can tell you:

- Multiple album covers [like 20!] by Steve Keane
- A never before heard [atleast to my ears] concert during the Wowee Zowee Tour
- A bundle of previous unreleased tracks and rarities
note: many of the unreleased tracks are alternate takes


That is all I am revelaing for now. Later Days



March 22nd
 
Hey there,
 
The Silver Jews are on tour without Malkmus, but the shows are still B E A U tiful.
 
You can download the entire Athens Show at JOOS
 
In other News - MLB 2k6 will have the greatest music compilation of any video game to date.
This compilation exclusivly uses Matador artists such as [you guessed it] Pavement and the Jicks.
 
Just imagine it [dissolve]
 
Bonds hits it over the green monster and all you here is..."I don’t need this corporation attitude!!"
 
The other track will be Loud Cloud Crowd.
 
I know, I know - I was rooting for Major Leagues too.
 
 
Feb 1st - 2 months later
 
The silver Jews are touring! but word is without malkmus
 
03/10 40 Watt Athens, GA
03/11 The Earl Atlanta, GA
03/12 Grey Eagle Asheville, NC
03/16 Satellite Ballroom Charlottesville, VA
03/17 Webster Hall New York, NY
03/18  "
03/19 Middle East Boston, MA
03/21 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
03/22 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
03/24 Little Brother's Columbus, OH
03/25 Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI
 
and...
 
THe BBC session that the jicks did a while back was thought to be forever lost due the original copy being stolen in Italy along with a laptop and tshirt money. Well fortunetly it resurfaced [maybe the italien guys felt bad] and you can download the session WITH 2 NEW SONGS here - www.rbally.net
 
Enjoy!
 
DEC 1st
 
Well it has been quite a while. Many releases have hopefully been sold while a select few of shows have been played to support these new albums. I have not kept up with all this, and for that I'm sorry. This year has been pretty hectic for me, and besides; if you are truly determined to find and decipher the information that SM gives, it would not be too difficult to google your way around. Anyways... my first first piece of news relates to the release of Tanglewood Numbers By The Silver Jews.
 
 
 
 
As You know, the Silver Jews were originally comprised of SM, Nast and David Berman. However, on this album the credit list runs on for miles which made an immidiate impact. The New Silver Jews are much more complicated and denser sounding on this record, which can be received negativly by some, but is praised by people like me. DCB maintains his old southern drawl, however this time there is a sense of urgency in his voice - which lends itself to the more upbeat wacky sound of this album.
 
My JCIKS tour date section is long outdated, so here are the newest and closest dates -
 
December 29th in Seattle, WA at the Showbox with Sleater-Kinney and Quasi. I presonally have never heard of Quasi.
 
December 30th in Portland, OR at the Crystal Ballroom with the smae lineup. NEW YEARS EVER SHOW SIICK!
 
Finally, Domino records has released the Baby C'mon Single off of FTT in general Europe. https://www.dominorecordco.com/site/index.php?page=cart&itemID=1343
 
ROLLING STONE REVIEW [which will probobly be the most read one, even though it doesn't really mean much.]
 
***1/2
Stephen Malkmus' third solo album is his weirdest yet, and that's saying something. On 2001's Stephen Malkmus and 2003's Pig Lib, he mutated the indie-rock sound of Pavement into fantastic new realms of fractured guitar kicks. But for number three, he does what Pavement did on their third album, Wowee Zowee: He wigs out with a bunch of left-field psychedelic-folk ditties, exploring the beauty and strangeness of Syd Barrett or the U.K.'s Kaleidoscope. With guest appearances from the Jicks, his Portland, Oregon, band, Malkmus drifts through stream-of-consciousness stoner poetry ("Zodiac ballet/ Everybody play") and the eight-minute guitar jam "No More Shoes." But his peak is the gentle ballad "Freeze the Saints," where Malkmus murmurs the words "Help me languish here" until he finally achieves the peaceful vibe he's chasing.

ROB SHEFFIELD
(Posted Jun 02, 2005)
 
MTV had a video interview with SM about some pretty exciting subjects. Click here to view - http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1500623/04222005/malkmus_stephen.jhtml
 
FROM MATADOR
04/28/05 — E-card, tour dates, other performances, and the limits of (P)taste
As we count down the days until the release of SM's ridiculously great 3rd album, 'Face The Truth', we call your attention to the following free instore performance:

Seattle
May 24th at 7PM
Sonic Boom Ballard CHANGED! to Capitol Hill store
514 15th Ave. East

as well as the not free-at-all (well, except for the last one) gigs in finer venues across the land:

June 4- Washington, DC at Black Cat
June 5- Philadelphia, PA at Theatre of Living Arts
June 7- New York City, NY at Irving Plaza
June 9 - Cleveland, OH at Beachland Ballroom
June 10- Detroit, MI at St. Andrew's Hall
June 12- Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue
June 14- Los Angeles, CA at El Rey Theater
June 15- San Francisco, CA at The Fillmore
June 17- Portland, OR at Crystal Ballroom
July 4- New York City (Battery Park) at The Lawn
(supporting Yo La Tengo)

You can hear Stephen performing live on
KEXP at noon (PST) on May 24.

Download the new
Stephen Malkmus e-card and do with it as you will.

Finally, we'd like to offer a shout-out (ie. "fuck you") to the cowards and thought-cops at
Paste Magazine who have deemed our proposed advertisement for 'Face The Truth' to be beyond the bounds of "good taste." God forbid that anything might challenge the sensibilities of Paste's Yep Roc-loving, Starbucks-guzzling, Wes Anderson-worshipping readership. Seriously, if there's anything we or SM have done that is a poor fit with this magazine's narrow worldview, that is the highest compliment we've been paid since the last time Spin refused to run one of our ads.

The precise ad is reproduced here (you saw an alternative version of it as a poster, which is also below):
               
POST PAINT BOY NOW AVALIBLE ON ITUNES.
Click PHOTO to listen to a preview or to buy the song on ITUNES.
 

boy.jpg
Post Paint Boy Single

04. 04. 05
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO BABY C'MON FROM FACE THE TRUTH > HERE
FROM MATADOR


  Face The Truth
May 24, 2005


FACE THE TRUTH unveils a new STEPHEN MALKMUS. His exuberance has given way to bliss, and his performances are more disarming and electrifying than ever. The volatile SM who sang "Water and a Seat" as if he were Muhammad Ali extolling his punch and shuffle is missing. On FACE THE TRUTH we hear a beseeching, almost quizzical SM who has - to generalize - returned to his first influences. And he has downplayed his guitar virtuosity behind his singing and arranging.

SM has relaxed. And he refuses to relax. He still delivers to his audience intricate scores, precisely performed. He finds room for the full range of Americana: country to pop, jazz and disco. In fact the fake disco of "Kindling for the Master" owes a lot to SM's 1990's vision of sexuality, framed in pumping groaning funk. He seems as content with a punching-bag beat as he does with the most fragile DIY jam. The search for new voices lead him to sounds in danger of becoming obsolete.

Southwestern Blues, INXS, Simon and Garfunkel, Turkish Psych, are only some of the references for FACE THE TRUTH. There is psycho blues meets Memphis Funk ("It Kills"), there is tasteful rock and roll ("Baby Come On"). It is a cosmopolitan map, wider than the loyalties of perhaps ANY other contemporary artist. Certainly no other indie boy could make a drum machine swing with such silky ease as SM does on "Pencil Rot". None would have thought of pitting Moogs against a power trio in "Malediction". And only Tiny Tim could sing against the grain of these furious arrangements in such a consoling way.

The distorted vocals on "Mama" are a standout. While SM croons, he tempers his attack into a repressed serenity that recalls Morrissey fronting The Fall.

SM has not ended his love affair with country music either - check out "Freeze the Saints". SM sings alone (doubled) in the crying loneliness unique to the sound he pioneered, his words pouring through a gauntlet of throat, tongue, and lips - he sounds a lot like himself.

Even more Pavement-derived is "Post Paint Boy". SM's devotional voice matches the halcyon times of 'Wowee Zowee.' But ten years of repetition has not expelled the tension and SM still exploits the contrast. His argumentative singing is countered by the flowing guitars.

So check out FACE THE TRUTH. Don't resolve the tension - it is a no-brainer.

"The man has an uncanny ability to transliterate the sounds only record collectors can hear – early Thin Lizzy, for instance – into a passionate ache anyone can love."

                                      -- Village Voice

 
 
03. 04. 05
 

There will be NO bonus disc included with Face The Truth, sorry. Originally Domino records [UK] was going to put out a Pencil Rot single, but they had a change of heart and went with Mama.

 

"I'm assuming there will be a commercial UK single, and there will definitely be B-sides." - Says Patrick from Matador. Everyone say hi to Patrick

 

There will be NO single issued in the US.

 

...Matador is still trying to figure out which song should be chosen as the teaser on their site.

16. 03. 05
 
TIME TO FACE THE TRUTH [updated - 09.04.05]
 

Okay well it's time too let the cat out of the bag. I and fellow website fella Mike B received ‘Face The Truth’ from Matador almost two weeks ago, and have been listening too it non stop. For me it's at play count [update] 64... and counting. I feel I am now able to give my opinion with the benefit of time that will continue to add up as I come to constant realization.
Anyway, I have sent it to a select 3 people and so far a rating of 8.7 out of 10 has been given. For me this album was at least a 9.6/10, it would have made perfect grade if ‘Grace’ was on it, but whatever this means amazing besides!

The closest album I can compare it to would be Wowee Zowee mixed with a little Pig Lib on the rocks. What I adore most about this album is that it reminds SO much of Pavement. However, it still incorporates some Jick like aspects creating a very pleasant balance that could possibly generate world peace. Though this might not be a good thing for some who feel it would be wrong to sound like the past.
What makes this album so fun and enjoyable to listen to is that you can go through it and not realize it. This album is so accessible that it eliminates all the bad feelings and will always flow with the ease and fun that you have come to known from SM, except this album takes it to the max!
This album is much different from any other SM related material. First of all it is a tad weird, but as I previously said it is not the kind of music that your have to grind your teeth to, so the weirdness only adds to the amazing aura this album creates.
The guitar work is superb and I love the job he and Phil Eck did producing the sound, it is truly perfect. He uses almost disco like fuzz on some of the songs that is just too cool and different, which make this album stand out from anything he has ever done before. He also adds for the first time; effects to his voice which combine with his lyrics to make a very unique kind of sound. WARNING this album is super complex!
It is also much more upbeat than Pig Lib, at an early pavement pace. Songs like the Pencil Rot are fast and fun and make you want to sway your head at a up and down motion until you are all rocked out.
From the beginning of Pavement Stephen Malkmus has been afraid of "too much guitar in your face", well I think he finally over came that fear.
Almost all the songs are amazingly done and include inspiring guitar work i.e. - he lets loose. My current favorite song of all time is Pencil Rot which hits home with that sound I was talking about. This album has confidence that is not hidden, actually it attributes to a large part of the album. All in all this is just well...a fantastic record.

 

To add on to the statistical proof that this album is truly the greatest thing ever conceived check out my poll of face the truth on the updates page.

 

...as I wrote that I watched words disappear from my text, weird.
 
08.03.05
 
 
Order, and song titles change!
It is now -->
 
1. Pencil Rot
2. It Kills
3. I've hardly been
4. Freeze the Saints
5.Loud Cloud Crowd
6. No More Shoes
7. Mama
8. Kindling for the Master
9. Post-Paint Boy
10. Baby C'Mon
11. Malediction
 
...as opposed to the one given out before
--->
 
1. Invisible Bodies
2. Baby C'mon
3. Horslip
4. Mmmmm...
5. Loud Cloud Crowd
6. No More Shoes
7. Mama
8. Malediction
9. Pencil Rot
10. It Kills
11. I've Hardly Been
 
 
YOU CAN TRUST SM EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT
 
 
THE MOTHER LOAD!!!!!!!!!!         THIRD EDITION
 
From SM's site:
 
"Touring: could be some action in early june. i plan to play at sxsw in march with some sort of weird unit-john moen has other commitments."
 
 
From the Silver Jews board:

DCB
all my strange is gonna be friendly
Wed Feb 9, 2005

We won't be finished until Feb.24th. So it should come out around July.
i'm giving a reading at sarah lawrence on thurs nite a t 9pm. bring a walkman and ill let you listen to what it sounds like so far.
the working title is "tanglewood numbers"

you know "woodchilde masquerade" had it's chances.
and i know what you're thinking-

but remember "the natural bridge" is THREE words.

the players in order of appearance:

mike fellows
steve malkmus
brian kotzur
bob nastanovich
bobby bare jr.
steve west
duane denison
azita youseffi
will oldham
pete cummings
tony crow
paz lenchatain
j.d. wilkes


songs are called :

sleeping is the only love
there is a place
punks in the beerlight
how can i love you (if you won't lie down?)
the poor the fair and the good
animal shapes
i'm getting back (into getting back into getting back into you)
sometimes the pony gets depressed
k-hole
the farmer's hotel
brian's song
freezing in the shadow of your knee
region ten

re: is it the last silver jews album? Impossible! as long as two or us walk the earth
the band is still together. and, as always, thanks to you that give a damn about what we do.

yours,


DCB
 
TAKEN FROM ROLLING STONE MAGASINE
 
Malkmus Brings "Truth"

Former Pavement frontman's third album due in May


Stephen Malkmus will release Face the Truth, his third album since splitting with Pavement, on May 24th. The album was recorded in Malkmus' Portland, Oregon, basement and mixed in a studio by Phil Ek (Built to Spill, the Shins).

Face the Truth finds the singer going at it solo . . . sort of. "I'm not really sure how to title it yet," he confesses when asked if this is a Stephen Malkmus album (like his self-titled 2001 debut) or a Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks album (like 2003's Pig Lib). "I wanted to go back to more of a bossy style: in my house and at my leisure. That being said, the drummer, John Moen, played on almost everything, and four of the songs are band efforts, so I don't really care if it says the Jicks. I want to be a team player."

Despite Face the Truth's semi-solo status, Malkmus promises a full-band sound. "The whole album's not very fussy, and some of the ends are loose," he says. "My voice is submerged into the music a bit, and it sounds more like an instrument."

And like Pig Lib, there are a few jam-based tunes, including the eight-minute epic "No More Shoes," complete with a sitar and flinty rock chords. Malkmus describes the track as "more rocking than a late-period Sonic Youth song."

The frontrunner for the first single is "Baby C'mon." "It's kind of dumb to have a title like that, but it doesn't sound like a football chant," Malkmus promises.

Unlike much of the past year's album titles, Face the Truth is not political, but quite accidental. "When we were on tour, I just had working titles for all the songs, and I wrote 'Face the Truth' for every one," Malkmus explains. "We thought that was really funny, and we were like, 'We gotta face the truth. We gotta play these songs.'"

As for the rumored title that popped up in Internet reports, Malkmus says it was just that. "It was never going to be Hamburger Serenade," he says with a laugh. "If we were going from pig to hamburger, with ground-up animals, we would probably get into some PETA [problems]."

"In the end it's happier," Malkmus says, summing up his new record, "and people are going to like it more . . . I can already tell."

Face the Truth track listing:

Invisible Bodies
Baby C'mon
Horslip
Mmmmm...
Loud Cloud Crowd
No More Shoes
Mama
Malediction
Pencil Rot
It Kills
I've Hardly Been



BRIAN ORLOFF
(Posted Feb 02, 2005)
 
TAKEN FROM MATADOR
 
Stephen Malkmus
On May 24, Matador will be releasing the 3rd post-Pavement album from Stephen Malkmus, 'Face The Truth', on the every popular compact disc and phonograph long player configurations. 'Face The Truth', Stephen's first bona fide solo recording, captures our favorite singer-songwriter at the height of his creative powers. We can say with total confidence that some of SM's wittiest moments to date are found on this album, along with many of his most heartfelt. An album of staggering lyrical and musical range, 'Face The Truth' is unlikey to be supported by heavy touring (what with Stephen's pending dad-to-be status), but selected US dates are planned, along with a headlining appearance at Matador's SXSW event (March 18, The Parish, Austin).

the track listing is as follows:

1. Invisible Bodies
2. Baby C'mon
3. Horslip
4. Mmmmm...
5. Loud Cloud Crowd
6. No More Shoes
7. Mama
8. Malediction
9. Pencil Rot
10. It Kills
11. I've Hardly Been
 
THIS WAS TAKEN FROM SM'S SITE
 
we did indeed finninsh the danish record before xmas. it was never going to be called hamburger serenade, that was a ghost in the machine. THe album is called FACE THE TRUTH and it will see the light of day in middlemay as george eliot would have wanted it

there are very little plans for touring. i plan to play at sxsw in march with some sort of weird unit-john moen has other commitments.

THIS IS INCREDIBLE!
 
When I settle down I will write a something to go with this.
 

- As you see this has confirmed two rumors. One that "Face The truth" is infact the title of SM's upcoming album, and two that SM is have a child! It truly is a brand new era!

 

NOTE : New Silver Jews Album coming out that will include all original members plus an additional all star guests! More to come soon

 

Pavement Jazz?
 
 
I was recently sent an advanced copy of one of the songs that will be featured in the upcoming Pavement Jazz compilation, and it sounds terrific. This is being put together by the fine New York "Brown Brothers Recording" Label. More Info to be avalible soon. Here is the tracklisting :
 
 
1) My First Mine
2) Here
3) Summer Babe
4) Cut Your Hair
5) 5-4=Unity
6) Stereo
7) Blue Hawaiian
8) Platform Blues
9) Folk Jam
10) Trigger Cut

Jazzmen James Carter (saxes, sousaphone), Cyrus Chestnut (keys), Reginald Veal (bass) and Ali Jackson (percussion) recorded an albums-worth of Pavement tunes and one Ali Jackson original. 

 
 
2. stephen Malkmus Update, Private Shows?

 

"Nov 26, 2004 at 11:17am

wonky alice

thanks to the nice people we saw down in los angeles at the all tomorrow festival. i think they have a really nice sound system for that show. im used to festivals like that being cut rate. plus its nice to not be at the top of the bill so that you feel somewhat responsible when not enough people show up--as was usually the case when pavement was considered a "draw" and argentina is the most fabulous place (in the prequeereye way). at first i could see buenos aires goin the prague route as a destination for thrifty post collegiate expats but you gotta learn spanish first and that may be a deterrant. anyway it has just about everything i need--decent weather, too many steakhouses, faded glory, old cafes, soccer, cable, cheap cabs, girls are beautiful and its only 200$ to have someones' legs broken! I know a place in "11" where the mafia cuts you a deal. and there are some good bands, particularly doris (they have two cds on ultrapop) and the giraldos. long live the submarino!
Friedman's new book on middle east/iraq war gives a good picture of why the invasion was the "least worst " thing to do but shows how idiotic the execution of the plan has been. check it out
or you could read" the awful disclosures of maria monk", where she spills the beans on infanticide in the nunnery(cleaning up the evidence---priests are raping nuns in 19th century montreal)
Some hot new cds/records you should hear: fraser and debolt, the album soup, pappos blues 4, mogollar
mixing the new album in december, look for it in april

and we are playing some shows for the bar industry on dec 6 and 7 with an Xian cult know as the POLYphonic Spree. i think these shows are not are not for the public--you need to sell LUCKY STRIKES at your bar to get invited. there will be role playing, safe/unsafe sex, scat contests, mechanical sturgeon riding, and a big brother spit drip contest.


in other words, if you miss this event, dont feel bad because you arent missing much"

So this means what?

 
2.Matador made this announcement
"SM é The Jicks rocked the house(boat) last weekend at the Long Beach edition of All Tomorrow's Parties, along with a recent sojourn to Argentina. The new SM solo album, shaping up in our hearts & minds as an album of genre-defying complexity, is scheduled for release in the first half of 2005."
 
According to Matador, anyone who had preordered CrCr and not received it by yesterday's date [November 5th] will receive a FREE PAVEMENT POSTER with their delivery! The massive delay was "caused" by a printing error concerning the shipments. This was reportedly the first time it has ever happened to INsound.
If you havn't heard about CrCr : L.A's Desert Origins, there are now many reviews swarming about the internet. All you must do is Google it.
 
and...Matador just made a very, very cool Pavement E-CARD! click here to open window E-CARD
 
5. Domino Records I Heart You/I also want to see I HEART Huckabees
Domino will be streaming a different new songs each day from the reissue!  
Here is the direct Link :
 
 
 
6. Here is a downlaod from the new CrCr two re-issue!
 
7. It Kills
 
8. Official Matador News!
 
9. BRAND NEW INTERVIEW ABOUT HIS 3RD ALBUM
 
10. CRCR 2 is here!
Here is some very exciting new from the man himself.
 

7

According to my good friend Mr. Mike B from acidcasualties, who has received the matador at 15 compilations it seems before me. [What’s up with that, I pre-ordered it on the 1st but have yet to receive it .... cough] Anyways, the compilation features the new song "It Kills" which turns out to be one of the first songs made after Pig Lib. You could have found it as Unknown Song # 2 in Mike's site[Now Updated]. If you have some Pig Lib era bootlegs, It Kills is played often and has the lyrics "Boyfriend's daddy’s knows his ABC's..." . The Live Version on the album is played in the recent Spain Show. If anybody has that bootleg I would like trade for it, I could host it here on the site.  

Here is the song played in Montreal 8/15/03 -- I was there!

 
 
8
Official Matador Pavement Anouncment!
You can now PRE-ORDER the album!
 
9
Malkmus Takes No Prisoners On Third CD
 
[From Billboard] ---sept 24th.
 
Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus is putting the finishing touches on his third solo album, which he tells Billboard.com will likely be released in April or May by Matador. "It's fun," he says of the as-yet-untitled set. It's tearing sh*t up in the basement-style. Take no prisoners."

A handful of the tracks have been road-tested by Malkmus and his band the Jicks, including "Baby Come On" and "It Kills," a live version of which will appear on Matador's 15th anniversary compilation, due Oct. 12.
"I did more of it myself, a little bit like the old Pavement records," Malkmus reveals. "Because the studio was in my basement, I took the helm. I pretty much engineered it myself; punching in with my toe, Todd Rundgren-style. I think it has come out pretty good, but I'm looking for some extra ears to make sure it's as good as I think it is."

The album will be the follow-up to 2003's "Pig Lib," which debuted at No. 5 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. The group has no live shows on the horizon for the rest of the year, but Malkmus will trek to Argentina next month for solo performances as part of rock festivals in Cordoba and Buenos Aires.

"It's all Argentinean indie bands," he says with a laugh. "There was talk of Stereolab going, and I could open for them. I would have been happy to do that, because I don't really know how to entertain a bunch of Argentinean kids.

"I'll play some Pavement songs or whatever I can not to get killed," he continues. "I think I'm going to have to go a little loud; electric guitar and a fuzzbox. I don't know how small it will be. If it's really small, I can handle it. But if it's 200 people or more, it starts to get a little bit sketchy and I need to have some noise jams [laughs]."
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
 
10
Unheard Cuts Bolster Pavement's 'Crooked' Reissue
 
[From Billboard] ---sept 23rd.
 
Eleven never-before-heard tracks will be unveiled on Matador's 10th anniversary edition of seminal indie rock act Pavement's sophomore album, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." Due Oct. 26, the double-disc set sports 14 additional unreleased versions of songs from the album, including a 1994 Peel Session on BBC Radio. The package will include a 40-page booklet with essays, rare Pavement photos and memorabilia.

"There's some things I would veto now and then, but Matador more than anything has been the driving force in digging up stuff and making these records into '90s classics," Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus tells Billboard.com with a chuckle. "I mean, they're doing a 40-page booklet! I didn't even know there was that much stuff that you could use for this!"
 
Thanks to such infectious cuts as "Range Life," "Gold Soundz" and "Cut Your Hair," "Crooked Rain" exposed Pavement to listeners well beyond the confines of indie rock. The set is the band's top-selling to date, having shifted more than 234,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"There are some extras that I guess just failed," Malkmus says of unreleased tracks like "All My Friends," "Hands off the Bayou" and "Flood Victim." "There are some full songs that are pretty cool; they sound just like 'Crooked Rain.' They maybe have not as good mixes or bad singing, or are just slightly inferior. But they're still pretty good."

Malkmus says he never listens to old Pavement albums, but was pleased to hear "Crooked Rain" recently in a bar in his Portland, Ore., home base. "I made an effort to record it and mix it in a way that was not completely '90s," he says of the album. "In the end, if you listened to it a lot when it came out, it will take you back to that time. It's just a little more fleshed out than [the 1992 debut album] 'Slanted and Enchanted.' It's not necessarily more ambitious, but just by making a second album, it's more ambitious. On a first album, you don't know what you're doing."

Pavement split after 1999's "Terror Twilight," with Malkmus going on to a solo career leading the band the Jicks. He says there's no fundamental obstacle to a Pavement reunion some day, but it's not something he's anticipating in the near future.

"It doesn't feel exactly right yet for me to do it," he admits. "I mean, it could. I guess you just know when it's right, just like so many other things in your life. Or, you force it due to financial reasons or someone telling you how much you could make. No one has told us that, so that's not an issue at all. But we all get along; no one is like a lawyer with a huge caseload or has lost an arm."

As for the possibility of future expanded editions of other Pavement albums, Malkmus says, "they might run out of B-sides and stuff at [1995's] 'Wowee Zowee.' But they could go up to [1997's] 'Brighten the Corners.' There's a million extra songs from that one. That's a case where there are songs that were undoubtedly better than the ones on the album. Ultimately, it depends on how special Matador think the records are and if other people do too."

Here is the track list for "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain":

Disc one: "Back to the Gold Soundz" (Phantom Power Parable)
"Silence Kit"
"Elevate Me Later"
"Stop Breathin"
"Cut Your Hair"
"Newark Wilder"
"Unfair"
"Gold Soundz"
"5-4=Unity"
"Range Life"
"Heaven Is a Truck"
"Hit the Plane Down"
"Fillmore Jive"
"Camera" ("Cut Your Hair" B-side)
"Stare" ("Cut Your Hair" B-side)
"Raft" ("Range Life" B-side)
"Coolin' by Sound" ("Range Life" B-side)
"Kneeling Bus" ("Gold Soundz" B-side)
"Strings of Nashville" ("Gold Soundz" B-side)
"Exit Theory" ("Gold Soundz" B-side)
"5-4 Vocal" ("Gold Soundz" B-side)
"Jam Kids" ("Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" bonus 7-inch)
"Haunt You Down" ("Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" bonus 7-inch)
"Unseen Power of the Picket Fence" (from "No Alternative")
"Nail Clinic" (from "Hey Drag City!")

Disc two: "After the Glow (Where Eagles Dare)":
"All My Friends"
"Soiled Little Filly"
"Range Life"
"Stop Breathin"
"Ell Ess Two"
"Flux=Rad"
"Bad Version of War"
"Same Way of Staying"
"Hands Off the Bayou"
"Heaven Is a Truck (Egg Shell)"
"Grounded"
"Kennel District"
"Pueblo (Beach Boys)"
"F***ing Righteous"
"Colorado"
"Dark Ages"
"Flood Victim"
"JMC Retro"
"Rug Rat"
"String of Nashville (instrumental)"
"Instrumental"
"Brink of the Clouds" (John Peel Session, BBC Radio)
"Tartar Martyr" (John Peel Session, BBC Radio)
"Pueblo Domain" (John Peel Session, BBC Radio)
"The Sutcliffe Catering Song" (John Peel Session, BBC Radio)

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
 
 
Mr.Malkmus gave up 7 out of the possible 14 titles that will most certainly be changed which is one of his well known habits for his upcoming album. This list might include the songs you know as Maker of Modern, Grace, Take You Right Back or Nervous actors.
 
-Kindling for the master
-self portrait as Joe Current
-pencil rot
-malediction
-invisible bodies from unwilling dimensions
-mike s in ape shape
-kendrick watch the cat
 
From S.M's Site Under "News" [He forgot to update the date on the header]
news from noisewhere: july 21
--JIXXXXXXXXX

there is not much news to report. i've almost got the record done. you gonna like it. The tape machine broke down but now its keyed up and kicking pretty. fourtten songs done: kindling for the master, self portrait as Joe Current, pencil rot, malediction, invisible bodies from unwilling dimensions,

mike s in ape shape, kendrick watch the cat

why am i even writing this

bob and greta are racing at arlington and having some luck. greta won a 75 thou stakes race in west virginia. the season is ending soon so get up there to chicago. superdawg is king!

sm
 
///////////I wish there was something to report about but there really isn't anything yet? All we know is that Stephen's Record is almost done and that CRCR Luxe is coming out on October 26th. There is a neat clock on the front page of the pavement message board that is countng down.
This isn't exactly breaking news for all of you. I have just found out that SM and John Moen [The Jicks Drummer] have put out a song called "No One Really Knows" which is on the Young Fresh Fellows Tribute Album; "This One's For The Fellows : A Sonic Salute To The Young Fresh Fellows" These guys were playful rocksters from Seattle. Wow Seattle is the place to be.
 
Hey! Just got back from Seattle [EMP is a must see!] On SM's site he said he is nearly done his 3rd album which still has no real info [song titles, the title, etx.] yet because of SM's nack of constantly switching titles and so on.
 
The CRCR re-issue is coming out october 26TH 2004, but most of the work on the album is being done by Spiral so for those who might have heard that there will be a Jicks concert added to the record it's unlikley.
 
Pavement's biography came out a while back, if you havn't had the chance to pick it up do so because it is a great read. Just a heads up; it is not as informative as you might expect. The book is called Perfect Sound Forever.
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