Someone suggested that I check out Pavement. I have heard of them, but never heard them.

Where do I begin? Do I start at the beginning with Slanted & Enchanted? Should I get the original, or splurge and get the Luxe & Reduxe version? Were the songs remastered for the Luxe & Reduxe version, so that I should download those tracks instead of the original versions?

I'm sorry if there's another thread already on this subject. If there is, could someone direct me to it?

Thanks.

This and this should help a bit.

I started with 'Terror Twilight', and slid easily into the rest of their stuff from there. I think it's the most accesible of their releases. I think 'Brighten the Corners' is their best album, though.

If you want to really appreciate them you should check out the DVD documentary, with all of their videos. It is Excellent. Best band documentary I've seen. And great videos. It would be a good introduction to the band also. And you could figure out what era of Pavement you are interested in from there.

Hmm... start here - especially with "No Tan Lines".. My favorite album is Brighten the Corners. Really though you'd be fine with starting with any of their major albums, except maybe Wowee Zowee. I got into them after they had broken up so I don't have a nostalgic 90's connection with them or anything. But they were a gateway band for me into the indie scene. You might check out earlier stuff from The Fall as a primer.

I started with Brighten The Corners, which is probably their most polished and accessible album.It depends what you like though.

Slanted & Enchanted is pretty lo-fi, and has more offbeat songs.

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is, IMHO, their most focused and solid album. Every song is great and it maintains some of the raw energy of S&E

Wowee Zowee sees them getting a little more polished, but with a sprawling genre-hopping album. It's their Exile on Main Street.

Brighten The Corners is probably their most accessible album. They've lost a lot of the quirkiness of their early albums.

Terror Twilight is still pretty good, but probably the weakest album in the Pavement catalog. It seems like they tried to recapture some of the weirdness of early Pavement, but with a more produced sound (Nigel Goodrich of Radiohead/Beck fame produces this one). The best tracks are the slower, more straightforward songs.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:

Wowee Zowee sees them getting a little more polished, but with a sprawling genre-hopping album. It's their Exile on Main Street.

Interesting comparison and nice descriptions. I just want to add that, as you mentioned, Slanted & Enchanted is very lo-fi, raw, and a hard rocker - or at least as much as your going to get out of Pavement. Slanted is great and has their most notable songs, but definitely has a softer and more pop feel than S&L.

So in retrospect it's probably better to start with one of those, lest you first come to appreciate Brighten the Corners and then come to be disappointed by the earlier stuff or have false expectations of their earlier sound. Of all their albums, I had the hardest time getting into Wowee Zowee. Though it has some excellent songs - Rattled by the Rush, Grounded, Father to a Sister of Thought, Best Friend's Arm - I think if it was the first Pavement album I heard I would've been distraught. With Terror Twilight, I just would've been bored... very weak.

By the way, all of the double-disc editions of these are the way to go. Pavement put out a lot of B-Sides and alternate takes that were at times superior to what ended up on the album.

Also, if you're not familiar with Malkmus' solo albums, I'll also go ahead and suggest those. I'd stay away from Preston School of Industry (Spiral Stairs' post-Pavement project) though.

I just recently asked some members of another forum what they thought of the last two Pavement albums. I've never heard Brighten The Corners or Terror Twilight, but I can tell that you all three of their first albums are good. I'd recommend going with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, personally.

One reason you know Pavement is worthwhile is because everyone has a different favorite album of theirs. Sure, S&E and CRCR are the most revered, but I've seen all of their stuff praised by many different people.

quote:

Originally posted by less_success:
One reason you know Pavement is worthwhile is because everyone has a different favorite album of theirs. Sure, S&E and CRCR are the most revered, but I've seen all of their stuff praised by many different people.

Good point. If asked to rank their albums, I'd definitely have a tough time. They all have their moments.

And Less, you've got to get BTC for "Stereo" alone.

I'll for sure be picking up the rest of their stuff. I was never really big on Pavement until a couple of weeks ago. Started listening to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain again and all of the sudden, during "Stop Breathin'", it hit me how damn great it is. Those are the kind of moments we listen to music for, right?

Pavement, like all my faves, have a way of just connecting the lyrics, vocals and music which overtake you at some point. In Pavement's case (as in many others), it's the guitar work, here, of Malkmus. He is truly one of the most brilliant guitarists ever, but he's forgotten because he's a "slacker"!

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is their "perfect" album - their Thriller, their Nevermind, their Chocolate and Cheese, their Goo, their Where You Been, their Appetite... I recently got the Wowee Zowee Deluxe edition, and that's their White Album, their Experimental, Jetset...their Pod, Ys, their Self-portrait...it's more "interesting", takes many repeated listens, but it has aged well, I think.

you should start with their first album n finish with their last...that s my advice for you if you really care about pavement...

My $0.02...I also think BTC is their most accessible, and my favorite. But it's still got plenty of quirkiness, charming little weird jams, cryptic lyrics. "Transport Is Arranged" will haunt my dreams till I die.

"Terror Twilight," Malkmus admits, was basically a solo album. He figured out everything he could on his own, brought in a drummer, and the rest of the band ended up being guests in effect. That combined with Godrich's reigned-in production makes it quite different from their other albums. I would hit that one, at least, chronologically (last).

The others just haven't stood the test of time for me like BTC. I thought CRCR was brilliant, the first one I heard, but now several years later I only listen to it for nostalgia. But BTC I can put on and enjoy it like I did years ago.

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is my favorite, followed closely by Slanted... which isn't quite as easy to get into.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is my favorite, followed closely by Slanted... which isn't quite as easy to get into.

totally agree with you.
btw , try to find the special version of crooked rain...worth the money

1. Brighten the Corners - their most accomplished and a nice marriage of quirky/ straightfoward and rough/polished. Lyrically, Malkmus was in his absolute prime. I was sure at the time that noone could touch the lyrics to Embassy Row.

2. Wowee Zowee - some absolutely stand out tracks (Father to a Sister Thought!) but the genre hopping makes for a demanding listen.

3. Slanted & Enchanted - Zurich is Stained, Here - these two tracks alone make up for the fuzz and bassless cardboard box ambience. The deluxe version B sides are pretty fantastic - I'm pretty sure this is the one that contains the Watery Domestic EP.

4. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - has their most radio friendly tracks and generally is pretty cohesive. It feels a little dated.

5. Terror Twilight - I remember being so disappointed by the how polished this sounded and the fact that Malkmus' solos were now pristine. He WAS the master of the bum-note.

Yeah. Watery Domestic is an absolutely flawless collection of songs.

I passed some Pavement on to a new friend recently, and she really likes them now having started with Crooked Rain and Terror Twilight. I also recommended the eponymous Malkmus solo album...it's pretty great imo.

To be honest, I really don't like Slanted & Enchanted on the whole. Hmm. Maybe this discounts everything else I've said. Oh well....haha.

I'll side with _z (is that a one eyed bird?). I love Pavement, but I have a hard time listening to Slanted and Enchanted. There are a few songs I pick off of it, but for the most part it's just muddy and unharmonious. I could see it being really cool in the context of when it came out, but not as much now.