This just came out, and all I gotta say is, if you even KINDA like Pavement or Steven Malkmus...GET IT NOW!!!

Two discs, all the b-sides from the singles, and a whole disc of unreleased studio tracks and John Peel recordings, plus a big luscious book of liner notes and funky packaging...all for less $$$ than most single-disc releases!

Yummy yummy. I've been waiting for this to come out for a while, and I'm not disappointed.

oh...and am i the only one who hears a bit of "purple rain" in "range life"? maybe i'm just kooky, but i knew there was a reason i liked the melody of that song, then it occurred to me that i could hum PR along to it. i know, i'm weird...

I picked up this and the "Slanted & Enchanted" one for only like $15 each. I'm not disappointed. Every important album should get this kind of treatment. As great as Bowie's 30th anniversary reissues are, they could've included a lot more. Very excited to dig into these.

Anxiety said:

Well, I definitely do not hear that - but I always tell people that Filmore Jive was the Stairway to Heaven of the nineties, so who am I to judge?

I'm not quite swayed on these reissues - I have the original albums, and I have some of the b-sides, so I'm just not convinced I have to own them. It's gonna take a pretty substantially reduced price to allow me to justify picking this up, I think...

i got mine at virgin records for 14.99 - and we're talkin about a two-disc set with bells-and-whistles out the wazoo. and i know you can find it cheaper, cuz virgin megawhore ain't exactly known for bargains. (beast buy maybe?)

i originally owned "crooked rain" on cassette, and while i really wanted to get a CD copy of it, something kept telling me to hold out...i'm glad i did. i haven't heard this album in quite a while, and it reminds me of how much i like it. i can't recommend either of their reissues enough - maybe i'd feel differently if i were a bigger pavement fan, but this is the first time for me hearing all the b-sides and rarities and whatnot, and i'm loving it.

If it's that cheap, I'll likely pick up both albums. I'm on vacation this week, and I think the time is right to go on a major-league spending spree - I'll probably pick up the last Malkmus l.p. as well, since I've somehow managed not to buy that yet. Thanks for the heads-up...

damosuzuki said:

i see the last malkmus album - with the limited edition bonus ep - in used bins all the time. check your local wrecka stow, you might find it on the cheep.

Anxiety said:

I'm pretty sure I got "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" for $14.99 and "Slanted & Enchanted" for $15.99 at Best Buy. Trust me. They're worth it.

GangstaFam said:

OK, you've officially worn down my resistance - both albums are on my agenda for this week.

damosuzuki said:

One thing that kinda pissed me off is that Matador was gonna do a 10th anniversary rerelease of Liz Phair's 'Exile In Guyville'. The possibilities were so good with that one. They were even mentioning including all of her Girlysound recordings with it. That would officially be the coolest thing ever.

GangstaFam said:

WOW!!! they're not gonna do it now?

Anxiety said:

Apparently not. It was supposed to come out at the end of 2003. Liz was all hyped about it too.

Have you heard the Girlysound demos?

GangstaFam said:

dang. nope, never heard it.

Anxiety said:

Ooh! I'm totally sending you these. You'll flip.

They're some of the most inspiring, interesting demos you'll ever hear. Listening to them makes me feel like I HAVE to write songs. It's just her, her guitar and a 4 track, double tracked vocals and guitar lines. They're so simple and so genius it's SICK!

Liz Phair - Girlysound

Review by Richie Unterberger

Before signing to Matador Records, Phair recorded a wealth of home demos that were only circulated, primarily to acquaintances, on cassette. In fact, it was a tape of this material that brought Phair to the attention of Matador in the first place. Featuring just Liz and her low-volume electric guitar, with layers of overdubs enabling Liz to harmonize with herself, this collection of over 20 low-fi, intensely personal songs has circulated among literally thousands of Phair fans, making this one of the most popular and sought-after alternative rock bootlegs of all time. A few of the tracks found their way onto her first couple of albums in drastically reworked versions, including "Stratford-On-Guy," "Flower," "Johnny Sunshine," "Whip-Smart," "Never Said," "Shane," and "Chopsticks." These stripped-down versions aren't necessarily better (although "Whip-Smart" sounds much less tongue-in-cheek and more effective in its original incarnation), but they are fascinating to hear in such bare-bones arrangements. The substantial majority of these have not been released by Phair, and while some are clearly tentative drafts or awkward, half-baked efforts, others are as tuneful and provoking as anything on her official albums. Phair is arguably a more powerful performer when stripped to her essentials of voice and guitar, and this tape is as vital to her legacy as her Matador discs.

Disc I

1 Black Market White Baby Dealer 2:53
2 Johnny Sunshine 3:29
3 Elvis Be True 4:34
4 Fuck or Die 2:45
5 Flower 2:35
6 Beg Me 2:47
7 Whip-Smart 3:18
8 Go, Speed Racer 1:40
9 California 2:36
10 South Dakota 4:12
11 Stratford-on-Guy 3:08
12 Shane 4:36
13 Willie the Six-Dicked Pimp 3:13
14 Divorce Song 3:41
15 Go West 3:19
16 If I Ever Pay You Back 3:53
17 In Love With Yourself 4:06

Disc II

1 Hello Sailor 5:39
2 Wild Thing 3:32
3 Fuck & Run 4:15
4 Can't Get Out of What I'm Into 3:11
5 Batmobile 3:01
6 Sometimes A Dream (Is What Makes You A Slave) 3:34
7 Easy 3:08
8 Chopsticks 1:50
9 Do You Love Me? 4:51
10 Soap Star Joe 3:14
11 I Know It's Not Easy 7:07
12 Red Ruby Lips 0:23
13 Miss Lucy 2:18
14 Dead Shark 3:16
15 One Less Thing 4:39
16 Money 3:44

ok, back to Pavement.....we're not having Liz Phair jack this thread.....

Finally a thread about one of my all time favorite bands! 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' is definitely one of their very best, can't wait to get the reissue. I have the 'Slanted & Enchanted, Deluxe & Redux' reissue and there are some outtakes of the Peel Session on it.....are these the same?
Malkmus & Spiral Stairs were/are my heroes of the 90's.....Without Pavement, there would never have been Nirvana as we know them.....and I am sure a lot of other bands neither!

Too bad Malkmus refuses to play Pavement-classics live with The Jicks.....I would love to hear 'Goldsoundz' live once more..... SM & The Jicks is good too, I really dig their music. Stephen Malkmus finally proves that he really is an excellent guitarist. In the song 'Pink India', from his first solo-album, the solo is a bit Prince-like.....Malkmus always admitted he is an admirer of Prince's guitar-play!

GO PAVEMENT!!!!!

Sorry. I always think of Liz and Pavement together for some reason. Had to chime in.

And didn't Nirvana come first?

GangstaFam said:

Nirvana did release 'Nevermind' before Pavement released "Slanted & Enchanted', but Pavement had recorded much music long before that, some of which was released later on 'Watery, Domestic' & 'Westing (by Musket and Sextant)'. Kurt Cobain was a big Pavement-fan, he said he was listening a lot of Pavement while writing 'In Utero'.

abierman said:

But "Nevermind" wasn't their first record.

i'd say nirvana and pavement both got their start at around the same time. i think kurt started playing in bands around 87 or 88...

GangstaFam said:

'Bleach' was, and then came 'Incesticide'.....very well, you've done your homework!

abierman said:

actually, 'incesticide' came after 'nevermind', and it was a compilation of rarities, demos, b-side tracks, etc. it wasn't a proper studio album, but more like a stopgap release to keep fans interested in the band between records.

Kurt was reported saying that he was actually jaelous of the careers of bands like Pavement (and even R.E.M.) who made good 'indie' music and did appeal to a lot of people, without having the massive breakthrough which Nirvana had experienced. Indeed, Pavement may be considered as one of the indie-greats which never really broke through, but had a strong following.

that said, I think Cobain would puke if he would see where R.E.M. is right now.....
Pavement just called it quits, Malkmus & Kannberg didn't get along to well anymore, the magic was gone. Kannberg's input had become minimal on the last record 'Terror Twilight'. Too bad, I miss them.....

REM is turning into the Crosby Stills & Nash of Generation X.

Well, I just returned from my shopping trip, and pardon me if I bitch for a little while...I visited five retailers – three of them did not have either album, while A&B Sound and Best Buy had both editions in stock. However, they were priced at $21.99 (Best Buy) and $19.99 (A&B), and I’m just too innately stingy with my money to spend that much on albums I already own. Sigh…welcome to my life as a Canadian consumer – fewer choices and higher prices.

However, there was a massive plus to this – I stumbled across the reissues of the first and third Neu! albums, both at a relatively reasonable price. Finally, I can ditch my scratched up vinyl. Anyone who loves Stereolab would do well to check out the first three Neu! records. If you start with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, strip away the vocals and occasional bits of bubblegum pop, you’ll have Neu!

Hopefully I’ll get lucky with the Pavement reissues in the second-hand shops…

damosuzuki said:

holy crap, are you joshin' me??? for goodness' sake, try amazon.com - you can get both reissues for a measly $25 - and that includes shipping (free shipping for orders over twenty five bucks!).

i've tried to get into neu - an ex of mine tried to get me into them - and while i find them interesting, i think that i only have the mental capacity to fully appreciate either neu or can, and i choose can. yeah, that's arbitrary and pathetic, but that's just how it is. though maybe one day i'll give 'em another shot - after all, emperor tomato ketchup is one of my favorite records!

Anxiety said:

Odd how perceptions can differ - I actually find Neu much more approachable than Can (though I love Can too, obviously, given my username and all...). Neu always struck me as the most immediately likeable Kraut-rock band - I find them to be perfect apartment-cleaning music.