It may be a bit reductive to call Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanted's Murmur -- not mention easy, considering that Pavement recorded a song-long tribute to R.E.M.'s second album during the Crooked Rain sessions -- but there's a certain truth in that statement all the same. Slanted & Enchanted is an enigmatic masterpiece, retaining its mystique after countless spins, but Crooked Rain strips away the hiss and fog of S&E, removing some of Pavement's mystery yet retaining their fractured sound and spirit. It's filled with loose ends and ragged transitions, but compared to the fuzzy, dense Slanted, Crooked Rain is direct and immediately engaging -- it puts the band's casual melodicism, sprawling squalls of feedback, disheveled country-rock, and Stephen Malkmus' deft wordplay in sharp relief. It's the sound of a band discovering its own voice as a band, which is only appropriate because up until Crooked Rain, Pavement was more of a recording project between Malkmus and Scott Kannberg than a full-fledged ock & roll group. During the supporting tour for Slanted, Malkmus and Kannberg recruited bassist Mark Ibold and percussionist Bob Nastanovich, and original drummer Gary Young was replaced by Steve West early into the recording for this album, and the new blood gives the band a different feel, even if the aesthetic hasn't changed much. The full band gives the music a richer, warmer vibe that's as apparent on the rampaging, noise-ravaged "Unfair" as it is on the breezy, sun-kissed country-rock of "Range Life" or its weary, late-night counterpart, "Heaven Is a Truck." Pavement may still be messy, but it's a meaningful, musical messiness from the performance to the production: listen to how "Silence Kit" begins by falling into place with its layers of fuzz guitars, wah wahs, cowbells, thumping bass, and drum fills, how what initially seems random gives way into a lush Californian pop song. That's Crooked Rain a nutshell -- what initially seems chaotic has purpose, leading listeners into the bittersweet heart and impish humor at the core of the album. Many bands attempted to replicate the sound or the vibe of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but they never came close to the quicksilver shifts in music and emotion that give this album such lasting appeal. Here, Pavement follow the heartbroken allad "Stop Breathin'" with the wry, hooky alt-rock hit "Cut Your Hair" without missing a beat. They throw out a jazzy Dave Brubeck tribute in "5-4=Unity" as easily as they mimic the Fall and mock the Happy Mondays on "Hit the Plane Down." By drawing on so many different influences, Pavement discovered its own distinctive voice as a band on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, creating a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground ock in the '90s and one of the great albums of its decade.
--- - |- MTV's Subterranean blog posted an amazing performance of Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" from 1994, when they appeared on "120 Minutes". They were so much younger then, to offer an obscure R.E.M. reference that surely Stephen Malkmus would appreciate. A special new band indeed. MTV proper has two more songs from the same set, "Unfair" and "Stop Breathin'", but you'll have to sit through mi...
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You may want to push play on the mixwit tape before starting this. Tracks missing from the mixwit are Newark Wilder and Fillmore Jive . I had been listening to Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which I believe to be their finest album, and couldn't help but feel the bands exhaustion. It's a rock n' roll wake of sorts. A wake that had to this point been in progress for about 15 years....
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so i recently picked up the deluxe sets of "slanted & enchanted" and "crooked rain, crooked rain"...i've had several pavement songs that i downloaded months ago, but i never really got into them until recently. i must have been too busy getting into sonic youth, which definitely isn't a bad thing.anyways, i have to say that i'm a believer. pavement has quickly become one of my favorite bands to...
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So I'm in the mdist of a minor league existential freakout. I have four hours til I take my last final for my last class and I can't bring myself to study. I'll be receiving my Bachelor of Science in Music Business Management on Saturday (hopefully), and that scares the shit out of me. I'm not really a suit-and-tie type guy, so I can't really see myself getting a job in Nashville's mediocre-m...
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I think I need to come up with an elevator speech for what kind of music I listen to so that when I get in I can come up with an answer by the time we get to my floor.I get so incrediably flustered. I can't forumlate an answer. It's not even just that I can't explain my music taste to someone who has no idea what I'm talking about, but how do you explain music taste to someone who does have an ...
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--- - |- MTV's Subterranean blog posted an amazing performance of Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" from 1994, when they appeared on "120 Minutes". They were so much younger then, to offer an obscure R.E.M. reference that surely Stephen Malkmus would appreciate. A special new band indeed. MTV proper has two more songs from the same set, "Unfair" and "Stop Breathin'", but you'll have to sit through mi...
More >
I read in a couple of blogs(meaning its TOTAL speculation) that Pavement is close to reuniting for an album and tour...probably for next summer...but even this glimmer of hope makes me so happy...it was also hinted about in the 'Coachella' section of Rolling Stone's Summer Festival Guide...i would explode with happiness if this happens...Madonna and Kanye were both added WAY late last year, so ...
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I always thought of Stephen Malkmus as more of a poet who played rock music, than a rock star. He has such an amazing way with words...and I don't pretend to know what he is talking about all of the time, but i am always smiling while listening to Pavement, so he is doing something magical.Some of my favorite lines from his poetry:"Cherish your memorized weaknessFashioned from a manifesto -- la...
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Its true. I am slightly obsessed with the Missed Connections section on craigslist.comSo...every once in awhile when I am REALLY bored an its too cold to leave the house, I pick a favorite and post it here with a video soundtrack. Today i am bored.Enjoy...(i love these...do they ever work? I think not)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------MISSED CONNECT...
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My favorite album opening tracks. Bronze - Counting Crows - 'Round Here'Round Here - Counting Crows Silver - The Hold Steady - 'Positive Jam' Gold - Pavement - 'Silence Kit'
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i don't normally upload twice in one day, but look here. this is a picture of my friend oliver. this dog smiles. and i got a picture to prove it.so some more stephen malkmus. he likes pavement... so he says
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I never thought that Fugazi would make for an awesome ska cover... or that I'd be singing along to Pavement... but I'm thoroughly impressed. Mustard Plug has covered Fugazi's Waiting Room and Bomb the Music Industry covered Pavement's Gold Soundz. Check it out over at Vinyl Collective, along with other covers from: -Fake Problems -Ninja Gun -Look Mexico -Whiskey and Co Also check out: Mustard
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So I'm in the mdist of a minor league existential freakout. I have four hours til I take my last final for my last class and I can't bring myself to study. I'll be receiving my Bachelor of Science in Music Business Management on Saturday (hopefully), and that scares the shit out of me. I'm not really a suit-and-tie type guy, so I can't really see myself getting a job in Nashville's mediocre-m...
More >
According to The New York Times, Pavement will reunite for a series of shows, and play Central Park in September 2010. My feelings about Pavement are mixed. I think Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is one of the best albums of the 90's. And I like a lot of songs in their other albums, but none of their other albums stick with me the way that one does.So I'm posting a link to my previous post about...
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You may want to push play on the mixwit tape before starting this. Tracks missing from the mixwit are Newark Wilder and Fillmore Jive . I had been listening to Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which I believe to be their finest album, and couldn't help but feel the bands exhaustion. It's a rock n' roll wake of sorts. A wake that had to this point been in progress for about 15 years....
More >
I think I need to come up with an elevator speech for what kind of music I listen to so that when I get in I can come up with an answer by the time we get to my floor.I get so incrediably flustered. I can't forumlate an answer. It's not even just that I can't explain my music taste to someone who has no idea what I'm talking about, but how do you explain music taste to someone who does have an ...
More >
so i recently picked up the deluxe sets of "slanted & enchanted" and "crooked rain, crooked rain"...i've had several pavement songs that i downloaded months ago, but i never really got into them until recently. i must have been too busy getting into sonic youth, which definitely isn't a bad thing.anyways, i have to say that i'm a believer. pavement has quickly become one of my favorite bands to...
More >
Pavement - Gold Soundz (Live 1994) by Scott Bernstein
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Silence Kit |
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| 2 Elevate Me Later |
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| 3 Stop Breathin |
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| 4 Cut Your Hair |
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| 5 Newark Wilder |
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| 6 Unfair |
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| 7 Gold Soundz |
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| 8 5 - 4 = Unity |
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| 9 Range Life |
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| 10 Heaven's a Truck |
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| 11 Hit the Plane Down |
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| 12 Fillmore Jive |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain")
