More brilliant Pavement news

2010 has already officially been declared 'The Year of Pavement', what with all of those reunion shows taking place this Spring and Summer, but just when you thought things couldn't get any better..

..Pavement will also be releasing a best-of compilation entitled 'Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement' on March 9 2010. This is a 23 track compilation spanning Malky and Co's career from 1989 to 1999 with remastered songs from each and every album and EP. It'll be out on cd,LP and if you really must, download.

I can't give you a tracklisting, for the simple reason that the tracklisting itself is the subject of a fantastic competition which could see you win tickets to Pavement's New York show (with flights and hotel rooms paid for!), the chance to have your tracklisting choice pressed up into a special LP or a complete set of Pavement vinyl on Matador. Its a fantastic idea, sure to get the forums buzzing with dream Pavement track and setlists. Full info here:

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2010/01/05/pavement-quarantine-the-past/

And finally, the news that the end of the year will see 'Terror Twilight', the band's final album, get the full deluxe re-issue treatment.

The Year of Pavement indeed.

er....Pavement HAVE reformed

Still can't quite believe this but I may just get to see my second favourite band of all time play.

Pavement ARE going to play some shows next year.

See... http://www.crookedrain.com/

How incredible is this?

Exclusive - Pavement have not reformed (yet)

Contrary to what you may read on just about any music site you might click on today, Pavement, the greatest American alt.anything band of all time have not yet reformed or announced any dates.

It does look likely though that my prediction of a 2010 reunion might just turn out to be spot on. There are a couple of rumoured festival/benefit gig dates and the absence of any sort of denial. On the other hand, Stephen Malkmus and Scott 'Spiral Stairs' Kannberg both have albums scheduled for next year and will presumably be touring those. Any Pavement reunion would have to involve a lot of rehearsing so its hard to see how it is all going to slot into the first 8-9 months of the year (assuming that they are going to play the Summer festivals).

One thing to be sure of is that 'Terror Twilight' gets the deluxe re-issue treatment next year and I am sure Matador would just love to tie that in with some kind of 'best of', to co-incide with a tour.

All just rumours and dreams for now. That's not to say that I haven't been dreaming..

[review of extraordinary Micah P Hinson covers record coming soon]

Stephen Malkmus - Daytrotter Session

He recorded one of the albums of 2008, he plays a mean game of scrabble....and he is going to reform Pavement soon (I sincerely believe), yet Stephen Malkmus has still found time to record a Daytrotter session! Hurrah.

Awfully good it is too. You can listen to it right here:
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/stephen-malkmus-and-the-jicks-captain-of-the-puzzle-gang-concert/20030557-6729.html

Track 1 doesn't count. Track 3 is 'Wicked Wanda' from 'Real Emotional Trash' which is a slight disappointment because he could've gone for the title track, 'Baltimore' or 'Gardenia' (my favourites basically), but still. Track 2 is a super version of 'Vanessa For Queens' from 'Pig Lib' and the last track 'Funk 49' is a brand NEW song, which is really groovy and loose and Malk sounds just great. As do The Jicks of course.

In nearly-related news, one of the vinyl only releases coming out on the fantastic RECORD STORE DAY (April 18th) is a Pavement live LP from Germany in 1997. Still awaiting news on whether this will be available in UK RSD-supporting record stores, but I hope so, since I will be spending the whole of that day in London looking for rare items and just spending as much time as possible in as many record shops as I can find!

Stephen Malkmus plays Pavement songs....

I know he does this every once in a while in the States (never in the UK though, to the best of my knowledge) but Stephen Malkmus played a solo show last week in which he played a number of Pavement songs including one of my all time favourites 'Harness Your Hopes'.

How I wish I had been at this show.

Short clips are available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5766CZ_04

TracksandGigs goes away for one day and......

PAVEMENT GET BACK TOGETHER!!!!

well almost.

Turns out that all of Pavement except Spiral Stairs played one song (not a Pavement song) at a wedding reception over the weekend. Surely this is going to happen soon, its like they're just teasing us now.

T&G saw Fleet Foxes at Camden Roundhouse last night. Full thoughts on the gig tomorrow but The Roundhouse is a terrible venue. Too big, too many posts and although this isn't the venue's fault, last night it was full of people who were just too damn busy doing other things to listen to the Fleet Foxes. Chatting, texting, phoning people etc were all vitally important to some people who bothered to get tickets to last night's gig. I guess this is what happens when a band gets a lot of press attention. Full review tomorrow.

Thoughts on the 'Pavement reunion'

For those of us of a certain age (mid 30s) and a certain musical taste, hopes were raised yet again, earlier this week, when the NME announced that a Pavement reunion in the near future looked likely. The article even featured quotes from Scott ‘Spiral Stairs’ Kannberg.

Closer examination of the story and quotes, though, revealed nothing new. Malkmus and Kannberg have been saying for years that a reunion tour probably will happen, there is no animosity between the band members – they have all worked on the series of Pavement reissues. When it will happen is another matter. Despite what NME, The Guardian and many others who have reported this story say, Stephen Malkmus’ solo career is successful and in last year’s ‘Real Emotional Trash’ LP he produced probably his best record for ten years. What’s more, with The Jicks, he has a band structure that has sparked great creativity and he is already working on songs for a follow-up album.

It seems to me, as a fan of Stephen Malkmus, that he is more likely to make a great album with The Jicks than he is with Kannberg et al as part of a Pavement reunion. What I would love to see though is a reunion tour, a chance for everybody concerned to enjoy some of our favourite songs again. What makes this all the more desirable is that most of these songs haven’t been played live for a decade. Aside from one legendary show, Malkmus does not play Pavement songs live, I’m sure he would get a kick out of doing so again. The other factor, of course, is money. Pavement are likely to be offered quite serious money to do a tour plus festivals this year or next. Considering they were one of the finest bands of the 90s, hugely influential but never sold out and never achieved huge success, nobody should begrudge them taking this.

I think if you’re a Pavement fan, this is going to be a very exciting couple of years. If you listen to the live Shepherds Bush show recently released as part of the ‘Brighten The Corners’ reissue it is a reminder of what an amazingly innovative live band they were. It is too much to expect the reunion shows to be as exciting and loose as the old shows were, but they will be a lot of fun. I’m guessing we may have to wait til 2010 though…

what's playing on the T&G stereo this week...

With virtually nothing new released yet this year, T&G have been listening to some (recent) old favourites this year:

- Everything Fleet Foxes! Still stunned by the brilliance of this band. The LP has had several plays along with the under-rated 'Sun Giant' EP and their superb Daytrotter session.

- Innocence Mission 'Street Map'. Their beautiful new EP has had several plays, especially 'A Thousand Miles', which sees them at their most upbeat and life-affirming.

- Various Broken Records 7" singles.

- Pavement's absolutely superb 'Live Europaturnen 1997' live LP, given away free with pre-orders of the 'Brighten The Corners' reissue and essential listening, not least for the extra verse about Kula Shaker in 'Range Life'.

- Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavillion' - only arrived yesterday, so more on this soon.

Come on record company people...let's have some new releases...

mutterings

- How am I supposed to get more of the T&G Albums of the Year list done, when all I can do (apart from work of course..) is listen to the incredibly good Tindersticks 'Live in Glasgow' and the unbelievably comprehensive Pavement 'Brighten The Corners' re-issue. I have to admit, I have not yet found time to listen to the vinyl live album, but the second cd is keeping me very occupied. Loving the session tracks and the early versions of 'The Hexx'.

- Heard some lousy news today. Pinnacle Records, one of the biggest UK indie music distributors has gone into administration. Pinnacle distribute(d) for a huge number of quality indie labels including Rough Trade, Fat Cat, Bella Union and Drag City. A lot of quality releases are going to be delayed. This is really sad, as well as worrying. Keep buying records folks, and buy them from independent shops.

I'll continue the top 20 of the year, tomorrow...

Pavement 'Brighten The Corners- The Nicene Creedence Edition'

When ATP asked for fans to vote for the bands they would most like to see play their festival a couple of years ago, Pavement, despite having split up almost a decade ago, were at the very top of the list.

Its easy to see why. Of all the successful alt.rock bands of the 90s, Pavement are pretty much the only ones not to do a reunion tour yet, they also boast the most consistent body of work of any of those bands AND they have kept themselves in the picture by undertaking just about the most comprehensive re-issue series I can remember. Every two years, a Pavement album is lovingly remastered and repackaged with a quite stunning amount of bonus tracks. It is a labour of love taken on by band members and Matador Records. So, 11 years since it was released, we now come to 'Brighten The Corners'.

It is still exciting to hear the opening bassline of 'Stereo' giving way to explosive guitar feedback, heralding one of the great rock songs of the 90s. 'Shady Lane', which follows, is a gorgeous woozy ballad with some left-field but touching lyrics. In fact, 'Brighten The Corners' is probably the high point of Malkmus' Pavement lyrics, there are so many clever/funny lines on this album that it would be wrong to pick a few or even list all of them, they just need to be heard and enjoyed. This is probably the most straight-forward Pavement album, full of anthems (even if they are anti-anthems) and slower songs, there is nothing difficult here.

Along with 'Crooked Rain...' it is also Pavement's most affecting album. Although Malkmus rarely seems to be singing about himself, songs like 'Type Slowly' tug the heartstrings while 'We Are Underused' is the classic Pavement slacker-anthem and simply demands that you sing along. Pavement fans could argue all day about which album is their best, but this is a strong contender. Great guitar riffs, supremely witty lyrics and Stephen Malkmus sounding better than he ever had...up to that point. One of the best alt.rock albums of the 90s.

As far as the extras go....there are 42 songs in total on this release. If you pre-order the album you will also get a bonus live vinyl LP (which we'll review at a later date), but the 2cd's bonus tracks include pretty much everything you could possibly find from this era in the way of radio sessions, b sides, outtakes etc. For me, it is a joy to hear two versions of 'Harness Your Hopes', already one of my favourite Pavement songs and a couple of work-in-progress versions of what turned out to be 'The Hexx'. There are also a couple of previously unreleased outtakes from the BTC sessions, both of which are excellent.

If you are a Pavement fan, you must buy this. If you want to know what all the fuss was/is about, this or 'Crooked Rain...' are the best places to start.

9.5

['Brighten The Corners...' is out in Novemeber, but if you pre-order NOW from Matador Records you get a stream of the album to listen to right now and all manner of goodies leading up the release date. Seriously one of the best reissue packages I have ever seen]

Stephen Malkmus 'Real Emotional Trash'

Back in 1994 my favourite three bands were Pavement, Tindersticks and Grant Lee Buffalo. Nothing lasts forever, Pavement and GLB both split five years later and Tindersticks are just returning after a four year hiatus with a modified line up. I've been disappointed with the solo careers of Stephen Malkmus and Grant Lee Phillips and I approached this, Malkmus' fourth post-Pavement LP, with some trepedation having bought it more out of a sense of duty than any genuine excitement.

'Real Emotional Trash' sees the return of Malkmus' backing band 'The Jicks' who were absent from 2005's dull 'Face The Truth'. This is a good thing and means this is Malkmus' first record to have a cohesive band sound since the days of Pavement. The sound is heavy on guitars with solos and jams dominating most of the songs but some interesting keyboard and drum parts feature too.

Malkmus sounds far more interested than he did on the previous two records, singing with real passion on the likes of 'Dragonfly Pie' and the superb closer 'Wicked Wanda'. The highlight though is undoubtably the ten minute title track. I have seen this described as overly long and boring. It isn't at all. Instead, it is a genuine epic, starting off slow and introspective and building into a stunning exploration of sound, melody and noise.

For the first time since his solo debut, Stephen Malkmus has produced an album that his both enjoyable and interesting to listen to and it improves with each listen as there are some strong melodies here underneath all of the guitar noise.

This album doesn't stop me wanting Pavement back but it is the best thing Malkmus has recorded since they split.
8.0