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Posted by ConorClockwise on 2007-11-19 16:07:08 +0000

Winter '94, a horrendeous January of deathly cold with not enough snow to justify the temperatures. It was just before Cobain offed himself, and I was listening to: Mr. Bungle twice a day and still loving it, the new MM Bosstones and being confused, the New Pearl Jam and not really digging it, tons of Led Zep bootlegs and liking them, and Dre and Snoop when I was playing Super Mario Bros. Truth be known, this is the first Pavement I was familiar with. The Crooked poster was on the wall of WRMC, and I was intrigued. Then I heard "I don't care, I don't care, I really don't care, did you see the drummers hair" and music was fun (if not funny) again.

Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-11-19 18:07:25 +0000

Here's the other if-you're-only-going-to-have-one-of-Pavement's-records-this-is-it. (For the record, this is the one Pavement record my mother has) What's interesting is that by this time in their career there was less of a mystery about the band as virtually every periodical wrote about this record and ran pictures. Somehow, Pavement still managed to make the music feel like a little puzzle to decipher, and hell, I'm still deciphering today. Funny, too, now that I came outta the sports closet, I'm seeing all the sports that runs through Pavement (Stairs at Fenway in "Slanted," pretty sure "Stop Breathing" is about tennis, the only entry in the Thanks column is to the USC Marching Band). Lovely robberies throughout: "Silence Kid" is practically "Rollercoaster;" "Range Life" ends with "Everybody Wants You;" John Kongos/Happy Mondays nod in "Hit The Plane Down;" the don't-call-it-a-cover of Dave Brubeck on "5 - 4 = Unity." Steve West more than holds his own on his debut behind the kit (extra credit for maintaining the full-measure-sometimes-more drum fill). Two of their best singles in "Cut Your Hair" and "Gold Soundz." And debatably their finest epic: "Fillmore Jive." Funny listening to it now, to me there's a few dead spots on this I musta forgot about :"Newark Wilder" and "Heaven is a Truck"/"Plane." Love "Unfair" still, as that one and "Conduit For Sale!" were always the Bob Nastanovich show live. For as ramshackle and obtuse as they wanted to be, you really got the sense they'd be a blast to drink with. A+

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-11-19 18:19:07 +0000

I think that "CR,CR" is the most realized album Pavement ever did -- the dead spots are lulls in the action before things peak again . Course, this was the last Pavement album I had on tape, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-11-19 18:37:30 +0000

I do think "Brighten The Corners" works as a whole too, if that's how you're defining "realized." The "filler" songs on Crooked Rain never struck me as a minus oddly enough.

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-11-19 18:40:47 +0000

Initial infatuation with "Cut Yor Hair" aside, I always thought of "Cr, Cr" as an album. "Slanted," too, and it's funny because I like the filler stuff on "Slanted" better than on "Cr, Cr" but think the latter hangs together better as a whole.

Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-11-19 19:00:53 +0000

For the 8000 and 8001st times:

Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-11-19 19:12:12 +0000

Gotta love youtube:

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-11-19 19:52:05 +0000

I watched this live in the TV lounge of Engelhardt the night it was on. God, what a bunch of dicks. Check out Bob's "Buzz or Howl" shirt. Hot!