Two hours ago, a writer and poet, Bethany Jarmal, tweeted a prompt that interested me. She suggested picking one of the books in your collection at random. The author suggested looking at six to eight words on page 29 of the book and writing from those.
It sounds interesting, and I thought I’d check out Robbed of Sleep (Stories to Stay Up For). The eight words I liked on page 29 of ‘THEM IRON EYES CODY BLUES’ by JOHN BODEN were:
Brilliant orange in contrast to the blackest black
While touring Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain in 1994, Pavement played a strange composition titled Orange, Black. The band has performed on John Peel’s BBC radio show more than once (they’re excellent).
What does Steve Malkmus’ orange and black symbolize? He gets breathless singing those words on the track.
Once I burned this song to a mix CD for a friend of mine who enjoyed weird music. What she said hearing this was “What’s wrong?”
“Did he forget to take his medication?”
I just heard a rock musician being cool. The track is listed as Brink of the Clouds Brink of the Clouds
Yesterday The Smile released what I’m guessing is their sophomore album. I watched on YouTube the song Bending Hectic. The Smile – Bending Hectic
The lyrics include, “If you’ve got something to say, say it now.” The video presentation includes eyes on orange much like the cover for the 1997 Pavement LP Brighten the Corners. As Pavement has played loads of tour dates this year and last, Nigel Goderich, the unofficial “sixth member” of Radiohead (the band that preceded The Smile) produced the final Pavement record Terror Twilight in 1999.
I’m sure it was a lot of work, but it is well done. I wonder why The Smile would seem to reference Brighten the Corners in art from their new release.
It is the oldest popular music festival in existence today. In the last five decades, Reading Festival has hosted big bands and acts, such as Nirvana in 1992, Paramore in 2014, and Metallica in 1997.
Reading ’92
If you want to listen to some nineteen-nineties-era rock that you could share with friends, you should have no problem finding Pavement’s discography. They are an unparalleled example of a fun, witty rock and roll band, that won accolades and a level of popularity that has helped their discography endure.
What happened?
It was on 23 August, during their two-week Europe tour with rock band Sonic Youth, that the band played at Reading, an approximately 40-minute set.
Pavement was a five-member band, although Stephen Malkmus, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, and Gary Young alone formed the band in 1989. Pavement recorded the music at Gary’s studio, Louder than you Think.
The song from those sessions includes Box Elder, seeming to be about leaving town in frustration, which enjoyed some interest. The Chicago record label Drag City handled it.
Why it was so awesome
On 23 August, ’91, the band was playing on the strengths of a 7″ single, Summer Babe (Winter Version), and three earlier EPs. The first full-length LP was a big deal, as Matador Records was working to help make Pavement a name for themselves. Meanwhile, Geffen Records was getting Sonic Youth major success, Sonic Youth having previously been shoegazers known for their song Death Valley ’69.
Both Sonic Youth and Pavement are influential music acts.
Despite obscurity in 1991, Pavement was becoming a success. Pavement’s most recent album now is Quarantine the Past, and the time seems right for both old songs and unseen material.
The unreleased songs from Pavement won’t be hard to find. Bandcamp is making it available in different formats in April. Besides the reissue of Spit on a Stranger from 1999, there is a set of all their music.
You don’t need to hear the complete collection if Pavement interests you. You could begin with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which is their best-known release.
What the band said about Reading
The members of Sonic Youth and Pavement became pretty good friends. When Malkmus turned his attention to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, he sold a lot of units, but not as much of Pavement’s music after that found the same popularity.
Certainly, it would have been more difficult to make videos that would have been more popular with MTV audiences. Still, the two videos Pavement released with Wowee Zowee in 1995 were, in one instance, simply a bathtub filled with water, and, in the second one, the band appeared to be in a country-rock video, even though they were known for their straightforward rock music.
Perhaps Malkmus was being difficult. I like the Father to a Sister of Thought video, but Wowee Zowee obviously had little chance to break into the country music market, being an experimental rock album.
You can’t see them, but they were great!
You can get an idea of what they were like with the second CD from Slanted and Enchanted Luxe and Reduxe, where, for example, the discs include the song Frontwards from the Watery, Domestic EP, in both its studio recording and also played live, at Brixton Academy, in December of 1992.
An MTV video from 1995 of Pavement talking at Reading can be seen on YouTube. You can watch how they handled themselves when they are talking somewhat candidly.
Pavement is a band that you might find interesting if only for the sake of hearing songs that are both unique and entertaining. Like Range Life, from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or In the Mouth a Desert, on Slanted and Enchanted. Artistically, Stephen Malkmus is competent.
“Thanks for coming to Reading Festival this year. As you probably already know, we’ve got a few of our most interesting acts playing live on the Main Stage: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against The Machine and Megan Thee Stallion. We also have other great names, such as Bring Me The Horizon and Halsey.”
I’m joking, I’m not a Reading Festival emcee 😉 Those artists are apparently in for Reading this year, however.
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