i dunno, i've been listening to lots of Pavement lately. why not.

KPH

first song sounds good on paper, but really, there's nothing special about it. it sounds like it could've been recorded in a small nightclub (like O'Brien's, for those of you familiar) and probably had about as amazing an impact as any show there. i realize that they're doing different things, but i feel like Jason Molina and Magnolia could just run the table on Malkmus...

KPH

I thought this would contain an actual opinion on Pig Lib. Oh, how wrong I was.

EDIT: ah, it's one of those play-by-play threads.

I've been warming up more and more to Pavement, and I can now say unequivocally that I like S+E and CR,CR (I got both reissues for Christmas). I listened to Pig Lib before I had ever heard any Pavement, and I really don't remember what it sounds like.

I keep forgetting I actually own this CD. I don't know why I haven't listened to it much given I tore the first Malkmus record apart.

song #2. could be a more mature, focused cousin to discretion grove.
so far, really liking this, although the "restrained" mix of the drums (the ride is way too muted) takes away some of its impact. actually, i could see this song being quite essential without anything but the keyboards and the vocals. i see why he's keeping the guitar mixed low throughout, but i could use with some filling out.

enough about the mix though. good song, could've been much more interesting.

KPH

song #3. good sequencing, nice intro - actually sounds elemental to the song, unlike the pointless intro of song #1. oh yeah, do not feed the oysters... i remember liking this song quite a lot when it leaked. so far everything is note perfect about this song (first chorus just passed into this odd build/jam thing). nice instrumental parts in general. must put this one back into rotation.

also, i really love how oysters opens up at the end. good song.

KPH

song #4 vanessa von queens
more good sequencing.
fits with the general aesthetic of the album. i never quite get why people have to flange/phase/wah single guitar lines. some of SM's vocal performance on this one is just plain uninteresting, esp. in light of the overdubbed chorus vox.
somehow...this song just sounds unfinished - the vox sound so self-satisfied and the lack of PRESENCE in the dynamics really takes away from what could be a pretty solid song. i always loved the outro bit.

hey people can disagree or agree and stuff.

KPH

song5 - sheets
first interesting drum lines and performance of the record, of course it kinda loses me after 30 seconds.
i imagine this must be a pretty fucking cool song live. SM actually sounds into this one.
nice mood/key change after chorus 2.
see this is one of the Pig Lib songs - like oysters - where shit just makes sense. the guitar solos fit the song, the pacing is spot-on, the performances are actually motivated. bravo jicks.
although the ending is a bit of a copout...

KPH

Keep it comin, Kev.

Never heard the album, but like Haq, I've been coming around to Pavement.

I saw 'em one time, but all I did was get really drunk and ponder grilling Malkmus with a full beer can.

song6 animal midnight
another song where i think the mix doesn't do it much justice. also a song where i think pavement could've been a good match. the chords are a bit more advanced than his 90s chordbook, but still...bobby n. and spiral could've added an interesting spark to this one. oof, the half-bridge "animal midnight..." kinda sounds forced. good set-up for the guitar solo, but a solo should serve the song, not the other way around. ugh, still more forced Malkmus by SM. man, this outro instrumental portion/solo 2 would've been the shit on Terror Twilight. imagine what Godrich could've done with this...

KPH

7vns - drkwv
ha, "the single."
i dunno, there's really very little wrong with this song, although the verse reverb thing is a bit off. somehow the chorus bit never quite elevates the song though, ya know? lots of good ideas here though. pacing's a bit iffy - this drummer's really kinda shitty. again, imagine this song with some studio dynamics...i guess i almost feel like he decided to throw this one away, even though it had a lot of potential - not unlike, what is it, come home/2nd track on Downward is Heavenward? god i/m so bad with song titles. hmm.

KPH

ates which mtn bridge?
this one sounds like a lot of thought was put into it, so this little review probably won't do much for it
sounds very deliberately paced to start - is a big payoff coming? is this all a set-up for some big guitar/instrumental thing?
maybe it's the mastering that castrated this record. everything's so samey levelwise.
very muted song, despite some interesting guitar work, although the repetitive quality of the chord progression is getting to me.
sounds like a guitar solo is on the way and malkmus sounds about as interested as i am.
sigh.
nice change to the vocal/delay thing. makes me want more of that trend, less guitar.
oh hey, another verse. WHY NOT!
oh wait, that was a coda?

NEIN!!!!
craw song
cool, an acoustic, neat key/whatever those things are called.
nice vocal melody! way to go malky.
shit, good song. still, the understated, mid-tempo thing is just a bit boring. what was he referencing with this prod./mix aesthetic?
oof, he lost interest in the song by the 2nd chorus though. totally lost his pitch there.
and then it's over before you noticed. hmm.

zehn!!!
1%of1
oh right, the big epic that will redefine guitar or something. what did cosloy say about this? i mean, i'll say this for matador and the like: if you have 2 solo artists from 1 mega successful indie band, you'll probably always recoup your production and duplication costs - why not keep them on your roster?
i like how the solo idea starts off after the chorus, but again...this whole song reminds me of the problems i have writing songs - placeholder lyrics. sure, the point of the song is the instrumental portion, but does that mean we have to leave the set-up so lacking in substance? hell, the payoff isn't even all that interesting - wow, the guy's a guitarist, but is prone to a lot of tradrock technique and doesn't have much soul/substance to his performances - see Tweedy's solos on the first 3 A Ghost is Born tracks for examples of good stuff. don't get me wrong, the structural builds here are right and worth considering, but to what end? i don't hear anything crucial or even necessary happening. it's just an example of a song with the purpose of having all of these elements...as planned as a wedding on a saturday in may.

11 - Us
the first single/leak
i always thought this song was underrated at best. nice vocal line, the drums are straight out of 60s garage rock. it'd be neat if the bassist played with the beat, alas.
not much of a chorus to speak of, but the song sure means well.
maybe too traditionalist/plain sounding for pavement fans?
see, now this song could've used a big guitar solo, rather than these textural mood things, courtesy of a memory man.
it really gets grooving by verse 3, but still SOOO restrained. and the mix...sigh, the mix.
and...it just never really goes anywhere. good summation of the record, really.

KPH

alright, time to listen to Sung Tongs for like the tenth time today.

KPH

so that was kinda boring. hope i didn't bore y'all too much.

still, Sung Tongs is kicking so much ass right now after that experience. holy.

KPH

Never mind.

HERE WE COME MR AIRPLANE!

KPH

oh, sorry. didn't see your reply there. actually, substances have never done much for me in terms of altering my experience of music. kinda odd, really.

anyhow. to drink tonight, i had: 4 shots of black label and 1 fin du monde, which i am just close to finishing.

KPH

Good choice with the drinking, bad choice with the music...
As much as it pained me to trade in something SM had done, it pained me more to see it sitting on the shelf when I would look through my CDs for something to play...
I mean, Pig Lib? God God man, you must've been bored....

I like Pig Lib. I like it in the same way I like every Steely Dan album - for the guitars. Those a good guitars on there.

oh, i had been reading a thread on hipinion about TT vs. Pig Lib, and i got to thinking, well, first off, why exclude the self-titled effort, but then i started thinking, ya know, i haven't spent much time listening to Pig Lib since mid-2003. to top it off, i had regained a measure of respect for malkmus checking out the earlier pavement catalog via the re-releases, so why not revisit his solo stuff?

my conclusion: i think the mix really killed this record, but that these songs deserved better performances all around by another band...called pavement.

konstantinl - i actually think the guitar tone on Pig Lib is predictable at best *on the whole*. there are moments that can be striking, but my tastes run far more in the direction of Terror Twilight's guitar tone.

KPH

I have seen him 3x live and it got progressively more and more mediocre each time. The last time I saw him was on the Pig Lib tour, and my impression of the concert led me to not buy Pig Lib at the merch table like I had originally planned. And I prob won't go see him next time he is in town.