Matador Records
2001
Stephen Malkmus
About This Album
Much like the Pixies' Trompe Le Monde, Pavement's swan song, Terror Twilight, sounded a lot like a disguised solo album from the group's chief singer/songwriter, Stephen Malkmus. The album's polished production and earnest, ambitious songwriting -- not to mention lack of Scott Kannberg songs -- sounded miles away from the playful, slightly chaotic rock that made albums like Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain so exciting. Yet Malkmus' actual solo debut, aptly named Stephen Malkmus, reclaims some of the energetic creativity of Pavement's best albums. In fact, it sounds like the most fun he's had in a studio since Wowee Zowee. This may be because he didn't have to deal with the confines and expectations of a new Pavement album; Malkmus didn't originally plan to release the album through Matador, which possibly removed some of the pressure to make a "statement" with this collection. Which is good, because instantly catchy, zany songs like "Troubbble" might not have made it to the album. Stephen Malkmus begins with a rush of these vibrantly playful songs, including "Phantasies," a fey mix of falsetto vocals, pennywhistles, handclaps, marimbas, and other bizarre musical non sequiturs, and "JoJo's Jacket," a whimsical, stream-of-consciousness ode to Yul Brenner: "Perhaps you saw me in Westworld/I acted like a robotic cowboy/It was my best role/I cannot deny/I felt right home deep inside/that electronic carcass.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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