Monday, March 29th, 2004

Perfect Sound Forever

Watching the Slow Century DVD has gotten me on a real Pavement jag. I’m somewhat annoyed with myself that it took me so many years to finally be able to wrap my head around what they do. I’d tried to get into them during their heyday, but besides the singles off of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, I just wasn’t able to appreciate their quirky brilliance. And now that I’ve I’ve seen the light, the band is gone and all I can do is follow SM and Spiral Stairs’ solo careers and hope to catch some glimpse of what they were in their prime (seeing PSOI on Thursday, for example). And watch the movies. And anticipate more archival releases like the Crooked Rain deluxe package this Fall.

Oh God, is this what classic rock syndrome feels like? “Zep rules!!!”

PJ Harvey’s new album is called Uh Hu Her and out May 31 in the UK, presumably June 1 in North America. NME has specifics and the tracklisting. Update: JAM! reports a June 8 North American release date.

At a friend’s urging, I rented The Tao Of Steve this weekend and have begun reading Cad: Confessions Of A Toxic Bachelor. The former is a good-natured comedy starring no one in particular about an overweight fellow who still manages to be a ladies man, but is prompted to reconsider his lifestyle when he meets someone new and blah blah blah, you can guess the rest. Lightweight but alright. The latter is pretty much as the title implies – the non-fictional exploits of a cad. I’ve barely started so I can offer too much comment, but I’m pretty sure it’ll make me ashamed of my gender.

It’s taken me all season, but I’ve finally just about secured last place in my hockey pool. It was touch and go for a while, but I think ultimately I will be proven to have had the correct instincts in picking the worst possible combination of players. I’d like to thank all the underachievers, the injury prone and everyone else who made this possible. Feh.

Not much going on today. Decemberists tonight!

np – Pavement / Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

By : Frank Yang at 9:42 am
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. Thom says:

    No one in particular? That’s what’s-his-face from Sneakers, Grounded for Life, and ummm…. well… nothing else comes to mind right off, but how dare you say that!!! hehehe… I dunno… I guess I could check imdb.com, but I did enjoy that movie.

  2. Frank says:

    Okay, yeah – Donal Logue struck a chord of familiarity, but he’s hardly a-list. I always thought he was a Scotsman for some reason.

  3. Paul says:

    I’ll always remember Donal Logue as "Jimmy the Cabdriver" on those old MTV spots from the early 90s, so he’s definitely A-List in my book.

    And, for a sitcom that was canned by Fox and reborn on the WB, "Grounded For Life" isn’t really that bad.

  4. Neil says:

    You might be interested in a forth coming book on Pavement called "Perfect Sound Forever : The Story of Pavement" by Rob Jovanovic. It will be released sometime in May.

  5. Five Seventeen says:

    Classic Rock Syndrome…

    I did a little experiment last month for a CD trade and put together a mixed CD where I took tracks ten years apart and put them in succession. Will I be buying a deluxe Rykodisc edition of Velocity Girl’s _Copacetic_ in 2024? and buying the newly released Neutral Milk Hotel album and debating whether or not to see the Yo La Tengo reunion tour?

    Nah, likely they’ll all follow the route of Big Star at best and Ultimate Spinach http://…/ at best.

  6. Five Seventeen says:

    I meant Ultimate Spinach at WORST…

  7. Ryan Waddell says:

    I loved Tao of Steve. Primarily because my roommate reminds me so much of Donal Logue’s character.

  8. Eva says:

    Bah. I wanted to see the Decemberists, but I have to play in my own concert. It’s not fair!

    *clones self*

  9. Frank says:

    So we’ve got a book on Pavement coming out in May, a book on Wilco coming out in June ("Learning How To Die" by Greg Kot)… This isn’t helping any argument against classic rock syndrome – not one bit.

    With all the late 80s/early 90s underground bands reuniting, it’s tough to avoid indulging in nostalgia – something that in principle I’m pretty strongly opposed to. Not that that’ll stop me from going to see the Pixies this summer.

    But remember – Live in past, die in the present. Eyes front, people.

  10. Carla says:

    Because of you pal I’ve decided to catch up on Wilco. Being the rabid Pavement fan that I am/once was, I’ll say it’s a fair exchange.

    So, a CR,CR deluxe edition and a book are being released this year eh? Keep up the good work with the bulletins, my good man. And I’ll see you at the ‘Shoe tonight.

  11. mishie says:

    ..you forgot to mention how totally cute mr. malkmus is! lol.

  12. Carla says:

    Nah, I was always more into Spiral Stairs myself.