Thursday, September 09, 2010
everything's ending here
Fast-forward a few years to my final year of high school. Pavement was set to play the Vogue in support of Terror Twilight. The trouble was, I didn't have any friends who liked Pavement, and, at that age, the idea of going to a show by myself wasn't an option in my head. As luck would have it, about a week before the show, my cousin let me know she was going to be in town and would love to go to the show with me. Triumphant, I bussed to the mall to scoop up two tickets... only to find out that it had been sold out for weeks.
So, Tuesday night was about a decade in the making.
I like Quasi, but I was never a huge fan. That said, the combination of Pitchfork's 90's list-acular last week and the fact that post-Sleater-Kinney, I'll celebrate any opportunity to watch Janet Weiss do her thing behind a drum kit, made their opening set a welcome addition.
By all accounts, Pavement were never known for their live show. And, from a performance standpoint, they're still merely good, not great. They're not super tight (though, if they were, it wouldn't really be Pavement, would it?), Malkmus looks like he's bored most of the time, and save for Bob Nastanovich, the rest of guys aren't the liveliest bunch to take the stage together either. But that wasn't really the point.
While my friend (a longtime Pavement fan) quipped that it was "the make sure Bob has a retirement fund" tour, this was about giving fans who missed the band the first time around a chance to hear songs live for the first time and older fans a little nostalgia trip. And that's just what was delivered.
Sean has the full 27-song setlist (plus a review of his own) up. And, while I could quibble about what they did and didn't include, if you were coming for a greatest hits set, you more or less got what you paid for.
now playing: Spacehog - In the Meantime
Thursday, September 13, 2007
five times forever and you'll never get lost
download: Pavement - We Dance
The other day I had a debate with my girlfriend, where I contended that I didn't care about the cultural context of a piece of music. In fact, I think I made the assertion that it didn't matter at all. Before anyone goes and tells me that I'm wholly wrong, I'll tell you that I'm already aware of that. I get wrapped in an argument sometimes, what can I say? At any rate, while it would be foolhardy to proclaim that any piece of art can exist in the vacuum, I will stand by the statement that - at least when it comes to music (and I don't pretend to know much about anything else) - the cultural context is much less important than the personal one.
There are times when cultural and personal importance overlap. If you ask anyone who grew up in the 60s about the Beatles, they can attest to that. But, especially amongst hardcore music fans, there's often a special place in one's heart that's reserved for songs that haven't made a lasting impact on a wide range of people, but have made an important impact on you. "We Dance" is one of those songs for me.
If you took a poll of Pavement fans, chances are that the first track from Wowee Zowee might rank as some people's favourite, and it would probably crack the top 10 with a lot of listeners. It isn't however, consistently ranked amongst their "seminal" compositions. It's not "Summer Babe," "Range Life," or "Shady Lane." And it certainly wasn't the minor hit that "Cut Your Hair" was. In fact, I don't think it was even a single. None of that matters.
While we do - sometimes to her chagrin - end up seeing a lot of live music together, my girlfriend and I have a surprising lack of overlap when it comes to the music we enjoy. Pavement, however, is one of those bands that we can both profess at least some sort of fandom for. They were - and she might come and correct me here - one of the first bands that she was really into. They were also one of the first bands that sent me down the path that led to listening to more than hip hop and the radio. So, when I indulged in the cliche music dork pastime of crafting her a mixtape for the first time, I made sure to voice my affection through Stephen Malkmus' awkward lyrics, by tracking down the alternate mix of "We Dance" (which really isn't all that different from the original).
Back to the debate... once I'd been put on the defensive (which happens often in such situations), I conceded that cultural criticism is much more interesting than some expression about one's personal attachment. The way you personally connect with a song can make it a hundred times more meaningful than the way that piece of music fits into the larger picture, but it's much harder to articulate the personal connection to a wider audience in any sort of interesting way. So, sorry if this was boring for you, but really, what are blogs for, if not self-absorbed writing that only interests a few people. Hopefully, this little diatribe interested at least one person other than me.
Happy Birthday, Regan.
now playing: the Fiery Furnaces - Duplexes of the Dead
everything's ending here
When I was about 14-years-old, my cousin lent me every Pavement record (at that time everything from Westing to Wowee Zowee). I actually didn't fall in love with the band right away, but at some point "Summer Babe" grabbed me, and then "Silence Kit," and it went from there.
Fast-forward a few years to my final year of high school. Pavement was set to play the Vogue in support of Terror Twilight. The trouble was, I didn't have any friends who liked Pavement, and, at that age, the idea of going to a show by myself wasn't an option in my head. As luck would have it, about a week before the show, my cousin let me know she was going to be in town and would love to go to the show with me. Triumphant, I bussed to the mall to scoop up two tickets... only to find out that it had been sold out for weeks.
So, Tuesday night was about a decade in the making.
I like Quasi, but I was never a huge fan. That said, the combination of Pitchfork's 90's list-acular last week and the fact that post-Sleater-Kinney, I'll celebrate any opportunity to watch Janet Weiss do her thing behind a drum kit, made their opening set a welcome addition.
By all accounts, Pavement were never known for their live show. And, from a performance standpoint, they're still merely good, not great. They're not super tight (though, if they were, it wouldn't really be Pavement, would it?), Malkmus looks like he's bored most of the time, and save for Bob Nastanovich, the rest of guys aren't the liveliest bunch to take the stage together either. But that wasn't really the point.
While my friend (a longtime Pavement fan) quipped that it was "the make sure Bob has a retirement fund" tour, this was about giving fans who missed the band the first time around a chance to hear songs live for the first time and older fans a little nostalgia trip. And that's just what was delivered.
Sean has the full 27-song setlist (plus a review of his own) up. And, while I could quibble about what they did and didn't include, if you were coming for a greatest hits set, you more or less got what you paid for.
now playing: Spacehog - In the Meantime
Labels: pavement, show recaps
Thursday, September 13, 2007
five times forever and you'll never get lost
One Song: Perfect Songs for an Imperfect World
download: Pavement - We Dance
The other day I had a debate with my girlfriend, where I contended that I didn't care about the cultural context of a piece of music. In fact, I think I made the assertion that it didn't matter at all. Before anyone goes and tells me that I'm wholly wrong, I'll tell you that I'm already aware of that. I get wrapped in an argument sometimes, what can I say? At any rate, while it would be foolhardy to proclaim that any piece of art can exist in the vacuum, I will stand by the statement that - at least when it comes to music (and I don't pretend to know much about anything else) - the cultural context is much less important than the personal one.
There are times when cultural and personal importance overlap. If you ask anyone who grew up in the 60s about the Beatles, they can attest to that. But, especially amongst hardcore music fans, there's often a special place in one's heart that's reserved for songs that haven't made a lasting impact on a wide range of people, but have made an important impact on you. "We Dance" is one of those songs for me.
If you took a poll of Pavement fans, chances are that the first track from Wowee Zowee might rank as some people's favourite, and it would probably crack the top 10 with a lot of listeners. It isn't however, consistently ranked amongst their "seminal" compositions. It's not "Summer Babe," "Range Life," or "Shady Lane." And it certainly wasn't the minor hit that "Cut Your Hair" was. In fact, I don't think it was even a single. None of that matters.
While we do - sometimes to her chagrin - end up seeing a lot of live music together, my girlfriend and I have a surprising lack of overlap when it comes to the music we enjoy. Pavement, however, is one of those bands that we can both profess at least some sort of fandom for. They were - and she might come and correct me here - one of the first bands that she was really into. They were also one of the first bands that sent me down the path that led to listening to more than hip hop and the radio. So, when I indulged in the cliche music dork pastime of crafting her a mixtape for the first time, I made sure to voice my affection through Stephen Malkmus' awkward lyrics, by tracking down the alternate mix of "We Dance" (which really isn't all that different from the original).
Back to the debate... once I'd been put on the defensive (which happens often in such situations), I conceded that cultural criticism is much more interesting than some expression about one's personal attachment. The way you personally connect with a song can make it a hundred times more meaningful than the way that piece of music fits into the larger picture, but it's much harder to articulate the personal connection to a wider audience in any sort of interesting way. So, sorry if this was boring for you, but really, what are blogs for, if not self-absorbed writing that only interests a few people. Hopefully, this little diatribe interested at least one person other than me.
Happy Birthday, Regan.
now playing: the Fiery Furnaces - Duplexes of the Dead
