I don't disagree about the shift in tone on TT. But I do fucking love that album. I like Malk's first solo album a lot too for what it's worth.

You seem to hate (at the exception of Neil Young) any singer / songwriter though...

"I Wish I Was Your Mother" especially. What a song.

Mott the Hoople was just so great band! Mad Shadows is my favourite, of course Mott rocks as hell!

John Zorn - The Illusionist

Isn't this story more about lunatic exegesis than SM's words? Dude, going from "career" to "Korea" sounds cool. That's it. End of story. I suppose I could pull out my Derrida and write up 1000 words (Times New Roman, double-spaced, due by Friday) arguing otherwise, but I'd have to be paid a lot.

And anyway, I'd still secretly believe that SM's words are about sounding cool. And they do sound cool, especially at the beginning. My only point is he's shallow, has never developed (he's actually gotten worse) and clearly doesn't have a coherent thought to share with the world.


Which makes me appreciate the good ones all the more. Besides, there are a number of very good and funny lyricists. Even Leonard Cohen has a sense of humor. I'm hard pressed to think of a great writer without wit. You're basically saying writers who suck suck.

Wait, I thought your beef against Zep was Plant's dick-waving words?

Bad lyrics distract, good lyrics are a nice treat on top, and great lyrics are an integral part of the song itself. I don't think one could swap out nursery rhymes for "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" and still hope to achieve the same effect. People join hands and sing the words to "We Shall Overcome," they don't just hum the tune. Some words have mattered a hell of a lot.

But I'll agree music is usually more important. I can think of exactly one artist I sometimes listen to whose words are amazing and whose music I don't care much for: Randy Newman. His lyrics are punk as fuck, but there are only about five or six tunes I really like.

These lyrics are as simple as can be, but I love em

I been up, I been down.
Take my word, my way around.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.
I been bad, I been good,
Dallas, Texas, Hollywood.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.
Take me back way back home,
not by myself, not alone.
I ain't askin' for much.
I said, Lord, take me downtown,
I'm just lookin' for some tush.

Wow. All this Pavement talk made me take a quick dash through Crooked which I haven't heard a note of in years and years. Oh, how the memories poured in, from the time in my life when this was growing into a favorite. Damn it's still a good record. No wonder I played it a thousand times. I even like how the second side starts to wane after "Range Life", then ends with a good epic-ish song--the very same sequence found on so many classic rock albums. And the rhyme "Shake their hand/Protein plan" is good stuff.

If they had swapped out "Hit the Plane Down" for "Grounded" and then broke up after the album's release, I'd probably be wearing a Pavement tattoo right now.

I like hit the plain down. It's very dumb of course, but that groove is an excellent Fall tribute. I used to have a major thing for "Fillmore Jive" as well, but it doesn't hit me quite like it used to.

I think "Grounded" would work on the album, for sure. But if things had gone down like that, we would have no Wowee Zowee. I know Wowee is a bit of a point of contention for Pavement fans. A sort of line in the sand that some OG's refuse to step across. But to me Wowee is a necessary album. Every great band should have at least one record that doesn't prop itself up great individual cuts, and instead only really works as an album. Kinda like Embryonic by the Lips, or even A Thousand Leaves. These albums all reveal their highlights over time, which is awesome. It forces the listener to process the album from the bottom up, instead of from the top down (so to speak).

I'm all for record like Crooked that work on a song by song basis, and get boosts from singles, but I also appreciate albums that stretch out the peaks and valleys over the course of the entire record. It makes for a more personal experience, in my opinion.

I enjoy talking about Pavement. It feels right again. I listened to S+E on the way home from work today and it was a very "hell yeah!" experience.

It's important to remember where you came from ;)

I don't believe in greatest band of all time debates.

That being said.... Pavement is the best band ever.

Exactly. With Wowee they became a real, almost normal band. And who needs that? I love how the early stuff is on the verge of falling apart but never quite collapses. Exciting stuff. Again, I don't think a healthy recording budget is Pavement's friend.


Can you imagine if that was also the last song they ever recorded? I mean, they'd be legends on a VU level, I think.

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Unrelated confession: everyday for the past week or so, I've been listening to "Subdivisions" by Rush. Can't seem to get through a 24 hour period without putting it on.

Really great sixties album! the Entity is lot better than those few songs I´ve heard before (at least Minha Menina & Bat Macumba, recently listen the whole album). Really love their funny psychedelia mixing Brasilian folk music! Have to listen their other albums too.

The opening song is one of my favorites ever, "Panis et Circenses"

Just listened Mutantes-album. It´s as great as the first one!

Fotheringay. Awesome!

You're right. The lyrics kind of suck too.