WZ&Y

I don't remember how or when I started listening to Pavement, though it seems I've always known of their importance (as, like the gigantic poster that shipped with the Wowee Zowee reissue says, a "radically seminal band"). I accepted Slanted & Enchanted as a masterwork and loved Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain twice as much; I found their last two albums had their moments, too. But Wowee Zowee, I gathered, was their weird record, and I didn't think I could handle an already weird band's self-indulgent experiments. So, many years later and mostly due to a terrific reissue campaign, I finally listen to Wowee Zowee.

And it's as wildly, impossibly revelatory as those first two albums were. Just listen, if you haven't already, to "We Dance," the majestic acoustic number (with faux-Brit vocals, in good taste) that opens the album.

Pavement - We Dance [mp3]

What follows illustrates the variation the album is known for--the stomp of "Rattled By The Rush" leads to slides on "Father To A Sister Of Thought" leads to "Kennel District"'s insistent fuzz--and, in their sweet slacker way, they pull it off.

The Sordid Sentinels Edition comes, like the two Pavement reissues before it, chock-full of goodies. "Easily Fooled" is, like, the most Pavement song I've ever heard.

Pavement - Easily Fooled [mp3]

EDIT: Perhaps this is because I have heard it before, only under the guise of "The Sutcliffe Catering Song" on the Crooked Rain reissue.

buy Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition here

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YOU GUYS NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT PALMS OUT SOUNDS' REMIX SUNDAYS (get on that).

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I just got through listening to Joanna Newsom's Ys, and I am in disbelief. This is beyond good, this is another level. More on that later. Have you heard M. Ward doing her "Sadie"? While I don't agree with the assertion that Ward does other people better than Ward does Ward, I will say that his covers are uniformly exceptional. Here, he begins in medias res, and once you recognize where he is, he's already bringing it home.

M. Ward - Sadie (Joanna Newsom cover) [mp3]

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Finally, I've never heard Will Oldham like this. Actually, I've never heard a song like this. It's goofy and rousing and really, really damn good.

Pink Nasty - Don't Ever Change (ft. Bonnie "Prince" Billy) [mp3]

visit Pink Nasty online