Many of Stephen Malkmus’s songwriting contemporaries and forebears invite grand metaphors when considering their work. On this site alone, I’ve written about the closing of the American West in Bill Callahan’s songs “Drover” and “Baby’s Breath” as well as the hero’s journey and Guy Debord’s concept of dérive in “Where Are You Tonight? (Journey ThroughContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Lariat””
Tag Archives: Grateful Dead
Stephen Malkmus Series: “Real Emotional Trash”
As Stephen Malkmus moved further away from his Pavement tenure and put out more solo albums, a pattern began to emerge. Each record was a response to the previous one. Whereas Stephen Malkmus was a platform for him as a songwriter and indie music figurehead, Pig Lib was a full-on rock and roll band albumContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Real Emotional Trash””
Stephen Malkmus Series: “Water and a Seat”
When Matador Record released Stephen Malkmus’s first album in 2001, there was a concerted effort on their part to establish Malkmus as a solo artist and offer this new stage of his career as distinct from Pavement. Most of the contemporary reviews of the album couldn’t help but push this same narrative. Though there’s some quirkinessContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Water and a Seat””
Tim Barnes’s Inside Energy
Earlier this year, I interviewed Ken Brown/Bundy K. Brown, musician, producer, engineer, and original member of Tortoise and Gastr del Sol, about his musical project Jungle Boogie. During our conversation, Ken shared that one of the early configurations of Jungle Boogie was Ken and drummer Britt Walford playing with their friend Tim Barnes. Brown relatedContinue reading “Tim Barnes’s Inside Energy”
Roadhouse
A few months ago, I took to social media to officially pronounce my separation from the word “choogle.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s a musical description — some even may refer to it as a genre — that originated with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969 song “Keep on Chooglin’.” During the song, John FogertyContinue reading “Roadhouse”
Drainface
With the release of the album YTI⅃AƎЯ in October 2022, Bill Callahan shared with Paste Magazine the sonic approach that he took for the recording: “I started becoming more interested in rock music again, so I started thinking more in terms of a band type of record…It seemed like, after the pandemic, I needed allContinue reading “Drainface”
Let Me See the Colts
In 2003, Bill Callahan, still releasing music under the band name Smog, put out the album Supper. The fifth track, placed at the heart of the album, is a song titled “Vessel in Vain”: The song opens with the sounds of twin twinkling from the guitar and keyboard as Callahan sings the opening lines: “IContinue reading “Let Me See the Colts”
Teenage Spaceship
In the year 1999, the singer, songwriter, and guitar player Bill Callahan had released six full-length albums and a number of cassettes and EPs under the name Smog. Smog was not an actual band, but rather Callahan with an as-needed rotating cast of musicians. Smog’s earliest releases were abrasive and jarring, mixing noise experiments withContinue reading “Teenage Spaceship”
Country Darkness
It all starts with sweet tea, Sweet Tea Recording Studio in Oxford, Mississippi, to be more precise. In 2004, Elvis Costello once again teamed up with his backing band The Imposters and recorded the album The Delivery Man at Sweet Tea. Armed with a batch of new songs, Costello was yearning to make another rockContinue reading “Country Darkness”
When I Paint My Masterpiece
The crime novelist James Ellroy, who is known for giant and intricate novels such as L.A. Confidential and American Tabloid, opens his public appearances book readings with a hyperbolic self introduction. Here’s one version: “Good evening peepers, prowlers, pederasts, panty-sniffers, punks and pimps. I’m James Ellroy, the demon dog with the hog-log, the foul owlContinue reading “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
Recliner Notes 