The Hard Quartet – Recliner Notes

Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man”

From the perspective of hindsight, March 6, 2020 turned out to be a bad time for Stephen Malkmus to release an album. Within weeks of the record’s release date, Malkmus’s beloved NBA suspended their season, schools in the United States began closing down, and individual states started to shut down bars and restaurants. Travel bansContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man””

Stephen Malkmus Series: “Cast Off”

“Cast Off” is the lead-off track of 2018’s Sparkle Hard, the last album that Stephen Malkmus released with the Jicks: The song and album open with a dramatic chord and then Jicks’ keyboardist Mike Clark plays a beautifully gentle passage on the piano, which is repeated a few times with variations to create a senseContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Cast Off””

Stephen Malkmus Series: “Freeze the Saints”

Stephen Malkmus is one of our great melodists and balladeers. There are so many other aspects to his music to that compete with this simple statement, whether it’s the obvious influence of The Fall on his early songwriting, the Zeitgeist-y “reflection of a generation” labels forced on Pavement’s music, or Malkmus’s gradual acceptance of hisContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Freeze the Saints””

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””

A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Malkmus had a good year. It was also a busy one for the singer, songwriter, and guitar deity as it included the launch of a new band, more reunion tour dates with foundational 90s indie band Pavement, high-profile interviews, and the premier of a movie which featured his younger self. What follows are 10Continue reading “A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus”