So why is Pavement’s Slanted & Enchanted on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Pavement remains one of the least “accessible” bands that I’ve managed to get really into, and Slanted & Enchanted is their best overall album.
What I mean by not “accessible” is that Pavement is a band that does not conform to expectations, whether its by way of genre or by way of eclectic song structures. One of the things that I still have the hardest time with – and this goes for other great bands who do thing kind of thing, Sonic Youth at the top of that list – is sections that delve into mercilessly screechy noise rock and feedback.
But then a song like “In the Mouth a Desert” just clicks with me and I totally get it, totally get the band and I’m absolutely loving it. Listening to the song as I write this song I very much hear Weezer (many years before the blue album debuted of course) meets Pixies sound. Which for me is high praise indeed. But, again, it could be that on the umpteenth listen for me and yet still very much be its own thing.
“Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17” mixes lo-fi with alternative rock, unusual chord structures, and Stephen Malkmus’ unusual vocal delivery in a way that becomes equal parts offbeat and pleasing.
“Zürich Is Stained” feels a little like Sonic Youth doing lo fi, and that’s a mode that I’m endlessly happy with Pavement pursuing.
“No Life Singed Her” gets loud and noisy but is reined in enough for my taste to net out as an exciting, dirty sounding alt rocker. Okay, it gets a little screechy at the end but I’ll forgive it.
Some stats & info about Pavement – Slanted & Enchanted
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Lo-fi, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Rock Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #199
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Slanted & Enchanted released? 1993
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #593 out of 1,000
Pavement’s Slanted & Enchanted on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Pavement’s Slanted & Enchanted that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’ve been crowned the King of Id, and Id is all we have, so wait to hear my words and they’re diamond sharp.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.