Music Gems: Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted
A few weeks ago, I discovered that Amazon.com was holding this nifty sale on indie CDs. This was like waving a red flag to a bull. Indie CDs for 9.99 or less?! I am so there. So I browsed through the selections and ordered an initial batch of CDs (I still need to be conscious about my budget). One of the best titles on my recent haul was the remastered and expanded CD of Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted.
Slanted and Enchanted, for me, is one of the most important albums of the 90’s. It practically ushered in the indie rock movement and served as template to many other indie rock acts that emerged in its wake. As most seminal albums go, Slanted and Enchanted quietly arrived and slowly built its reputation as a rock classic through incessant recommendations from fans and the support of independent and underground music magazines. This happened at a time when there was still no internet to speak of (well, no internet the way it is today) and the indie movement survived on just word of mouth and the enthusiasm of its supporters. I myself discovered Slanted and Enchanted when a friend of mine gave me an old zine in which one writer was raving about it. Of course, I just had to get a copy just to see what the fuss was all about. I still remember when I got my hands on the cassette tape and popped it in my player. I wasn’t expecting much – but boy was I in for the surprise of my life!
From the opening beats of Summer Babe I knew that Stephen Malkmus and company has made an album was going to knock the wind out of me. The world melted away as I fell into the world that Pavement was painting to me through its music. Here is a bunch of songs that sounds so effortless and nonchalant but at the same time almost sags with its creative weight. I played the life out of that tape and when my tape practically disintegrated I bought the CD.
And now I have the remastered CD on my hands and guess what? I’m still having a lot of fun listening to it! This is the mark of a great album – 15 years after it was released and it still sounds as relevant today as it was then.
+++++
I just want to give a shout out to my dad, who I always remember whenever I play Slanted and Enchanted. This was his favorite album too and he would always request that I play Zurich is Stained for him.
I love you, dad. Kisses to heaven…
Pavement, indie rock, Slanted and Enchanted
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
[...] a huge Pavement fan and I really lucked out during the last sale when I got the two-disc remastered Slanted and Enchanted for 10 dollars. In this sale both the remastered two-disc editions of both Wowee Zowee and Crooked [...]