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Slanted and Enchanted Luxe and Redux

Pavement

Matador Records

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Slanted and Enchanted Luxe and Redux

Pavement

Matador Records

Amidst the flamboyant packaging of the Slanted and Enchanted reissue are Pavement’s frank, organic sound and indirect lyrics. The 1991 album is being rereleased for its 10th anniversary with all the perks, including 13 additional unreleased tracks, several tracks from 1992’s John Peel sessions and live recordings from a 1992 show at Brixton Academy in London.

The reissue, Luxe and Redux, has a thick book of liner notes that hold the story of the album’s haphazard creation in apartments and garages from the individual band members’ perspectives, along with photos, lyrics and commentary from friends and critics. According to Pavement guitarist Stephen Malkmus, “preppy scumrock (an artsy form of grunge) ruled the [East Coast] scene,” when the band originally recorded Slanted and Enchanted.

Pavement converged in 1989 in Stockton, Ca., following the skewed rock styles of underground acts such as The Fall, Sebadoh and My Bloody Valentine. Guitarists and vocalists Malkmus and Scott Kannberg had by then finished college at the University of West Virginia and recorded the 7-inch EP Slay Tracks (1933-1969) with ex-hippie Gary Young shakily keeping time on drums. Malkmus and Kannberg added Bassist Mark Ibold and second drummer Bob Nastanovich to complete the band and record Slanted and Enchanted, according to Allmusic.com.

The Slay Tracks EP was recorded for $800 on the indie label Treble Kicker, later reaching British disk jockey John Peel, which led to the Peel sessions which eventually lead to more sessions, touring, signing with Matador records and the release of Slanted and Enchanted. The Watery Domestic sessions tracks included on the reissue are the last recordings with Young before he was asked to leave the band because of his bizarre antics and erratic drumming.

Pavement released several more albums, playing the fifth Lollapalooza main stage along with Beck and Sonic Youth, but never quite reached top-40 status. The band split for several side projects, but toured extensively before officially splitting up in 1999. Kannberg reunited with Young in 2000, and Malkmus recorded with several bands, eventually releasing his solo album in 2001.

Slanted and Enchanted showcases Pavement at its most daring and rawest-sounding, especially with the upbeat tracks “Conduit for Sale!” and the brief, feedback-heavy “Chesley’s Little Wrists.” Once Young was replaced with drummer Steve West, the band consequently refined and polished its sound. Slanted and Enchanted is a dense, filler-free album that epitomizes the sound of the ’90s – immediately one can hear Wilco, Gomez and Weezer within its songs. Yet no single structure or trend smothers this influential album – only earnest songwriting and an energetic, unaffected spirit dominate it.