How does a nineties rock icon spend his free time? "Most mornings I make my daughter breakfast, take her to school and then flake around the house," says Stephen Malkmus, 42, checking in from Portland, Oregon, to discuss the albums and artists that have helped to shape his near-two-decade career. One thing not on Malkmus' agenda — yet — is a reunion of his former band, Pavement, whose 1997 album Brighten the Corners was just given a deluxe double-disc reissue. "It's a bit restrained musically, but lyrically it's solid," he says of the album now. As for the possibility of Pavement reuniting, "It's something to be optimistic about," he says. "We would want to practice a lot and rewrite the history books on Pavement's live shows. Every third gig was bad."

Radiohead OK Computer [Listen]
Malkmus didn't get into Radiohead's sci-fi-themed concept album until after he had completed Pavement's final disc, 1999's Terror Twilight, which was also helmed by OK Computer producer Nigel Godrich. "I found that this is a very comforting album when you need a shoulder to cry on," Malkmus says. "It has this sort of opiate sheen to it, and you can just get lost in it."

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Malkmus grew up in Stockton, California, and his first exposure to music came from raiding his parents' record collection. "They mostly had greatest-hits albums — one of them was Creedence Gold," he says. "I've always kind of appreciated straight-up rock & roll bands. When I play the jukebox at real-people bars, I'll flip past Guns n' Roses and Smashing Pumpkins and choose Creedence."

Carole KingTapestry [Listen]
Her 1971 smash was one of the few non-greatest-hits albums Malkmus' parents' owned. "When she became a superstar in the Seventies, she barely toured because she had kids," says Malkmus. "I really admire that. And I like that she wrote songs about orgasms."

High TideSea Shanties [Listen]
Tony Hill, the guitarist who played on the obscure British psych rockers' 1969 debut, was a big influence on the free-flowing lead-playing from Malkmus' recent albums. "He had a sort of post-Hendrix style," Malkmus says. "He was a mind melter."

Royal Trux
"They were probably the best band of the Nineties," says Malkmus, who toured with the noise-rock duo. "They were untouchable. Neil Hagerty would play violin and use hip-hop backing tracks, and it was like, 'Whoa, what are they gonna do next time?'"

The Fall
As a college student in the mid-Eighties, he met some fans of the English art-punk band. "They were like, 'The Fall is all there is — every other band is a joke,'" recalls Malkmus, who says he was listening to the Fall when he made Pavement's 1992 debut, Slanted and Enchanted. "There are two songs from that album — 'Our Singer' and 'Conduit for Sale!' — that are influenced by the Fall, almost to the point of copying them."

D.O.A.
Malkmus was very into this Vancouver punk group as a teenager. "I played bass in this jokey hardcore band called the Straw Dogs," Malkmus says. "We were supposed to play a show with D.O.A. It got canceled, but I hung out with the guitarist. He was really nice and not a junkie — which was, like, a 50-50 shot with hardcore guys then."

[From Issue 1070 — January 22, 2009]

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