Pavement Singer Wraps Up Solo Debut

Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus will reemerge around Valentine's Day with the release of his first solo album. Although Pavement have not officially called it quits, "It's as official as it'll ever be," says a Matador Records spokesperson.

Slated for a February 13, 2001 release on Matador Records, the fourteen-track album was initially titled "Swedish Reggae," but that name has since been retracted with a new one to come shortly. In a Ramones-y move, Malkmus and his new players (bassist Joanna Bolme and sometime Fastbacks drummer John Moen) each adopted the surname "Jick" and were in fact at one point calling the band "The Jicks," though officials at Matador assure us that the record will be released under Malkmus' name alone. The album was recorded in Malkmus' current hometown of Portland, Ore., at Supernatural Sound with the singer/guitarist himself handling all production duties and Jeff Saltzman (Sunset Valley, King Black Acid, Orange Peels) engineering.

"It's definitely Pavement-y," says the Matador spokesperson. "'Looser' is a good word for it. It's not a country record, it's not a singer-songwriter record, it's not a Scandinavian reggae record. There's some stuff that's goofier and funner than Pavement stuff and some stuff that's a lot more touching or moving than Pavement stuff."

As for the oft-discussed but never seen Pavement DVD video compilation, Slow Century, the spokesperson claims that particular gem's been placed on indefinite hold with no official release date in sight.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter