Malkmus Malkmus

I may have expressed my passion for obsession with Stephen Malkmus (MySpace) prior to today on BBBD, but I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt and saying no ... no, I didn't.

So here, I'll let it all out (if not in slightly abridged format):
Stephen Malkmus and Pavement represented one of the first bands that I really got into. I was the biggest fan. I bought all the albums, and when those became obsolete, I bought the remastered albums with bonus tracks and discs. And when those became dated, I started reading the literature, re-reading the linear notes, digging up video clips and old photographs. Malkmus & Co. have been a persistent inspiration in my life, and while I don't voice it as much as I do with say, the Unicorns or Joy Division, don't be fooled -- Malkmus, Pavement, all of that ... heaven to me.

So I'm writing this on behalf of the band, on behalf of the new album, Real Emotional Trash. The LP is fantastic; the band's best and most mature (okay, duh). Malkmus and the Jicks have gone a little more stoner, a little more jammer, a little more psychedelic that I'd thought they would've, but hey, I love it. The songs are just as oblique, winding, and bizarre as ever ("Dragonfly wants a piece of pie"; "I traipsed over the Mexican border in a caravan van" [?]) ... the songs are as hooky and complex and meticulous yet nonchalant and relaxed as you'd expect ... and, of course, Malkmus retains his twenty-something-style vocals while simultaneously emitting "infinite wisdom" (or maybe just a uh ... different wisdom).

It rocks. It rocks. It rocks. Ahhhh ...
Okay, download the songs below, check out the cool videos from the past after the jump. Have yourself a damn good time.

Stephen Malkmus - Baltimore

Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash (Live)