Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
On their second full-length album (not counting a compilation of early singles and EPs), Pavement emerge from the noisy clang and clutter to reveal the once-hidden songcraft and passion that made their previous recordings so mysteriously fascinating. The mystery may have receded on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but the fascination increases, for this album confirms what we only suspected before: Pavement are a great rock & roll band. The two Stockton, California, slackers who founded the band in 1989 have mastered the pop alchemy of transforming the collision of impatient youthful desires and a hostile world into aching, melodic vocals and driving, melodic guitar riffs. The band's cofounders use an element of suspense to illustrate just how fragile romantic optimism really is. When Steve Malkmus yearns for a human connection in his suburban community ("Silence Kid," "Range Life") or in the alternative-rock scene ("Cut Your Hair," "Fillmore Jive"), the elegant melodies let us know that the yearning is unironic, while the unstable guitars let us know the prospects are bleak. On the album's last song, they bid "good-night to the rock & roll era" even as they're giving it a new lease on life. --Geoffrey Himes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins
Average customer rating:

Oh... Pavement... You make me smile

"Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins..."

Not A Masterpiece!

Back to the Gold Soundz

Some of the outtakes should remain as they were

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins
Pavement
Manufacturer: Matador Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Noise | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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Daydream Nation

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ASIN: B0003JAIYG
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Tracks:

Silence Kit
Elevate Me Later
Stop Breathin'
Cut Your Hair
Newark Wilder
Unfair
Gold Soundz
5-4=Unity
Range Life
Heaven Is A truck
Hit the Plane Down
Filmore Jive
Camera
Stare
Raft
Coolin' By Sound
Kneeling Bus
Strings Of Nashville
Exit Theory
5-4 Vocal
Jam Kids
Haunt You Down
Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence
Nail Clinic

Tracks:

All My Friends
Soiled Little Filly
Range Life
Stop Breathing
Ell Ess Two
Flux = Rad
Bad Version Of War
Same Way Of Saying
Hands Off The Bayou
Heaven Is A Truck (Egg Shell)
Grounded
Kennel District
Pueblo (Beach Boys)
Fucking Righteous
Colorado
Dark Ages
Flood Victim
JMC Retro
Rug Rat
Strings Of Nashville (Instrumental)
Instrumental
Brink Of The Clouds
Tartar Martyr
Pueblo Domain
The Sutcliffe Catering Song

Amazon.com

This deluxe double disc reissue is a superbly done follow-up to the treatment afforded Pavement's brilliant `92 debut Slanted & Enchanted. L.A.'s Desert Origins is a joy for fans, with the majority of the second disc previously unreleased demos and outtakes. Crooked Rain is enjoyable and has some of their best songs ("Range Life," "Gold Soundz," "Silence Kit") but it's a strange, transitional album by a band still a little wobbly on their prog-rock feet. With this '94 release, the stadium-ready lineup of the erudite garage group had solidified, though it was not quite solid. Erratic, eccentric producer/drummer Gary Young had been booted out of the band, whose previous recordings were primarily made by Scott Kannberg and Stephen Malkmus. With two percussionists and bassist Mark Ibold brought into the studio, Crooked Rain has a far warmer, less trebly sound to it. Among the many extras included on this expanded version are the band's two exceptional, unironic tributes to R.E.M. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews:

Oh... Pavement... You make me smile.......2007-07-14

Any critic, worth their salt, knows that Pavement is one of the most underrated bands of all time. This album is the shining star that proves it. Very few bands have the ability to marry Noise Rock with Pop sensibility and get away with it (Sonic Youth manages quite well). Pavement had the uncanny ability to create a beautiful (sometimes haunting) melody, drag it through the mud, kick it in the face, and then make sweet, sweet love to it. "Stop Breathing" does just that. "Cut Your Hair" is a jovial romp through the barber shop, that could lighten the heart of even the worst of skeptics. "Unfair" is that punch you in the face, angsty punk anthem that just makes my heart skip ten beats.
"5-4=Unity" is an experiment in time signatures and overtones that us geeks just go nuts for. Not to mention all those luscious bonus tracks (37 to be exact). Some of which are kind of "meh", but when the original album is this good, it's hard to justify a score drop.
The only real downside is the last three songs, from the original album ("Heaven Is A Truck", "Hit the Plane Down", and "Filmore Jive"). Not that they're bad, they just aren't as good as anything else pavement's done (hence the lack of a fifth star).
Nonetheless, get it. Get it now. It will change your life.

"Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins...".......2007-06-13

Pavement's second album is the one whereby previously dominant duo singer-guitarist Stephen Malkmus (S.M.) and guitarist Scott Kannberg (Spiral Stairs) rounded out their sound to integrate bassist Mark Ibold and percussionist Bob Nastanovich and become 90s alt-rock's slackest band.

Whereas 1992's Slanted & Enchanted's impudent lo-fi homage to The Fall had infuriated Mark E. Smith, the band - with drummer Steve West replacing the erratic Gary Young after he had jokingly pulled a gun on Malkmus - turned their attention to an incongruous take on, primarily, California surf-rock.

Malkmus' characteristically sardonic wordplay is at its most roguish on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, aiming affable barbs at The Fall, the Happy Mondays, the Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots. Crooked Rain... is something of an amalgam of the band's previous album and E.Ps, produced in more of a classic rock fashion, yet retaining their leftfield approach to songwriting and composition, harnessing the ramshackle aesthetic of Swell Maps, Sonic Youth-esque fuzz rush, R.E.M.-tinged despondency and the artful artlessness of The Replacements.

A further plus point of Crooked Rain... is that although the album is strikingly cohesive, the band pull off the feat of never repeating themselves, the album's twelve tracks skirting the boundaries of rock n roll, pop, balladry, jazz, jive, blues, punk and country to create a sound transcendent of each style's innate tropes.

The 2004 reissue of the record, entitled Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins is even more impressive, featuring 37 non-album tracks, some of which were altered and/or embryonic versions of songs that feature on the band's following album, 1995's Wowee Zowee.

An indie cornerstone, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain proved beyond doubt that a band - even one as derisive as Pavement - could build a strong following outside of major label structures. Vibrant, innovative and droll Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain remains the standout in a discography full of seminal recordings.

Not A Masterpiece!.......2006-09-22

All the critics adore this album. Is like a religion I do not understand. 5 stars is the norm (Rolling Stone, Spin, and who knows who else!) Myself, sometimes I like to believe that critics know more about good music than myself. That they perceive inuendos, trends, genius more than I am able to detect. Like going to the Museum and looking at a piece of art and you say to yoursel, "what is this crap?" only to be told a moment later, by a knowledgeable and reputable so called "art critic", that what you have or are witnessing is a masterpiece for whatever the fricking reason. Stephen Malkmus gets so many accolades I thought this guy was hot! So I bought the "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins. Yes, I bought it in 2006 figuring a classic will sound even better years after its release. Forgive If it seems I am committing a mortal sin when I say, this CD sucks, the hype is a lot better than the actual thing. And so many songs...These guys were recording any crap that came to mind, their egos bubbling through the process and yes, there are some tasty songs that stand up against any other but, 5 stars?! Who is kidding who? 4.5 stars? That is far too generous. And don't tell me I am missing the point, that is an "in" thing and either you are part of it or you are not, because I do not buy it. Disjointed, abrasive, lacking musical direction, at times downright depressive (probably one of its appeals), monotonous, what more can I say? The critics also say that James Brown "Live at the Apollo" is hot hot hot, and it sucks. I can probably bang a two chord tune and make a better song than Mr. Stephen Malkmus and his precious band. Too many songs for very little good ones is its main flaw. Yes, I did get emotional and for that I truly ask that you listen to this so called masterpiece and tell me, what is so hot about it? Is is a state of mind, a generational critical thing? Because musically is sure no great work. Sometimes an album has only one song that makes it worthwhile buyin and I can live with that. "Crooke Rain, Crooked R...." has more than one but to listen to the other crap diminishes the joy of owning this CD. Oh, but I am not an authority so please don't shoot me if I missed the secret point but somebody is going to have to tell me what is so magnifecent about this CD. The packaging is above average, if that counts. Pavement's "Crooked Rain, Cro....." 5 stars for the few jewels to be had, for the overwhelming rest 3 stars is more than kind.

Back to the Gold Soundz.......2006-07-09

One word that has often been used to describe Pavement is genius. And now their best work of art has been re-released in a 2 cd box. CD 1 included the brilliant 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'

You know when a band is considered great when other bands are compared to them. And Pavement was one of those. On their first singles and albums they were still a noisy, Sonic Youth type band but this album shows that they were now on their own. It also represents the move from pure noise to songwriting. This album is a balance between these two.

If the 90's were a reaction to the 80's, CRCR is a good example. Warm guitar sounds with emotion and lyrics fighting the fakeness of their day, to be seen in some bands (Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins) but also as shown by the fast and furious life in Los Angeles. Bye bye cold 80's and welcome warm 90's.

There are so many good songs that are indie classics on CRCR. 'Cut Your Hair' with the sighed chorus (and hilarous video) or P 'Range Life', with some harsh words about the Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins, sung over a rolling country beat.
Of the best songs ever is the love-song 'Gold Soundz'. This song is almost too amazing to describe and maybe pure genious shouldn't be talked about too much.

CRC made Pavement and Stephen Malkmus an instant hero in the (intellectual) indie scene around the world, up there with J Mascis and maybe Lou Barlow and Doug Martsch.

The rest of CD 1 is mostly songs that were not good enough to make it on any album, and you can hear. But they are still well worth listening too.

I consider this CRCR with a lot of bonus songs. A great overview of the period in which Pavement made one of the best indie albums in history.

The package itself also includes a fine booklet with some commentary on all the songs by Stephen Malkmus and also a history of the band and the album. Worthwhile.

Some of the outtakes should remain as they were.......2006-05-20

The original is a four star album. It's a bit more cheerful (Get a Haircut, Gold Soundz) than usual Pavement and a bit country (Range Life.) Oh how I love the scratchy noise of 'Slanted' and the sparse bummer ditties of 'Watery Domestic'. There's more sunshine here. Nice and lazy vocals of cryptic innuendos(?) There are too many outtakes on here for my liking. The second half of disc two is pure garbage. 'Grounded' is a phenomonal tinkly guitar jam, something Sonic Youth would be doing on something like Sister. One of the reasons I didn't give this reissue a 3 star rating.

Average customer rating:

Pavement at their near best
So good...if you want it to be.
handmedown
Gold Sounds
well, have you heard music from the 90s?

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pavement
Manufacturer: Matador Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Indie & Lo Fi | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Slanted & Enchanted
Daydream Nation
Loveless
Perfect From Now On
Keep It Like a Secret

ASIN: B00000JH3F
Release Date: 1999-06-23

Tracks:

Silence Kit
Elevate Me Later
Stop Breathin
Cut Your Hair
Newark Wilder
Unfair
Gold Sounds
5-4=Unity
Range Life
Heaven Is A Truck
Hit The Plane Down
Fillmore Jive

Amazon.com

On their second full-length album (not counting a compilation of early singles and EPs), Pavement emerge from the noisy clang and clutter to reveal the once-hidden songcraft and passion that made their previous recordings so mysteriously fascinating. The mystery may have receded on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but the fascination increases, for this album confirms what we only suspected before: Pavement are a great rock & roll band. The two Stockton, California, slackers who founded the band in 1989 have mastered the pop alchemy of transforming the collision of impatient youthful desires and a hostile world into aching, melodic vocals and driving, melodic guitar riffs. The band's cofounders use an element of suspense to illustrate just how fragile romantic optimism really is. When Steve Malkmus yearns for a human connection in his suburban community ("Silence Kid," "Range Life") or in the alternative-rock scene ("Cut Your Hair," "Fillmore Jive"), the elegant melodies let us know that the yearning is unironic, while the unstable guitars let us know the prospects are bleak. On the album's last song, they bid "good-night to the rock & roll era" even as they're giving it a new lease on life. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

Pavement at their near best.......2007-07-13

I enjoy pavement. Reviewing music is difficult due to the fact that liking music revolves around personal taste. That being said, if you are a fan of pavement, this cd is for you. I enjoy the vocals, melodies, and lyrics of this album. This is my 2nd favorite album by the group, and if you don't own it and are considering purchasing it, GO FOR IT, YOU WON'T BE LET DOWN.

So good...if you want it to be........2006-05-01

I was in Florida on vacation the day Kurt Cobain shot himself. I remember staring out into the ocean trying to understand why he would do such a thing. Later that night I saw the video for 'Cut Your Hair' and my world shifted ever so slightly. I bought this record on the recommendation of a friend who was an avid ministry fan. I'm not sure how or why he knew about it but I owe him big time. The thing is when I got this record I hated the sh*t out of it. It was terrible, the worst music ever, oh my god, my allowance for the year...WASTED. But somehow I kept listening and slowly it crept in between my synapses and has been blocking the flow of relevant thoughts ever since. When you listen to the music you feel filled with sad beams of sunlight. You are traveling across the desert with an ex-girlfriend to drop her off in a different city. But you are strangely at peace with this and you are angry in a fun way. You want to f*ck s*it up...melodically. Gold Soundz, Fillmore Jive, Elevate Me Slowly, Unfair, Range Life, and Silence Kit are all brilliant individually. The rest of the songs are essential to make the album whole. This is my favorite album of all time.

handmedown.......2006-03-25

i didn't get why my older bro used to liek this, though i always thought cut your hair was funny, but now i think i get it,

Gold Sounds.......2005-02-26

1. Silence Kit
"Conduit For Sale!" was music for driving through the one-story cement chain stores of America. "Silence Kit" is music for cruising down Highway 1, cliffs on your left and the Pacific Ocean on your right.
2. Elevate Me Later
Yet another "girl left me and moved to Los Angeles" song, but Pavement does it with more poetry than, say, Reel Big Fish's "She's Famous Now". Some great lyrics in here: "Does he sleep with electric guitars/Range roving with the cinema stars/And I wouldn't want to shake their hands/Because they're on such a high-protein plan/And there's 40 different shades of black/So many fortresses and ways to attack"
3. Stop Breathin'
A slow song about death. Weird lyrics. Not great, not bad.
4. Cut Your Hair
Pavement's only "hit" song. Definately more pop than what you'd find on Slanted and Enchanted and Wowee Zowee, but the lyrics are definately Malkmusian. Speaks of people's shallow judgement of music, referencing how before they got big, all anyone talked about was their hippie drummer's long hair.
5. Newark Wilder
Creepy, uneasy jazz. You could see Christopher Walken walking through a rainy city on his way to kill somebody to this song.
6. Unfair
A song declaring Northern California's supremacy over Southern California over distorted punkish guitars, comparing our Shasta Gulch and Tahoe Lake to their "manmade deltas and concrete rivers". Sort of a continuation of Slanted's "Two States".
7. Gold Soundz
In a sort of pre-emo song, Malkmus sings of angst and self-loathing over heartfelt guitars with an intelligence and way with words that a modern emo band like Death Cab For Cutie could never duplicate.
8. 5-4=Unity
Very un-Pavement, an instrumental piano-centered jazz song.
9. Range Life
Chill country rock that references 1994 youth culture: skateboards, Walkmen, the Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins.
10. Heaven is a Truck
The companion to "Range Life," another country ballad, with a little bit more of a late night edge to it.
11. Hit the Plane Down
People say that they sound like The Fall on this song. I'm gonna come right out and say that I've never heard anything by the Fall. A repetative guitar riff plays as a man who isn't Steven Malkmus sings weird lyrics about crashing a plane.
12. Fillmore Jive
An amazing song. A six minute epic about the future of music. The first minute just has Malkmus singing over a single guitar, with lyrics that develop into the refrain "I need to sleep," which is complimented by a burst of music (drums, bass, and guitar). The following verses reference a music scene featuring glum "kids on vespas", streets full of punks, rockers with their long curly locks, all saying good night to the rock and roll era. The song has a melencholy optimism to it, like the band is saying goodbye to an era of music, while welcoming a new era in, one that filled with drug addicts, skinny arms, and the "dance faction/a little too loose for me".

well, have you heard music from the 90s?.......2004-08-29

... or any music by pavement or even their post-pavement projects? then you better own this. this is the single greatest recording of that era. nevermind "nevermind", or screw that album by whats-their-names that probably came out on that great label or any other band from the "half cocked" soundtrack. you're crazy. think of an album like this being a feature in entertainment weekly and rolling stone now-a-days. it couldn't happen. it'd have to have a crappy house or disco beat (and *thats* post punk, eh? [circa 2004]) on it's best song. i think those gentlemens knew the price of an orange juice LP and a swell maps 45. and god bless them. also, this album is very stoney. also i drank too much when i wrote this (and i'm over the age of 13, thanks).

also i'm a moron, so take that into consideration before you buy this classic. matador is making all the money off it anyways and they are putting it into awful music and have been since years and years, no? although they picked up (probably) a few albums that other labels put out that were decent. right? don't deny that, come on! i know you bought that belle and sebastian album. admit it, i know you aren't a transvestite, so i won't say a word! but really, what about the interpol cd you sold three weeks back because you heard the new one was bad and you wanted to jump ship? you know they had a flag on that one! no, no don't try to say you think they're lame, because i saw that haircut in december 2003 and it had a very black very skinny tie that went with it you fathead. i'm just kidding. anyways, later days, give yourself indie rock!

Average customer rating:

Always a keeper...

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pavement
Manufacturer: Matador
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Silence Kit
Elevate Me Later
Stop Breathin
Cut Your Hair
Newark Wilder
Unfair
Gold Soundz
5 - 4 = Unity
Range Life
Heaven's a Truck
Hit the Plane Down
Fillmore Jive

Product Description

Tracks: Always on My Mind extended dance version; 2. Do I Have to?; 3. Always on My Mind.

Customer Reviews:

Always a keeper..........2005-10-10

The Pet Shop Boys developed the habit early of doing remakes of famous songs, and of doing them in between albums. In a way, it was a great marketing ploy. This particular single, a remake of the Elvis Presley song 'Always on my mind', came out after the album 'Actually' had received worldwide acclaim, and had generated several hits, including 'It's a Sin' and 'What have I done to deserve this?' In the lull between waiting for the next album, and about the time the PSB were exploring new territory with their not-so-magnificent film 'It Couldn't Happen Here', they released this over-the-top poppy version of 'Always on my mind' to the criticism of a few, but the enjoyment of many.

This was still the time of vinyl, so one had to seek out an expanded record shop (most did not carry extended singles in those days unless one was in the urban areas of New England and California). Or, one could repurchase the album 'Actually' with the extended single of 'Always on my mind' bundled with it. It was actually a very clever marketing ploy. I still have both vinyl versions of 'Actually'.

This contains the radio edit of 'Always on my mind', the extended version of 'Always on my mind' (which was done back when extended versions really were extended versions of the song, and not complete make-overs), and a bonus track, 'Do I have to?' This is an interesting, enigmatic song of which I've heard half a dozen interpretations, but the lyrics are fairly typical of the PSB - erudite, poetic without being heavy, and interesting. This song was remade by another group not too long ago.

In all, this is one for fans of the PSB as well as those who aren't so much fans but who like the 'Always on my mind' rendition. It is now considered a classic of dance-club remakes.

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