Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 19/20 - 2001

19
2001/10/25, Bluebird theater, Denver, CO
Dark wave
Craw song
Shake it around
(Do not feed the) oyster

More tantalizing fragments on the path to 'Pig lib'. I really liked the album straight off the bat, but with time my appreciation kept growing (a bit like 'Wowee zowee') and now it's right at the fore when I think of the great Malkmus records (all incarnations). So I'm always interested to hear how these particular songs developed. Which songs got on, which were left off...

The album's got a definite unified sound, but these performances point at the varied influences leading into it. The four tracks distill these influences neatly: American punk/early '80s post-punk ('Dark wave' or 'Wipers songs' as it's called here), '80s college rock ('Craw song' – with its REM type arrangement, could almost be a Lakespeed song), '70s hard/classic rock ('Shake it around'/'Thin Lizzy song') and '70s wyrd British folkrock ('(Do not feed the) Oyster'). What they did, the college rock and folkrock got on the album without much tinkering. The classic/hard rock was left on the cutting room floor. The '80s post-punk was toned down (the same thing that happened to 'Sheets').

The fragment (just over a minute before it's cut short) of 'Dark wave' contains completely different lyrics and biting guitar fills. 'Shake it around' is much the same as the july Melbourne version on the 'Pig lib' bonus disc. 'Craw song' and '(Do not feed the) Oyster' are about ready for the studio.

20
2001/11/01, Cat's cradle, Carrboro NC
Jenny and the ess-dog
JoJo's jacket
Vague space
(Do not feed the) oyster
The hook
Pink India
Church on white
Sin taxi
Discretion grove
Craw song
Phantasies >
Troubbble
Trojan curfew
Champagne supernova
Radio free Europe
1 % of 1

I can't say all that much so soon after first hearing it. Let's face it, all of these recordings are performances of the same songs revealing tiny variations and permutations. It takes a little while to let it sink in and get the feeling what makes each performance unique.

But this sounds like another terrific show. There is a nice amiable atmosphere (with Bob Nastanovich commenting on the set at the start, and here and there – you can hear him shout things from the side of the stage, and Steve West supporting with Marble Sound, it's almost like a family reunion). It gets a little amped up during the banter (no quotes just yet, but there's some funny stuff), but the music itself is not so rock-eager. They let the music breathe, giving it lots of space, which I really like, it's more relaxed than the February 2001 Malmo show and the summer 2001 Sydney show.

Setlist: all but two of the songs from the debut album (no 'Black book', no 'Deado', but they do 'Pink India' in another cool version!), a couple of songs pencilled in for the sequel (a concentrated, rocking 'Oyster', 'Craw song' mentions Bob as one the lovers, a truly amazing '1% of 1' with atmospheric, slowburning jam which takes an exquisitely long time to reach climax), the only live version of 'Sin taxi' from 2001 I've heard so far (! the same arrangement as the 2003 live version I'm familiar with, but with a chaotic ending to the first part of the song, which I like. It's a real good performance) and two surprise covers ('Champagne Supernova' actually works in a funny way, 'Where were you when Bob was getting high? / I was in the back of the van / with the Coca Cola man' and so on. It works cause Stephen's taking the solos real seriously. There another great line 'Where were you when we were getting high / it was 1994 and the XTC was raining from the sky'. They do 'Radio free Europe' because they're in North Carolina, I think, and it's a nice and faithfull version).

I'm really happy to have a great show like this for the late 2001 timeframe, which I didn't know so well.
I look forward to letting this one sink in.