Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 11/12 - 2001

11

2001/03/28, 9:30 club, Washington DC
Fly

Of all of the 2001 covers, 'Fly' dug the deepest roots into the Jicks' core repertoire. Very much a regular part of the set at this point, and for a while afterwards. The Jicks made the track their own, with numerous arrangement and lyric variations. They treated the song like one of their own, not some hallowed text (not that Stephen plays any cover like a hallowed text!).

Here's another version I found floating around YouTube (sometimes YouTube converters are my friend!) from a late march concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC. I've never heard another song from this tape, but I would like to – the volume is a little low, but the sound is nice.

This 'Fly' reveals yet another facet of the song – the backing is languid, a little subdued, none of the military missives exploding from the drums, the psychedelic guitar solos are present but not so overwhelming. And so the attention falls squarely on the vocals and lyrics. It's a poignant, irony-free song with a message so deep it's naïve (or the other way around).

It's one more possibility for a song without a definitive version. I wonder if there ever was a studio version. It could have been quite something.

12
2001/04/17, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Pink India
The hook
('Jenny & the Ess-dog' Japanese b-sides / 'Discretion grove' b-side)

You can find 'The hook' easily on the june 2001 'Discretion grove' single. However, for the full two track goodness you need the Japanese single of 'Jenny & the ess-dog'. I'm so crazy about 'Pink India' I tried to order that Japanese single from some shady Amazon affiliated dealer (for an extortionate price). When it arrived, it was the regular single version with the Feb 6 Köln b-sides. Much back and forth e-mail abuse ensued. Finally they paid me back.
Long story short... finally I downloaded it for free which I could've done all along.

Goes to show that you can put a price on free merchandise – cause if I'd paid that extortionate amount for the Japanese single, it would've been so worth it for the 5 and a half minutes of mind-blowing psychedelica of 'Pink India' live and unhinged – a truly epic achievement and I ain't kidding!

John plays it more chunky, more rock than the laid-back studio version, Mike is a one-man sound effects lab, Malk wades in like he's possessed by the spirit of psychedelic Meat Puppets Curt Kirkwood peyote. The bass is the only non-prominent instrument, but who do you think is grounding these wild flights of imagination? Joanna, fer sure.

At 5'30” it's actually half a minute shorter than the studio version but with its shifts in dynamics, its precisely delineated sections (as opposed to the good-natured rambling of the studio version) and its exploratory mood it's this live take that's the epic. I place it on a par with one of those legendary 1994 live versions of 'Fight this generation'.

They do everything right:
a great set-up, two first verses played with absolute conviction, listen to the way everyone is in on the main riff at 1'00”, the stage is set
1'50”: Stephen starts soloing some crazy extemporisation on the melody, while oscillators buzz and whir (that's Mike)
2'25”: break down, a din of distortion and noise (sort of like 'Jump in the fire' Nilsson?)
2'40”: complete atonality... with singing!
2'56”: lovely soft section, 'send me way off on one', which slowly and most effectively turns into that choogling, driving rhythm (by about 3'30”), a couple of solos on that theme.
4'00”: bass drops out, solos in the void
4'15”: everybody back in, crazy!
4'30”; building up the next crescendo already
4'45”: nirvana
5'00”: slowly it unravels
Thank you, Jicks, for this great performance!

Btw, the version of 'The hook' is cool too, with a nice folky, Richard Thompson-esque solo guitar introduction.