Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 9/10 - 2001

9
2001/02/10, Malmo, Sweden

Black book
Phantasies
The poet and the witch ('Pig lib' bonus disc)
Discretion grove
Church on white
Troubbble
Trojan curfew
The hook
JoJo's jacket
Fly
Vague space
Jenny & the Ess-dog
1% of 1
Alien boy
Let the good times roll

'Forest Gump sucks / Everybody knows / But it won a fucking Oscar / That award show shit / … / Let the good times roll'
He's lucky Tom Hanks never heard this bootleg cause I hear ole Hanks isn't as gracious a victim as Billy Corgan. Let alone the Academy.

Still, if I was the Jicks's equivalent of the Grateful Dead's Dick, I'd put this one forward as a good Pick. They obviously have the tapes and agree as they used this version of obscure cover 'The poet and the witch' (Mellow candle) on the 'Pig lib' bonus disc. But this is just a splendid formative Jicks show that should be heard in its entirety.

There are a couple of hitches getting into it at the start – 'Black book' has some effective backwards guitar soloing but lacks that brooding and humid mood of the studio version, 'Phantasies' is hesitant, on 'Church on white' (such a monument of a song) they fumble the dual guitar lines on the solo (Mike hitting on some out of tune shapes – it's more complicated than it sounds).

But that's about it as far as complaints go. There's a stretch from 'Troubbble' to 'JoJo' jacket' where they truly lift off. 'Troubbble' isn't my favorite Malkmus song, but this just may be my favorite version (over the studio version) – the blaring keyboard riffs are really blaring. A lovely, lived through version of 'Trojan curfew', 'The hook' in all its rollicking glory and 'JoJo's jacket' – awesome driving version, that one made it on my personal Malkmus/Jicks anthology.

Then there are the cover versions – 'Alien boy' rocks (comparable to the b-side version of feb 6). 'The poet and the witch' hits that weird prog/folk early '70s vibe that would colour 'Pig lib' – it sounds a bit like second album MGMT, no? (but better!). I don't know the origins of 'Let the good times roll' but it's real fun, loose and in the groove (you can tell what Steve was missing in Pavement, for all of their charm and qualities). In the end though it's 'Fly', right? I heard the JK & Co original a couple of times, but for me it's the Malkmus version that counts. Still, I hate to nitpick but, I haven't heard that definitive Jicks version yet. There are a number of live recordings of it and this is one of the most atmospheric and genuine, one of the best. It's not completely perfect (there are some awful hard bits to sing in it and he doesn't nail all of it), but I sure do love hearing the Jicks trying it on during those 2001 and 2002 shows.

And '1% of 1' – the first step on the road to 'Pig lib'. I read a lot about Bob Dylan (cause I like it) and in his work there are always these key tracks. He doesn't write for a long time and then suddenly he's got the trigger: 'Mr Tambourine man' or 'Like a rolling stone' or 'Seems like a freeze-out'. A whole new ballgame. The rest of the accompanying album seems to write itself in quick succession. And that's '1% of 1' at this point in Malkmus (& the Jicks!)'s career. At six minutes it's quite accomplished at this stage, but it's still almost embryonic compared to the released version. Still, it's like a perfect combination of the cover inspirations from these early shows. The folk/prog-ish melodies of the verse and chorus (like 'Tale in hard time'), the angular progressions of the part leading into the solos (very early '80s LA punk, 'Alien boy'), the solos themselves (yeah, 'That's what mama said'). These early shows show how he got there.

And in the end, it's in these early 2001 shows that the Jicks (and their sound) were forged. Exciting stuff.

NB: Malkmus confirms my suspicion that 'Vague space' is the song that almost titled the record 'Swedish reggae'. Joanna: Does that make sense to you (to audience)? Stephen: Yeah, it doesn't sound like reggae or Swedish. Should've called it 'Indie Stephen'.

10
2001/??/??, Oui FM Ketchup & Marmalade session

Black book
Discretion grove
Church on white
Tale in hard time
Troubbble
Trojan curfew
Phantasies
Fly
Vague space
Jennifer & the Ess-dog
Keep the faith
Polish mule

Undated (as far as I know), but I suspect early 2001 based on songs/covers.

Certainly not a bad set but not exceptionally good either. They do their best but it's all somewhat rushed and by-rote. I just get the impression that they can't hear each other very well, which is always a drag. They play like they're hoping not to fuck it up too bad (they don't).

There's a pronounced echoing on the lead vocal on a couple of the tracks, which sounds like someone being a little too involved at the mixing desk.

Good points:
Tale in hard time: really cool '70s British folkrock nugget. There's another recording of it from Sydney which is more inspired, but this one's nice to compare

Trojan curfew: pretty and skeletal version, Malkmus plays some spare but beautifully liquid guitar, leaving plenty space for Mike's majestic keyboard filling in a spacious bass and drum arrangement.

Phantasies: with a lovely jaunty, clippety-clop inner rhythm, great Mike fills

Fly: another cool version, the explosive drums and psychedelic guitar solos really jump to the fore here

Other noteworthy inclusions:
Keep the faith: by this point they're running towards the exit, Malkmus manically jumbling his lines. That sort of attitude works sometime, but this version isn't as good as the b-side version from february 6.

Polish mule: Noteworthy, because it's the only live version of this b-side I've heard. But it suffers from the same bullrush approach as 'Keep the faith' and without the studio trickery the song itself is exposed as pretty disposable.