Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 97/98 - 2011

97
2011/07/14, 6 Music session/interview
A long hard book
No one is (as I are be)

On 6Music, in the appropriately named Live Room, with Lauren Laverne, he sings two 'Mirror Traffic' ballads in between the promo talk ('How did you like the Pavement tour?' 'It was great.' 'Would you do it again?' 'Uh...no.' You know the drill. I do like the Rick Rubin bashing.)

When scanning the 'Mirror traffic' tracklist looking for suitable candidates to play in a solo acoustic setting, it doesn't take much imagination to single out these two songs. And these pleasant performances show that intuition isn't wrong. But they're hardly surprising performances, they don't offer any new insights in these songs or reveal hidden facets. They're just...nice. But so close to the album versions that what sticks in my mind most, is that I miss the wonderful, subtle contributions the rest of the Jicks make to these songs.

'No one is (as I are be)' has the added drawback that it doesn't live up to the near identical performances at Crossing Border in november 2009 or just three days earlier in Paris. In 2009 it was the unveiling of new song the composer was very proud of. Here it's just another song.

Am I being too critical? Don't worry, there's plenty of music coming up which I rate highly. But here, in this uncomfortable interview/live music setting, the magic's not there.

98
2011/07/22, Xposure radio session/interview
Asking price
All over gently

On first glance a repeat from the interview session one week earlier, but in London. Stephen talks to the host, taking the near-identical questions in his stride ('So Stephen, the last time I saw you, you were playing a guitar solo with the guitar behind your neck, and you seemed to be having a good time...' Hell of an ice breaker...), and in between he picks up the Domino guitar and plays two selections from his forthcoming album.

There's an amusing moment when Stephen tries to describe the sound of the new album (which the host hasn't heard and thinks is titled 'Mirror talk'): 'I guess it doesn't really rock, but some toe-tapping moments. Some chill-out songs... I mean, not chill-out, but beautiful. And in between some indie light. Wait, that doesn't sound good, does it?' Uhm...no.

He quickly corrects himself comparing it to 'Slanted & Enchanted', 'kinda scratchy'. That's not the record I bought either. I'm pretty sure Stephen's thinking of the sound the band are making in their rehearsals with Jake Morris, rather than the sound of the actual record, which may be his least scratchy record.

So, the songs. 'Asking price' is in line with the previous week's performances. Nice, but inessential. 'All over gently' is a surprise to me, though. He introduces it as a 'bluesy, porchy song' and yes, in this version he skips past the abstracted riffing of the album version (also nice, but any porchy-ness is only implicitly present). Here he taps into his inner John Fogerty and plays it like a driving swamp pop creation. I didn't know the song had it in it. The previous week he'd mentioned Neil Young as an influence on 'Long hard book'. Stephen's aim at rootsy singersongwriting may have been more far reaching than I picked up from the album.