The album intro “ACC Kirtan” mixes world instruments with Malkmus’ 90s vocals. It plays around with a drawn-out instrumental and ties in female vocals nicely. It is a slow start to the album, but it successfully captures a mood and pulls the listener in.

“Xian Man” is a 90s-tinged spiritual journey. Malkmus sings: “You don’t need headlights to see / Open your mind back / To the love of Xian man.” The guitar riffs are crunchy and distorted. The psychedelic feel of the track works well with the poppy guitar chords. In some ways, “Xian Man” is the perfect gateway to heavier psychedelic music. And yet this is not what the rest of the album offers.

“The Greatest Own In Legal History” sounds like it has been inspired by Velvet Underground. The steady tambourine beat is similar to “Pale Blue Eyes” and Malkmus’ voice even sounds like a tribute to the late Lou Reed. From this point onwards, the album takes a lazy turn. The tracks are slow and slink along without any real hooks. Listening is a pleasant enough experience, but our attention is not as held as it perhaps was in the earlier tracks.

Skip forward a few tracks and “Amberjack” is another album highlight. The track is slow, but it doesn’t sound lazy. It sounds deliberate, heartfelt, and even heartbreaking. The chords weave into one another in a melancholy fashion and Malkmus’ voice sounds pained and broken. He croaks: “Miss you more / Life itself don’t miss / Anything at all / That’s just the way it is.” It’s tender and a triumph for Malkmus’ harrowing lyricism. It is a shame that this deep poetry does not flow through the rest of the album.

Still, the diverse instrumentation and creative use of melody are retained throughout. The twelve-string guitars are a beautiful addition and the record stays true to the atmosphere it creates in the initial track. At times, it does feel that Malkmus could have done more with his musical ideas, but Traditional Techniques is an impressive album nonetheless.

3/5

The post What We Thought Of Stephen Malkmus’ “Traditional Techniques” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Fans of Pavement have slowly gotten used to the idea that the band may have turned their guitars in for good. As talented as they are, the group split in 1999 and didn’t reunite until 2009. This reunion was also short-lived and it has been 10 years now since we have heard from them.

Earlier this year, Stephen Malkmus told Kyle Meredith that he wasn’t “so keen” on the idea of a reunion any time soon.

“We put our heart into this record [new album with The Jicks, ‘Sparkle Hard’]. And I have some other tricks up my sleeve”, he explained. “Combine that with things like my wife’s career and family, I’m full time with my life, so I don’t know if I have time for a Pavement reunion.”

In a recent interview with the Rolling Stone, however, Malkmus revealed that he has had a change of heart. When asked about the reunion he responded with the rather promising: “You know, realistic. Anything’s possible.”

“If there’s interest, then that’s always a factor, he added. “If people are really psyched about it, I’d be psyched about it too. So we’ll see.”

Stephen Malkmus is on tour this fall.

The post A Pavement Reunion is “Realistic” and “Possible” Says Stephen Malkmus appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The album intro “ACC Kirtan” mixes world instruments with Malkmus’ 90s vocals. It plays around with a drawn-out instrumental and ties in female vocals nicely. It is a slow start to the album, but it successfully captures a mood and pulls the listener in.

“Xian Man” is a 90s-tinged spiritual journey. Malkmus sings: “You don’t need headlights to see / Open your mind back / To the love of Xian man.” The guitar riffs are crunchy and distorted. The psychedelic feel of the track works well with the poppy guitar chords. In some ways, “Xian Man” is the perfect gateway to heavier psychedelic music. And yet this is not what the rest of the album offers.

“The Greatest Own In Legal History” sounds like it has been inspired by Velvet Underground. The steady tambourine beat is similar to “Pale Blue Eyes” and Malkmus’ voice even sounds like a tribute to the late Lou Reed. From this point onwards, the album takes a lazy turn. The tracks are slow and slink along without any real hooks. Listening is a pleasant enough experience, but our attention is not as held as it perhaps was in the earlier tracks.

Skip forward a few tracks and “Amberjack” is another album highlight. The track is slow, but it doesn’t sound lazy. It sounds deliberate, heartfelt, and even heartbreaking. The chords weave into one another in a melancholy fashion and Malkmus’ voice sounds pained and broken. He croaks: “Miss you more / Life itself don’t miss / Anything at all / That’s just the way it is.” It’s tender and a triumph for Malkmus’ harrowing lyricism. It is a shame that this deep poetry does not flow through the rest of the album.

Still, the diverse instrumentation and creative use of melody are retained throughout. The twelve-string guitars are a beautiful addition and the record stays true to the atmosphere it creates in the initial track. At times, it does feel that Malkmus could have done more with his musical ideas, but Traditional Techniques is an impressive album nonetheless.

3/5

The post What We Thought Of Stephen Malkmus’ “Traditional Techniques” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Fans of Pavement have slowly gotten used to the idea that the band may have turned their guitars in for good. As talented as they are, the group split in 1999 and didn’t reunite until 2009. This reunion was also short-lived and it has been 10 years now since we have heard from them.

Earlier this year, Stephen Malkmus told Kyle Meredith that he wasn’t “so keen” on the idea of a reunion any time soon.

“We put our heart into this record [new album with The Jicks, ‘Sparkle Hard’]. And I have some other tricks up my sleeve”, he explained. “Combine that with things like my wife’s career and family, I’m full time with my life, so I don’t know if I have time for a Pavement reunion.”

In a recent interview with the Rolling Stone, however, Malkmus revealed that he has had a change of heart. When asked about the reunion he responded with the rather promising: “You know, realistic. Anything’s possible.”

“If there’s interest, then that’s always a factor, he added. “If people are really psyched about it, I’d be psyched about it too. So we’ll see.”

Stephen Malkmus is on tour this fall.

The post A Pavement Reunion is “Realistic” and “Possible” Says Stephen Malkmus appeared first on Hot Pop Today.