Our firsts have places of honor in our memories, but that’s pretty much all we owe them: I’m not jonesing for another warm can of shoplifted Old Milwaukee, honestly. But Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted, the first truly new-sounding rock record I ever heard (and Pavement’s first full-length album), is no second-class first. Ten years after its release, Slanted’s jagged, playfully abstract pop songs and the emotionally honest weirdness of Stephen Malkmus’ songwriting are still awe-inspiring.
Slanted: Luxe and Reduxe is the first release in Matador’s rerelease series, and it certainly is luxe: a remastered Slanted shares space, over two CDs, with the early EP Watery, Domestic, two John Peel Sessions, twelve live recordings and eight outtakes from the Slanted and Watery sessions. All that Pavement is a lot to take at once, but it’s a treat for those of us who get a special tingle in our dorky place at the prospect of owning all these rarities. The Peel Sessions are the best of the “new” material: rugged early joints like “Circa 1762” and “Kentucky Cocktail” are worth discovering, as is a faster, noisier version of “Here.” The historical worth of Slanted demos and live Echo and the Bunnymen covers is your call, but to those for whom Slanted was the start of a lifelong enchantment with underground music, some chaff among the 22 “new” songs doesn’t much matter. All mistiness aside, Luxe and Reduxe is a fine document of a great band becoming great, and proof positive that some firsts are worth remembering.
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