An exquisitely artful snapshot of a band that had already unraveled...
On Further Review: Pavement - Terror Twilight (deluxe reissue)
Matador’s final installment of the legendary indie pioneers’ reissue campaign captures bandleader Stephen Malkmus chafing against not only his bandmates, but also the very aesthetic he’d created — read my review here.
Reissues and archival releases are my absolute favorite thing to write about because I get to do some time travel and try to put a band’s whole career arc into context. I was chomping at the bit for months to write this one.
There are albums that capture a band’s demise in such a way that you can almost hear it unfolding as you listen — and sometimes you can hear the end of an era too. I’m not sure we don’t project our feelings onto the music after the fact, but it’s hard not to. As a fan following along in real time, though, you usually can’t tell that the end is approaching.
I often feel a bittersweet combination of feelings — nostalgia, pangs of sadness, and a persistent wondering about what could have been — that’s intensified if I think a band’s last album is strong (as is so often the case). Terror Twilight is one of my two favorite Pavement albums, but the writing was on the wall and the ride was over for them by the time they got to that point.
Linked below are four lengthy interview clips for even more context on the making of Pavement’s last album before breaking up at the turn of the millennium, along with a particularly well-recorded video clip of a complete show filled with entertaining stage banter that suggest the band was in good spirit.
Does the inevitability of the band’s separation come across in the music? You tell me!
The cover of the new booklet, which is crammed with new liners:
The original album:
The reissue version — with alternate song sequence and bonus material:
Complete Terror Twilight-era show — EXCELLENT sound quality:
I >highly< recommend:
Those last three interviews were all conducted by Vish Khanna, host of the show Kreative Kontrol, which you can find at http://vishkhanna.com/.
Finally, a “new” video (sort of):
<3 SRK