Discover Top Posts Tagged with #sparkle hard

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Stephen Malkmus dramatically lies face-down on a sand dune, completely alone, while Cast Off plays.

lyric: I need some attention.

sparkle hard: the supercut, 2018

#stephen malkmus #stephen malkmus and the jicks #sparkle hard

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Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Middle America (2018)

Men are scum I won’t deny May you be shit-faced the day you die And be successful in all your lies

#Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks #Middle America #Stephen Malkmus #Sparkle Hard

"Solid Silk" by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

#Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks #Sparkle Hard #Solid Silk #Now Playing #Spotify #Listen #Stream #Reverb

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - “Shiggy”

I’m going back and starting to curate my best of 2018 stuff for my annual mix, and just found this live clip of Stephen Malkmus rolling through “Shiggy” from his album, Sparkle Hard. And it rocks, so I’m passing that along.

#Stephen Malkmus #the jicks #shiggy #sparkle hard #music #videos

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Sparkle Hard (2018)

hace poco leí una nota que le hacían a Stephen Malkmus (ex líder de pavement) donde el tipo hablaba, entre otras cosas, de las complicaciones de ser un indie cincuentón: ni muy viejo para ser leyenda, ni muy joven como para ser un tesoro a descubrir; “se tienen que morir más leyendas para que haya lugar para tipos como yo” decía, medio en joda medio en serio. Pero, muy al contrario de sonar anticuados para la época, malkmus y banda siguen siendo hoy por hoy de lo más fresco que hay en la escena indie.

En este último trabajo, titulado Sparkle Hard, malkmus sostiene el formato más canción pop que venía haciendo últimamente sin dejar de sonar un poco al viejo e irreverente pavement que tanto amamos.

#stephen malkmus #sparkle hard

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Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Album Review: Sparkle Hard

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Sparkle Hard sees Stephen Malkmus using auto-tune, and it’s produced by a Decemberist. But is it really that different? No, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. More than any other Malkmus release (including his criminally underrated self-titled solo debut), Sparkle Hard follows the path that made Pavement successful, from loose experimentation to sweet, lethargic hooks. It also sees him fall back in love with rock ‘n’ roll. “Run along, good vibrations,” Malkmus sings on “Future Suite”, referencing the ultimately revered pop/rock band. “Like a bee in the sun / Be a song of elation / That was meant to be sung / By a band you invented / When the night was so young / Time was meant to be savored / By the last ones that got stung,” he continues. It’s got a “Gold Soundz” melody but better wordplay, more guitar noodling, and some funky scratches, Malkmus writing about the addicting nature of playing music.

Indeed, on Sparkle Hard, Malkmus’ love of playing shines through in his music. First and foremost, “Shiggy” is an intentional banger. “Come from the underground / Throw me right back where I belong,” he sings. You can envision him jumping with the crowd, and it’s the song that best embodies the album’s title, its pop shimmer fitting in with its rough edge. Both “Cast Off” and “Future Suite” allow him and The Jicks to get the most out of climactic compositions, both leading to a point where Malkmus’ voice is almost alone in the production, cracking and imperfect but beautiful. And Sparkle Hard also has some worthwhile features, namely lilting and pleasant strings from Kyleen King on “Solid Silk” and vocals from fellow 90′s giant Kim Gordon on “Refute”.

Sure, there are some missteps on Sparkle Hard. Malkmus can be lyrically obtuse just as much as he’s lyrically clever, and there are a couple lines here that compete for the title of most head-scratching. (“Cynical pinnacles, we swung too high / Flaccid as a wedding cake, but tight makes right / With a kiss goodnight,” he shrugs on “Solid Silk”; “Micro-aggress, you must confess,” he delivers, face to the palm, on “Difficulties / Let Them Eat Vowels”.) But perhaps the biggest flop is “Bike Lane”, the Malkmus song about Freddie Gray that nobody asked for. In a world where racial inequality runs rampant in terms of access to public transportation, including bike-share programs, it’s perhaps unintentionally smart of Malkmus to contrast the murder of Freddie Gray with “another beautiful bike lane.” But it’s when he sings, “His life expectancy was max 25 / Go, Freddie, go!” before launching into a guitar solo that it becomes awkward. Unlike Janelle Monae’s poignant “Hell You Talmbout” or even Kevin Morby’s gorgeous and empathetic “Beautiful Stranger”, “Bike Lane” lands with a bit of a dud, the one place where Malkmus’ trademark slacker vibes truly get the better of him.

Malkmus, as always, is best when he’s self-deprecating and not trying too hard to make a larger statement on the world. Lead single “Middle America”’s got one of those hear-it-to-believe-it hooks, Malkmus telling it like it is. “Blame stops until you do / Do your major duty,” he sings, and later, hilariously, “Men are scum, I won’t deny / May you be shit-faced the day you die.” Perhaps the standout on the entire album is “Kite”. A version of a song that didn’t make it on Wig Out at Jagbags, it’s got an acoustic intro that segues into a wah-wah funk track, oddly catchy. Malkmus, referencing his desire to finally write bigger pop songs, sings, “I”ll start looking for the kind of guy who turns my third place medal into gold.” He almost got there with Pavement, but many of his following solo or Jicks records seemed like he was intent to stay a weird, 90′s-indebted tribute to what he once was. Sparkle Hard’s the first time in years you feel like Malkmus has not overthought what he was doing and it pretty much paid off.

7.1/10