Westing (By Musket and Sextant) (CD - 1993)

WESTING (BY MUSKET AND SEXTANT) collects all the material from Pavement's first four vinyl releases--the 7" EP DEMOLITION PLOT J-7, the 10" EP PERFECT SOUND FOREVER, the 7" SUMMER BABE and the 7" SLAY TRACKS--along with other early material and compilation tracks.

Listening to WESTING (BY MUSKET AND SEXTANT) is like looking at a photo album with baby pictures of one of the most important bands of the 1990s. A collection of Pavement's first EPs, WESTING presents the band in the early stages of its development. While singer/guitarist Stephen Malkmus would later blossom into a fine melodist/lyricist, the material here favors Sonic Youth-like noise attacks and fractured structures. Still, one can hear Malkmus's unique sensibility emerging on cuts like "From Now On," the oblique and tender "Home," and an early version of the magnificent "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" (later to be reprised on SLANTED AND ENCHANTED).

In its relentlessly lo-fi fashion, Pavement spins through chiming pop ("Box Elder"), driving anthems ("Price Yeah!"), left-field rockabilly ("Spizzle Trunk"), exuberant pop-rock ("Debris Slide"), and straight-up aural tomfoolery ("Drive By Fader"). The band's influences (Sonic Youth, the Fall) are more readily evident here before the band synthesized them into a potent and utterly unique sound. Smart, reckless, and full of charm, WESTING (BY MUSKET AND SEXTANT) shows Pavement finding its aesthetic legs. The collection is worthy for that alone, and also for everything it promises. minimize