SOUND BITES

If 2011's Mirror Traffic felt like a long lost Pavement album, it wasn't exactly coincidence. Released around the time of Pavement's reunion tour, it was the closest approximation to his former band's sound on record since they hung it up in the twilight of the 90's. It would certainly seem as though Stephen Malkmus took a few things away from the acclaim and success of Mirror Traffic , though Wig Out At Jagbags is certainly a more sonically dense and genre busting affair than its predecessor. That Malkmus permanent musical stamp (if you've been listening, you know it) is still there. There is plenty of flavour in the arrangements, with keys and horns all over parts of this record. But, where the extra seasoning might have come off as a little overbearing on Malkmus' more experimental releases, it seems to know and accept its place on Wig Out At Jagbags ; the best example is second half highlight Chartjunk , a song absolutely soaked in sound but ac...

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS Senator From: Mirror Traffic Released: August 23 When you're the former leader of a band as revered and scrutinized as Pavement was, it can be expected that your post-band solo career will be taken as a footnote, no matter what you may accomplish.  Indeed, while Pavement's run ended in 1999 at ten years and five albums, Malkmus has continued on since, and this year his recorded output with the Jicks matched that of Pavement.  And, whereas Pavement's final album was thick and layered with sound, Malkmus' fifth album with the Jicks is the closest thing he's come to recapturing the simple elegance that Pavement became known for nearly twenty years ago.  It's the product of relaxation; the bulk of Mirror Traffic is laid back and locked into its grooves, as opposed to much of Malkmus' other post-Pavement output, which often has the tendency to be too dense and weighed down in sonic architecture.  That approach made for some ...