If you'll excuse me for opening a post in such a lavish, proclamatory way, I just want to get this off my chest: Slanted & Enchanted is one of the best albums ever released and it's next to impossible to imagine the development of indie rock from the 90s onward without it. Whew. I feel better.Though still a band not nearly as popular and well known as we music critics make them out to be, nevertheless, during the 90s Pavement were the carriers of the great white indie rock hope. This mantle having been placed on them with the release, in 1992, of Slanted & Enchanted, an album that both significantly improved upon their first three EPs and 'Summer Babe' single as collected on Westing (By Musket and Sextant) AND blew the doors out on the band's songwriting, pushing songs in new and strange directions. Witness 'Conduit For Sale!' in all its dust raising glory, alternating between cries of "I'm trying!! I'm trying!!" and Stephen Malkmus's stream of consciousness, almost 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'-esque quick talking absurdisms. Witness 'Here', their first "ballad", which moves in a circular fashion while maintaining the same sublime drum and guitar line during its entire duration. Witness 'Fame Throwa', perhaps the album's most unique creation, a cinematic spy tale of two disparate pieces that sling back and forth neatly. At least I think that's what is going on...
One could talk about each of the album's original 14 songs, but other than 'Our Singer', which is one of my favorite and most unsung tracks from the album, you either know these songs already or you have no clue. If you don't have a clue, you really should. Early 90s indie rock doesn't come much better than Slanted & Enchanted, and while you may at first be turned off by the bits of noise or the screaming/yelping on some songs, give the album enough time to win you over and you'll have a true favorite for years to come.
In 2002, to mark the 10th anniversary of the album, Matador released the Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe reissue. Spread across 2 CDs are the original album, assorted B-sides, two Peel sessions, the Watery, Domestic EP released shortly after the album, B-sides from that EP, and a full concert from late '92. This really is the version of the album to buy even if it will you cost a bit more money. The Peel sessions alone are a wealth of mostly unreleased Pavement gems, from the plaintive, cleaned up version of 'Secret Knowledge of Backroads' that would be seen on the Silver Jews' The Arizona Record to the addictive "see myself come running back" call and response vocals on 'Circa 1762' to the suffocating atmosphere and strangled shrieks of 'The List of Dorms', they're all unique additions to the Slanted era.
Of course the big draws are the full concert and the Watery, Domestic EP. The concert is more or less what you'd expect. It's mostly "more frantic and rocking" versions of Slanted era songs. However, it should be noted that the concert also contains songs from the Westing collection in significantly better form, including 'Angel Carver Blues/Mellow Jazz Docent.' As for Watery, Domestic, well, it's rightfully considered the best EP Pavement ever put out--though I do have a soft spot for Pacific Trim. 'Texas Never Whispers' begins with a feedback shrill organ before descending into the cool opening line "here we go/she's on a hidden tableaux", which is probably the only time I've heard "tableaux" used in a song. 'Frontwards' is one of the band's signature non-album tracks, an almost Weezer-esque mid-tempo mellow rocker with the memorably uncharacteristic line "well I've got style/miles and miles/so much style that it's wasted." 'Lions (Linden)' is a slight-but-good ditty while 'Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse)' helps point the way to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain with its (kind of) fuller band sound and "da da da da" vocals/Malkmus ad-libbing something during the ending. Oddly enough, 'So Stark (You're A Skyscraper)' and 'Greenlander' didn't make the cut for the EP though I think most people agree they're as good if not better that the last two songs on the EP. 'Greenlander' is just one of those songs you can end a mixtape's side on and feel good about every single time.
Slanted & Enchanted occupies this weird space for me, because it's neither my favorite Pavement album (that would be Wowee Zowee) nor the one I would consider the best place to start for newbies (that would be Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain). However, I would stick my neck out and call it Pavement's most important album, because of everything it did for the band (proved their potential, justified the initial attention and praise) and the indie rock world (a landmark release, both for the "scene" itself and now-powerhouse, then-brand-new label Matador). Setting all of this aside, as one should ultimately, Slanted & Enchanted is an album that you have to thumb through a thesaurus to come up with new and interesting superlatives for because it's all been said. You simply must have it, and the Luxe & Reduxe version of the album is worth every penny.
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