Slay Tracks: 1933–1969
Slay Tracks: 1933–1969 | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | Mid 1989[1] | |||
Recorded | January 17, 1989 | |||
Studio | Louder Than You Think Studios (Stockton, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 14:02 | |||
Label | Treble Kicker | |||
Producer | Gary Young | |||
Pavement chronology | ||||
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Slay Tracks: 1933–1969 (usually referred to as Slay Tracks) is the debut EP by American
Although only 1,000 copies of Slay Tracks were pressed, the EP became an underground hit. Upon release, the EP was critically praised by independently produced zines. The EP managed to generate buzz for Pavement in the UK after The Wedding Present's cover of the song "Box Elder" received some airplay from the famous radio disc jockey John Peel. The release and relative success of Slay Tracks was significant to Pavement's subsequent signing to Drag City, and later to Matador Records. The band's Westing (By Musket and Sextant) (1993) compiled the songs from the band's three EPs prior to their debut album Slanted and Enchanted: Slay Tracks, Demolition Plot J-7, and Perfect Sound Forever. The compilation allowed those songs to reach a wider audience than the EP's limited initial release.
Background
Pavement was formed in 1989 in Stockton, California, by Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg. Malkmus and Kannberg had previously performed together in the band Bag O' Bones.[2] Pavement had its start playing at open mic nights at clubs and bars.[3] The songs the band played during this time were mostly covers, although they also performed many original songs that would later be released on Slay Tracks. Malkmus recalls, "It was pretty reasonable to be able to make a single for $1,000, so we decided to go for it. We didn't have any real plans because we weren't a real band."[3] Two local studios existed in Stockton, the cheaper and less professionally minded of which was Gary Young's Louder Than You Think Studio.[4] The band decided to record at Young's studio due to their admiration of other local punk bands who had recorded there, including The Young Pioneers and The Authorities.[4] Kannberg reportedly borrowed $800 from his father to record Slay Tracks.[5]
Recording
Slay Tracks was recorded during a four-hour session on January 17, 1989, at Young's studio. Kannberg, describing the studio and the recording process, said, "You go into his house and it's stuff everywhere, old dogs lying around, big pot plants everywhere, and Gary tells us that he got all his equipment by selling pot! It was us going in and pretty much just laying down the songs with a guide guitar and a detuned guitar through a bass amp and then we'd play drums over the top."[6] Young, though bewildered by the band's sound, contributed by playing drums. He recalled, "[Malkmus and Kannberg] come in and they play this weird guitar noise and it just sounds like noise, with no background. My drums were in there so I said, 'Should I drum?' and they said 'Okay.'"[7] Kannberg said, "We did it really fast. We probably spent one day tracking and one day mixing it."[7] The title of the EP had been decided prior to its recording, and the pseudonyms S.M. and Spiral Stairs were used to credit Malkmus and Kannberg respectively.[6]
Composition and lyrics
Most of the music on Slay Tracks was written by Malkmus, but the music to "Box Elder" was written by Kannberg.
"You're Killing Me", the longest song on the EP at three minutes and 20 seconds, is an example of the impact
Release
After recording was complete, Kannberg was tasked with releasing the music himself, as Malkmus had departed on a trip to parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Kannberg designed the cover of the EP and sent copies to various
Slay Tracks found unexpected attention after The Wedding Present, an English band, covered "Box Elder" on their own 1990 EP, Brassneck. The Wedding Present's bassist Keith Gregory had been introduced to Slay Tracks by future Pavement bassist Mark Ibold while visiting New York City.[18] The cover differs from the original in that the line "that I had to get the fuck out of this town" was changed to "that I had to get right out of this town".[19] The cover version received radio airplay from influential English disc jockey John Peel, generating publicity for both the Wedding Present and Pavement.[18] Pavement had not been asked permission or informed of the cover until after it was already on UK radio. Kannberg said he initially felt "offended", but his opinion of the cover and its significance later changed: "It was so cool that some band from the UK wanted to cover this obscure, horribly recorded song. At the time I probably never appreciated the full extent of how them covering the song helped Pavement, especially in the UK, but it really did, and I'll always be grateful to them for that."[18]
Shortly after its release, Slay Tracks became a
Reception
Slay Tracks received generally positive reviews. Much of the initial critical reception to Slay Tracks was from zines to whom Kannberg had sent the EP. A review in the
Legacy
Young's drum performance on Slay Tracks eventually led to him joining Pavement as a full-time member. Young produced the group's 1990 EP Demolition Plot J-7, but displayed hostility toward then-current drummer Jason Fawkes.[29] Fawkes left Pavement in 1991 due to animosity with Malkmus, allowing Young to drum on their third EP, Perfect Sound Forever.[30] Young drummed on all Pavement releases from then on until 1992's Watery, Domestic, after which he was fired for his increasingly erratic behavior and was replaced with Steve West. Young's drumming on Slay Tracks was later recognized as an important turning point in Pavement's history, and was considered to be "the opportunity of a lifetime" by C. Harris-Nystrom of the News & Review.[31]
Dan Koretzky, founder of Drag City, ordered 200 copies of the EP for the Chicago Reckless Records store he worked for at the time. Koretzky asked Kannberg if he would sign to Drag City during the same phone call that he ordered the EP.[18] Kannberg remembered expressing reluctance to sign to any label, but Drag City producer and session musician Rian Murphy recalled that "We asked, they said yes. Lives didn't seem to be on the line."[18] Chris Lombardi and Gerard Cosloy of Matador Records also first heard of Pavement after Kannberg sent a copy of Slay Tracks to their zine, Conflict.[32] Matador signed Pavement in 1992 for the release of their debut studio album, Slanted and Enchanted. Pavement returned to Peel's show the same year and, in a cover of Silver Jews' "Secret Knowledge of Backroads", Malkmus ad-libbed the line, "It's not as good as the first EP"—an ambiguous reference to either Slay Tracks or the Silver Jews' early recordings, on which he had appeared.[33]
The songs on Slay Tracks are all included on the 1993 compilation
Track listing
All tracks are written by Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "You're Killing Me" | 3:20 |
2. | "Box Elder" | 2:26 |
3. | "Maybe Maybe" | 2:14 |
4. | "She Believes" | 3:20 |
5. | "Price Yeah!" | 3:00 |
Total length: | 14:20 |
Personnel
Pavement
- Stephen Malkmus – lead vocals (tracks 1–5), guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–5), keyboard (track 1), synthesizer (track 5), drums (tracks 3–4), bass guitar (track 2)
- Scott Kannberg – guitar (tracks 1–5), drums (tracks 3–4), trombone (track 4)
- Gary Young – drums (tracks 2, 5)
Additional musicians
- Jeff Doyle – drums (track 4)
- Kelly Hensley – drums (track 4)
References
- ^ "Pavement-Slay Tracks: 1933–1969". YouTube.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 41.
- ^ a b Jovanovic 2004, p. 61.
- ^ a b Jovanovic 2004, p. 63.
- ^ "Preston School of Industry Biography Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine ". Matador Records, August 28, 2001. Retrieved on December 17, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Jovanovic 2004, p. 65.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jovanovic 2004, p. 66.
- ^ "Pavement Guitarist Scott Kannberg Picks His 10 Favorite Pavement Songs". 3 August 2015.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas and Phares, Heather. "Pavement > Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved on October 20, 2007.
- ^ "Lo-Fi". AllMusic. Retrieved on October 21, 2007.
- Allmusic. Retrieved on October 21, 2007.
- New York Times, March 25, 2001. Retrieved on November 14, 2007.
- Village Voice, September 4, 1990.
- ^ Bianco 1998, p. 110; Glickman & Belfiore 2004, p. 158.
- ^ a b Jovanovic 2004, p. 67.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 208.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e Jovanovic 2004, p. 73.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 74.
- ^ a b c Jovanovic 2004, p. 72.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 79.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, pp. 54–57.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 76.
- ^ a b Jovanovic 2004, p. 70.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 68.
- Village Voice, February 26, 1991. Retrieved on October 22, 2007.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Pazz & Jop 1990: Dean's List". Retrieved on October 22, 2007.
- ^ a b Jovanovic 2004, p. 69.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 78.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 82.
- ^ Harris-Nystrom, C. "Outsider art". News & Review, May 6, 2004. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
- ^ Jovanovic 2004, p. 95.
- ^ Johnson 2018, pp. 159–160.
- ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha. "You Thought I Was Backing Out". sfj.abstractdynamics.org, July 25, 2005. Retrieved on September 30, 2007.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Westing (By Musket and Sextant)". AllMusic. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
- Village Voice, August 3, 1993. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
- ^ "Pavement Tunes Played Live Archived 2007-12-28 at the Wayback Machine ". Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
- ^ Groeschner, Mark. "Irving Plaza, New York (June 16, 1999) Archived 2007-10-05 at the Wayback Machine ". Nude as the News. Retrieved on December 18, 2007.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
- ^ Freydkin, Donna. "Pavement's Stephen Malkmus: Viva la anti-diva". CNN.com, June 21, 2007. Retrieved on October 22, 2007.
- ^ Hicks, John. "Perfect Sound Forever review". Planet Weekly, June 2, 2004.
Bibliography
- Bianco, David P., ed. (1998). "Pavement". Parents Aren't Supposed to Like It: Rock & Other Pop Musicians of the 1990s. Vol. 1. )
- Glickman, Simon; Belfiore, Michael (2004). "Pavement". In Pilchak, Angela M. (ed.). Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music. Vol. 46. )
- Johnson, Jeff T. (2018). Trouble Songs: A Musicological Poetics (ePDF ed.). ISBN 978-1-947447-45-5.
- Jovanovic, Rob (2004). Perfect Sound Forever: The Story of Pavement. Boston: Justin, Charles & Co. ISBN 1-932112-07-3.
External links