Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Studio album by Pavement
Released	February 2, 1994
Recorded	August–September 1993 at Random Falls Studios, New York[1]
Genre	Indie rock
Length	42:18
Label	Matador Records Matador Records/Atlantic Records (original release) Big Cat Records (original release) Domino Records (reissue) Rough Trade Records Fellaheen Records Flying Nun Records
Producer	Pavement
Pavement chronology
Westing (By Musket & Sextant) (1993) Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) Wowee Zowee (1995)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(10.0/10) [3]
Robert Christgau	(A) [4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is an album released by Pavement in 1994. With this album, the band abandoned the lo-fi sound displayed on Slanted and Enchanted (as well as their drummer, Gary Young). During the tour for Slanted, the band added percussionist Bob Nastanovich and bassist Mark Ibold; partway through this album's recording sessions, Gary Young was replaced by Steve West. The album featured the band at its most easily accessible, and the single "Cut Your Hair" was the band's closest brush with mainstream success. As of 2007, the album has sold almost 500,000 copies and was a UK Top 20 hit upon release. Although it was not so successful in the US charts, it has since been critically acclaimed across the US music press as a classic alternative rock album.

The album was reissued on October 26, 2004 by Matador Records under the name Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins. The re-released version contains two discs: the first is the original album as well as B-sides and compilation tracks from that era. The second disc is a collection of previously unreleased tracks featuring former drummer Gary Young and live BBC Sessions.

The collection features forty-nine tracks, culled from various previous recordings, including the original album, the single "Cut Your Hair", "Range Life", "Gold Soundz", the "Gold Soundz" Australia-N.Z. French Micronesia Tour '94 EP, the "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" bonus 7", and other recording sessions at Random Falls, NY, Louder Than You Think in Stockton, CA, and Waterworks, NY over the course of 1993.

The photo in the middle of the cover was taken from the March 1974 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

It was chosen as #8 on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s^[6] In 2003, the album was ranked number 210 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and number 10 on their best albums of the nineties.^[7] In 2010, the song "Gold Soundz" was listed as number one on Pitchfork Media's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1990s.

Due to an ink splodge on the back of the original artwork, the song "Silence Kid" has become erroneously known as "Silence Kit". This misnomer persisted when designer Mark Ohe printed it onto the back of the re-issue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins, despite the interior artwork showing the correct name in print several times, including written in Stephen Malkmus's own handwriting.

Track listing

All songs written by Stephen Malkmus, otherwise noted.

1. "Silence Kid" – 3:01
2. "Elevate Me Later" – 2:51
3. "Stop Breathin'" – 4:28
4. "Cut Your Hair" – 3:07
5. "Newark Wilder" – 3:53
6. "Unfair" – 2:33
7. "Gold Soundz" – 2:41
8. "5-4=Unity" – 2:09
9. "Range Life" – 4:54
10. "Heaven Is a Truck" – 2:30
11. "Hit the Plane Down" (Scott Kannberg) – 3:36
12. "Fillmore Jive" – 6:38

Personnel

• Stephen Malkmus : Vocals, Guitar
• Bob Nastanovich : Percussion
• Scott Kannberg : Vocals, Guitar
• Steve West : Drums, Percussion
• Mark Ibold : Bass
• Bryce Goggin: Engineer, piano ("Range Life")^[1]
• Mark Venezia: Engineer^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/Pavement-Crooked-Rain-Crooked-Rain/release/379401. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
3. ^ Richardson, Mark (25 October 2004). "Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/6200-crooked-rain-crooked-rain-las-desert-origins/. 
4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Pavement". robertchristgau.com. http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1059&name=Pavement. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
5. ^ Diehl, Matt (24 February 1994). "Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/crooked-rain-crooked-rain-19940224. 
6. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork Media. 17 November 2003. p. 10. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/10/. 
7. ^ "100 Best Albums of the Nineties". Rolling Stone: 10: Pavement, 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-nineties-20110427/pavement-crooked-rain-crooked-rain-19691231. Retrieved 2 September 2011.