I agree with the first 'wrong', but cannot confirm nor deny the second.

then just trust me on it :)

S+E is fairly hi-fi (though not compared to, say, Nevermind, recorded at the same time), but if you want the really lo-fi stuff, go to "Slay Tracks". You could say Sebadoh or some such was lower fi, but they didn't do nearly as much with the limited means as those early Pavement EPs.

Flaming Lips may not be super popular, but they are damn talented musicians! I consider them "gods" in a certain sense. I guess "demi gods" would be more fitting. Hendrix was amazing. If you can't see his talent and genius, then I pity you. He was more than a drug addict who choked on his own vomit (very tragic). He was a transcendant guitar god!!!!! Few people have ever come close to the inventive and radically different approach to the guitar as Jimi Hendrix did. He reinvented guitar music.

Also, Trent Reznor is not a rock "god", either. Kurt Cobain would be much more fitted for that status than Reznor would be. NiN had some good material, but were one of the most overrated bands of the 90's. He had one really good album and one so-so album, and after that, it was all down hill. He was a flash in the pan artist who's popularity lasted far too long. Reznor hasn't released anytrhing of note in 12 years. That's not a "god", that's a wash up.

Hendrix was good and all, dont get me wrong i understand 100% his relavance and talent but i really dont give a fuck about it.. why? cuz i dont like Jimi Hendrix or any of his albums or songs or anything. this i hold for others too, i.e. Bob Marley, John Lennon, Dinosaur Jr and tons tons more - all for which i would be placed in front of a firing squad and shot a million times for, i understand all the good these people have done for music but i dont like them or there music and i gradually start to not give a crap.
if we all liked the same music how boring the world would be.

is he the one touring with the youth on bass?

Mark Ibold the bass player from Pavement is touring with the Yoof.
Malkmus is the singer.

I checked Preston School of Industry out, and they are pretty good. I liked them.

I'll be damned if i don't admit that the four Solo Malkmus are REALLY good.
I had totally discarded (as in did not even care to listen to them) them , having been so disappointed with Pavement splitting.
But it's doing me the same early frank Black thing. As in this stuff is different to what they did with their previous band but it's damn good. I 'm even really enjoying the last one that is a tad over the top with arrangements and production but hey wow.

Then call me an atheist.

What bothers me about Malkmus is that he has never written a lyric that matters in the least. A few might be funny or decribe an unusual image, but overall, he clearly has NOTHING to say to the world. I suspect he's an incredibly shallow person.

I'm not even sure how to respond to this. I mean this in the politest way possible: I guess you just don't "get" his lyrics?

This song "We can't help you" on the last Lp is amazingly peaceful. Love that.

I guess lyrics have to mean something to him/her. That's fine, very conventional, but half the time the Beatles were thinking about words that merely rhymed. Malkmus uses the stream of conciousness word association thing. It breaks through the mental block of having to tell a proper story before writing the melodies et. I think it's great being a musician myself. You know how hard to write a set of lyrics that actually mean something *other than the usual cliches..??

true + very well said.

What bothered me was the statement "he has never written a lyric that matters in the least." I mean, if you want to write off say some of the weirder lyrics ("one of us is a cigar stand...") as being too much "unusual imagery" that's one thing. But off the top of my head I can think of a lot of Pavemenet/Malkmus lyrics ("Spit On A Stranger," "Major Leagues," "Grounded," the bulk of his self-titled LP, -- again just off the top of my head, I'm sure I could make a much longer list if I tried) that I think are pretty straight forward lyrics. Jeez, "Jenny & The Ess-Dog" is straight up story-song. So. Whatever.

^^ Very true, being a muscian or being able to play/sing music really does give ya a different perspective on these matters.
I can understand people disliking his style/lyrics, but to draw the conclusion that he's incredibly shallow is probs a lil' shallow in itself.
I've never been a big lyrics lover anyway, I don't find many, if any songs words to be deeply meaningful.

(thanks greedrex) yeah, sometimes i just pick out a key phrase and then start interpreting for myself what the lyrics mean. I think there only a handful of real songwriters lyrically out there that write with true meaning. Morrissey tells pretty much the same depressing story but has infinite ways to relay it. Most of the time lyrics don't mean much if you asked the author, that's why alot of them shy away from that question.

Malk's lyrics are a lot more like a Rimbaud poem than a "Hey Joe". That's all. There's plenty of meaning, if you take a few moments to explore it. So yeah, I agree that writing it off as meaning nothing is in fact shallow.

It's funny how there's usually pages and pages of debate when people slag,critique,Pavement or the Fall.

That's why I feel like I should like The Fall more than I do.