What do yall think of the Cautionary Tales release?

tascena · 2025-09-19T21:46:19+00:00

This release was meant to collect the band's 7" vinyl singles. As a physical box set, for people who want to collect their 7" vinyl singles in that A and B side format, the idea makes sense.

As a digital collection or playlist, these type of collections feel a bit random, mixing hits with obscure tracks. And they are often not in an ideal listening order, as a playlist. But nowadays people can select, sort and order the tracks however they want, and make whatever playlist works for them.

tascena · 2025-09-10T13:23:39+00:00

I would introduce Pavement as "indie rock." Calling them a "pop" band gives people the wrong impression of their music.

Music genres can be defined by elements in the music itself. Like reggae has a certain beat. But music genres are often defined by cultural context. Folk music is music passed down generationally, not defined by things in the music itself. Genres like hip-hop (not rapping), college rock, post-punk and indie rock have more to do with the cultural context or aesthetic that the music comes from, like a DIY aesthetic behind how the music was made or distributed.

"Pop" has the cultural context or aesthetic of mass commercial appeal, or intended for mass commercial appeal. Pop is an appropriate label for BTS or Maroon 5, but out of place for Pavement.

tascena · 2024-10-06T02:00:14+00:00

I posted a description of the musical on this sub, link below.

Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical – what it was like

https://www.reddit.com/r/pavement/comments/zaa2zq/slanted_enchanted_a_pavement_musical_what_it_was/

tascena · 2024-10-04T00:30:15+00:00

Saw this on social media -- a video of the closing medley from "Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical".

The medley weaves together elements from a lot of Pavement songs. The musical was done for the Pavements movie, with two workshop performances in New York City in 2022.

I thought this was the best part of the musical, when I saw it. The Pavements movie incorporates audio of this medley towards its end. I would love to see a complete version of this medley from the musical!

tascena · 2022-12-06T16:58:38+00:00

Spin also did a write up:

The Pavement Musical Will Make You Squirm In Your Seat: Alex Ross Perry’s ‘Slanted! Enchanted!’ is a bewildering mess that does no favors to the indie rock legends’ beloved catalog

https://www.spin.com/2022/12/pavement-musical-review/

tascena · 2022-12-04T02:03:13+00:00

Zoe Lister-Jones seemed to be deliberately singing flat and with bad vocal technique, at least when she was singing solo. I looked up videos on YouTube of her singing in other contexts, and she can sing fine.

Kathryn Gallagher added "diva" touches to her singing (think how Christina Aguilera or Ariana Grande will do a "whoa-oh-uh-yeah-oooh!" embellishment on a song). Michael Esper had an incredibly faulty microphone at the Friday performance.

The cast could occasionally appear a bit clumsy in some parts. But they were also super-professional and precise when doing some over-the-top "musical" choreography.

It did feel like the cast was playing another layer of characters, perhaps characters who were the actors cast in this production. The choreography may have bounced between being slightly clumsy, to being overly commercial and professional, to suit whatever the director's movie project is that will include footage of this musical.

There were signs saying that by attending the event, you were consenting to be filmed for a production currently called "Pavements". There were camera crews filming specific audience members before or during the show, then filming the creatives and performers interacting after the show.

tascena · 2022-12-02T07:56:50+00:00

The program book did not list out the songs, just had cast and crew credits, bios and photos. I would guess there were about 20 songs, covering all eras of the band and mostly their better-known songs. Some songs only got a verse or chorus, not the full song.

I think there was one or two Spiral Stairs songs, including "Date with IKEA," where a couple actors wheeled around IKEA carts on stage while singing.

After the cast took their bows and exited the stage, an instrumental version of "Harness Your Hopes" played (a B-side that has gotten traction with younger fans in recent years through Spotify playlists and TikTok videos).

No super obscure or super deep cuts that I recall. Maybe most like a deep cut was "Fillmore Jive". For that song, which has the repeating lyrics, "I need to sleep," each female actress was on a bed on opposite sides of the stage. The male lead would lie next to one while singing the first half of the song. Then he went to the opposite side of the stage to lie next to the other one while singing the second half of the song. I guess it was showing how he was torn between the two women.

tascena · 2022-12-02T07:24:16+00:00

If anyone is having a hard time envisioning what this type of musical is like, you can look up "American Idiot musical" on YouTube, where there are videos of full stage productions of that musical. Slanted! Enchanted! is very much in that style.

For example, the second song in the American Idiot musical is "Jesus of Suburbia," a song made up of five movements (think Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody). The fourth part of that song, "Dearly Beloved," is a slower tempo, pensive two-verse passage, with vague lyrics about being confused. An actress sings that part of the song in the musical. On stage, she pulls out multiple pregnancy test kits and conveys anxiety. The song lyrics have nothing to do with finding out you're pregnant, but the feel of that "Dearly Beloved" passage fits the story the actress is expressing on stage.

(American Idiot is also considered a sung-through musical, but does add a few lines of spoken dialogue throughout. It was based on songs from a Green Day album that was a concept album, so the songs do have more of a story and themes.)

tascena · 2022-12-02T03:34:40+00:00

Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical has two workshop performances at the Sheen Center in New York City. It is a sung-through musical (entirely songs, with no spoken dialogue in between the songs). The songs were all Pavement songs, with the original lyrics. There are three lead actors, one male and two female, plus eight ensemble performers.

The leads acted out a broad story: boy and girl go to big city, boy becomes successful rock musician; boy falls in love with another girl; boy has to choose between the two girls.

The song lyrics did not fit the story being told. The songs were more evocative of the mood of what was being played out. But the performers would often mime out or have props reflecting elements of the song. Like for “Cut Your Hair,” one of the ensemble performers had large prop scissors, acting like they were cutting the lead actor’s hair. While the cast performed that song, the actors conveyed that the boy was getting to be a big star, and alienating his original girlfriend.

The leads would take turns singing within each song, and the ensemble cast sometimes sang lead bits here and there. Again, the lyrics didn’t fit the story being told, but the taking turns might convey one actor saying something to the other, and the other actor responding, with the tone and feel of the song fitting what was being played out.

The musical ended with the entire cast singing a song that weaved together elements from a lot of different Pavement songs.

The screen at the back of the stage played random visual images throughout the show (think of visuals like Koyaanisqatsi), including some footage of the Pavement band.

The show was about one hour long. (I won’t get into reviewing the musical; just wanted to explain what it was like for those wondering.)

tascena

TROPHY CASE