Happy Record Store Day Everyone, be sure to hit up your neighborhood shop today!
Posts tagged stereogum
One of the all time great albums turns 20 today. Off the heels of the Nevermind 20 year reunion comes one of the more under-appreciated albums of its time.
“Where were you in ’92. The music world was fascinated by “alternative rock,” which was culturally ascendent and extremely commercially viable: 120 Minutes held sway, Nirvana were a year into (and nearly drowned by) their sea change moment, and Lollapalooza was a thing that had just recently come into existence and would even come to your town if there were enough residents that regularly wore flannel. Into this environment Matador Records released a classic independent rock touchstone called Slanted And Enchanted, a record that never really rode that alternative music riptide to much, sales-wise, but absolutely shaped enough band careers and listening habits to merit recognition so many years after the fact. Here’s its commercial reach in context: By the time this record came out, Nevermind was selling about 400,000 copies a week; as of 2007, Slanted And Enchanted had moved 150,000. Which is to say, most acquisitions of Pavement’s classic probably came after 2007, a lot of which probably aren’t logged in any legitimate record store ledger. So then to the point: Let’s celebrate Slanted & Enchanted by talking about why it’s the youngest-feeling 20-year-old album imaginable.”
Click the album cover to see Stereogum’s full article on this classic and enjoy the opening track off Slanted & Enchanted below:
