Will Malkmus' perma-slacker take on folk music capture people’s hearts?

What’s presented here is a version of Wowee Zowee that exercises just a little bit more control while still being true to the band’s chaotic spirit.

Those expecting to see Malkmus actually behind the synths should temper their expectations.

Groove Denied is simultaneously Malkmus' most unexpected and least captivating album.

It’s possible that time will be kinder to Pig Lib.

Step one for rock show domination: soften up the crowd a little. Detroit punk trio Tyvek took on the task with ferocity. Although the Gothic was fairly sparse when they opened the show, they thrashed their hardcore hearts out. While the rhythm section held down the throbbing darkness and frantic beat, frontman Kevin Boyer flailed away at an old Silvertone …

As we get acquainted this month with Wig Out at Jagbags, we decided to take a look back at Stephen Malkmus’s pre-Jicks discography – you remember, a little Cali band called Pavement. Read on as staffers Stacey Pavlick and Mike Randall celebrate some of Malkmus’s finest poetry/non sequiturs. Either way you call it, here are some words that resonated. Range …

[xrr rating=3.5/5]“Nothing classic is probably going on here, let’s face it,” Stephen Malkmus recently told Rolling Stone. “So just have fun with your time.” Malkmus is known for being pretty lax, but a statement like that doesn’t originate from any kind of laissez faire attitude, rather it seems like a coping mechanism for someone who has long shouldered the burden …

These excellent records fell just short of our Top 20 of 2011 list. The Antlers- Burst Apart [Frenchkiss] I suspect I’m not the only one who slowly scrolled through this very site’s Top 20 Albums of 2011 feature a few times in a vain attempt to locate Burst Apart. It had to be there somewhere, right? It wasn’t, though, and …

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Mirror Traffic Rating: 4.0/5.0 Label: Matador Mirror Traffic marks a milestone for Stephen Malkmus’s post-Pavement solo conduit, his outfit with the Jicks. A decade in age and five albums strong, excepting 2005’s Face the Truth which was almost fully solo, he and the Jicks have been tooling around with his trademark noodly guitar and lyrical …