Westing (By Musket & Sextant)

Pavement | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 1993)
• Original Release Date: March 30, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B0000019PI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,715 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #86 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative

Track Listings

1. You're Killing Me

2. Box Elder

3. Maybe, Maybe

4. She Believes

5. Price Yeah!

6. Forklift

7. Spizzle Trunk

8. Recorder Grot

9. Internal K-Dart

10. Perfect Depth

11. Heckler Spray

12. From Now On

13. Angel Carver Blues/Mellow Jazz Docent

14. Debris Slide

15. Home

16. Krell Vid-User

17. Summer Babe [Winter Version]

18. Mercy: The Laundromat

19. Baptiss Blacktick

20. My First Mine

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Warning: This collection is not for fans of high-fidelity music. Pavement's early days were marred by murk; call it the limitation of the early days of any band, but nobody in the early '90s wanted this sound. Pavement seized it, wrapped it up in enigmatic packages, and soon a cult following was born. Westing (by Musket and Sextant) captures several early 7-inches and EPs for a look back at Pavement's gestation. All the essential elements are here, from Stephen Malkmus's beyond-bebop lyricism to white-heat guitars that sound like they're coming from the dark side of an Edison cylinder. Anyone swayed by the last couple of Pavement albums may not enjoy this collection unless they also appreciate edgy acts like the Fall and Swell Maps. It sounds quite tinny and one may wonder if there's anything on Westing that resembles a radio-ready hit. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? --Jason Josephes

Product Description

A collection of all of Pavement's low-fidelity early singles and EPs, which feature considerably less melody than Slanted and Enchanted. It's nice to have this rare material on one CD, although the music is defiantly anti-CD. Those who boarded the train with the acclaimed Slanted and Enchanted should catch up on what they've missed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the weak, but still good., May 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Westing (By Musket & Sextant) (Audio CD)

Is this the first Pavement album you should buy? Probably not. You'll probably hate it. But if you own Slanted or Crooked Rain, or especially Wowee Zowee and liked them, this one will grow on you. Collection of EPs and singles before their Matador signing, its a shotgun blast of dischordant and anarchistic recordings. Definately hit and miss, some of it I will agree is almost unlistenable, but the rest of it, you'll keep coming back to. The first listen will probably illict a 'What the f***?' The second one will be, "Hey, that song is kind of neat...", and after a couple more, you'll be listening to it simply repeating, "Pavement Ist Rad!" Torn between 3 stars and 4, I give it 4.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pavement at their rawest, January 22, 2004

By 

Michael - See all my reviews

This review is from: Westing (By Musket & Sextant) (Audio CD)

'Westing' is a collection of all of Pavement's low-fidelity early singles and EP's, which are all a lot more dirtier and less melodic than the bands later material. Infact, this album is so dirty, I really can't imagine anything else that has been recorded so ... badly. Pavement walks the fine tightrope between barely audible and musical genius like never before.

Underneath the dirt and grime lie some of Pavement's best songs, however if you're a stickler for hi-fi quality, you're not going to find anything to like. Myself, while I do like the cleaner sounding stuff, I had no problem with 'Westing' and loved every grit-filled minute of it.

If you jumped on the Pavement train with 'Slanted & Enchanted' or anything after that, you <i>need</i> to buy a return ticket and pick up 'Westing' to see what you have been missing all this time.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This record is hot., November 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Westing (By Musket & Sextant) (Audio CD)

This is a great record here. I love nearly every song, even the ones that are just noise. Recorder Grot (Rally) is awesome! It's cool cause theyre not making it noisy with pedals or anything, theyre doin it with the horrible equipment they used to record it. Its great on long drives through Quebec and Vermont.