Westing (By Musket and Sextant)

Pavement

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.com Sales Rank: #115,928 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 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

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.

4 of 4 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

'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 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.