Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 04/17/1992
Run Time: 38:41
Slanted & Enchanted is a left-field classic, a record that came out of nowhere to help establish a new subgenre of
rock & roll.
Pavement had already sketched out their sound, as well as their amateurish
lo-fi aesthetic, on a series of indie singles before recording their debut, but
Slanted & Enchanted is where they pulled all of their disparate sounds together into a distinctive style. At first, the primitive sound of the record is the most gripping thing about
Slanted, but soon the true innovations of the record appear through the songs themselves.
Stephen Malkmus and
Spiral Stairs subvert conventional
pop structures, turning melodies inside out, reinterpreting and reworking older songs, and bending genres together. It's a complex, enthralling record, filled with fractured riffs, strong melodies, and cryptic melodies, and with all the hiss and static,
Slanted & Enchanted sounds like listening to a distant college radio station -- melodies and hooks keep floating in and out of the mix, with individual lines instead of full lyrics surfacing through the murk. This unique song structure as much as the sound of the album itself makes
Slanted & Enchanted an individual, signature work and one of the most influential records of the '90s.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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