It's been a while since I've posted here--from the purge of this platform to the death of another--but I have some pop cultural thoughts and this is where they go.
Pavement is a definitive album band and record collectors' band, but they also released a ton of great material on singles, EPs, compilations, and bonus releases. Most of that was collected on cd in a string of deluxe expanded album reissues starting in 2002 that were more exhausting than exhaustive. The material for the first and last of these is on vinyl, but the middle three are not. I think there is demand for a missing album or two on vinyl, curated from all of those non-album tracks.
Now Matador has announced Cautionary Tales: Jukebox Classiques, a box set with reissues of all of their 7" singles. I realize that this limited, pre-order only release is strictly for diehards and prosumer nostalgists. It does not increase access, it's just a fifth way to hear "Baptiss Blacktick".
There is one efficient Pavement compilation, the seminal Westing: By Musket and Sextant, which collects their first three EPs, first single and contemporary compilation tracks.
Matador could simply release the middle three records' bonus content on vinyl, and they would be more successful than the first volume was in 2015, but the songs are already available digitally. All of the collections, including Westing, have stuck to a strict chronological sequencing, which is a missed curatorial opportunity.
So I propose one LP that simply collects their 5 last EPs, and a 'lost album' of the best remaining non-album material.
The cover art, like the playlist, is composed of art that was cropped from their original albums. Of course I've got a third LP of less-listenable curiosities but we'll see how the first two sell first ;)
