This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
For their second album in 1994, the singular slackers of Pavement kept their trademark ramshackle grooves, loose arrangements, noisy guitars, shaky vocals and enigmatic lyrics.
But they upped the ante with a trio of new members (including a more proficient drummer), better production and sharper songcraft. Coupled with Steven Malkmus’s artful melodies and snide pop-culture barbs (“Stone Temple Pilots, they’re elegant bachelors / They’re foxy to me, are they foxy to you?”), their more organized approach was a form of musical alchemy that generated alternative anthems in tracks like Cut Your Hair, Gold Soundz and Range Life. Pavement made good albums after this — but for my money, they never made a better album.
EXTRAS: Tons. Much like 2002’s Slanted And Enchanted reissue, this two-disc version of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain includes dozens of unearthed and unissued gems. Disc 1 has the original album, along with all the various single B-sides and compilation tracks from the era, including the R.E.M. tribute Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence. Disc 2 has eight surprisingly well-produced demos, a dozen quality leftovers and alternate takes from the sessions, and four live songs from a John Peel show. Gold sounds indeed.
