Brighten the corners

Brighten the corners
Studio album by Pavement
Publication (s)	February 11, 1997
admission	July 15, 1996 - July 30, 1996
Label (s)	Matador Records Domino Records
Format (s)	CD , LP , MC
Genre (s)	Indie rock
Title (number)	12
running time	46:10
occupation	Stephen Malkmus - vocals , guitar Scott Kannberg - guitar , vocals Mark Ibold - bass Bob Nastanovich - percussion , vocals Steve West - drums , percussion
production	Pavement , Mitch Easter, Bryce Goggin
Studio (s)	Piedmont Triad, North Carolina
chronology Wowee Zowee (1995) Brighten the corners Terror Twilight (1999)
Single releases January 27, 1997 stereo April 21, 1997 Shady Lane

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Brighten the corners   UK 27 02/22/1997 (3 weeks)   US 70 03/01/1997 (4 weeks)

Singles

stereo   UK 48 02/08/1997 (2 weeks) Shady Lane   UK 40 05/03/1997 (2 weeks)

Brighten the Corners is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Pavement and was released on February 11, 1997.

background

Pavement's penultimate album was recorded in July 1996 in a North Carolina studio. It was mixed and co-produced by Mitch Easter, who was responsible for the production of REM's first two studio albums Murmur (1983) and Reckoning (1984) .

At the time of recording, the five band members were already living in different cities, Scott Kannberg and Steve West were also married. Two years after the album was released, Pavement broke up.

After the polarizing and adventurous Wowee Zowee , Pavement returned to an accessible and pop- oriented indie rock with Brighten the Corners , whereby the band's origins from the lo-fi genre were still expressed. The two singles Shady Lane and Stereo were able to place themselves successfully in the British charts. In the music video to Shady Lane led Spike Jonze directing.

The title alludes to the album Brighten the Corner (1967) by Ella Fitzgerald .

Brighten the Corners was released in the US by Matador Records and in Europe by Domino Records . Rough Trade Records took over the distribution in Germany .

Track list

All songs except Date w / Ikea and Passat Dream were written by Stephen Malkmus .

1. Stereo - 3:08
2. Shady Lane / J Vs. S - 3:51
3. Transport Is Arranged - 3:52
4. Date w / Ikea (Scott Kannberg) - 2:39
5. Old to Begin - 3:23
6. Type Slowly - 5:20
7. Embassy Row - 3:52
8. Blue Hawaiian - 3:34
9. We Are Underused - 4:13
10. Passat Dream (Kannberg) - 3:52
11. Starlings of the Slipstream - 3:08
12. Fin - 5:25

reception

source	rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone
Pitchfork
Spin
Music Express

Brighten the Corners received a majority of positive reviews. The creative development of the band and the coherence of the songs were praised. The singles Stereo and Shady Lane received special mention .

“We are now in 1997. On "Brighten The Corners", also known as the-album-after- " Wowee Zowee ". This Pavement album, now perhaps the most loved one, was spurned by many who discovered this most wonderful and exemplary of all 90s bands with the hits “Cut Your Hair” and “Range Life”. Too uneven, too eclectic and eccentric for them this insane work had been. The bright, focused “Brighten The Corners” was hailed as a return afterwards.

The two singles “Stereo” and “Shady Lane” open furiously, “Transport Is Arranged” is mildly psychedelic with Byrds- Jangle and Mellotron , Scott Kannberg alias Spiral Stairs has his best with “Date w / Ikea” and “Passat Dream” Written pop songs, and Stephen Malkmus - once again at the height of his art - strikes back bitchily with "Embassy Row", turning to big topics like love ("A voice coach taught me to sing / He couldn't teach me to love ”), age (“ Embrace the senile genius / Watch her reinvent the wheel ”) and death (“ I want to grow old / Dying does not meet my expectations ”) and assigns in“ Fin ”between Neil Young and Pink Floyd the way to the next album " Terror Twilight ". "

- Maik Brüggemeyer

The magazine New Musical Express voted Brighten the Corners at number 228 of the 500 best albums of all time.

Nicene Creedence Edition

Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition
Compilation album by Pavement
Publication (s)	December 9, 2008
admission	July 15, 1996 - August 21, 1997
Label (s)	Matador Records Domino Records
Format (s)	CD , LP
Title (number)	44
running time	154: 37
production	Pavement , Mitch Easter, Bryce Goggin, Jesper Eklow, Mark Ohe
chronology Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition (2006) Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition -

source	rating
Rolling Stone
Uncut
Pitchfork

In December 2008, Matador and Domino Records released an expanded new edition of Brighten the Corners on two CDs and for the first time on four LPs. The Nicene Creedence Edition is the fourth and last new release of a Pavement album with bonus material after Luxe & Reduxe (2002), LA's Desert Origins (2004) and Sordid Sentinels Edition (2006). In addition to the studio album, it contains several B-sides , outtakes and numerous live recordings, including recordings from the radio show by John Peel as well as cover versions of songs by the bands Faust , Echo & the Bunnymen , The Clean and The Fall .

The Nicene Creedence Edition received a very positive assessment and achieved a Metascore of 92 out of 100 possible points on the Metacritic website .

Disc 1

1. Stereo - 3:08

2. Shady Lane / J Vs. S - 3:51

3. Transport Is Arranged - 3:52

4. Date w / Ikea (Scott Kannberg) - 2:39

5. Old to Begin - 3:23

6. Type Slowly - 5:20

7. Embassy Row - 3:52

8. Blue Hawaiian - 3:34

9. We Are Underused - 4:13

10. Passat Dream (Kannberg) - 3:52

11. Starlings of the Slipstream - 3:08

12. Fin - 5:25

Brighten the Corners Outtakes

13. And Then (The Hexx) - 7:02

14. Beautiful as a Butterfly - 3:38

15. Cataracts - 4:16

Stereo (B sides)

16. Westie Can Drum - 4:11

17. Winner of the (Kannberg) - 2:49

18. Birds in the Majic Industry - 3:56

Spit on a Stranger (B sides)

19. Harness Your Hopes - 3:27

20. Roll with the Wind - 3:19

Disc 2

Shady Line (B-sides)

1. Slowly Typed - 2:53

2. Cherry Area - 1:35

3. Wanna Mess You Around - 1:26

4. No Tan Lines - 3:09

BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997

5. And Then (The Hexx) - 5:08

6. Harness Your Hopes - 2:42

7. The Killing Moon ( Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson, Pete de Freitas ) - 5:17

8. Winner of The (Kannberg) - 2:50

Brighten the Corners Outtakes

9. Embassy Row Psych Intro - 1:06

10. Nigel - 3:45

11. Chevy (Old to Begin) - 3:49

12. Roll with the Wind (Roxy) - 3:22

God Save The Clean : A Tribute to the Clean

13. Oddity ( David Kilgour, Hamish Kilgour, Robert Scott ) - 2:59

Tibetan Freedom Concert

14. Type Slowly (Live) - 6:48

KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic, February 25, 1997

15. Neil Haggerty Meets Jon Spencer in a Non-Alcoholic Bar - 2:37

16. Destroy Mater Dei - 1:42

17. It's A Rainy Day Sunshine Girl ( Rudolf Sosna ) - 2:57

18. Maybe Maybe (Malkmus, Kannberg) - 2:02

BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997

19. Date w / Ikea (Kannberg) - 2:35

20th Fin - 5:10

21. Grave Architecture - 4:10

22. The Classical ( Mark E. Smith , The Fall ) - 3:27

WFNX Studios, February 12, 1997

23. Space Ghost Theme I - 1:43

24. Space Ghost Theme II - 2:51

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart source: US charts
2. ↑ Pavement in the Official UK Charts (English)
3. ↑ Nathan Brackett: Brighten the Corners on rollingstone.com (accessed April 10, 2018)
4. ↑ Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography on musicvf.com (accessed April 10, 2018)
5. ↑ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com (accessed April 10, 2018)
6. ↑ Review by Nathan Brackett, in: Rolling Stone 2/1997, issue 754, p. 68.
7. ↑ Review by Ryan Schreiber on pitchforkmedia.com (archived) (accessed October 5, 2018)
8. ↑ Review by Terri Sutton, in: Spin 3/1997, p. 99.
9. ↑ Musikexpress archive article
10. ↑ Review by Maik Brüggemeyer on rollingstone.de (accessed April 10, 2018)
11. ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time on nme.com (accessed August 18, 2020)
12. ↑ Review by Christian Hoard on rollingstone.com (accessed April 10, 2018)
13. ↑ Review by Rob Young on uncut.co.uk (accessed February 16, 2019)
14. ↑ Review by Stuart Berman on pitchfork.com (accessed April 10, 2018)
15. ↑ Metascore: Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition on Metacritic (as of February 16, 2019)