Wowee Zowee

Wowee Zowee
Studio album by Pavement
Publication (s)	April 11, 1995
admission	14. - 24. November 1994 10. - 14. February 1995
Label (s)	Matador Records Big Cat Records
Format (s)	CD , LP , MC
Genre (s)	Indie rock
Title (number)	18th
running time	55:51
occupation	Stephen Malkmus - vocals , guitar Scott Kannberg - guitar , vocals Mark Ibold - bass Bob Nastanovich - percussion , vocals Steve West - drums , percussion Doug Easley - Pedal Steel Guitar (Track 8) Sibel Firat - Cello (Track 14)
production	Pavement
Studio (s)	Easley Recording Studios, Memphis Random Falls Studios, New York City
chronology Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) Wowee Zowee Brighten the Corners (1997)
Single releases March 30, 1995 Rattled by the rush June 20, 1995 Father to a Sister of Thought

Wowee Zowee is the third studio album by the American rock band Pavement and was released on April 11, 1995. At the time of publication, the album polarized fans and critics, but gained increasing recognition over the years.

background

On Wowee Zowee , which is considered to be more radical and less accessible than its two predecessors, the band combined different influences from rock and pop music . In addition to the return of noise rock and lo-fi elements, borrowings from country (“Father to a Sister of Thought”, “Half a Canyon”), folk (“We Dance”), jazz ( "Motion Suggests Itself"), punk ("Serpentine Pad"), grunge ("Flux = Rad") and blues ("Extradition"). Some songs are deliberately kept fragmentary or unfinished. Because of its eclectic character, Wowee Zowee has been compared to the Beatles' White Album .

The album title goes back to Gary Young, the band's former drummer. It also pays homage to the song Wowie Zowie by Frank Zappa . Bob Nastanovich suggested the title Dick-Sucking Fool at Pussy-Licking School as an alternative , but this was too risky for the other band members.

The picture on the cover is by the painter Steve Keene . The design is based on the album Kangaroo by the German Krautrock band Guru Guru . Malkmus is strongly influenced by Krautrock.

Most of the album was recorded in November 1994 at Easley Recording Studios in Memphis . The rest of the sessions took place in February 1995 at Random Falls Studios in New York City , where the predecessor was recorded. Four of the songs ("Flux = Rad", "Kennel District", "Grounded" and "Pueblo") were already written for Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and early takes are included on LA's Desert Origins bonus CD . Wowee Zowee was released in the USA by Matador Records and in Great Britain by Big Cat Records , distribution in Germany was again taken over by Rough Trade Records .

Wowee Zowee was released on LP as a double album , but the fourth page is blank.

Track list

With the exception of the marked exceptions, all songs are written by Stephen Malkmus .

1. We Dance - 3:01
2. Rattled by the Rush - 4:16
3. Black Out - 2:10
4. Brinx Job - 1:31
5. Grounded - 4:14
6. Serpentine Pad - 1:16
7. Motion Suggests Itself - 3:15
8. Father to a Sister of Thought - 3:30
9. Extradition - 2:12
10. Best Friend's Arm - 2:19
11. Grave Architecture - 4:16
12. AT&T - 3:32
13. Flux = wheel - 1:45
14. Fight This Generation - 4:22
15. Kennel District (Scott Kannberg) - 2:59
16. Pueblo - 3:25
17. Half a Canyon - 6:10
18. Western Homes (Kannberg) - 1:49

reception

source	rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone (us)
Rolling Stone (de)
Spin (1995)
Spin (2008)
Music Express

The reactions to Wowee Zowee were mixed in 1995, especially the willingness to experiment of the band was judged divided. Over the years, however, the album was perceived more positively. The music magazine Rolling Stone , which initially only rated Wowee Zowee with 2½ out of 5 stars, recognized the album in 2014 as a “masterpiece”. The German edition of the magazine gave the album 4½ out of 5 stars.

“This LP didn't convince immediately, but it was of a breadth and depth that was worth listening to. The quick-start experiments of yore still existed, and the carefree lightness in the songs was still there. But there was more variety than before, from the Nirvana-like “Flux − Wheel” to the distinctive melodies of “Motion Suggests” and “Father to a Sister of Thought”, where a gorgeous steel guitar could be heard. Now there was no longer any doubt: Pavement had become - on record or live - one of the most original, honest and independent bands of the 90s. "

- Andrew Stone

“After the almost without exception sobering reviews, the album was rehabilitated at some distance when it was released - and celebrated as a stylistically daring experiment that many consider to be the best and most interesting pavement record today. [...] Slanted & Enchanted may be the decisive statement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain contain the best songs, Brighten the Corners the most stringent Pavement album and Terror Twilight the most carefully produced, but Wowee Zowee is with its simple abundance the most productive record of the band in terms of ideas. "

- Kevin Neuroth

" Wowee Zowee became the beloved oddball in Pavement's discography. There's rock, there's blues, there's ballads and punk and artsy changeups mid-song. Wowee Zowee is all over the place. That's what makes it perfect. "

- Nina Corcoran

Spin magazine chose Wowee Zowee as # 153 of the 300 best albums from 1985 to 2014.

Sordid Sentinels Edition

Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition
Compilation album by Pavement
Publication (s)	November 7, 2006
admission	March 3, 1994 - March 15, 1995
Label (s)	Matador Records Domino Records
Format (s)	CD
Title (number)	50
running time	156: 15
production	Pavement , Jesper Eklow, Mark Ohe
chronology Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins (2004) Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition (2008)

source	rating
The Guardian
Uncut
Spin
Pitchfork

In November 2006, Matador and Domino Records released an expanded new edition of Wowee Zowee on 2 CDs. It is the third new release of a Pavement album with bonus material after Luxe & Reduxe and LA's Desert Origins . In addition to the studio album, the Sordid Sentinels Edition contains additional songs, B-sides , outtakes , the 1995 EP Pacific Trim , live recordings and contributed songs for the soundtracks of the films I Shot Andy Warhol and Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy .

On the occasion of the album's 25th anniversary, Matador will release the bonus tracks Sensitive Euro Man and Brink of the Clouds / Candylad as a limited 7 ″ single in August 2020 .

Disc 1

Wowee Zowee

1. We Dance - 3:02

2. Rattled by the Rush - 4:16

3. Black Out - 2:09

4. Brinx Job - 1:30

5. Grounded - 4:16

6. Serpentine Pad - 1:16

7. Motion Suggests Itself - 3:15

8. Father to a Sister of Thought - 3:30

9. Extradition - 2:12

10. Best Friend's Arm - 2:19

11. Grave Architecture - 4:16

12. AT&T - 3:22

13. Flux = wheel - 1:45

14. Fight This Generation - 4:22

15. Kennel District - 2:59

16. Pueblo - 3:25

17. Half a Canyon - 6:10

18. Western Homes - 1:51

Wowee Zowee Session Outtake

19. Sordid - 0:28

Rattled by la Rush EP (B-Sides)

20. Brink of the Clouds - 2:25

21. False Scorpio - 2:03

22. Easily Fooled - 3:05

Father to a Sister of Thought (B-Sides)

23. Kris Kraft - 2:46

24. Mussle Rock (Is a Horse in Transition) - 3:26

Pacific Trim EP

25. Give It a Day - 2:38 am

26. Gangsters & Pranksters - 1:30

27. Saganaw - 3:32

28. I Love Perth - 1:05

Wowee Zowee Session Outtake

29. Sentinel - 0:14

Disc 2

I Shot Andy Warhol Soundtrack

1. Sensitive Euro Man - 3:17

Wowee Zowee Session Outtake

2. Stray Fire - 2:46

Live: Hilversum, Netherlands (March 3, 1994)

3. Fight This Generation - 8:10

4. Easily Fooled - 3:43

Jam session with Doug Easley on piano

5. Soul Food - 3:46

Homage - Lots of Bands Doing Descendents ' Songs

6. It's a Hectic World - 1:03

BBC Radio 1 Steve Lamacq Evening Session (March 15, 1995)

7. Kris Force - 2:38

8. Golden Boys / Serpentine Pad - 4:33

9. Painted Soldiers - 2:40

10. I Love Perth - 1:10

Medusa Cyclone / Pavement Split 7 ″

11. Dancing with the Elders - 4:14

Live: Wireless JJJ Radio in Australia (July 7, 1994)

12. Half a Canyon - 5:27 am

13. Best Friend's Arm - 3:52

14. Brink of the Clouds / Candylad - 3:59

15. Unfair - 2:40

16. Easily Fooled - 3:24

17. Heaven Is a Truck - 4:03

18. Box Elder - 5:16

Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks (compilation)

19. No More Kings - 4:23

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (Soundtrack)

20. Painted Soldiers - 2:54

Wowee Zowee Session Outtake

21. We Dance (Alternate Mix) - 3:02

literature

• Bryan Charles: Wowee Zowee . ( 33 ⅓ ), Bloomsbury Academic 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2957-5 .

Web links

• Wowee Zowee on Discogs
• Wowee Zowee on RateYourMusic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wowee Zowee on rateyourmusic.com (accessed March 27, 2018)
2. ↑ Schmidt-Joos, Siegfried u. Kampmann, Wolf (Ed.): Rock-Lexikon 1, 2nd edition, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag Hamburg 2009, p. 1306.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Review by Kevin Neuroth on rollingstone.de (accessed on March 27, 2018)
4. ↑ US rock star Stephen Malkmus talks Krautrock on dw.com
5. ↑ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com (accessed March 27, 2018)
6. ↑ Review by Mark Kemp on rollingstone.com (accessed March 27, 2018)
7. ^ Review by Christian Buß, in: Rolling Stone 04/1995, pp. 104/105.
8. ↑ Review by Eric Weisbard, in: Spin 05/1995, p. 93.
9. ↑ Douglas Wolk: Discography Stephen Malkmus, in: Spin 03/2008, p. 82.
10. ↑ Review by Cloat Gerold on musikexpress.de (accessed on March 27, 2018)
11. ↑ When Did Pavement's 'Wowee Zowee' Become a Masterpiece? on rollingstone.com (accessed March 27, 2018)
12. ^ Buckley, Peter (ed.): Rock Rough Guide, 2nd edition, Verlag JB Metzler Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, p. 590.
13. ↑ Wowee Zowee: Pavement's Weirdest Album Turns 20 on consequenceofsound.net (accessed March 27, 2018)
14. ↑ The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014) on spin.com (accessed July 27, 2020)
15. ↑ Review by Maddy Costa on theguardian.com (accessed July 29, 2018)
16. ↑ Review by John Robinson on uncut.co.uk (accessed July 29, 2018)
17. ^ Review by Jon Dolan, in: Spin 12/2006, p. 103.
18. ↑ Review by Mark Richardson on pitchfork.com (accessed March 27, 2018)