Stephen Malkmus seems intent on trashing his own legacy. In a fit of foppish self-deprecation he recently branded his former band Pavement "just a medium big college rock band": a decades worth of supremely influential guitar music dismissed in just seven words.
From anyone else we could take this as a rather unappealing stab at faux modesty. Maybe it is. Maybe Malkmus is seeking to ingratiate himself with his British fans by playing the bumbling Hugh Grant card - "er...music's just a bit of a hobby for me really...you'll probably hate it...most people do".
If so, it's working - because what's really great about 'Pig Lib', Malkmus' second solo album, is its faintly sad, understated charm: the work of a musician who you feel is unaware just how good he is. As with his first solo outing, 'Pig Lib' finds Stephen Malkmus tempering Pavement's more audacious art rock leanings and emerging with some of the most insanely catchy and sorely beautiful tunes of the year.
What makes these songs really special is their ability to maintain a pop coherency, whilst being genuinely quirky and experimental: 'Do Not Feed the Oysters' not only has a great tune, it's also got a beguiling sitar refrain and some mad wavy guitars; 'Ramp of Death' - has a beautiful half murmured melody, plus a sweet mid range organ line that sounds surprising, and at the same time completely obvious.
In this sense, 'Pig Lib' owes much to the Velvet Underground. Like Lou Reed, Stephen Malkmus has a rare avant-garde melodic touch. He even shares Reed's curiously unmusical vocal style - just sketching the tunes and leaving the listener to join the dots in his head.
Also like Lou Reed, Malkmus is not immune to the odd moment of self-indulgence. For every 'Femme Fatale' there's a 'Black Angel's Death Song', or in Malkmus' case a song called 'Witch Mountain Bridge'. This boring dirge could be read as Malkmus making a bid for rock respectability - some token 'difficult' music, as if his out-and-out pop songs aren't challenging enough.
For most of 'Pig Lib', however, Malkmus sounds like he couldn't give a toss about such fripperies. After all, he's just the ex singer from a 'medium big college rock band' - who cares what he does?
