If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Samuel Gehrke and Chris Shonting Stephen Malkmus has been getting fairly experimental in the past few years. He's played around with electronic almost dance music, and with his upcoming album he's going straight up acoustic folk. "Xian Man" is a folk song, which is something I never really expected from Malmus. Malkmus took to making a folk album as a self dare, and it's centered around his twelve string acoustic guitar. That all being said, this is still Stephen Malkmus, so there's plenty here for longtime fans of his solo work and Pavement. His voice will always be his voice, and there's a weirdo guitar solo that is pure classic Malkmus. You can listen to "Xian Man" below. Traditional Techniques , the upcoming album from Stephen Malkmus, will be out on March 6 via Matador. You can pre-order a copy here . For more on Stephen Malkmus, check out his website . Current tour dates are below the song. Tue. March 31 - Minneapolis...

Album of the Week : Artist : Stephen Malkmus Album : Groove Denied Quick Description : New album from the Pavement frontman. Why You Should Listen : Stephen Malkmus has earned the right to do what he wants at this point. Overall Thoughts : At least when Radiohead went weird, they didn’t try to alienate most listers right out of the gate. If you can get past the first track of Groove Denied , however, you’re in for a real treat. Malkmus’s output over the decades has always been a strange mixed bag even if it’s perpetually compelling, and this album is the vision of a man just spreading his wings as much as he wants and presenting the results. Sort of a Kraftwerk via the American West Coast amalgam of ideas and concepts through much-to-most of the affair, this is not going to have the sort of wide appeal of his early solo work or the indie smart takes of the most hardcore of Pavement enthusiasts. This is a bizarre record, but it’s also kind of brilliant and really works as long...