From the day nigh two decades ago when the first scratchy sounds of Pavement floated in the ether above Stockton California, the music of Stephen Malkmus has been the gift that keeps on keepin' on. With their fractured songs, unexpected blasts of feedback, laconic vocals, cryptic literate lyrics, and defiant low-fidelity, Pavement were one of the most influential and distinctive bands to emerge from the American underground in the '90s. After splitting the band in 2000, Malkmus has continued on his merry way, recording four ‘solo’ LPs of occasionally whimsical, often psychedelically poptastic brilliance. His latest, Real Emotional Trash is his second credited to his backing band The Jicks.