New Malkmus!

"Lariat"

I had my tickets to the 2010 Pavement reunion in Central Park for about a year. In what probably served as a partial, primordial version of CoolDad Music, I spent that entire year posting Pavement and Stephen Malkmus songs / videos to my Twitter feed every Friday with the hashtag #pavementfriday. I had to skip out on CD #1's Back-to-School Night to attend the show -- the first one I ever attended alone, probably -- and the rest is history.

So, in a way -- before even Titus Andronicus, Screaming Females, and Diarrhea Planet -- Stephen Malkmus is probably one of the biggest reasons why CoolDad Music even exists. That's why it's so weird and inexcusable that the release of this lyric video for "Lariat," off of Stephen Malkmus's upcoming Wig Out at Jag Bags (January 7th), escaped my notice until now.

Whatever. Here it is. It, of course, features Malkmus's trademark, and I believe highly underrated, guitar playing along with some straightforward lyrics that harken back to his self-titled solo debut. It's a spin on the traditional lyric video in that the lyrics we see are in French, translated for us by a young women as she listens to the song.

CoolMom Needs A Drink Edition

Cyprus Friday

CoolMom has this weird job where what's going on in the island nation of Cyprus can give her agita for a week.

For me, any mention of Cyprus reminds me of the self-titled, debut, solo album by Stephen Malkmus. I really liked that record. It was a bit strange, though, as many of the songs, like the Lou Reed-esque "The Hook," were straightforward and story-driven. There was a lot less of that Pavement-y word salad that I'd grown to love over the years, but it still worked for me.

For CoolMom's sake, here's hoping for a little "Cypriotic good luck."

Rock on...