by Elise Barbin (@elisecbarb)
Outside of sound, outside of style, there’s something inherently psychedelic about music that helps us understand ourselves better. Traditional Techniques unlocks this sensation in decoding contemporary life and the bizarre nature of our relation to one another. All at once, the album is sympathetic portraiture, it’s tongue-in-cheek criticism, it’s a refreshing reflection in an age of commodified mindfulness and Gwenyth Paltrow-esque “consciousness.”
Stephen Malkmus, aided by the defacto guitar wizard of our times Matt Sweeney, explores these notions over a pastiche of otherworldly Eastern modes, ritualistic canticles, and tasteful-palette pastoralia. Though these melodies evoke faraway settings and time tables, Malkmus delivers his lyrics in his familiar vernacular, one that’s steeped in hyperspecific modernity. The discrepancy among word and melody create a connection between the themes explored here and a greater sense of history and by-way, humanity.
Directness, sincerity, and an overall soft-sided approach deliver the bulk of this record. Given the existential goings on, this feels like an apt departure from the Malkmus norm. Though, there’s still plenty of trademark ironic detachment and bratty boy confidence to make us feel at home. On the junkie cowboy bop “Xian Man,” our singer takes on the role of an ego-driven Christian hypocrite and with “Shadowbanned” he examines the brain-dead surrender in hyperconnectivity scored by a goofy medieval jaunt. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
More than just another great piece of music in the Pavement-Jicks-solo pipeline, Techniques represents a new arc in his musicianship. Half of last year’s Groove Denied waded in old waters, but the other half gave a glimpse at this future by experimenting in genre and emanating a looseness, a willingness to step outside the pre-existing parameters. Here, Malkmus cashes in on 20-odd years of consistency in exchange for self-realization, paving a new path forward: one that finds a way up by a sharp turn left.