- Music
- 31 Aug 14
The self-described "sultans of slack" get gloriously sloppy on the Rankin's Wood Stage.
Some people say you shouldn't meet your heroes. Watching them, elevated, from about 20 feet is A-OK though. A proper indie icon, Stephen Malkmus has barely aged a jot since he made lo-fi, Fall-indebted, shambling indie the coolest thing around with Pavement back in the early '90s.
These days, he's hanging with a technically finer set of players, allowing him to let his inner (still typically understated) guitar hero loose.
Today's Rankin's Wood Stage set is a fuzzy, carefree joy, as long as you're not expecting Pavement pseudo-hits.
Half the fun is Malkmus' esoteric between song chatter. Rambling about their merch stall, he declares the band to be "the sultans of slack" only to later dedicate a number to, of all things, the Hull City Tigers before noting, "it's a place in England - YOUR ENEMIES!" to a bemused smattering of laughter/applause.
Right now, if you take him at his word, he's trying to sell his guitar to Andre 3000.
Stephen Malkmus, never change.