For rock acts, the reunion tour has become a career path rather than a happy exception. Whether for love or money, it is now practically a matter of if, rather than when, someone decides to “put the band back together.” 2010 was the year the trend claimed Pavement, the anointed kings of 1990s indie rock, who passed through Millennium Park last night on a last leg of their long-overdue victory lap. more ›

Pavement's Stephen Malkmus is often described as arch, almost the embodiment of the postmodern musician, but every time this writer has ever run into him Malkmus has always been unfailingly engaging and polite. So it's refreshing to hear him come across so comfortably and clearly in his interview with Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot on this week's Sound Opinions. He talks with the local music critics after Pavement's appearance at The Pitchfork Music Festival about his old band's entire career; from the earliest days of ex-drummer Gary Young's studio to Makmus apologizing for dropping names while mentioning it was on Thom Yorke's advice that they work with Nigel Godrich on their final album. He also discusses their "golden period" a.k.a. those albums upon which the critical tastes of almost an entire generation was formed saying: more ›

Previously: Day One, Day Two more ›

The south-bound lanes on Lake Shore Drive between Roosevelt and the Stevenson Expressway were reopened early this morning following a closure last night due to some buckled pavement. Flowers and grass weren't the only thing wilting in yesterday's heat as chunks of pavement along the road near 18th street buckled, forcing the closure. There's no word on the cost of the repair, but CDOT workers got the road patched up overnight so this morning's rush hour would go smoothly. The buckling occurred late yesterday afternoon, forcing closure of the south-bound lanes from around 6 p.m. to just after 1 a.m. more ›

Two of the '90s most heralded and mumble-y rock groups are coming to the Windy City. While it’s certainly no secret that the sardonic, anthemic and recently reunited Pavement are headlining the Pitchfork Music Festival on Sunday (and likely the reason why that date is sold out), the band has announced a new, standalone show at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on September 13, according to Time Out Chicago. more ›

At first the notion of a Pavement "best of" album made no sense to us, but then we realized not everyone owns every single thing the band put out like we do. in Pavement's ten years as a working band it's fair to say they birthed the final wave of the truly independent movement in music and it's hard to understate their influence on the generation that followed. more ›

The Pichtfork Music Festival has gotten in the habit of releasing its festival acts in fits and spurts that constantly one-up each other, ostensibly to keep fans excited for the impending summer weekend it inhabits, but after today's initial line-up announcement we're curious how they're going to keep the momentum going to top this. more ›

Man, have we got Pavement on the brain today. Malkmus is dropping a new single, and that led us to zero in on the band's discography on ye olde iPod this A.M., and then we came across this video of Poison Control Center covering one of our favorite early chestnuts from the Pavement catalog. more ›