Pavement's Wowee Zowee Paperback Music Book (33 1/3) 2012

This title presents a compelling examination of the classic "Pavement" album, including interviews with all band members and record label staff. Upon its release in 1995, Wowee Zowee confounded a lot of "Pavement"'s fans. And yet, over the subsequent years, it's an album that has come to be acclaimed by many as an alternative rock masterpiece.

Bryan Charles talks to the people who made the record and those close to them at the time, letting them tell the story of how the record came to be, how they felt about it then and how they feel about it now. Charles pays close attention to Malkmus' growth as a musician and songwriter, both of which are evident everywhere on Wowee Zowee. He demonstrates how Malkmus essentially throws words together on the spot, often while tape is rolling or he's standing on stage, and argues that this shows an extraordinary verbal gift rare enough in the field of literature, to say nothing of rock and roll.