The article is great throughout, but this exchange is especially revealing. It shows how self-aware and honest Malkmus is about Pavement's music and legacy. Klosterman wonders:
Did having so many people insist that Slanted and Enchanted was brilliant change the way he [Malkmus] now thinks about those songs?"Of course it does, in a way. But no matter how much positive feedback you get, it's never enough," Malkmus says. "I'm not a particularly needy person, but it always seems like every review could be better. With a record like Slanted and Enchanted, that was so much a timing thing, along with the fact that its flaws are a big part of what makes it good. It's not like some Radiohead record, where the whole thing is good. Our records aren't good in that way. Our records are more attitude and style, sort of in a punk way. We're good in the same way the Strokes are good. I think Slanted and Enchanted probably is the best record we made, only because it's less self-conscious and has an unrepeatable energy about it."
