Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Stephen Malkmus (instagram.com/stephenmalkmus) of Pavement (pavementband.com/) and The Hard Quartet (https://thehardquartet.com) supergroup discusses his record collecting history and hobby, the curation and rarities of his collection and more.


Topics Include:


• Discussion of California fires affecting friends and family

• Malkmus planning upcoming Australia tour dates

• Past experiences touring Australia - good venues and hospitality

• Planning to watch Australian Open tennis in Melbourne

• Record store habits in Chicago area

• Sold eight feet of records to Portland dealer

• Keeps records with sentimental value over others

• Considering organizing valuable records for emergency evacuation

• Owns rare Australian records from Bondi Beach dealer

• Band of Light, Buffalo, Carson among Australian collection

• Collecting New Zealand Flying Nun and Expressway records

• Prefers finding records in wild over online purchases

• Interest in outsider music and private press records

• The Shags mentioned as reference for outsider music

• Gary Higgins' "Red Hash" mentioned as great private press

• Values original pressings over reissues, condition less important

• Not particularly interested in promo or white label releases

• Discusses Led Zeppelin records and Robert Ludwig pressing

• Moved from LA to Stockton around age eight

• Played in Stockton punk band Straw Dogs

• Opened for major hardcore bands like Black Flag

• Tales of Terror band mentioned as influential

• Authorities from Stockton discussed - "Soundtrack for Trouble"

• First vinyl appearance was Slay Tracks release

• Early Matador Records special releases with dinosaur stamps

• Influenced by Swell Maps and Beat Happening

• Early Sub Pop and Homestead Records were influential

• Hard Quartet project confirmed as ongoing, not one-off

• Band recorded together, avoiding remote recording methods

• Discusses song "Renegade" and its evolution

• Compression techniques used on "Renegade" discussed

• Looking for Roy Rutanen record while in Australia

• Found Bram Stoker record in Gold Coast charity shop

• Uses phone to research records while shopping

• Values surprise discoveries in record stores most


Tickets for The Hard Quartet Australian tour (thehardquartet.com/#tour)


Commercial free, high resolution verion of this podcast is available at: Patreon.com/VinylGuide (patreon.com/VinylGuide)


Listen on Apple: apple.co/2Y6ORU0 (apple.co/2Y6ORU0) Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/36qhlc8