Stephen Malkmus

The beauty of a Malkmus album is that you always know what you're getting: clever rhyming digressions, guitars that meander as much as the lyrics and more than occasional sloppy swells. Nor is there ever a bad song; merely a few that are less good than others. Real Emotional Trash might surprise you, at least a little: It's as psychedelic as he's ever been with the Jicks ("Hopscotch Willie" and "Dragonfly Pie"), and there are even a couple Pavement-esque moments ("Out Of Reaches" and "We Can't Help You") to break up the six- to 10-minute jam sessions ("Real Emotional Trash").