Winner has been selected / contacted..  In the end, we went with the Apollonia 6 entry because… it was an Apollonia 6 entry.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways in the future and, in the mean time, why not read some of this jive ass bullshit that we keep posting?

Here’s an example of what we might have posted:
FLAVOR: Courtney Love’s “Live Through This”
INGREDIENTS: Opium flavored ice-cream with swirls of batshit, barbiturate chunks, and various suspect ingredients worth investigating. 
[Note: It’s only worth even considering buying, after your favorite flavor has been discontinued.]

Since dissolving the pioneering indie rock outfit, Pavement a full 15 years ago, frontman and principle songwriter Stephen Malkmus hasn’t bothered to slow things down too much.  Working primarily with his band The Jicks, he has pushed out 6 incredible, yet criminally under-appreciated, full-length releases, over the last decade-and-a-half.  Unfortunately, just like with his groundbreaking previous project, The Jicks may never be fully recognized for their catalog until long after they’ve finished producing anything.  Fortunately for us, it looks like they have plenty of life still in them.  Pavement may still be one of my favorite bands of all time, but the post-breakup Malkmus output has proven itself to be, arguably, some of the strongest and most interesting material of Stephen‘s entire career.   On the band’s latest effort, Wig Out At Jagbags, there are traces of everything that’s led up to it, from bright sunny choruses to dark, tangential, psychedelic, pathways.  It’s both vintage Malkmus and something entirely fresh, with the legendary guitarist continuing to wield his axe like a machete, veering off of his well worn trail and hacking into new territory..

The key to Stephen‘s success may also be cause for its greatest limitations: he makes it look way to fucking easy.  Every melody or inspired guitar line that this guy spits out is like second nature to him and it seems so effortless that it comes across like he isn’t even trying.  He’s long been labeled as the ultimate slacker, a snarky dismissive figure that doesn’t take his live performances any more seriously than he does press and promotion.  But throughout the entire time that he’s been “earning” this reputation, he’s also pushed out a prolific amount of material, including a surplus of tracks that never even make it onto recordings.  As for fucking off on stage and phoning it in, I don’t really buy that one either.  Malkmus might flip his guitar around, chop at it, play it behind his head, and even stumble around, collapsing onto the ground, at time, but he still always seems to nail his guitar solos and pull them out like a nosediving harrier jet.  Some people want a huge live production, even a contrived persona, but the last time that I caught the Jicks, it didn’t feel as much like the frontman wanted to cut things short and leave, as much as it felt like he wanted to step off the stage and join us in the audience.

I had the opportunity to interview Stephen for a piece that’s printed in the current issue of Ghettoblaster Magazine, and I’ve come to believe that Malkmus‘ greatest strength is simply that he’s aware of what his greatest strengths are.  He knows his capabilities-vocally, lyrically, musically, etc–and he remains within those parameters, while exploring and expanding them organically from one project, song, or experience to the next.  He’s also assembled a solid band around him and provides them with room to breath and take over the elements that best align with their own strengths.  As a live unit, they are one that you definitely shouldn’t miss, if you can avoid it.  Sure, they deserve to be playing larger venues, but, from a greedier perspective, I’m glad that we still have the chance to catch them in a more intimate setting… for the time being.

Their upcoming Seattle stop will be the tour closer and is scheduled for Saturday, April, 12, 2014, at Neptune Theatre.  Thanks again to our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group, we have a pair of tickets to give away to one of you Jagbags for free.

[CLICK HERE to buy tickets]

THE CONTEST / GIVEAWAY:

*1 Winner will receive a pair of tickets to the following performance :

STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
w/ Speedy Ortiz
The Neptune Theatre – Seattle, Wa
Saturday, April 12, 2014 @ 9pm

HOW TO ENTER:

This giveaway will center around the track “Cinnamon & Lesbians” and its frozen dairy treat namesake.

#1

Back when Wig Out At Jagbags was released in early January, New York‘s Momofuku Milk Bar released a special limited-edition soft-serve ice cream that was named “Cinnamon and Lesbians” after one of the album’s singles, in tribute to the Malkmus and The Jicks.  A Vogue.com article described the flavor as having “a subtle hint of smoked cinnamon mixed with rosewater, as well as a light taste of berry jam and elderflower.”  About a month prior, Seattle‘s Full-Tilt actually created a Mudhoney flavor, which also involved a cinnamon flavor, but with the addition of honey and chocolate.

Your job as the entrant is to come up with an ice cream flavor named after a song, band, or album and let us know what ingredients are in it.  It doesn’t have to involve cinnamon like the two examples above, and it doesn’t even have to be Malkmus-related (although you may get added points if it is).  All that you need to do is simply convince us that yours is the most creative.  If we like it the most, then you’ll get the tickets.

#2

Post your answer in the comment section below.

#3)

There is no part 3. That’s all there is to the contest. It’s pretty easy… but you should probably read the fine print.

The Fine Print:

All entries must be received by Tuesday, April 8th, 2014 at 11:59pm to be eligible.

You can enter as many times as you want, but use a valid email so that we can contact you.

If you sign in with Facebook, make sure that your account can accept a message from us.

Winner will be chosen arbitrarily, based on our personal “favorite.”

If you are not sure that you will be able to attend the show, do not enter! You’d be surprised how often that shit happens and we don’t want these going to waste.

If we are unable to contact the winner in a reasonable amount of time, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!