Hailed as the Slacker King for the laidback cool he projected while fronting the storied indie shamblers Pavement in the ‘90s, Stephen Malkmus distinguished himself as a focused, disciplined solo artist in the new millennium. His laconic delivery and wry lyrics remain thankfully intact, but his musical reference points have mellowed a bit. His fuzzed-out songs bring to mind a local classic rock station's bigger riffs and tendencies toward extended yet disciplined jamming.