Brighten the Corners

Brighten the Corners is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released on February 11, 1997, by Matador Records. The album received very positive reviews from critics.

Background
Brighten the Corners was recorded at Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. According to singer and guitarist Stephen Malkmus, it was either Matador Records or Mary Timony from Helium who suggested that the band should record the album there.

Recording
Although Brighten the Corners was mostly produced by Pavement and Bryce Goggin, Easter worked with the band for roughly a week when Goggin left the studio.

The recording sessions involved a lot of editing, and the band would often record several versions of the same song before deciding on a final take. The vocals were then recorded in New York separately.

The album title was in reference to "Brighten The Corner Where You Are", a gospel hymn written by Homer Rodeheaver in the early 1900s.

Release
Brighten the Corners was released on February 11, 1997, by Matador Records. In 2008, Matador released Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition, a compilation containing Brighten the Corners in its entirety, as well as B-sides and other rarities from the same era.

Critical reception
Brighten the Corners received very positive reviews from critics and was ranked No. 10 in The Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In the poll's accompanying essay, Robert Christgau referred to the album as one of his "favorite albums of the year, easy", alongside those by Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, and Arto Lindsay.

Pavement

 * Stephen Malkmus – lead vocals, guitar
 * Bob Nastanovich – percussion, backing vocals
 * Scott Kannberg – lead vocals (tracks 4, 10), backing vocals, guitar
 * Steve West – drums, percussion
 * Mark Ibold – bass guitar

Technical

 * Mitch Easter – engineer, mixing
 * Bryce Goggin – engineer, mixing