It’s been 25 years, but finally there is a new Pavement recording! The group (who reformed in 2022, but has only performed live) have released a cover of Jim Pepper’s “Witchitai-To.” The song appears on the soundtrack for the movie about the band, titled Pavements.
The cover was recorded for the group’s 2022 reunion, and then was regularly performed on that tour. Guitarist and Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg, nee Spiral Stairs, teased the recording late last year, announcing on the podcast Komplete Kontrol that a “new Pavement song” was forthcoming.
The song was written and recorded by Jim Pepper and was derived from a Native American peyote ceremony that Pepper was taught by his father. It is also one of the better examples of Pepper’s fusion of Native American music with jazz. It was origionially released on his 1971 album, Pepper’s Pow Wow.
The Pavement documentary is directed by Alex Ross Perry and is more experimental than most documentaries, and features clips from the musical Slanted! Enchanted!)as well as reenactments of pivotal moments in the life of the band.
