Contrary to the British Phonographic Industry's apocalyptic cries in the 1980s that "home taping (was) killing music," the practice did no such thing.

Similarly, the assertions of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and their ilk about downloading will probably turn out to be equally hollow. But I digress. I've made, given away and received volumes of homemade mixes in my life. Some of them were great, some were terrible, and two of them changed my life. Home taping didn't kill music for me; instead, it pushed me from casual listener to music obsessive. And like many others, I've ended up buying more music as a result.

In the summer following eighth grade, my cousin sent me a pair of tapes. It was a year after Kurt Cobain died, and I was mostly content listening to the last vestiges of grunge-era bands clinging to diminishing radio play, along with some hip hop, which was just starting its ascent up MuchMusic's playlists. What I discovered on those two Maxell cassette tapes, however, laid the groundwork for my current listening habits: the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Violent Femmes, the Pixies, the Stone Roses, and a little band from Stockton, California called Pavement.

When someone speaks fondly of "lo-fi" (read: terrible production values), chances are they praise Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement's first full-length. The album -- recorded in a garage and without the benefit of a single bass guitar -- is dense and fuzzy, and full of Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg's legendary-in-the-underground off-kilter pop.

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain followed, and featured the same inversions and explorations of traditional pop melodies, clever lyrics, and occasionally noisy freak outs, but also showed off a cleaner sound (thanks to some money for a real studio). The record was cohesive, tight, and even had a few tracks that might have been legitimate rock radio "hits," were it not for the lyrics being a bit too quirky, and maybe a bit too intelligent for the mainstream.

'Cut Your Hair' from Crooked Rain:

Rather than polish things up or dumb things down, Pavement followed their sophomore effort with Wowee Zowee, creating a recording that hopped across so many styles that it almost sounded incoherent. In fact, the record's sprawling 56 minutes (a marathon by Pavement's standards up to that point), ended up making it one of the band's most underappreciated efforts. Time, though, has a way of lending new perspective to things, and fans and newcomers alike will get a chance to take a sober second look at underrated treasure when Pavement's third record (of an eventual five) gets reissued on Nov. 7.

Reissues are a tricky business: most are remastered, and often contain a couple of b-sides -- a way for record companies to lure longtime fans into paying for a record twice. Matador Records' treatments of Pavement's back catalogue, however, put even the best re-releases to shame. All three (the first two records have already been revamped) reissues feature over 30 bonus tracks. And, rather than some Sonic Youth or Clash rehearsal tapes, where the vocals are inaudible on what are essentially crap recordings of great tunes, you're treated to all the records' b-sides (many of which could've easily made the albums), some unreleased tracks that are actually worth hearing, and various radio sessions. To top it off, the two-disc version retails for a mere dollar or two more than the one-disc original.

• Rattled By The Rush (from Wowee Zowee)
• All My Friends (from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
• Here (Peel Session) (from Slanted and Enchanted)

Quinn Omori is a regular Tyee Music Pix contributor and writes the Vancouver music blog From Blown Speakers.