- 나 역시 픽시스를 ‘역사’ 로 ‘배웠고’, 학습했다. 기억하지는 못한다. 나는 이미 그들이 해체한 후 음악을 듣기 시작했고, 아마 너바나가 아니었다면 이들의 존재를 몰랐거나 알았더라도 앨범을 사지는 않았을 것이다. 나뿐만 아니라 내 또래 대부분의 사람들이 비슷한 경험을 하지 않았을까 짐작해 본다. 86년에 결성해서 93년에 공식적으로 해체한 이 전설적인 보스턴 출신 밴드는, 정작 본인들의 나라에서는 한번도 메인스트림에서의 성공을 거둬본 적이 없다. 대신 영국과 유럽에서 컬트적인 인기를 얻었지만, 정작 본인들이 강하게 영향을 미친 그런지씬의 엄청난 성공이 시작되기 전 사라졌다.

.

.

- 2004년에 이미 한번 재결성을 했고, 투어를 했다. 그리고 올해 다시 시작한 투어는 그들의 기념비적인 앨범 Doolittle 의 발매 20주년 기념 투어라고 한다. 늙은, 이미 죽어버린 밴드의 재결성을 좋게 보지 않는 사람들은 ‘용돈이 떨어졌구나’ , ‘핑계가 진부하다’ 등의 생각을 할 수 있겠지만, 살아 생전 픽시스의 콘서트를 보게 될 것이라고는 상상조차 해보지 못한 나같은 어린 세대에겐 이건 대단한 행운이고, 믿을 수 없는 기쁨이며, 죽기 전까지 반드시 기억해야 할 자랑스러운 추억이 될 사건이다. 큐어가 메인스트림 페스티벌의 헤드라이너가 되고, 마이 블러디 발렌타인의 투어가 매진이 계속 되는 것도 마찬가지 이유가 아닐까. 이미 더이상 창조적인 작업을 할 수 없다고 할지라도, 그들이 남긴 아름다운 유산을 동시대에서 즐길 수 있다는 기쁨은 결코 과소평가될 수 없다고 본다.

.

.

- 공연장은 Fillmore auditorium 이었는데, 덴버 깊숙한 도심 슬럼가에 있었다. 간판도 누추하고 공연장 주변도 환경이 썩 좋은 편이 아니어서 좀 그랬는데 막상 안으로 들어가니 굉장히 재밌는 공간이었다. 1900년대 초중반에는 아이스 스케이트장으로 쓰였고, 그 이후 롤러 스케이트장으로 개조되었다가 잠시 폐쇄, 그러다가 90년대 후반 공연장으로 리모델링되었다. 그래서 아직 샹들리에도 달려있고, 오래된 나무 바닥이 친근하기까지 했다. 상당히 큰 롤러 스케이드장이었던 듯 한데, 공식적인 입장 가능 관객수는 1만명이 넘는다고 한다.

.

.

- 오프닝 밴드는 No age 였다. 2인조 펑크 밴드. 이들 자체만으로도 상당한 이름값을 가지고 있고 단독 공연을 해도 능히 성공적일 수 있을 만큼 대단한 밴드인데, 이날 메인 밴드가 워낙 거물인지라 기꺼이 초반 분위기를 띄우는 역할에 충실했다. 드럼과 기타만으로 이루어진 단촐한 구성인데 사운드가 비어 보이지 않았다. 컴퓨터와 미디를 적극 활용해 빈공간을 메꾸고, 짧은 곡구성으로 지루할 틈을 주지 않는 게 인상적이었고, 드럼이 사운드를 주도해 단순히 리듬 역할에 끝나지 않고 사운드를 창출해 내는 모습도 역시 인상적이었다.

.

.

- 메인 밴드가 나오기 전까지 상당한 딜레이가 있었는데 아무래도 장비에 문제가 있었던 듯.

.

.

- 공연은 Doolittle 앨범의 motivation 을 제공한 Un chien andalou 을 상영하며 시작됐다. 실제로 본건 처음이었는데, 상당히 초현실적이었다. 블랙 프랜시스가 가지고 있는 독특한 아우라가 어떻게 형성되었는지 짐작해 볼 수 있었다. 그의 가사는 난해하고 초현실적이고 비현실적인 것으로 유명한데 그런 그의 유니크한 정체성은 이후 세대의 인디 뮤지션들에게 큰 영향을 준 것 같다. 멀리 가지 않더라도, 커트 코베인 딸래미 이름부터..

.

.

- 공연은 Doolittle 앨범의 곡순서를 그대로 따라가며 진행됐다. 전날 집앞 빙판길에서 넘어지는 바람에 허리를 다쳐 오래 서 있을 수가 없었고 그래서 벽에 기댈 수 있는 구석진 자리에서 보느라 좋은 뷰는 아니었다. 그래서 킴 딜을 거의 보지 못했는데, 나중에 공연 끝나고 인사할 때 보니 완전… ㅠㅠ 하지만 여전히 아름다우셨다. 그 특유의 목소리는 여전했다. 나는 픽시스의 기괴한 음악이 묘한 아름다움을 유지할 수 있었던 중요한 펙터중 하나로 킴 딜의 보컬을 꼽고 싶다. 블랙 프랜시스의 에고가 픽시스의 음악을 지배해서 극으로 치닫을 순간마다 등장하는 청량하게 아름다운 킴 딜의 백그라운드 보컬은 이들의 음악에 매력을 배가시킨다. 여전히 그 목소리를 그대로 가지고 있음에 놀랐다.

.

.

- 무대 뒷편으로 커다란 스크린에서 계속해서 새로 만든 듯한 뮤직비디오가 밴드의 연주와 함께 나왔다. 픽시스의 ‘문화’ 를 설명하는 데 있어 비디오아트는 빠질 수 없는데, 거의 대부분의 뮤직비디오들은 새로 편집된 듯 보였다.

.

.

- 겉모습은 영락없는 중년의 아저씨 아줌마들이었다. 프랜시스는 노래를 세곡이상 연속으로 할 수 없을 만큼 쉬이 지쳤고, 목소리도 갈라지기 일쑤였다. 아무런 쇼맨쉽도 없었고 (원래 없었지만..) 가끔 연주가 틀리기도 했지만, 픽시스 특유의 기타톤은 여전했고, 그들의 음악에서 느낄 수 있었던 픽시스만의 느낌도 여전했다. 공식적인 쇼가 끝나고 한참을 관객들에게 답례하며 손을 흔들어 주는 모습이 상당히 인상적이었다. 전혀 ‘쿨’ 하지 않게, 관객들에게 일일이 아이컨택팅하며 인사하고 고개를 몇번이고 숙여가며 5분넘게 답례하는 모습을 보며 많은 생각이 들었다.

.

.

- 앵콜에는 역시 예상했던 “Where is my mind” 가 나왔다. ㅎㅎ. ㅎㅎㅎ.

.

.

- “정말 대단한 공연” 이라고는 말 못하겠다. 하지만 정말 잊을 수 없는, 평생 간직해야 할 공연이었다. “나 픽시스 공연 봤어.” 라고 자랑하고 싶기도 하다.정말 인상적이었던 건, 그리고 미국에서 보는 매 공연마다 참 인상적인 건데, 픽시스 멤버들과 거의 동세대의 아저씨 아줌마들이 미친듯이 열광하며 즐긴다는 거다. 어찌보면 이게 더 맞고 당연하다. 만약 플릿 폭시스가 20년 후 재결성해서 투어를 돈다면, 50이 거의 다 되었을 나도 소리를 질러가며 환호하고 싶을 것이다. 이런 문화가 참 부럽다.

ㅎㅎ

.

.

.

- 카메라를 가져가지 않아서 기록을 남기지 못했는데, 유튜브에도 아직 안올라 온 것 같다. 미국으로 건너오기 전 유럽에서 했던 투어 영상 몇개 올려 본다. 분위기는 거의 비슷했다.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

FREE PIXIES LIVE ALBUM
[LINK]

The Pixies @ The Hollywood Palladium (photo credit: Wired.com)

The Pixies finished their up their third of three shows Saturday night at The Hollywood Palladium celebrating twenty years since the release of their 1989 classic album Doolittle. The Pixies Doolittle shuffle will take them through nine U.S. cities over the course of the next month where I doubt a single frothing fan will be left disapointed.

By the third encore they ran out of B-sides and songs from Doolittle so they threw in a few other favorites like “Bone Machine” and “Where is My Mind.” Joey Santiago’s lead guitar is like nothing in music and sounds more innovative than ever. Black Francis, looking perhaps a little more hefty usual, had so much power in his voice that I think the use of a microphone was optional. Kim Deal was, well, Kim Deal. Melodic background vocals along with her sardonic wit is always fun. Drummer David Lovering added to the group dynamic with his lead vocal on the cheeky “La La Love You.”

I had seen the tour for Doolittle back in the day but last night they amazing.  Better than in ‘89 when tensions between Francis and Deal were starting to cause some rifts in the band. (Way) better than the 2004 reunion show at Coachella and better than the two shows I saw at The Wiltern in 2005 and in 2006.

The Pixies, whose influence on Nirvana was unmistakable, are still the best band in alternative music. Here’s a list of tour dates and opening bands.

Here’s “Crackity Jones” from a show in Paris in September.

Links:
Pixes Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixies

AFG Must Rock!
Check out: www.TheSwaggerSticks.com

Comment écouter un nouvel album des Pixies sans avoir à se fâner une reformation pénible et pachydermique ? Il suffit de glisser dans la platine “Petits Fours” de Grand Duchy !

Car avec cet album sorti au printemps 2009, Franck Black a étonamment retrouvé Black Francis ainsi que sa légéreté, sa jeunesse, son inspiration pop. Que dit-on dans ces cas là ? Cherchez la femme ? Effectivement, ce retour de flamme indie pop, on le doit sans doute à Violet Clark, sa nouvelle compagne, pour qui il a composé ce disque.

Tout ragaillardi, le Franck nous ravit de ballades, de sha la la, de vocaux mixtes, de mélodies entêtantes. Certes, cela sonne comme un Pixies, la ressemblance entre les voix de Violet et de Kim Deal est frappante. Mais Grand Duchy apporte une touche sensuelle, décontractée, une couleur beaucoup plus chaleureuse que les titres torturés et névrosés des jeunes Pixies.

“Petits fours ” mérite mieux que la relative indifférence dans laquelle il est sorti, parole d’indie boy !

Illustration en vidéo avec le très “Curesque” Lone Song :

I know, mes petits champignons, the wait has been agonising.  It’s only been finished today due to a gargantuan hangover, of biblical pestilence proportions. 

As some of you may know, my love of the band The Pixies, runs pretty deep, like the river of slime in Ghostbusters 2 (A classic), so I pursued my girlish dream by trekking up to Glasgow to see them. 

I boarded the Glasgow bound train at exotic Wigan where my excitement and anticipation built.  I listened to them on my i-pod pretty much all the way there.  I won’t bore you with the journey details, or how basic the Campanile hotel is for fricking 90 odd quid a night (it’s like an Ibis!) and fast forward to the show.

I was  staying opposite the SECC in Glasgow, but the walk there was an agony of ecstasy (yes really).  Round that way in Glasgow is pretty amazing.  It’s like a raw, brutal version of the Quayside in Newcastle.  It’s a stark, industrial scene punctuated with the beautiful Armadillo and ’squinty bridge’. A domineering black crane, a reminder of the shipping industry in Glasgow (if you’ve ever been to the shipyard of Govan, it’s quite spectacular).  But I didn’t care about this, other than it was on the way, so I don’t know why I’m telling you this.

On entering the SECC, I made a beeline to the tour merchandise.  I pretty much threw my money at a poor woman on the stall there

“Give me a t-shirt with  a monkey on it”

I demanded.  She complied, largely because I appeared mad. 

“Oh my god. BADGES. Give me those BADGES!!!”

Again, the scared stall assistant obeyed.  I admit, if she hadn’t, I would have laid waste to her.

So I had my badges and t-shirt and was beaming at everyone.  I noted that some people I was surprised that they were Pixies  fans.  They were pretty muscled beef cakes, in tight lycra and sportswear. I happened upon one woman who had the biggest blond hair and fake tits encased in nowt but a waistcoat that gave the most alarming cleavage.  This is a pixies fan?  Surely not? 

She wasn’t.  There was also a weight lifting, steroid shake-a-thon thang going on in another room in the SECC.

It was an amazing show, despite nearly losing my life by being on the periphery of the dangerous ‘mosh pit’.  I was forced to move to the back due to the level of moshing, and also the godawful smell of greasy hair been thrown too near my nose that it sent my olfactory receptors into ’spasm’.  The likes that I have not known until day 3 at the Wickerman festival (please people, take some baby wipes with you to festivals, and a squirt of ‘Batiste’ wouldn’t go amiss).  Given that I am only a tiny 5 foot 2 it was hard to see the show for my diminutive proportions, but I did ‘jump jump’( in the words of pretend Irishmen House of Pain) in order to capture a glimpse of my heroes.  Kim, Black Francis, My pal Joe and David did not disappoint.  The show took my breath away, and this was the first time I’d seen the pixies avec visuals.  They opened the show with the Dali film ‘un chien andalou’, naturally, as this was the Doolittle tour. The pixies were quite silent, much like last time I saw them, in terms of banter with the crowd.  Kim talked to us, but the others did not utter a word.  This made me wonder whether they weren’t enjoying it, if that makes sense? 

Above the stage where four great Ikea paper lanterns, that were connected and moved about.  I’m pretty sure that these were to symbolise the members of ‘take that’ after Robbie’Rude Box’ Williams  left, or maybe even to symbolise Jordan’s children.  I hope you can make them out on my terrible video.

Music wise, and atmosphere wise, it was just phenomenal.  The band started with B sides: Dance the  Mantaray, Wierd at My School, Bailey’s walk and Mantaray before starting the Dootlittle album in its entireity. The visuals were captivating. Using old movie clips, animated dot-matrix style hearts for ‘la la love you’ as well as goofy footage of band members that played behind each one of them during ‘here comes your man’ (if my recollection is correct) which I really liked and connected the band with the crowd.

A particular high point for me was ‘Hey’. I really love this song, it’s so beautiful.  Behind the band, the screen went black and big white lyrics flashed up, which  took my breath away, with the vocal solo, and the bass falling in. You can make this out on the video.

After the whole of Doolittle album had been played we had 3 encores!  The band played some more B sides such as Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) and  Into the White before going on to play some of my favourite tracks from Surfer Rosa, such as Broken Face, Holiday Song, Nimrod’s Son and Vamos and of course, Where is my Mind? 

After the gig, everyone piled out and I hung around the stage, as I could see the crew throwing things into the audience.  It looked like coins, but I’m sure the crew wouldn’t do that, so I can only presume they were plectrums or something.  As I edged nearer, like a scavenger, the crew started handing out the set lists.  There was one left.  I thought I might have to murder someone.  Luckily, the other die hard fans were sweaty men, and the crew were sweaty men, and being the only thing vaguely resembling a woman, the gods smiled upon me and I got the last set list.  I was in pixie heaven. 

Here is my crap video of the gig.

http://s843.photobucket.com/albums/zz351/worldofsheds/?action=view&current=pixies2009glasgow.flv

Les Pixies ont reposé leurs valises au Zénith de Paris pour 2 dates du “Doolittle tour”, tournée visant à célébrer les 20 ans de l’album éponyme. Ne nous voilons pas la face : comme pour leur tournée de reformation en 2004, celle-ci a aussi pour but de remplir le tiroir-caisse. Hier soir, par exemple, le public pouvait acheter à la sortie un enregistrement live sur CD ou clé USB du concert auquel il venait d’assister.

Nouveauté de cette tournée : la vidéo. En guise d’introduction, l’écran géant diffuse des extraits noir et blanc du film surréaliste “Un chien andalou” de Luis Bunuel (qui a inspiré le titre Debaser et son refrain “I am un chien andalusia”), sur fond de musique inquiétante. On est dans l’ambiance.

Soudain, ils arrivent sur scène : Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering, Kim Deal. Les compères d’autrefois, qui ont toujours autant de mal à communiquer avec leur public – Kim Deal mise à part – se chauffent avec toutes les faces B de l’album Doolittle enchainées. Pour les non connaisseurs, l’absence de titre connu se révèle déconcertant. Puis l’écran géant s’illumine de nouveau et affiche “Doolittle live”. Les premières notes de Debaser retentissent. Ca y est, c’est parti !

Les Pixies jouent l’album en intégralité et… dans l’ordre. Pas très original. Mais l’album est un enchaînement de tubes, repris en choeur par la foule qui connaît par coeur tous ces morceaux qui ont bercé sa jeunesse. L’ajout de la vidéo sur l’écran géant apporte un véritable plus au concert, les Pixies n’étant pas réputé pour leur jeu de scène. Les clips, qui collent à l’ambiance de chaque titre, emportent les spectateurs dans l’univers surréaliste et brutal des Pixies, entre deux cris de Black Francis.

Visiblement contents de jouer ensemble, les quatre musiciens de Boston reviennent sur scène pour deux rappels. Sur ces bonus, l’album précédent Surfer Rosa a la part belle. Là encore, les morceaux sont de très haute qualité, et ni Caribou ni Nimrod’s Son ne viennent rabaisser le niveau du rouleau compresseur Doolittle joué précédemment.

Pour un final en beauté, les Pixies entonnent Where is my Mind et ses choeurs qui ravissent le public du Zénith debout. Que dire de ce concert ? Une qualité sonore excellente (bien meilleure qu’en 2004), un Black francis irréprochable au chant, et une Kim Deal à la voix toujours envoûtante. Et un son inégalable, inégalé, couplets calmes/refrains hurlés, une marque de fabrique que les lutins du rock ont déposé hier soir à Paris de la plus belle façon.

Si la question d’un futur album peut toujours se poser, une chose est certaine : les Pixies n’ont rien perdu de leur talent musical, et la scène rock actuelle est en train de le redécouvrir. Les Pixies sont à la mode : toujours au courant des tendances musicales, Apple a choisi la chanson Debaser de l’album Doolittle pour la publicité du nouveau jeu Rock Band sur iPhone. On en redemande !

La setlist est disponible ici

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their seminal album ‘Doolittle‘ the mighty Boston noise merchants ‘Pixies‘ held a four night residency at London’s O2 Academy this week, in a stroke of luck my brother managed to pick up some tickets to see one of my favourite all time bands.

This was one for the completests. After a gently easing selection of B-Sides and rarities from the albums single and 12′ releases the band, never tighter, launched into the album sequentially, beginning with the anthemic ‘Debaser’:

 …and including some of the classics:

This was my forth gig with these guys (and girl) and it was odd seeing some tracks they very, very rarely play live unfurl in front of me:

This was perfect for me as they ended the main set with this number which is one of my favourite of theirs:
 

True to form we got two excellent encores, the first a bruising selection of ‘Wave Of Mutilation UK Surf Mix’ and the blistering ‘Into The White’;

A howling crowd demanded more and more we got, some earlier material in the form of another personal favourite ‘Caribou’, ‘Nimrods Son’ with ‘Gigantic’ to close. Tremendous fun and one of the best gigs of recent memory….

Perfection.

Nick: when was this recorded?

well it came out in 1989.

REALLY!? oh that puts a completely different complexion on it.

because at that time I imagine this was pretty original.

even though I now know, it still doesn’t sound very 1989.

where were they from?

Boston.

oh right.

they’re very good, but eh…

ok, everybody got, I presume….used to the name.

but it must’ve been a genuine handicap starting out.

I would never buy an album by a band called the Pixies.

why not?

well, I’d think they were probably silly girls.

hahahahaha.

to me it sounds like Bananarama but softer.

would you be more likely to buy an album by a band called Angry Samoans or one by a band called Pink Fairies?

Angry Samoans!

When they’re not busy playing golf with rugby greats or performing magic in tiny rooms, the members of Alt-Rock legends, Pixies love nothing more than to get up on stage together and play some of their many classics. Actually, I reckon they fucking hate it.
Have a great time if yr going to see them tonight or tomorrow in Dublin!

http://www.myspace.com/pixies

Listen in tonight to Radio Loveless at KRUI 89.7 fm from 8 to 10 pm or online here. You never know, maybe Patti Smith will offer up some “Free Money”.

1. Patti Smith, Horses (originally released 1975, live album and digitally remastered version released in 2005. Patti’s Horses album also contains one of my all time favorite album covers, if this isn’t the image of feminism and equality I don’t know what is. It has photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s picture of black and white androgynous Patti.), Free Money

2. Gordon Gano, Hitting the Ground (2002), Hitting the Ground
3. Black Francis, Bluefinger (2007), She Took All the Money

4. Joy Division, Closer (a direct quote from Wikipedia “Closer is the second and final album by post-punk band Joy Division, released July 18, 1980, two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis.” Such a sad fact.) , Twenty Four Hours
5. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (1989, Writers of the NME declared this album in 2006 the greatest British album of all time), This is the One
6. Desert Sessions, The Desert Sessions Vol 9 & 10 (2003), There will never be a better time
7. Thurston Moore, Trees Outside The Academy (2007, Thurston’s first solo album since his 1995 Psychic Hearts, another interesting tidbit is that it was recorded in J. Masics’, of Dinosaur Jr, home studio), Trees Outside The Academy
8. Blondie, Blondie (1976), Look Good in Blue
9. X, Wild Gift (1981 and on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of all Time!), In This House That I Call Home
(On a side note the vocalist Exene Cervenka has a solo album out with Blood Shot Records that I hear is awesome! She just performed live in Brooklyn NY just last weekend. Also through the grape vine, I heard that this classic vocalist has recently been diagnosed with MS. One more reason to admire this woman who is still rocking live venues.)
Here’s her new album:

10. The Smiths, The Sound of the Smiths (A compilation released in 2008), Vicar in a Tutu
11. Depeche Mode, Violator (1990, their seventh and most brilliant, in my opinion, studio album. This is also on Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums of all time and is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before you Die), Halo
12. Bauhaus, The Sky’s Gone Out (1982), Third Uncle (This was originally Brian Eno’s track)

13. The Cure, Seventeen Seconds (1980), M
14. June of 44, The Anatomy of Sharks-EP (1997, based out of Louisville), Boom
15. Egg Hunt (a project of Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson , former singer and drummer of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat), Me and You-Single (1986), Me and You

16. Pavement, Brighten the Corners (1997 with Matador Records), Date W/ IKEA
17. Sleater-Kinney, Sleater-Kinney (1995), The Day I went Away
18. The Jesus & Mary Chain, Stoned And Dethroned (1994), Girlfriend
19. South, From Here On In (2001), Sight of Me
20. Spacemen 3, Recurring (1991), Just to See you Smile
21. Kinski, Alpine Static (2005 off of Sub Pop), The Party Which You Know Will Be Heavy
22. New Order, Substance (1987), Perfect Kiss
22. Slint, Tweez (1989), Pat

Today is ripoff day. A ripoff differentiates itself from a scam by not being downright illegal. The $25K grand prize for the International Songwriting Competition may or may not exist, the latter case which would vault it into the former category. The promoters of the competition claim that the judges include Tom Waits, Kings of Leon, Loretta Lynn, Black Francis, McCoy Tyner and Toots Hibbert, but even if that’s true, and those luminaries voted en bloc, they’d still be outnumbered many times over by a crew of schlockmeisters from the soon-to-be-defunct major labels. Ultimately, contests like these boil down to a glorified lottery. What chance does a musician’s hard-earned $25 entry fee stand? A look at last year’s winners provides the answer – and the organizers’ decision to make this information public may turn out to be the marketing disaster that shuts them down for good.

The grand prize winner was a generic trip-hop song. The production is laughably obsolete – the drum machine shuffle was over by 1996, something you would expect judges ostensibly the caliber of Messrs. Waits, Hibbert et al. to be aware of. Perhaps far more telling is that the song’s writers, fortysomething pop singer Kate Miller-Heidke and her husband Keir Nuttall already had a gold album and a major label deal in Australia when they entered the contest. Is this contest simply a lower-budget version of the Grammies, a major label circle jerk with zero acknowledgment of what the listening public might prefer? In other words, considering its association with the major labels, is the deck stacked against artists who don’t fit the cookie-cutter corporate mold?

The song that won in the rock category, by Kristopher Roe of the Ataris was even worse, an even more cliched emo-pop song. “The only thing that matters is following your heart, and eventually you’ll get it right,” Roe strains, affecting an intensity of emotion that his band’s third-rate Good Charlotte imitation reaches for halfheartedly before giving up. “Being grown up isn’t half as fun as growing up,” Roe asserts, a tautology for the comfortable upper middleclass children he envisions as a customer base. In case you’re not familiar with the band, they achieved some recent notoriety by recording an earnest Green Day style cover of a Don Henley song. The ersatz emotion recurs with the second-place winner, Quebecois emo-pop band Tailor Made Fable’s A Case of Mistaken Identity. At least the third-place winner, Irish band Chrome Horse’s Reflections of a Madman shows  some passion, even if the verse is a blatant ripoff of the Ventures’ Egyptian Reggae.

A look through the rest of the winners didn’t turn up much of anything worthwhile either. The second-place winner in the World Music category wasn’t remotely exotic: Leni Stern’s 1,000 Stars is a vapid semi-acoustic pop song in the style of the grand prize winner. Americana winner Kevin Meisel’s Cruising for Paradise is a third-rate Jimmy Buffett pop number with a little mandolin overdubbed to give it that down-home Americana flavor. Jazz winners the LeBoeuf Bros. Quartet’s Code Word at least shows some promise, even if it it’s not exactly edgy. And in case cutting-edge lyrics are your thing, for a laugh, here are the winners in the Lyrics-Only category.

In case you haven’t figured all this out by now, the winners here may actually be the best of what the judges had to work with. Consider – would your favorite cool band be caught dead entering a generic corporate talent search like this one? Imagine for a minute a first-class group like the French Exit at Emergenza. They’d clear the room in seconds flat.

Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 7:30pm

Ciao My Shining Star –The Songs of Mark Mulcahy

Featuring Frank Black / David Berkeley / Chris Harford / Ray Neal / Butterflies of Love / The Autumn Defense / Vic Chesnutt / The Parkway Charlies and many more!… Plus a premiere screening of the Thom Yorke video “All For The Best” and readings by graphic novelist (and Parsons Illustration Full-time Faculty) Ben Katchor.

Music Hall of Williamsburg,
66 North 6th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

$20.

For Tickets:

http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/event/3502
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Ciao-My-Shining-Star-the-Songs-of-Mark-Mulcahy-Ft-Frank-Black-More-tickets/artist/1356151

This isn’t the type of high playlist that’ll wow you and fill you with existential angst after breaking down all your assumptions in a postmodern musical fury. It’s just fun music to listen to and that’s what being high is about some times. Most of the songs on this playlist are pretty upbeat, and a lot of them are by the same artists (mainly because those artists have an abundance of great upbeat songs to choose from (except Pavement)). While they aren’t necessarily technically masterful, they aren’t bad songs either. You’ll just be especially happy when listening to this compilation, really if you’re high though. I couldn’t see someone truly enjoying this playlist as much as a 65 if you’re not high; but who knows, maybe this is just a sick playlist.

I think the picture says it all.

Go – The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone – The Apples in Stereo
Fee – Junta – Phish
Aeroplane – One Hot Minute – The Read Hot Chili Peppers
Stream Running Over – The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone – The Apples in Stereo
Live and Let Live – 93 ‘til Infinity – Souls of Mischief
Speak, See, Remember – Terror Twilight – Pavement
Foxes Mate For Life – Red, Yellow & Blue – Born Ruffians
Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenocerous – Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
… And Carrot Rope – Terror Twilight – Pavement
It’s True That We Love One Another – Elephant – The White Stripes
What I Got (Reprise) – Sublime – Sublime
Energy – New Magnetic Wonder – The Apples in Stereo
Kurt Vonnegut – Red, Yellow & Blue – Born Ruffians
The Bird That You Can’t See – The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone – The Apples in Stereo
Skyway – New Magnetic Wonder – The Apples in Stereo
She Took All The Money – Bluefinger – Black Francis
Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Give it Away – Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Float On – Good News For People Who Like Bad News – Modest Mouse

Most of you know Frank Black as Black Francis of the Pixies. (I know I haven’t sketched a Pixies song yet and I’ve mentioned them twice now. I promise it’s coming.) If you aren’t familiar with any of his solo work there is plenty out there to listen to, and almost all of it is great. The man is a workhorse, because he turns out solid albums all the time, many of them bridging genres from folk to country to rock. It’s no wonder that he has a headache.

Frank Black “Headache”

Like what you see feel free to email me at tad@creativesquall.com and don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook. Check out the Creative Squall website to see how sketches grow up to be complete ideas.

Danger Mouse’s latest work is nothing short of a masterpiece and will unfortunatly (at this time) never be heard. The album Dark Night of The Soul is the artist’s latest collaboration with Sparklehorse features a wide variety of guest vocalists ranging from Iggy Pop to The Flaming Lips. The Album comes with a limited edition 100+ page book of hand numbered photographs taken by lengendary director David Lynch. The book acts as a visual story that accompanies and follows the music and is already completely sold out. The book, originally intended to be released along side the album was pre-maturlly released for sale with a blank CD-R for the buyer to “Use it as you will.” Although I couldn’t get my hands on a hard copy of the book I took the cue and downloaded the album anyway. It’s unfortunate the album is tied up in legal bullshit but I feel like I enjoy it even more knowing that Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch would rather piss off EMI than play it save. So download Dark Night of The Soul wherever you can and tell your friends to do the same.

I’m not sure that I completely understand the motivation of bands to play an album in its entirety during live performances.  But if ever there was a band that I would want to see pull this off, it would without question be the Pixies.

And for those, like me, who haven’t stopped listening to their classic Doolittle to this day – 20 years after its original release – now is the chance to see the band bring the album back to the stage.

The news has been out for a while now, but bandleader Black Francis provided great insight into the concept of the upcoming “anniversary shows” in this interview with Rolling Stone’s David Browne. 

Black Francis (a/k/a Frank Black), born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, has a unique and almost indescribable style that comes through clearly in the RS interview.

And as craftsman for virtually the entire Pixies catalog, not to mention nearly two decades of solo material, that style has been responsible for some of the greatest recorded material of the last quarter-century.

Doolittle, specifically, is a no-brainer for one of my personal top five albums of all-time.  Not only does the album contain legendary alt-rock hits like Here Comes Your Man and Monkey Gone To Heaven, but as allmusic’s 5-star review accurately details:

The Pixies’ arty, noisy weirdness mix with just enough hooks to produce gleefully demented singles like “Debaser,” — inspired by Bunuel’s classic surrealist short Un Chien Andalou — and “Wave of Mutilation,” their surfy ode to driving a car into the sea. Though Doolittle’s sound is cleaner and smoother than the Pixies’ earlier albums, there are still plenty of weird, abrasive vignettes: the blankly psychotic “There Goes My Gun,” “Crackity Jones,” a song about a crazy roommate Francis had in Puerto Rico, and the nihilistic finale “Gouge Away.”

What more can I say?  Buy this album of “gleefully demented singles” and “weird, abrasive vignettes” and get yourself to one of the 14 scheduled US dates this fall, if at all possible.

Never one for great hyperbole, Francis recalls how he and guitarist Joey Santiago knew that they “really did something special” as they were finishing up demos for the album prior to its recording.  Now would be a great time to find out exactly how special this album remains to this day.

Various Artists
New Tales to Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets
July 28th 2009
Justice Records

Though I might be loathe to write a review about a freaking tribute record, which is often more or less a “best of” album sung by people who have no business doing so, New Tales to Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets is pretty damn cool. In some circles it might do you a service to be able to list off which Love and Rockets tunes to think are best, but let’s be honest, no one really obsesses over them. We recognize a song here and there, but the fact of the matter is we are far more likely to say, “Oh that’s who sings this song, I never knew.” They are like The The; a perfectly lovable band that music geeks know just to know, but are otherwise not excited…and I love The The.

The beauty of this tribute album is that the 99% of Love and Rockets songs you don’t know are given life by a myriad of artists who, while not necessarily improving on the original, have the sensibility to make the song relevant in context to modern music. It is not as if they are reissuing a stale post-goth, post punk Brit rock sludge, no this is a project of a different order. It is the reimagining of a body of work that has certainly thrived below the surface in the minds of many musicians, but has never really maintained itself in pop culture or geeky conversation. At best this release will reacquaint music consumers with a great band, at worst it will merely be a blip in a music world that has turned to simmer. Good music and those that produce it have after all become so ephemeral.

For those of you who don’t know Love and Rockets, here is a brief biography. Former members of Goth icons Bauhaus formed Love and Rockets named after a comic of the same name in 1985, releasing three records in three years (’85-’87), another in ’89, and far fewer records release periodically in the ‘90s. The band called it quits in 1999, only to do what every other 80s band has done, reunite for Coachella and Lollapalooza in 2008! Their best known song is So Alive which hit #3 on Billboard and #1 on Modern Rock Tracks. They are, as you probably guessed, from England.

Highlights of the albums are Snowden’s No Words No More, Lossy Coils’ and Ian Moore’s Sweet F.A., A Place to Bury Strangers’ The Light, Film School’s An American Dream, War Tapes’ Love Me, Pucifer’s Holiday on the Moon, Black Francis’ All in My Mind. Other artists that contribute include The Stone Foxes, Frankenstein 3000, Blaqk Audio, Dubfire, The Dandy Warhols, The Flaming Lips, Sweethead, Monster Magnet, VEX, Chantal Claret, and Better than Ezra, who scored the task of performing So Alive, but who also unfortunately decided just to blandly reproduce the original. Typically one shouldn’t try and fix something that isn’t busted. However, there is nothing wrong with reinvoking what has been forgotten using a modern medium and a modern voice.

6/9

-FF

Artist Profiles
Love and Rockets
Snowden
Ian Moore
A Place to Bury Strangers
War Tapes
Pucifer
Black Francis
The Stone Foxes
Frankenstein 3000
Blaqk Audio
Dubfire
The Dandy Warhols
The Flaming Lips
Sweethead
Monster Magnet
VEX
Chantal Claret
Better than Ezra

[God] took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus . . . “We have made thee neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of thyself, thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul’s judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine.”
—Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity of Humanity”

There’s a monkey song genre.  Call it Monkey Genre B to distinguish it from Monkey Genre A, drug-related songs.  We need Genre B to accommodate tragic paranoid perceptions of the human condition.  One great work in the genre is Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey,” with its terrifying cries at the end bringing us right into the skin of the tortured experimental subject.  Other notable examples include Chagall Guevara’s “Monkey Grinder” (following “Play God” on the Chagall Guevara album), “The Facts of Life” by Talking Heads, and “The Smartest Monkeys” by XTC.  And then there’s the pioneering “The Monkey” by the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

These monkey statements are really theologies.  Playing with the distinction between lower and higher primates makes us notice the gap between the human and the Holy, the best, the ideal, as we read ourselves into the low position of “monkey.”  “Monkey Gone to Heaven” by the Pixies does little with the monkey image as such, but it makes this theological thrust more nakedly than I have heard anywhere else (except in “The Facts of Life”), and it does this not just on a lyric sheet but in a great rock ‘n’ roll moment:  Black Francis (Frank Black) screaming “Then God is 7! Then God is 7! Then God is 7!”

The force of this climax in “Monkey Gone to Heaven” owes a lot to the Pixies’ general persona. Their corner of the postpunk realm is at once facetious, poetically bold, and musically passionate. Most distinctive, I think, is this last ingredient in the mix, their feel for chords and rhythms with heavy emotional resonance, which gives them the ability to produce stunning shift-of-tone effects.  The Pixies are one of the last bands in the world from whom we would expect a straight statement about anything and so are beautifully positioned for a theological ambush.  What could grab us more powerfully than an abrupt shift of musical intensity at the very moment we hear the word “God”?  Black Francis has been murmuring

If man is 5 if man is 5 if man is 5
Then the devil is 6 then the devil is 6 then the devil is 6 then the devil is 6

which points toward a next step, to be sure, yet in such a subdued way that we are anything but prepared for it.  There is just a slight crescendo to make us feel that we are headed somewhere.  That next step, though entirely logical, is a doozie—

And if the devil is 6, then God is 7! Then God is 7! Then God is 7!

—because Black Francis has flown from sub-seriousness to trans-seriousness. As though climbing up the ladder 5, 6, 7 brought him to where he could see the Infinite. As though the grail really does lie at the center of the fractured Pixie poetics.

Earlier in the song there are sardonic allusions to the fall of the gods—Neptune, nowadays just “an underwater guy,” is killed by sludge from New York and New Jersey, and “the creature in the sky,” Zeus, gets sucked into a nuclear hole.  This proves that we’re the real gods; or rather devils; or both; or (we’re not sure) maybe neither.  But “Then God is 7!” blasts right through the cobwebs of this sophisticated self-uncertainty.  Whatever it means, it sure means it.

A great rock scream has to be about a great issue.  Roger Daltrey is screaming about the betrayal of all political hope in “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”  Corey Glover is screaming about the horrible disproportion between humans and their technology in “Information Overload.”  Janis Joplin screams “Take it!” in “Piece of My Heart” because romantic love could tip anytime into homicidal anger and suicidal despair.  But it seems to me that every possible reason for screaming is rolled up into “Then God is 7!” —if the devil is 6, and man is 5.

Wow. June came and went. To be honest, did not really listen to much. But, what I did listen to kept me alive, strong, and hoping for the future. I present to you the very best, or parts of, songs/artists that I spent quality time with.

Click pic for download.

TRACKLISTING