| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 05:26:56
Don't think any of these have been posted.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/2547/
http://www.rocknworld.com/features/05/frankblack.shtml
http://www.musicomh.com/albums4/frank-black.htm
http://altmusic.about.com/od/reviewsinterviews/fr/frankblack.htm
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14855212&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6
Frank Black - Honeycomb
Reported by: blitzkrieg bob - Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005. 23:46
Frank Black in solo mode has returned with the release of Honeycomb–his first solo effort since 1996’s The Cult of Ray.
This heavily country-soaked album was recorded in just four days in Nashville with an impressive backing band. Additionally, it was also days before Frank Black’s commencement of the hugely anticipated Pixies reunion shows of 2004. The mood of this release is relaxed, even mellow at times. Still present though is Black’s quirky lyrics but with a more contemplative air. Not present is the typical Frank Black holler.
The roster of band members featured on Honeycomb reads like a blues-funk-soul dream team. United are some formidable figures who bring together histories from Stax Records, Muscle Shoals and American Studios - to name just a few. Featured in this band is the highly-esteemed guitarist and songwriter, Steve Cropper. His credentials are numerous but notably he was a co-writer and band member with Otis Redding plus a founding member of Booker T & The MG’s. The producer of Honeycomb is Jon Tiven who himself has worked with Wilson Pickett, B.B. King and Robert Plant. Frank Black obviously relished this opportunity of a lifetime - he has even stated on record his total admiration of their collective talent.
The opening track of Honeycomb is Seikie Bride which suitably sets an easy-going pace for the start of this country-bound journey. It’s then followed by the first single, I Burn Today - which as per usual with Black’s crafting of love songs, it seemingly never fails to sparkle. There are also three interesting choices of cover versions, namely Dark End of The Street, Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day and Song Of The Shrimp (from the Elvis Presley film, Girls, Girls, Girls). The tempo of Honeycomb is picked up slightly when Strange Goodbye swings around. It features a duet with Frank Black’s ex-wife, for whom this particular tune was also penned. So, don’t be fooled by the rumours that it was Courtney Love - she could never sing with such a wholesome-sounding country twang.
The title track, Honeycomb, possesses subtle reminders of a signature Pixies tune but without the in-your-face volume and snarl. The lyrics comically highlight the big mama’s boy that resides deep inside Frank Black.
The old churchyard,
Is where I faded,
She watched me while,
I fell unaided,
And in my time,
When God's army came and got me
I could not find my honeycomb…
In his usually obtuse manner, religion still heavily peppers Black’s lyrics too. It is evident in tracks like Honeycomb as well as Go Find Your Saint and Sing For Joy. Personal standout numbers include My Life Is In Storage, an ultimate song for those in the process of moving (literally or metaphorically) and Violet with it’s lyric of Violet’s the chakra for me, Violet’s the flower for me….
In his first solo release since 1996, Frank Black is in laid-back country mode. He is accompanied by a sterling band and producer who bring with them notable blues and soul music credentials. The pace of this album is easy-does-it with occasional views of an “abstract plain” coming through. It’s a sunny collection of songs with Black’s typically unique lyrical stylings. Overall, Honeycomb makes for perfect country-driving music.
Frank Black - Honeycomb Review
by Zane Ewton
Frank Black is set to release his first solo album since 1996's Cult of Ray. The premise of Honeycomb stems from a decade old conversation between Black and producer Jon Tiven. The plan was to hit a Nashville recording studio with a handful of songs and record with a few of Nashville's most respected musicians.
Early last year, days before the reunited Pixies were scheduled to start their tour, Black and Tiven were able to wrangle some of Nashville's best to record Black's songs, some old, some new and a few covers. Steve Cropper, Reggie Young, Spooner Oldham, David Hood, Anton Fig and Buddy Miller are some of the names that are attached to Honeycomb. Most Pixies fans are bound to be confused by some of those names, but collectively these men have been involved with some of the most influential American music ever made. Any recording session for rock and roll or R&B in Nashville would have had these men in their midst.
The press for Honeycomb likens it to a jazz session, musicians creating together in the moment. This is a very apt description and Honeycomb may be Black's first real stab at a singer-songwriter album. At a time when a new Pixies album would be the obvious route to travel Black offers up a complete left turn and delivers an album that may be his most personal and beautifully sleepy.
Honeycomb never gets out of control or picks the pace up too much. It is definitely a mellow album with a great debt to folk, country and all things southern. The musicians associated with this album have greatly influenced the sound and fans of Frank Black probably won't recognize anything but his voice. Speaking of his voice, he never shrieks or wails on Honeycomb. He slides and croons. Soft and emotional.
Black admits that he let personal issues frequent this album more than he ever has before. It is hard to argue with that when one of the songs is a duet with his ex-wife called "Strange Goodbye". Lyrically, his humor and quirkiness is underplayed with an emphasis on the simple pleasure of life, even if it may be a wearied outlook at times.
The album rides steady with well developed songs. None essentially stand out, which could be good or bad. "Selkie Bride" is quiet start to the album but demonstrates the feeling of the album, surreal but classic feeling. "I Burn Today" has a great guitar sound and Cropper's solo is fantastic. "Another Velvet Nightmare" is a boozy kind of song, in more ways than in the lyrical content of "Today I felt my heat / slide into my belly / so I puked it up with liquor / and I slept right where I lay / and I dreamed the back of cards / for the faces were not telling / no, I never have felt sicker / and I do not want to wake"
The covers on the album are done well, with the same mellow feeling of the album. "Dark end of the street", "Song of the Shrimp" and "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" are some of Black's favorites that he has wanted to record for a long time. The songs that are more upbeat definitely pull the album up and have the most repeatability, including "Go Find Your Saint", "Strange Goodbye" and "Atom in My Heart".
The closing song, "Sing for Joy", ends the album on a high note. Honeycomb is a refreshingly optimistic album. It sounds like it was made in another time but still retains an energy and excitement for music that is fun to listen to. Pixies fans might be taken back, expecting to hear something in that same vein but Black has done something much different with Honeycomb, and arguably far more musically and emotionally accomplished.
Frank Black - Honeycomb (Cooking Vinyl)
UK release date: 18 July 2005
Frank Black sans The Catholics. Now what does that sound like? It's been almost a decade since Frank's last solo outing (in the form of the Cult Of Ray LP) and since then he's been finding solace in his good Catholic buddies. Heck, he even U-turned over the whole "Pixies will never reform" thing rather than venture out on his lonesome once more. So why now, Charles?
First of all, let's be honest - this is not, strictly speaking, a solo effort. Okay, you wrote all but three of the tracks, but only a fool would deny that Honeycomb's overriding appeal is to be found in its guest musicians, which largely consists of Nashville legends including guitarist Buddy Miller, organist Spooner Oldham, Anton Fig and Reggie Young, with proceedings held together by Wilson Picket and B.B. King producer Jon Tiven.
So what stops Honeycomb degenerating into mutual musical masturbation between the Real Madrid Galacticos of country music? The affair is, simply put, immensly simplistic. As Frank himself put it, the Honeycomb session players are "pre-punk", and, as such, there is no urge to show off. The level of noise they concoct wouldn't trouble a sleeping kitten, and Frank's penning is less Something Against You, more Show Me Your Tears.
Even the most fanatical of Frank's followers will tell you that his solo career has been, to varying degrees, hit and miss. The Catholics provided some stability to his writing towards the back of the 90s, but still, few laymen would have thought him to be the same fresh faced youngster that brought the world the likes of Where Is My Mind? and Debaser. Members of the Cult Of Frank will be overjoyed, then, to hear that Honeycomb is the most cohesive, consistent Frank Black record in years.
Album opener Selkie Bride is beautifully unhurried and authentic, harking back to the low gear poetry that Leonard Cohen made his own. I Burn Today, too, is instantly familiar, like those summer afternoon grooves your parents would play and you would pretend to dislike. Tiven's delicate production takes the record from strength to strength, from the (again) Cohen-esque Another Velvet Nightmare to the desert driving music of Go Find Your Saint.
In what could only be described as a massive compliment to Mr Black, Honeycomb's original compositions blend seamlessly with their covered counterparts, and it would take a country music boffin of the highest calibre to tell them apart: The touching Strange Goodbye (featuring a duet with Frank's ex-wife), which could only be a couple of years old at most, is on a par with a thoroughly enjoyable cover of Roy Bennett and Sid Tepper's Song Of The Shrimp (as seen in the Elvis movie Girls, Girls, Girls).
Honeycomb may have taken just four days in a Nashville studio to record, but it will surely be remembered as perhaps the greatest Frank Black LP (to date, at least) and perhaps even as the record that made it cool to like country again (get your coat, Keith Urban). Then again, it might just be the summer soundtrack that you spin only once a year. Either way, as the desert faiytale tones of Sing For Joy fade away, there's no question that this was four days well spent.
- David Welsh
Honey in this Comb--Frank Black Solo Album Review
From Peter Bochan,
Your Guide to Alternative Music.
Just before heading out on the road for the Pixies reunion tour, Frank Black dropped into a Nashville recording studio to lay down his first solo album since 1996’s “Cult of Ray”.
It’s very much a country soul type affair, heavy on the pedal steel and twang and light on the kind of vocal screaming dynamics that Frank uses in the Pixies and with his other incarnation—Frank Black and The Catholics. This interest in country and western should come as no surprise to anyone who has caught any of Frank’s solo tours --over the years he has opened shows with obscure Johnny Horton numbers, selections from Dylan’s “Self Portrait” as well as wearing elaborate cowboy shirts on stage while looping “All The Pretty Horses” through the house sound system.
“Honeycomb” comes out on Black Porch and contains 11 Black Americana type originals including the first single “I Burn Today” with a heavy nod to a Buffalo Springfield guitar lick from “Sit Down I Think I Love You” circa 1966. It’s crystal clear acoustic fun from start to finish. The three covers include a bizarre choice from the obscure Elvis Presley film catalogue---“Song of The Shrimp” from “Girls, Girls, Girls” in which the baby shrimp bids his parents goodbye while he jumps into the shrimp boat to head for New Orleans and the Creole girls who’ll coax him out of his shell. None of the shrimp seems to think this is a bad life threatening thing but it’s the closest to “God is Seven” you’ll find on this disc. There is also a sweet redo of the Sir Douglas Quintet song “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day”—unreleased in the groove day it’s now covered in fine fashion, as is “Dark End Of the Street” written by Dan Penn in whose studios these mellow sessions were held. Backed by keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Steve Cropper and drummer Billy Block, Frank brings a laid back pre-punk read to the usual Black questions “Is Your Mind Gone---?” and “Are You Dog Tired?”. I think this is one that could grow on you.
Music
CD Spotlight
07/14/2005
Black light
It's a slightly surreal experience hearing Frank Black take on the soul classic "Dark End of the Street" on his new album, Honeycomb. One of the definite dark ballads in the R&B canon, it's not an easy fit for a yelping iconoclast who once gave us "Nimrod's Son" and "Wave of Mutilation." But Black's unironic commitment to the song - and his tentative groping for the proper delivery - bridges the gap between his pipes and his aspirations. You don't for a minute believe you're listening to the tortured James Carr, but you're willing to accept that Black knows something about guilt and shame.
"Dark End of the Street" aside, Honeycomb really isn't Black's foray into authentic Southern soul, even if he leans on the backing of Muscle Shoals bassist David Hood, Stax guitar great Steve Cropper, and Memphis' American Studios vet Reggie Young. Recorded in Nashville at a studio owned by famed songwriter/producer Dan Penn (co-writer of "Dark End of the Street"), it's modeled on another album cut in Nashville by an outsider: Bob Dylan's 1966 classic Blonde on Blonde. In fact, Black toyed with the idea of calling this disc Black on Blonde, before deciding that he might be overplaying his hand.
The album's first single, "I Burn Today" has the lithe feel, fluid guitar picking, and muted brushwork of Blonde on Blonde standouts such as "I Want You" and "Just Like A Woman." Just as Dylan adapted the slick professionalism of his Music City players into something between their country and his bluesy rock, Black is aiming for a specific hybrid.
When the songs match the musicianship, as on the classically complex existential lament "My Life Is In Storage," it's like hearing a more accomplished Pixies with their amps turned down so as not to wake the neighbors. The album's ultimate masterstroke, however, is an endearingly faithful reading of San Antonio icon Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day." A snapshot of Sahm basking in the Summer of Love warmth of the Bay Area hippie scene, it shouldn't hold any particular relevance for Black. But Black has always recognized the value of a good tune, and on Honeycomb he writes and covers some of the best of his solo career.
By Gilbert Garcia
©San Antonio Current 2005 |
| 35 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/28/2005 : 17:07:21
"When he plays it straight...he just sounds ordinary." So, he should do some forced wackiness, then?
http://www.kevchino.com/Review.aspx?review=644
 9
Frank Black
Honeycomb
Back Porch Records | 2005 | Album
Black is back. Frank Black that is, but this time without the Pixies. "Honeycomb" is Black's ode to Americana music. Black was seriously considering
naming the album Black on Blonde. A take on the Bob Dylan classic "Blonde on Blonde". The album was recorded in Nashville in four days with some
of the town's most legendary session musicians.
This is the finest Frank Black record to date excluding the Pixies albums. It is his first solo album since 1996's "Cult of Ray". His usual backing band
the Catholics are left behind this time for legendary session men Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldman. This is a first for Black who is tackling classic
r&b and soul. With some country and folk flavor infused in "Honeycomb" Black followers with be pleasantly surprised to hear this uncharted
territory. Pixies fans stay away if you're looking for the signature screams and weird lyrics about aliens you will find none here.
"Dark End of the Street" is a classic soul song. Black spills his guts on the song about love that he wants no one to know about. Not all of Black's
signature quirky lyrics are gone. On "Song for the Shrimp" although not written by Black, he sings in his best country flavor a song about a shrimp
that leaves his parents. "Strange Goodbye" is a classic soul country duet. Black's partner on this one his ex-wife Jean Black. It probably is their
goodbye to each other since they were divorced a few years ago. The album's first single "I burn today" loosens up a bit on the classic r&b and is a
folk pop classic.
When all is said and done Black has done what he usually does. That being what he wants when he wants. In the midst of the biggest reunion of
the past year Black found time to write and record an album no one was expecting. I guess this will have to tide over Pixies fans until whenever or
if ever the Pixies attempt the unthinkable.
Mike Pea |
| kathryn |
Posted - 07/28/2005 : 13:10:58
New York magazine has a less than stellar review of HC
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/reviews/12305
salient paragraph:
Frank Black, on the other hand, seems determined to show his maturity. Onstage with the reunited Pixies, playing to huge crowds, Black has been howling away, as gloriously unhinged as ever. But his latest solo album, Honeycomb, is a gentle country-and-R&B record made in Nashville with top session players. It is a noble effort, modeled on Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, but the results are underwhelming. Black’s greatest talent is his incredible dynamic range as a singer—he can scream and whisper and otherwise throttle his voice around in astonishing ways. But when he plays it straight, as he does relentlessly on Honeycomb, he just sounds ordinary.
Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank
|
| Llamadance |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 09:21:47
A pretty good review from NME.com
http://www.nme.com/reviews/11964.htm
quote:
Black, Frank : Honeycomb
Click here to compare prices of Black, Frank cds with Kelkoo
Frank Black would have you believe that ‘Honeycomb’, notwithstanding his time singing about aliens and surfing with that band, is the apex of his musical career. The best news is that he’s probably right. Recorded in America’s honky-tonk heartland, Nashville, days before the Pixies set off on their money-spinning reunion tour, ‘Honeycomb’ sees Black collaborating with a handful of hickory-dipped legends (Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper, Reggie Young) on elegantly-strummed slices of lo-fi Americana.
Of course, being as he is a particularly sickly, bloated root buried beneath rock’s great oak, his source material remains grounded in the weird: ‘Song of the Shrimp’, originally recorded for the Elvis film Girls, Girls, Girls is like a nursery-rhyme Finding Nemo. Still, for all its rootsy beauty, ‘Honeycomb’ will probably occupy the unenviable position of a footnote in the legacy of the man who was once Black Francis. Ignore the reunion cash-in circus, though: the real Frank Black is here.
Mike Sterry
Rating: 8
________________________________________________________________________________
No power in the 'verse can stop me
|
| Joey Joe Jo Jr. Chabadoo |
Posted - 07/25/2005 : 01:20:59
Oasis... Is this reference the top of cynicism Frank ever reached????
**** |
| mun chien andalusia |
Posted - 07/24/2005 : 08:29:35
quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
hint of the day
Forget what you're reading about a new Pixies album. Not even close to becoming a reality anytime soon.
bye,
Jon Tiven
"We don't want to overstay our welcome," says Black. "If we were gonna go
on tour next summer, for example, we feel under a little pressure to record
a record or something."
"We haven't booked a session or anything," he says, laughing at the
intensive scrutiny the topic has attracted. "I've never had this much
attention put on me. 'So when are the sessions? Is it booked? When will it
come out? Have you started to record it?'
"I feel like I'm in Oasis or something or some real hot band. Maybe I am, I
don't know."
seems to me like they are seriously thinking about a new pixies record...
Zen fascists will control you,100% natural |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 07/24/2005 : 05:57:46
Hey Sir Jon, here's the link without the "www":
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050724/ENTERTAINMENT01/507240317/1055/ENTERTAINMENT
by the way, the Picture in the paper is much bigger than it appears online, a really nice surprise this morning.
______________________________
I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy
[edit: Here's my Amazon.com review]
.
5 out of 5 stars Best of the Best, July 24, 2005
Reviewer: Ricardo (Guitar Town) - See all my reviews
"The Man" is a songwriting genius and he's backed by an All-Star Band, it doesn't get any better than this. Steve Cropper's guitar (bluesy and blistering), Spooner Oldham's keyboards (hypnotic), David Hood's bass (smooth), and Frank Black's mature, controlled, large, and perfectly pitched vocals come tøgether in an extraordinary way. Right now, I'm most enjoying these tracks: "I Burn Today", "Lone Child", "Another Velvet NightMare", "Song of the Shrimp", "My Life is in Storage", and "Sing for Joy" (which has been stuck in my head since yesterday and I can't quit singing it.) |
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/24/2005 : 05:37:47
Nashville Tennessean, Sunday, 07/24/05
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20050724/ENTERTAINMENT01/507240317/1364
Mining that Nashville sound
Inspired by Bob Dylan, Frank Black rounded up a handful of local studio cats and recorded a couple of albums
By NICOLE KEIPER
Staff Writer
It was some 10 years back that singer/songwriter/Pixies front man Frank Black had the idea to record a "Nashville" album, akin to Bob Dylan's masterful Blonde on Blonde.
When he finally got around to doing it last year, the resulting Americana/soul-centric album, Honeycomb, turned out sounding very little like Dylan's sprawling, 1966 double-album. As an artist whose songs have inspired influential musicians from Kurt Cobain to members of Radiohead, Black knew well not to copy.
"I could sit around and learn how to play all the songs and imitate Bob Dylan all day," Black says, "but that's not really what everyone's going to be looking forward to, myself included. We want some new original expression."
And how do you build that?
"All you gotta do is say, 'Well, what did Dylan do?' " he says. "He went down to Nashville and worked with a bunch of cats. Enough.
"What are you gonna do? Get the same microphones, try to track down the same producer and try and do the same players? You can go nuts like that."
According to Honeycomb producer Jon Tiven, they did actually try and track down some of those players.
"But the reality was, some of them were in ill health or retiring or retired," Tiven says. "And we wanted to get the best people to do it, not just because they played on a Dylan record. We wanted to have that feel of, 'Here's the guy who's mainly known for doing something completely different, coming down to Nashville and doing a record with great veteran musicians that bring their own spin to the songs.' "
Black's been largely known for the slash-and-wail, punk-derived alt-rock of The Pixies, a band he and its other original members resurrected last year after a decade-long split, mounting a hugely successful reunion tour.
But Black's also released a series of albums on his own and with a band called The Catholics. Followers of his less-abrasive non-Pixies material will have a slightly easier time connecting Black's past work to Honeycomb, a disc of concise tunes free of Black's near-trademark vitriol.
Producer Tiven collected the veteran musicians who appeared on the album,including organist Spooner Oldham and bassist David Hood (who both played in the legendary Muscle Shoals rhythm section), renowned soul guitarist Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the MG's and drummer Billy Block.
According to Black, the spin that team brought was exactly what he was looking for on Honeycomb, which he'd jokingly dubbed Black on Blonde early on.
"You don't need to do anything (with those musicians)," he says. "The magic is there even before there's a song. All you have to do is come up with your end of the deal — which is hopefully a good song — and they will do the rest."
Honeycomb was recorded over a quick, four-day April session at the start of The Pixies reunion tour last year, at famed songwriter Dan Penn's Better Songs & Gardens studio. It was tracked live with few overdubs, and mixed later — a method that's still somewhat of a luxury to Black, who's tracked The Catholics releases live to a two-track machine with no follow-up mixing.
The Honeycomb sessions preceded an even quicker one, too: Black and Tiven teamed with a different group of "cats" when Black was in Nashville for a Ryman Pixies show last October, and created another album (tentatively titled The Sicilian)during a marathon 24-hour session. That one may hit shelves early next year.
Though months-long recording lockdowns can be the norm, Black says this quick-hit method isn't anything to remark about.
"There was a day in the past where virtually all records were made quickly," he says. "I'd like to say, 'Yes, it is a very difficult procedure and only a few daring people can go there,' but people used to do it all the time, and I think people should do it more often."
Black defers credit for the ease of these particular sessions, too, to the players, who he says "just ooze mojo."
"A good chunk of the record, what you're hearing is those guys playing the song for the first time, not ever having heard the song," he says. "Just looking at the chart with one eye, and listening with both ears."
Honeycomb includes a stock of covers, including Penn's Dark End of the Street, and Song of the Shrimp, a track Elvis Presley performed in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! (though Black says he was tipped to it by a Townes Van Zandt performance). The original tracks, marked by fragile vocals and heart-on-sleeve lyrics, bear little resemblance to most of Black's discography.
Lyrically, Honeycomb is a particular departure for Black, who's built a career — with The Pixies, especially — on wildly esoteric wordplay. On Honeycomb, he reflects on his wife Violet through a song called, simply, Violet, and bluntly discusses the crumbling of his former marriage through Strange Goodbye, a duet with his former wife.
"I suppose when I wrote those songs I had been through a lot in my life, personally and career-wise," Black says. "I split up with someone, moved to a different town (from L.A. to Portland, Ore.), basically had ended my work with The Catholics … The Pixies were supposed to get back together but all we were doing was fighting about silly things. All of these factors kind of pushed me into this weird space, and there I was in this big 1,500-square-foot, 12-foot ceiling loft, looking down over the city lights. Just me by myself, my guitar, writing the songs. You couldn't really ask for a better focus."
Stylistically, the singer says he made no effort to tailor his songwriting to the veterans he'd be playing with.
"Knowing that I was going to be working with five or six legends, there may have been some pressure to do a good job," he says, "to write some material that was up to their standards. I hope I did that — I certainly tried. But I didn't sit around and say, 'I'm gonna sit down and write me a good ol' country song.'
"I knew that those guys were talented enough that they wouldn't want me to be fake — they would prefer that I would be as original as possible, because they don't wanna play with a hack. And I didn't want to be a hack. I wanted to be legendary in my own way." •
|
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 13:38:31
Four out of five stars, a review by David Metzer (Bulz-eye.com)
http://www.bullz-eye.com/cdreviews/2medsker/frank_black-honeycomb.htm
One wonders if the Doolittle-era version of Charles Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis, had any idea what mad plans his ultimate alter ego Frank Black had in store for him 16 years later. Francis probably wouldn’t have been too surprised by the Pixies reunion part of it -- he had to have known that the band wouldn’t last forever, though probably would have been shocked to learn that they would be finished in three years -- but one has to think that an album like Honeycomb being issued under the Frank Black Francis collective would have sent him reeling. After all, this was Black fucking Francis, the guy who wrote two minute bursts of sonic shrapnel about Roswell, the architect of the Eiffel Tower, and, you know, when you grope for luna.
Surely, not at any point in his career, would Black Francis have made a Johnny Cash album. And yet, that is precisely what has happened. Honeycomb is as far removed from the essence of the Pixies as one can get; it’s even keel, deliberate, soulful, and folky, things the Pixies never were. Even Black’s voice, usually a strained tenor, is a smoky baritone. Ooooooooh, growin’ up, as Bruce Springsteen once said. Whether this venture into Americana is a one-shot deal or a long-term career path remains to be seen, but it’s entertaining all the same.
Black still likes to spin a yarn here and there, and wastes no time doing so here. Leadoff track “Selkie Bride” is based on a Scottish folk tale (again, that word folk) of a fisherman who takes a seal/human hybrid for his wife. “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day” may sound like Muswell Hillbillies-era Kinks, but it is in fact by late country rocker Doug Sahm. “My Life Is In Storage” is a two songs put together, the latter half of which sounds like something Eric Clapton should look into covering. Best of all is “Strange Goodbye,” a two-minute duet with wife Jean Black that plays like some bizarro tribute to Johnny and June.
The Pixies are taking a bit of a street cred beating for milking the reunion cash cow, which seems a little preposterous from here. The only people who bought their records the first time around were other musicians and record store clerks, so who can blame Boston’s finest for finally taking a piece of the pie? Besides, if it enables Frank Black to make records as carefree as Honeycomb, then it will all have been for a good cause.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 13:34:18
Four out of five on the BBC collective; you can also listen to three tracks online. Review by David Shepherd:
Ex-chief Pixie kicks back with US rock’n’soul aristocracy.
Frank Black’s first solo album since 1996 is a soulful treat. Recorded in Nashville with Southern grandees like Booker T & The MGs guitarist Steve Cropper and Muscle Shoals piano legend Spooner Oldham, Honeycomb eschews its author’s cartoon surf-punk roots in favour of redemptive, Van Morrison-like sophistication. Black sounds positively angelic on Selkie Bridge - a slice of timeless country-soul pie, while producer Dan Penn sings back-up on a cover of his standard, Dark End Of The Street - a song whose eye-moistening poignancy Black sounds like he was born to croon. Who knew?
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 13:22:07
Orlando CityBeat:
http://www.orlandocitybeat.com/music/ocb-music-cdreviews071905,0,5166954.htm
lstory?coll=ocb--music-promos
ARTIST: Frank Black
ALBUM: Honeycomb (Back Porch Records)
Though he never really went away, alternative rock apotheosis Frank Black
has been front-burning in a big way for the past year with the historic
reunion tour of the Pixies and the release of the ambitious but
underwhelming Pixies remix/demo double album. Now along comes Honeycomb, his
first solo album since 1996.
It's billed as an "Americana-flavored" album but it's ignorant to expect
anything straightforward from the oblique Black. Anomaly has been the
calling card of his entire career. So rather than implying any sort of
color-inside-the-lines artistic tourism, that descriptor speaks more to the
record's rustic sensibility. A mild twang occasionally simmers but its
spirit is actually more rooted in Southern soul, which makes the use of
session pros like Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG's, Otis Redding, Wilson
Pickett), Spooner Oldham (Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Neil
Young) and Reggie Young (Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett) a
matter of simple deduction.
The downbeat Honeycomb radiates gently with warmth and intimacy. The space
of its womb is shaped by expressive soul guitars and pianos that tinkle
about whimsically. The genteel "I Burn Today" shuffles by with brisk sweeps
of bells and piano. Of the lot, "Dark End Of The Street" is the quintessence
of sultry soul. The swaying lambency of "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove
Day," with its vibey organs and incandescent vocals, washes over like a warm
afternoon breeze. Black's offbeat sense of humor rises again with the
subversively good-natured and concordant "Strange Goodbye," a charming
honky-tonkin' duet with his ex-wife Jean Black about their recent divorce.
Other high points include the twangy "Atom In My Heart" and the
folk-inflected "Sing For Joy."
Taken in aggregate, Honeycomb lacks immediacy, which isn't necessarily a
fault in itself nor is it unusual for his work. There are gems here that are
well worth the time it may take to arrive at true appreciation. But among
them are some that aren't quite so realized. At 14 tracks, the record could
have had more collective impact with some judicious paring.
-- Bao Le-Huu, Orlando CityBeat Writer
*****
VH-1 - "Strange Goodbye" as one of 10 Editor's picks for the week:
Every week our music writers choose 10 must-hear, must-have tracks. Keep
coming back to find out which tunes we're hot about.
by Jim Macnie & C. Bottomley
http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1505728/071405/article.jhtml
Frank Black - "Strange Goodbye"
Breaking up is hard to do, but singing with his ex-wife on this jaunty
little country number, the Pixies boss makes a case for insightful
reminiscing. They saved each other when they first fell in love, they drove
around the country together enjoying vista after vista, and then they just
couldn't go another step further. Shit happens. Wish all entries into
splitsville could have this kind of wistful valentine as a parting shot.
*****
Newhouse News Service (46 papers, 7-million circulation)
Frank Black, "Honeycomb" (Back Porch/EMI) THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS
Recorded right before the initial dates of the Pixies' reunion tour last
year, Frank Black's first solo album since 1996 is a wondrous blend of
Americana, soul and indie rock, featuring some of the best session players
of the past 50 years.
Black, who piloted the Pixies to indie fame in the 1980s, took a very
different turn for "Honeycomb." It was recorded in a four-day span at Dan
Penn's studio in Nashville with a stellar cast of musicians including Steve
Cropper, Buddy Miller, Chester Thompson, Anton Fig and Spooner Oldham, among
others.
Loose and lively, "Honeycomb" even finds Black covering Penn's classic "Dark
End of the Street." But some of the best moments here are Black's own
originals. That guitar riff that lifts the magnificent "I Burn Today" will
sound familiar to Bob Dylan fans, and other cuts like "Strange Goodbye"
(which features Black's ex-wife sharing the vocals) and the multi-textured,
five-minute-plus beauty "My Life Is in Storage" only start to tell the story
of the all 'round excellence of this disc. True, Black dives deep into
bizarre terrain when he spins through "Song of the Shrimp," from Elvis
Presley's movie "Girls, Girls, Girls," but even that somehow works on this
thoroughly enjoyable effort.
*****
Long Island Press:
http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=143&show=article&a_id=4965
(TEXT)
Frank Black; Tsar; Motion City Soundtrack; The Knitters; Iron Maiden
07/21/2005 10:01 am
FRANK BLACK
HONEYCOMB
(EMI)
7/10
Frank Black has managed to make the non-idiosyncratic idiosyncratic. For
that, Honeycomb is uniquely memorable. Black's work with the Pixies, as well
as his own solo output (particularly 1994's Teenager of the Year), has been
so damn all over the map that, through a sort of twisted, relative logic,
this fairly direct, country-flavored set comes off as quirky in its
normalcy. It's not a far cry from 2001's Dog in the Sand, but with the
Pixies touring the country, this smoothed-out, honey-voiced version of the
indie legend is in jarring juxtaposition to the frenzied revival of his old
band's canon. Honeycomb is pure slow burn, so for those of you still
twitching from catching "Crackity Jones" live, put to bed your excitement
for the occasional spastic rocker. But have no fear: Black's trademark
personality is still here. In the raggedy ballad "Another Velvet Nightmare,"
he opens with the lines, "Today I felt my heart slide into my belly/So I
puked it up with liquor and I slept right where I lay." You can't help but
chuckle, because for a moment, Black's voice and lyrics come through in his
classic caustic style, and the song sounds more like a satire than a genuine
musical lament. But you're not entirely sure of his intention, which has
always been one of Black's greatest talents. He's like the alt-rock version
of Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas: a wiseass who can convince you he's
kidding around, until you suddenly smirk and he demands to know what's so
funny. But considering that Black recorded the album in Nashville with
various Stax/Volt, Muscle Shoals and American Studios musicians, there was
probably little intentional ambiguity. Unfortunately, as an attempt at
straight-ahead soulful Southern rock, it's accomplished and engaging, but
not quite a bull's eye. Take it as a slightly bent version of traditional
American roots records, however, and Honeycomb can be a damn fine way to
spend an hour kicking back on the porch.
|
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 11:39:21
Los Angeles Times:
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et-black23jul23,0,1885313.story?coll=cl
-home-more-channels
(TEXT)
POP BEAT
Frank Black takes in his odd moment in the sun
For the first time since the early days of his solo career, people beyond
his small audience seem to be paying attention.
By Richard Cromelin, Times Staff Writer
Most concert tours are designed to help sales of the performer's records. In
the case of the Pixies, the 1980s Boston band whose ongoing reunion has been
a huge success, there's no new band album to promote, but now there is a CD
that stands to benefit from the Pixies' cachet.
The band's leader, Frank Black, has just released a solo album,
"Honeycomb," and for the first time since the early days of his increasingly
obscure solo career, people beyond his small audience actually seem to be
paying attention.
"I couldn't have asked for a better setup, even if it is my former shadow
looming once again over me," Black, 40, said this week. "I was able to start
working with a top-notch publicist. My name is fresh on every editor's brain
just because of this Pixies thing."
This Pixies thing has been a revelation. The group had long been admired
and acknowledged as a major influence on the alternative rock that rose in
the '90s, but when Black and his three bandmates got back together in 2004
after a 12-year hiatus, they were greeted by audiences that vastly
outnumbered their original following.
Date after date was added to the itinerary, and they've come back this
summer for a second round that includes a show next Saturday at the San
Diego Street Scene.
The acclaim and activity, it turns out, helped pull Black out of a career
and personal hole. At the start of 2004, he looked ahead and saw few
prospects. His stature had dwindled from indie-rock hero to minor cult
figure.
His latest group, the Catholics, had ended badly, and so had his marriage.
He'd moved from Los Angeles to Oregon, where he didn't know a soul, and
while there was a new girlfriend, the excitement of the relationship was
balanced by the chaos of its growing pains.
"I remember at the time telling my therapist that it felt really good to be
down, to be in pain or whatever," said Black in a phone interview from his
home near Eugene, Ore. "Because it was kind of like, 'Oh yeah, I am human.'
Not that I was devoid of emotion before, but to go that far, that deep, it's
like, 'Wow, this is what it's like to be human.' In some sick way it felt
good."
The Pixies would soon help remedy that, but before the tour started in
April 2004, Black headed to Nashville and recorded "Honeycomb" in four days,
accompanied by some revered architects of classic soul, including guitarist
Steve Cropper, a member of Booker T. & the MG's and co-writer of Otis
Redding's "(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay"; keyboardist Spooner Oldham,
whose credits range from Percy Sledge to Bob Dylan; and singer-songwriter
Dan Penn, whose home studio in Nashville was the site of the sessions.
The album came out this week, having gathered dust through the distractions
of the Pixies tour and Black's search for a new record label. It's being
released by Milwaukee's Back Porch Records, a roots-oriented company that's
distributed by EMI.
Black had been wanting to do this sort of collaboration for a long time,
with Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" as a template < big-city surrealist
mixes it up with the top Southern studio cats. But the music on "Honeycomb"
is often more evocative of Dylan's more intimate works, such as "John Wesley
Harding," than the aggressive "Blonde."
The musicians, who also include David Hood, Buddy Miller, Reggie Young,
Anton Fig and Billy Block, play with a deceptive, understated ease that
masks their utter command, and a simplicity that belies their
sophistication. After decades spent backing the likes of Dylan, Redding,
Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon and Willie Nelson, they know how to lay back in
the service of singer and song.
"They're so good," says Black. "There are times when they're playing when
it's just, 'Oh my gosh, these guys are like the Rolling Stones or
something.' It's pretty stunning."
But give Black some credit, too. These songs mark a startling
transformation for the musician, who sets aside the stream-of-consciousness
and quirky pop-culture allusions of his Pixies and previous solo work for
direct, heartfelt and real-life themes. Accordingly, his often ranting vocal
style has been replaced by a husky baritone that brings a conversational
approach to accounts of his ups and downs.
"Strange Goodbye" closes the book on his marriage and features a vocal by
his ex-wife, while "Violet" is a love song to his new partner. "My Life Is
in Storage" describes the transition, and Black throws in a few curveballs,
including "Song of the Shrimp," sung by Elvis Presley in "King Creole," and
Penn's classic guilt ballad "Dark End of the Street."
"I did start down that path some time ago," says Black, alluding to some of
his work with Frank Black & the Catholics in the late '90s. But he feels
that the personal approach needed the recent emotional turmoil to really
flower.
"It's just, you gotta pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. Not that
I've never paid dues in my life, but I just paid a lot in the last couple of
years. What can I say? It just gives your songs a whole lot more legitimacy.
Or it causes you to write better songs or something, I don't know."
Black is trying to put together some concerts featuring the "Honeycomb"
musicians, but right now there are still some Pixies dates to wrap up. And
after two summers on the road playing only material from their original
incarnation, the time has come to either pack it in or move it forward.
"We don't want to overstay our welcome," says Black. "If we were gonna go
on tour next summer, for example, we feel under a little pressure to record
a record or something."
Questions about a new Pixies record have dogged the group since it
reunited, and the British press recently reported that plans were set. But
bassist Kim Deal is working on an album with her other band, the Breeders,
and Black has another solo album in the works, a more rocking counterpart to
"Honeycomb" with another set of veteran musicians, including the Faces' Ian
McLagen, Bad Company's Simon Kirke and the Band's Levon Helm. So the Pixies
recording probably won't take place until winter.
"We haven't booked a session or anything," he says, laughing at the
intensive scrutiny the topic has attracted. "I've never had this much
attention put on me. 'So when are the sessions? Is it booked? When will it
come out? Have you started to record it?'
"I feel like I'm in Oasis or something or some real hot band. Maybe I am, I
don't know."
|
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 10:39:15
Thanks Jon :)
And also a great read! |
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/23/2005 : 10:02:53
Barnes & Noble.com CD review and feature/Q&A:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?EAN=724347729324
REVIEWS
Barnes & Noble
After achieving unforeseen success by reconvening his legendary indie-rock
band Pixies, Frank Black naturally did not take the next logical step
(whatever that might be). Following his inner muse, he holed up in Nashville
to connect with his inner crooner, and the result is this warm, soulful
collection -- Black's first solo outing in nearly a decade. Recorded
virtually live in the studio over the course of a week, Honeycomb may well
be the most guileless work in the singer's career. The burnished tone added
by studio vets like Steve Cropper and Buddy Miller -- most notably on tracks
like the whiskey-smooth "Another Velvet Nightmare" and the ever-so-slightly
twangy "Atom in My Heart" -- has a lot to do with the disc's appeal, but
Black deserves most of the credit himself. Dipping into a rarely tapped
lower register that sometimes suggests Lou Reed, he makes his way through
songs like the loping, life-affirming "I Burn Today" at a pace that's
deliberate, but not morose. The tempo, replicating that of classic
country-soul pioneers like Dan Penn -- whose "Dark End of the Street" gets a
loving run-through here -- is more one of appreciation of life's little
details, a reminder to stop and smell the roses, even, as on "Sunday Sunny
Mill Valley Groove Day," when the sniffing turns up the scent of motor
rather than flora. Like its title suggests, Honeycomb offers plenty of
sweetness -- with a sting lurking just below the surface. David Sprague
*****
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/features/interview.asp?project_id=1000102&NI
D=949433&userid=Oh2LcNx9FH&cds2Pid=1731&linkid=503362
SUBVERSIVE SOUL MAN
Pixies Frontman Frank Black Goes Nashville on Honeycomb
What to do after the hugely successful Pixies reunion tour? For frontman
Frank Black, the answer was to go back to the roots. Not necessarily his own
roots -- those were planted in the decidedly different soil of his native
L.A. and his adopted hometown of Boston -- but the roots of rock 'n' roll
itself. Working in Nashville with dozens of celebrated players, including
Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, and Buddy Miller, Black connected with his
inner country-soul singer on Honeycomb, doing himself particularly proud on
a cover of Dan Penn's "Dark End of the Street," a song that virtually
defines that genre. The album's subdued pace and southern soul flourishes --
bluesy guitar plucking, tinkling piano runs, lush organ lines, and sprightly
harmonica trills flesh out the otherwise spare instrumentation -- may
surprise some Pixies fans, but it's just the latest musical genre to get a
tweak from Black, who's forged a career reinterpreting everything from surf
rock to heavy metal to power pop. He paused his summer vacation long enough
to give Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague a peek inside Honeycomb.
Barnes & Noble.com: How would you describe the experience of working with
lauded musicians that played with you on Honeycomb?
Frank Black: It really fit like a glove. I'd write a song, say, "Hit it,
guys," and we'd record. They were simultaneously hearing a song for the
first time and playing it for the first time, and it went totally smoothly.
I felt like I was Frank Sinatra.
B&N.com: Was there a level of intimidation in working with guys with such
histories?
FB: I can't say that it was intimidating. It would've been if I would have
thought about it more, I guess. But when you're doing it, you've got to
stand tall and say, "I'm friggin' Frank Black, dammit!" You don't want to
let guys like that see you crumble, so you definitely have to rely on ego,
which I, fortunately, can do.
B&N.com: Do you think the album came out differently because of the speed
with which it was recorded?
FB: Theoretically, I suppose. Then again, it could have been exactly the
same if we'd labored over it for months and picked the first take of every
song. It was instantly magical, though. No one resisted. It was the first
time I'd ever experienced anything like that, with every day going smoothly.
Normally, in the studio, you get one smooth day followed by two shitty ones
where you wonder why you're even bothering.
B&N.com: You were going through some serious real-life issues -- divorce,
moving out of state, a new relationship -- around the time you recorded
Honeycomb. Were you conscious of that creeping into the songs?
FB: I think that fueled it in some way. It just becomes part of the palette.
Honestly, the main thing that causes songs to be written is that I've booked
a session. That's what causes the creative spurt. It was this incredible
crossroads in my life, which I suppose was fortunate timing, but I would
never be so clever as to say, "I'm in a fragile emotional state... guess
I'll write some songs."
B&N.com: Are you more comfortable putting yourself into the songs these
days?
FB: I've done it to some extent in the past, but I've usually been much more
cryptic about it. At the time when I wasn't writing about myself, I was
obsessed with proving that I didn't need to. I was taking cues from... I
don't know...They Might Be Giants, trying to prove that I could write a song
about a nightlight and make it work.
B&N.com: What was the inspiration behind "I Burn Today"?
FB: The first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I
have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more. That song started
as a semi-cryptic ramble about various things in my life -- a very
repetitive folk song. Then [producer] Jon [Tiven] was really insistent that
it needed a chorus, which I thought was crazy, since folk songs don't need
choruses. Once I paid attention to him, though, the song really came
together. The song is basically about someone discovering they've come to a
turning point. I wasted a lot of time not really going for it, not living
life to its fullest. It's about realizing you've never burned, and deciding
that today, you will.
B&N.com: On the other end of the spectrum, how did you decide to cover
Elvis's "Song of the Shrimp"?
FB: I actually never realized it'd been done by Elvis. I first heard it on
this record by Townes Van Zandt, Abnormal, which was just a collection of
him singing live in clubs. He performed the song without any meter or
anything, just strumming a chord and singing a line. I started to do the
song in goofy situations. I think the very first time I did it was at a
press conference in a big tent in France. I dragged a journalist onstage and
made him translate it line by line. I never really got to play it live all
that often because the Catholics weren't all that wild about it. I really
appreciate the fact that it can sound goofy, but it has this definite dark
side.
B&N.com: Do you think Honeycomb is a dark record overall?
FB: There's definitely that element, but I don't think it's that simple.
It's kind of dark, kind of romantic, kind of heart-on-my-sleeve, kind of
surreal. More than anything, it was very much of the moment, and I hope,
more than anything, that that comes across.
July 2005
|
| kotvana |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 14:50:05
another velvet goldmine?.................
quote:
Originally posted by Ten Percenter
Has this one been posted yet? Three stars out of five, on concertlivewire.com:
http://www.concertlivewire.com/blackcd.htm
Review by Tony Bonyata
... From the gentle and harrowing balladry of "Dark End of the Street" and title track, to the warm-hearted spirit that glows on "I Burn Today," "Another Velvet Goldmine"
|
| bltpdx |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 11:48:17
quote:
Originally posted by Llamadance
But this is an experiment that, unlike his forays into Stones-y rock, doesn't quite gel.
Frank can't win for losing, can he? The good reviews all hate the Catholics, and the bad reviews love 'em.
quote:
the classic "Dark End of the Street," which here is unlistenable.
Wow. Which song was that guy listening to? |
| Llamadance |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 09:38:38
http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3420
Review
Frank Black
Honeycomb
(Back Porch/EMI)
Release Date: 7/19/2005
Roundball leader of the Pixies unveils a new influence: yoga
Reviewed by April Long
There are two sides to Frank Black—the screeching, daredevil Pixie and the traditional songwriter who appreciates triangle players and twelve-string guitars. His tenth solo album indicates that, even as he revels in reliving the former, he doesn’t intend to abandon the latter. Recorded in Nashville with veteran southern soul musicians in four days preceding the Pixies’ first reunion tour, Honeycomb is folk-tinged Americana patently indebted to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Written post-divorce, the songs feature his rawest lyrics (with the exception of an ode to his girlfriend Violet in which he actually sings, “Violet’s the chakra for me”) and, in the gripping “Another Velvet Nightmare,” one of his most accomplished melodies. Compared with the Pixies, this is conservative and gentlemanly—but remember, Black’s real name is Charles Michael Kittredge Thompson IV.
________________________________________________________________________________
No power in the 'verse can stop me
|
| Llamadance |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 08:29:13
Ok, but not great review from ocregister.com
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/07/22/sections/entertainment/et_music/article_605781.php
Frank Black, "Honeycomb" The playing, by session vets like Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham and others, is expectedly first-rate, and Black's determination to dare in the studio (in this case an intimate country-soul collection of covers and fractured but revealing originals) while his Pixies provide fierce nostalgia on tour is admirable. But this is an experiment that, unlike his forays into Stones-y rock, doesn't quite gel. Black's trademark surreal touches often seem forced into awkward frameworks, too much of this feels dashed off (it was reportedly recorded live in four days), and though his plaintive, nasal voice works well in spots (especially on remakes of obscure Elvis and Doug Sahm songs), it's simply not suited for sad saloon waltzes, dusty Americana or the classic "Dark End of the Street," which here is unlistenable. Grade: B(B.W.
________________________________________________________________________________
No power in the 'verse can stop me
|
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 01:31:35
From Aced magazine:
http://www.acedmagazine.com/honeycomb_albumreview.html
By Jenna Bensoussan
Honeycomb, Frank Black's first solo effort since 1996¹s The Cult of Ray, was released internationally on July 18.
Honeycomb features some of the most celebrated players in music: Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller and Reggie Young on
guitars, drummers Chester Thompson, Anton Fig, Billy Block, and Akil Thompson, David Hood on bass, and Spooner Oldham on keyboards, among others.
"It was wonderful to have these incredible musicians poking fun at my non-Nashville chord progressions," Black said. "And then give me a wink after a take to let me know that they approved and enjoyed it. I was so lucky to have them playing on this album."
Lucky is one way to look at it, although to a die-hard Pixies fan, it might seem like bad luck. Admittedly, when I first inserted this CD and pressed play, I was expecting to hear that familiar punk-rock style Black exudes on stage when performing those old familiar hard punches from his previous “punk” days. That is not at all what you will hear on this album - quite the 180 degree turn around.
This solo album soundly demonstrates Black’s ability to write and perform a much more mellow styling. Most songs, every song, on this album plays like a ballad... some have the twangy undertones you might hear in some hot, steaming country Louisiana night spot: “Selkie Bride,” “I Burn Today,” “Lone Child,” and “Another Velvet Nightmare” to name a few.
"Dark End of the Street” gives off a definite blues feel, very melancholy, slow, reflective.
A few songs, like “Go Find Your Saint,” “Atom in my Heart,” and “Honeycomb, “ sneak in a few whispers of his former “punk” style within the melody, kicking it up a notch, but not by much.
"Song of the Shrimp” reminds me of South Beach, Florida - Black sings of ‘Louisian’, but the song’s beat and tone drips with a Hispanic influence, begging you to sit at a table by the nightlife’s beach walk, choke back that shot of tequila, and take a toke on that Cuban cigar.
"Strange Goodbye,” performed by Black and his now ex-wife, took on a folkish presence - and was my least favorite of any of the songs. While I appreciate Black performed this with his soon-to-be ex-wife at the time of recording as a symbol that they were still friends and all - sometimes things are just better not put to music.
"Sunny Sunday Mill Valley Groove” gave me Margaritaville flashbacks, a very Jimmy Buffet-esque style. Then we switch to “My Life is in Storage,” which has an overall somber tone, carrying upbeat bits
throughout the melody. The end of the song just makes you wanna get up and slow dance with the closest thing you can find.
Although the album may shock you upon first listen, there are definitely some keepers on here. There is no doubt this is mood music, and if you are in the mood to kick back on a hot summer’s night and dance with that special someone under the moon and the stars - this is the album you need to put on.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/22/2005 : 01:28:35
Has this one been posted yet? Three stars out of five, on concertlivewire.com:
http://www.concertlivewire.com/blackcd.htm
Review by Tony Bonyata
Pixies frontman Frank Black has just released his first solo effort since his 1996 Cult of Ray album, entitled Honeycomb. For fans of his former band the Pixies, whom Black has reunited with for a recent tour, and even those who may expect some of the edgier material from his own solo albums and side projects with his band The Catholics, the fourteen songs that grace this album are anything but the quirky, punkish alt-rock that Black is most famous for.
Produced by Jon Tivon (Wilson Picket, B.B. King, Robert Plant) Black has created an interesting sea change of Americana music augmented by some of Nashville's most beloved studio musicians, including guitarists Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller and Reggie Young, drummers Anton Fig, Chester Thompson and Billy Block, bassist David Hood and keyboardist Spooner Oldham. Oddly enough, this was the first time that many of these venerable musicians had ever played together. As Black related on the recording process, "This was the only time that I have ever been in a studio and had the strange feeling that I was witnessing something spiritual. When we were recording, those guys didn't even look at each other, they closed their eyes and they meant it."
While the first impression of this record - based on Black's back catalogue of aggro-alt-rock - falls short of initial expectations, after closer inspection it becomes evident through Black's own interpretation of the great American songbook that his songcraft is still fully intact. Despite the fact that many of the original compositions here would've sounded just as at-home on a number of his previous solo efforts, the no-nonsense arrangements and expert musicianship that abounds throughout definitely finds the singer / guitarist mining new territory. From the gentle and harrowing balladry of "Dark End of the Street" and title track, to the warm-hearted spirit that glows on "I Burn Today," "Another Velvet Goldmine" and the Leonard Cohen-inspired alt-country number "Atom In My Heart," Black successfully jumps the tracks onto a different age-old genre of music. Even when he revisits covers such as Doug Sham's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" and the irresistible "Song of the Shrimp," from Elvis Presley's Girls, Girls, Girls film, Black and company resuscitate these long forgotten chestnuts with a breath of fresh air.
While this earthy reinvention of his music may not be the strongest effort in Frank Black's ever-growing musical canon, it's certainly his bravest.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 15:44:25
That's another home run! :D |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 12:53:45
Four out of five for Honeycomb, a review by Jeremy Allen from Playlouder.com
http://www.playlouder.com/review/+honeycomb/
Widespread interest in Frank Black as opposed to Black Francis has always been fleeting. 'Teenager of the Year' marked a promising though disparate foray into life without the band, and his audience quickly became nonplussed as Frank himself treated each release with increased insouciance. With the Pixies enduring a revival that has outstripped their former cult status, they are now regarded anomalously by those who remember them from their first incarnation; as both living legends who we hanker to see play their mighty back catalogue, and also as a bunch of fat old fucks; nothing troubles a fan's conscience like a bunch of breadheads flaunting their bits so blithely for bananas.
Saying that, I've read some fairly harsh words about Pixies in general, much of it on these pages. What's there not to like? Compare them to their former peers Nirvana: What would you rather listen to, a sweaty-haired young fellow with everything to live for drowning in deep self-loathing and building to blow his own clock off, or a jolly fat chap called Charles singing songs with weird time signatures about aliens and dogs?
Still, the fans know that that time has passed, and with the news there's more Pixies material on the way, now seems like the right time to dip back into Frank Black. 'Honeycomb' is as far removed from the influential schizo-pop-punk he and Kim Deal peddled way back when; and it’s better for it. An album far more befitting of a man of Frank's age, it sounds like car radio music on a day when vexation is to be avoided at all costs. Musically most of the songs are pitched somewhere between 'Sultans of Ping' and 'Lay Lady Lay'; there's a country edge that's not so much dark as dusky, garnished with improvised blues pinging, the sort that hasn't sounded cool since people stopped saying "far out" and "swell" in a genuine way. It's some way from Joey Santiago, but then doesn't everyone try and play like Joey Santiago these days?
Of course, the most important element in anything written by Frank Black is the song itself, and there are some excellently crafted efforts here. They're not entirely immediate, but they're not difficult to get either; and gone are the convoluted chord structures and weird timings that would so often spiral into disappointment and stupidity. 'Selkie Bride' and 'Dark End of the Street' (and a lovely rendition of Doug Sahm's 'Sunday Sunny Valley Groove Day') are impressive, measured and nailed by somebody who clearly knows what he's up to, and you find yourself warming to them a little more with each listen. 'I Burn Today' and 'Song of the Shrimp' are memorable too, come a few welcome spins. If there's a quibble, 'Honeycomb' does lack variation of pace. Though it doesn't matter when the tunes are as consistently as good as 'Sing for Joy'. And for the first time in ages, we can all do just that.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| The Holiday Son |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 11:52:20
quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Forget what you're reading about a new Pixies album. Not even close to becoming a reality anytime soon.
Maybe this should go in the news section...
Oh, and if we get The Sicilian in early 2006, I think we'll all be happy here ! |
| Frog in the Sand |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 11:36:28
Honeycomb Tour in 2005 + Sicilian Tour in 2006 = new Pixies album in 2007 :)
Join the Cult of France / And get Honeycomb weeks in advance |
| jediroller |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 09:08:58
Thanks, Jon. Although I'm not sure today's hint will be too well received around here...
I guess a lot of people here would like to hear it from the Man himself, but he's never been that straightforward when it came to the Pixies, for some reason.
I'm all for people being enthusiastic though. You can't blame fans for getting worked up about something like that. (You can, however, blame the press for playing it up on very fragile grounds. But hey, that's how it works. And it certainly did lead at least once to an interesting turn of events, e.g. some indie band reuniting last year...)
As for myself, I'd take a new Pixies album as I take Honeycomb (which I'm really enjoying more with each listen) -- it's all Frank's music to me.
Keep 'em coming!
My evil twin would lie and steal
And he would stink of sex-appeal |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 08:07:28
Not a review, just a mention of Honeycomb here:
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=98764&n_date=20050719&cat=Entertainment
Pixies frontman goes solo again:-
PORTLAND, Pa. | July 19, 2005 9:11:31 PM IST
Pixies frontman Frank Black has completed work on a solo album called Honeycomb, his first solo work in nine years.
Black made the album in Nashville, working with veteran players such as guitarist Steve Cropper from Booker T & the MGs and frequent Neil Young collaborator Spooner Oldham on keyboards.
Black says the caliber of the musicians let him take a more casual approach to his first solo album in nine years.
They never heard the songs before you recorded them, Black says. Many of the songs are Take One, so what you're hearing is this band hearing the song for the first time, while they're playing it and while the engineer is recording it. That's the kind of guys they are; you just tell them when the session is and hit the record button.
Black has no plans to tour in support of Honeycomb yet, however. The reunited Pixies will be playing at several summer festivals, including this weekend's Lollapalooza in Chicago. The Pixies also plan to record a new album in the near future.
(UPI) |
| speedy_m |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 08:00:56
Review up at pitchfork:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com
Frank Black
Honeycomb
[SpinArt; 2005]
Rating: 6.0
Frank Black has earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants, and he unfortunately seems to know it. The man who brought you the Pixies and, by extension, the alternative rock boom of the early 90s, took four days out of his busy schedule touring with his triumphantly reunited old band to record in Nashville with such legendary session men as Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldham. The result is Honeycomb, as album that has its inspired moments but ultimately comes off like something of a vanity project, with Black tackling a midpoint between classic country and classic r&b, winding up with a sort of adult contemporary album full of lyrics about shrimp and selkies, those half-seal/half-human creatures of Orkney legend.
To his credit, Black seems genuinely excited to be playing with his heroes, and he's invested in the material, as always, but the backing definitely has the ultra-competent feeling of a session rather than a band really gelling. Likewise, Black's written several great songs, but he may not actually be the best guy to sing them, as his voice has a tendency to die out on some of the more ambitious melodies. For instance, "Strange Goodbye" is a masterfully written duet that could have easily come from the Stax hit factory in the late-60s, but Black and his ex-wife Jean (they were still married at the time) here aren't a compelling pair-- ironic considering it's written about their impending break-up.
The record's two peaks are actually covers of Dan Penn & Chips Moman's "Dark End of the Street" and key Black influence Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day". The former finds Black doing a pretty good job with a tricky classic soul melody, while the latter is an exuberant, uptempo country-rock tune that the whole band seems to enjoy playing. The third cover, "Song of the Shrimp", is a bizarre ballad about a shrimp that leaves his parents for New Orleans, not realizing where the shrimp boat is taking him. Black, of course, turns in his own share of odd lyrics, peaking on "Strange Goodbye" and bottoming out these lines from the opening of "Another Velvet Nightmare": "Today I felt my heart slide into my belly/ So I puked it up with liquor/ And I slept right where I lay."
Elsewhere, Cropper livens up "My Life Is in Storage" with richly phrased guitar solo and Black spikes his closing exhortation to "Sing for Joy" with tales of alcoholism and murder. The sum of it all is a bit less than what you might expect from the parts. Black has strangely proven himself an accomplished writer of songs that would sound great in the hands of a soul singer and a house band, but he's also proven that he's not necessarily always the right singer for his songs.
-Joe Tangari, July 20, 2005
there is nothing worse than/an undetermined person |
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 07:54:32
hint of the day
Forget what you're reading about a new Pixies album. Not even close to becoming a reality anytime soon.
bye,
Jon Tiven |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 07:07:38
3.5 stars out of 5, a review by Steve LaBate from the aforementioned paste magazine:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=1957
Frank Black "gets the band back together" for his first album sans Catholics since 1996
A man in a dark suit, hat and even darker sunglasses walks into a soul-food diner. The waitress saunters over as he sits at the counter. “You got any fried chicken?” he asks.
“Best damn chicken in the state.”
“Bring me four fried Chickens and a Coke.”
“You want chicken wings or chicken legs?”
“Four fried chickens and a Coke. And some dry, white toast, please.” She goes back to the kitchen and says to the dishwasher, “We got a honky out there that looks a Hasidic diamond merchant, like he’s from the CIA or something.”
“What’s he want to eat?”
“Four whole fried chickens and a Coke… and some white bread, dry, with nothing on it.”
“Shiyittt, it’s Frank Black!”
OK. So maybe the former Pixies frontman is still a little too bizzaro-macabre to be a Blues Brother, but—just like Belushi and Akroyd—he’s enlisted a legendary crew of Memphis/Muscle Shoals session all-stars to back him up: Spooner Oldham, David Hood and (former Blues Brothers sideman) Steve Cropper, plus Nashville guitarist/songwriter Buddy Miller. And for good measure Honeycomb was produced by Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett, B.B. King). So what we’ve got here is a real-deal country, soul and rock ’n’ roll album from a pioneer of freaked-out, left-of-the-dial ’80s/’90s alternative.
At first listen, I was skeptical, but man if that Black Francis doesn’t have a velvet-sweet croon. Which, after hearing some of his work with the Catholics, isn’t totally unexpected. But Honeycomb goes a step further with some of Black’s most mature songwriting to date and a chilled-out sound that plays like the cure to a hangover after a night of Pixies-soundtracked debauchery.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 06:37:15
It's not really a complaint Jon, I am delighted with the coverage "Honeycomb" is getting. My comment in relation to SMYT specifically was in reaction to this:
"It’s this fragile beauty and honesty in the lyrics that sets it apart from other Frank Black records, the stripped down music gives the lyrics the perfect stage from which to entwine the audience in Franks torment"
As for your hints, I dream that one day you include a European tour with at least soem of the Honeycomb players.
Best
TP
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 06:32:05
quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Ladies and gentleman,
I believe that the critics are marvelling that HONEYCOMB speaks to a wider audience than previous FB albums. As such, they feel compelled to diminish the worth of the past 12 years, if only to atone for the fact that they did not acknowledge the greatness of previous albums.
As long as they write great things about HONEYCOMB and bring the album to that wider audience, let them have their fun. We all know TOTY is a brill record, likewise many that followed, but this time we are going to have a few more guests at the party.
...
bye,
Jon
Yep, I agree, a wider audience Honeycomb deserves, and any face-saving or ass-covering by reviewers concerning The Man's previous albums really don't deserve comment. I just roll my eyes and keep reading.
And you're right, all the marvelling and great things being written about Honeycomb is a real joy and cause for celebration!
So, Sir Jon Tiven, what's your hint of the day?
The King's Loyal Subject,
OldManIna"Honeycomb"CoffeeCan
______________________________
I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy |
| Jontiven |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 05:01:00
Ladies and gentleman,
I believe that the critics are marvelling that HONEYCOMB speaks to a wider audience than previous FB albums. As such, they feel compelled to diminish the worth of the past 12 years, if only to atone for the fact that they did not acknowledge the greatness of previous albums.
As long as they write great things about HONEYCOMB and bring the album to that wider audience, let them have their fun. We all know TOTY is a brill record, likewise many that followed, but this time we are going to have a few more guests at the party.
No complaints here. NME gave us 8 out of 10. There's a PASTE article that's lovely too.
Let's keep it positive! No more complaining in this wondrous time.
bye,
Jon |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 01:39:33
A 9 out of 10 review on beatsurrender.co.uk, I think this reviewer (Kev!)needs to revisit SMYT and TOTY though:
http://www.thebeatsurrender.co.uk/weekly/reviews/frank-black-honeycomb/
If in the last twenty years you have at any point considered yourself an indie kid, then the chances are that you will have done one of two things for definite. You’ll have either bought a Pixies album or single, or you’ll have danced your arse off in some sweaty little indie club to Here Comes Your Man, Planet of Sound or Monkey Gone to Heaven.
How do I know this you may wonder, well I know because every indie kid I know loves the Pixies (myself included), be it because they had a big influence on Nirvana or simply because the Pixies produced a hell of a lot of good music and the original line up has continued to do so through various other outlets since the demise of the band.
I’ll bet something else as well. I bet the majority of those people wouldn’t consider buying a Frank Black solo album. Yes the die-hards will and do buy his solo records, but on the whole commercially Frank Black hasn’t sold any quantity of records for about ten years. The reason for this is probably that across the eight or nine albums that Black has released on his own, or under the Frank Black and the Catholics moniker his albums have lacked consistency throughout them. Teenager of the Year contained ten great songs, but out of twenty two that’s not a great ratio.
So after that build up about Frank Blacks ‘mixed bag’ solo album career so far, it’s time for you to actually consider buying your first Frank black album, if you’ve bought one in the past and been disappointed then it’s time for you to give the guy another chance, because he really has delivered this time.
Honeycomb is consistently brilliant throughout, his voice has never sounded better and yes I’m including his time in the Pixies in that as well! The big thing for me here though is that you get the feeling he believes this is his best record as well. It’s produced by Jon Tiven who worked on his 1994 hit Headache, but more importantly for the type of record this is it’s recorded in Nashville. Not only that it’s produced in Nashville and uses Nashville musicians, people who have been there and done it with the best of them.
The album has a real natural feel to it, it flows beautifully, no doubt helped by the fact that it was recorded in four days, with most of the first takes making it to the final cut. Despite a couple of cover versions on the album (a delightful take on Gram Parsons Dark End of the Street, Song of the Shrimp from an Elvis film and the playfully melodic Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Grove Day which was written by Doug Sahm) this is a deeply personal record for Black.
I Burn Today has a desperate passion about it as he sings “pull my heart strings out and have yourself a strum”, likewise Selkie Bride as he pleas “If you return again, I’ll be the saddest man, my lips will burn your skin, please don’t return again, please don’t repeat again”. It’s this fragile beauty and honesty in the lyrics that sets it apart from other Frank Black records, the stripped down music gives the lyrics the perfect stage from which to entwine the audience in Franks torment.
This really has surprised me this album, I’ve played it more times in the last couple of weeks than I have any of his previous post Pixies output put together. If you can listen to a more vulnerable Frank Black than the choppy, grungy guitars he’s famous for then you’ll find yourself enjoying one of the most beautifully, organic records to come out of America in years. The Pixies may have reformed last year and got the indie kids buzzing again, but I’ll be amazed if they can produce anything on a par with this record now.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| Ten Percenter |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 01:31:48
Don't think this one has been posted yet, from Entertainment Weekly, by David Browne, he gives Honeycomb a Grade A:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,1083265_4_0_,00.html
If you thought the Pixies reunion was a surprise, wait until you hear the direction frontman Frank Black takes on his latest solo album, Honeycomb. His lyrics are still skewed (he pines after a mythical creature in ''Selkie Bride'') and rueful (''Hold my heartstrings and have yourself a strum''). But thanks to old-school sidemen like guitarist Steve Cropper, the music is Black's take on Southern soul: spare, graceful, in the pocket, with Black himself sounding reborn and relaxed. If his old band's re-formation doesn't last, Black could have another, equally rewarding future ahead of him. Grade: A
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
| NimrodsSon |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 19:03:31
quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Nothing wrong with an A- !!!!!!!
And that patriot ledger article is a beaut. There's a review in the new Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Daily News......google away my friends.
Nashvillians could be in for a treat in September....that's my hint of the day.
bye,
Jon Tiven
Any "hints" for Atlantans? It's only four hours away, you know...
¡Viva los Católicos! http://adrianfoster.dmusic.com/ |
| OldManInaCoffeeCan |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 16:07:45
quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Nothing wrong with an A- !!!!!!!
And that patriot ledger article is a beaut. There's a review in the new Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Daily News......google away my friends.
Nashvillians could be in for a treat in September....that's my hint of the day.
bye,
Jon Tiven
Mmm, Mmm, Good....I hope we get long, multiple treats in September Sir Jon Tiven, and of course I'm referring to Honeycomb shows.
As self-proclaimed Hostest with the Mostest and one of the many Ambassadors of Guitar Town, I guess I need to begin making arrangements and planning some parties, huh.
The King and you have certainly been serving up the treats since yesterday (July 18th) and today (July 19th) for everyone around the world.
______________________________
I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy |
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