| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jason |
Posted - 03/22/2021 : 08:19:19
The latest entry, #6, about the FRANK BLACK solo album is up.
http://www.theconstantbleeder.com/2021/03/21/frank-black-o-rama-6-frank-black/
I started doing these early last year, but got busy and put it on ice for awhile, but now I'm back in the saddle and excited to press forward. Some people liked these back then so I thought I'd start a thread.
Here's a "Table of Contents" page for the series as it develops.
http://www.theconstantbleeder.com/frank-black-o-rama-table-of-contents/ |
| 35 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| two reelers |
Posted - 08/24/2023 : 12:42:45
Thanks for that article. I felt and still feel very much the same about FB&TC. They were an obsession, a guiding light, and a lifeline during good parts of my life back then. Nothing wrong with the Pixies, but I would chose the Catholics at any time over them. I also raise my glass to them and to your article!
I joined the cult of Souled American / 'cause they are a damn' fine band |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 08/05/2023 : 09:00:29
SMYT was my least favorite, maybe still is but one day I really enjoyed the album, and during the beginning of a bleak period of time it was something I listened to and enjoyed. Haven't listened to it since.
Good write-ups as always Jason.
cheers |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 07/16/2023 : 22:24:44
That was great. Coastline is a favorite song of mine and I used to cover it at my shows all the time. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 07/15/2023 : 18:31:46
Yes!
Can’t wait to read this
Full disclosure this is my least favorite FB album but maybe you will show me the light
Thanks for your work on this |
| Jason |
Posted - 07/15/2023 : 09:02:40
Frank Black-O-Rama! #21: SHOW ME YOUR TEARS
https://theconstantbleeder.com/2023/07/15/frank-black-o-rama-21-show-me-your-tears/
Some words about the end of Frank Black and the Catholics. |
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 01/20/2023 : 13:15:22
quote:
Originally posted by Troubles A Foot
quote:
Originally posted by Stevio10
Love the vocal delivery on Bartholomew. Is it about Bartholomew the Disciple? He was flailed, maybe that's how he ended up in the coffee? He was the saint of Armenia...one of All the Saints. ?
I took All the Saints to be about Bowie, Lou Reed, etc, etc the musical artists who died in recent years that inspired Frank that he's "trying to be." He's wondering why he's still here, ie he as a musical artist, when all these legends who he thinks are so much better than him had to die.
I like that, I never thought of it that way! I took it as 'Saint Francis' carrying on the work of Jesus. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 01/03/2023 : 05:51:32
quote:
Originally posted by Stevio10
Love the vocal delivery on Bartholomew. Is it about Bartholomew the Disciple? He was flailed, maybe that's how he ended up in the coffee? He was the saint of Armenia...one of All the Saints. ?
I pretty much think this |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 12/31/2022 : 08:20:12
quote:
Originally posted by Stevio10
Love the vocal delivery on Bartholomew. Is it about Bartholomew the Disciple? He was flailed, maybe that's how he ended up in the coffee? He was the saint of Armenia...one of All the Saints. ?
I took All the Saints to be about Bowie, Lou Reed, etc, etc the musical artists who died in recent years that inspired Frank that he's "trying to be." He's wondering why he's still here, ie he as a musical artist, when all these legends who he thinks are so much better than him had to die. |
| Jason |
Posted - 12/29/2022 : 22:36:41
I have a cloudy memory of Frank saying in an old interview that "Bartholomew" was inspired by a homeless guy camped out near the studio, but there are other onion layers to the imagery in that song for sure. |
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 12/29/2022 : 14:07:36
Love the vocal delivery on Bartholomew. Is it about Bartholomew the Disciple? He was flailed, maybe that's how he ended up in the coffee? He was the saint of Armenia...one of All the Saints. ? |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 12/28/2022 : 12:54:59
Great stuff Jason, thank you again for your work on the series.
Ever since the complete FB&C's came out I've stopped listening to the albums and only listen to the songs in alphabetical order. So it's nice to hear you talk about the album presentation of the music. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 23:45:40
I love that. You're probably right, though I always just saw it as a road traveling song. Like the guy with no little toe and a big head I just thought was some weird Deliverance type dude in some random country town. But your version makes more sense! The line about "still lathering" brings to mind the idea that this is a new beach that has recently formed way in the past. |
| Jason |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 21:58:53
I'll break it down further just for fun.
Well I found a road and off I sped
I met a man with no little toe and a real big head
The narrator meets a future human from thousands of years up the evolutionary ladder. This person has a sleeker body that has evolved out of some useless appendages ("no little toe") and he has a bigger brain ("real big head").
Though I did not speak somehow I said
This is an old idea from sci-fi stories in which these evolved humans of the distant future have acquired powers, such as telepathy, due to their expanded brains. Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End is a famous example of this.
Where are you from? He said the modern age
And where are you from? I said the modern age
Both characters identify their time as "the modern age" because it's all they know.
On the shore by the sea that was still lathering
I met a man in the business of hunting and gathering
Somehow we understood each other’s blathering
Now, it's the opposite situation. Our narrator meets someone from the distant past, a caveman.
And he said where are you from? I said the modern age
And where are you from? He said the modern age
But the caveman thinks that he's from the modern age because that's all HE knows. Every time is a future time's primitive age.
Stopped at a light in my car
I asked the next car how they are
They say that we are fine and how are you?
I say that I am fine and thank you
I’m feeling fine in the modern age
Driving around in the modern age
I interpret this as our narrator settling in a time that they like, a simple world where people are polite to each other.
|
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 20:49:43
Oh that is so cool. I never thought of that. Hmm. |
| Jason |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 17:27:23
I interpret "Modern Age" as a time travel song. The narrator keeps meeting people from other time periods and figuring out how to communicate with them. The "man in the business of hunting and gathering" is a caveman, for example. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 17:03:50
Great stuff. Devil's Workshop is my favorite Catholics record and probably in my top 2 or 3 Frank records, including the Pixies.
I'm very curious though, why do you call Modern Age sci-fi? What do you think it's about? |
| Jason |
Posted - 12/27/2022 : 15:41:56
Frank Black-O-Rama #20: DEVIL'S WORKSHOP
https://www.theconstantbleeder.com/2022/12/28/frank-black-o-rama-20-devils-workshop/
There's only one good reason for a band to put out two albums in one day and I think "Devil's Workshop" fulfills that nicely. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 09/13/2022 : 15:50:27
I hear you, but happen to hold the opposite view. I think they topped out with DITS, and SMYT is my least fav C’s album by a lot. But I love it all, and not everything can be tied for the Number One spot.
Agree with you that the catalog is exhaustive,
Can someone do a “by the numbers” comparison of how many songs FBF has written versus other famous artists. Other than Dylan I’m sure he leaves a lot of hall of famers in the dust. |
| Jason |
Posted - 09/13/2022 : 15:18:15
I think the Catholics got BETTER as they went on. The Catholics are fun to write about, but exhausting because there's so much to say. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 09/13/2022 : 09:14:20
Thanks Jason for your treatment of BLD. Lots of good content as always. I don't feel as strongly about the latter half of FB&C's catalog, but you've given me a renewed interest and I'm spinning the disc today. Good stuff. Thanks |
| Jason |
Posted - 09/12/2022 : 09:49:13
I didn't get your Facebook message. Sometimes if I'm not "friends" with someone on there, I don't get their message. Other times, I do get their message, but I get no notification for it. Facebook sucks. The best ways to contact are me through e-mail or through leaving a comment on the site.
Anyway... Frank Black-O-Rama #19: BLACK LETTER DAYS is up
http://www.theconstantbleeder.com/2022/09/12/frank-black-o-rama-19-black-letter-days/
It's about sad songs, Hank Williams, double albums, and maybe some other stuff. I was inspired a little by the controversies in the "Doggerel" thread here, too ("Frank Black's music is always annoying somebody...").
Anyway, I LOVE "Black Letter Days". |
| billgoodman |
Posted - 09/10/2022 : 23:42:22
Jason, I Messaged you on Facebook, but I just discovered your writing
A blog on Robert Pollard too!
---------------------------
BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
| Jason |
Posted - 07/21/2022 : 11:58:57
quote:
Originally posted by Bedbug
Are you going to cover things like Women of War etc?
Looking forward to the next 50 years!
Probably, but I would mention it in the "Indie Cindy" article.
Or maybe some compilation of neo-Pixies non-album tracks will come out along the way and I'll cover it there. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 07/21/2022 : 03:27:16
Are you going to cover things like Women of War etc?
Looking forward to the next 50 years! |
| Jason |
Posted - 07/20/2022 : 23:16:01
Thanks!
If anyone cares, it looks like this is going to be the full series so far. Let me know if you notice something missing or out of order. My intention is to cover things in the order of release, but I'm not super-fixated on that being perfect (and I took a few liberties with a couple of the live albums), but if I'm way off about something I'd be curious.
INTENTIONALLY NOT INCLUDED
singles, the "LoudQuietLoud" documentary, the Pixies 10" EPs from 2013-14
I MIGHT INCLUDE...
The new Black Francis box set. It's just the albums collected so I'm leaning toward no, but we'll see how I feel in fifty years when I get to it. I definitely want to include the Catholics box set because it presents the songs in a new way.
19. BLACK LETTER DAYS
20. DEVIL'S WORKSHOP
21. SHOW ME YOUR TEARS
22. PIXIES DVD
23. FRANK BLACK FRANCIS
24. HONEYCOMB
25. PIXIES SELL OUT DVD
26. ONE MORE ROAD FOR THE HIT
27. SNAKE OIL
28. FAST MAN RAIDER MAN
29. (PIXIES) ACOUSTIC: LIVE IN NEWPORT DVD
30. (PIXIES) LIVE AT THE PARADISE IN BOSTON DVD
31. CHRISTMASS
32. 93-03
33. BLUEFINGER
34. SVN FNGRS
35. LIVE AT THE HOTEL UTAH SALOON
36. PETIT FOURS
37. THE GOLEM
38. NONSTOPEROTIK
39. ABBABUBBA
40. PALEY & FRANCIS
41. LIVE IN NIJMEGEN
42. (FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS) LIVE AT MELKWEG
43. LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK
44. THE GOOD INN
45. INDIE CINDY
46. (FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS) THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS
47. HEAD CARRIER
48. BENEATH THE EYRIE
49. DOGGEREL |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 07/18/2022 : 23:31:46
Terrific stuff as always Jason. Appreciate your work on this. |
| Jason |
Posted - 07/18/2022 : 14:44:09
Frank Black-O-Rama! #18: PIXIES
http://www.theconstantbleeder.com/2022/07/18/frank-black-o-rama-18-pixies/
The "Purple Tape" leftovers album. Also thoughts on eighties underground rock and some analysis about "In Heaven" as a great cover song. |
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 06/14/2022 : 05:18:11
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have some very good b sides. B-sides and Rarities Volume 1 has a lot of great material and covers. Volume 2 has recently been released but yet to check it out, though I much prefer the Mick Harvey era.
|
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 06/13/2022 : 11:07:27
quote:
Originally posted by Jason
Prince also liked to make the B-side relate to the A-side in a strange way that you might not notice at first.
I don't collect vinyl LPs much anymore, but I still love 45s. It's a great format, maybe the best one ever. I love to collect songs and part of the appeal is that sometimes odd relationship between the A-side and the B-side.
Not to sound like I'm promoting myself, but this is something important to me as well, and I did the same thing on the latest single I put out. I made all of the b-sides thematically linked, even having some of them blend into each other (which is a pain in the ass to figure out technically), and including a literal sequel song to the A-Side.
https://troublesafoot.bandcamp.com/album/woke-up-dark-single
It was so much fun I want to keep doing that with more "singles" from the album I made, just as a great way to put out some more music and make these little specific releases that all tie together. |
| Jason |
Posted - 06/13/2022 : 07:29:09
I think the Cure was a good B-sides band. Prince had a lot of good ones that run the whole gamut between "shoulda been on the album" songs and oddball moments. Prince also liked to make the B-side relate to the A-side in a strange way that you might not notice at first.
I don't collect vinyl LPs much anymore, but I still love 45s. It's a great format, maybe the best one ever. I love to collect songs and part of the appeal is that sometimes odd relationship between the A-side and the B-side. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 09:55:07
quote:
Originally posted by Bedbug
Also, the B-sides showcase how much Frank involved other members of the band, having Kim sing this one and Dave song that one. Very cool.
And I’d love to hear other people’s nominations on this, but for me the greatest band based on its throwaways is far and away Ween. The infraweb doesn’t even contain half of it, and yet there is more amazing stuff on YouTube that they never bothered releasing than Prince or Led Zeppelin or whoever ever dreamed of producing. Long live B sides for sure
Yeah. I am a kind of new fan to Ween but I was shocked how good dozens and dozens of songs left off albums were.
The other bands I'd nominate for this phenomena is:
They Might Be Giants: seemingly hundreds of fan-favorite songs never released or as b-sides. Their dial-a-song service, where you call and hear songs over the phone, contained tons of great songs that never showed up anywhere else. My podcast has done a few episodes all about these. They've also had rare, homeless songs on their own podcast, and various other weird outlets. It's now come to the point that the past several TMBG albums has come with a bonus album of songs like this, stuff cooked up for the album but left off, kind of a parallel universe album. And it is now also at the point that there's genuinely no discernible difference in quality for these songs, and they're often better than the album picks.
Morrissey: like all my favorite Morrissey songs are rare/demos/unreleased/b-sides. A few years back he put out an album that was kind of OK, but there was this rare bonus disc with 6 songs that just blew me away (the Beneath The Eyrie phenomenon.) His b-sides compilation My Early Burglary Years may be my favorite Morrissey "album." Then there's demos never ever released but somehow bootlegged by fans. "Born To Hang" is a favorite.
and XTC: Andy Partridge released a 9-disc set of songs left off of XTC albums. They are almost all brilliant. It's mindblowing. He's been holding off on any sort of solo album since XTC ended 20 years ago. I can only assume he's got 100s of songs gathering dust.
As for the Pixies, my favorite b-side was not mentioned: Manta Ray. Not sure how this didn't make an album. It's incredible. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 03:09:43
Also, the B-sides showcase how much Frank involved other members of the band, having Kim sing this one and Dave song that one. Very cool.
And I’d love to hear other people’s nominations on this, but for me the greatest band based on its throwaways is far and away Ween. The infraweb doesn’t even contain half of it, and yet there is more amazing stuff on YouTube that they never bothered releasing than Prince or Led Zeppelin or whoever ever dreamed of producing. Long live B sides for sure |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 03:01:50
Can’t wait Jason, thanks for writing this one.
I first had the Pixies B sides on a blank cassette tape with no track listing and no idea which songs were which. A friend dubbed it for me off a bunch of CDs. It was still a better “album” than anything tons of other bands have ever done. |
| Jason |
Posted - 06/11/2022 : 20:23:21
Frank Black-O-Rama! #17: (PIXIES) COMPLETE 'B' SIDES
http://www.theconstantbleeder.com/2022/06/12/frank-black-o-rama-17-pixies-complete-b-sides/
This is a silly one. I like it a lot. It's a celebration of the Pixies' B-sides and B-sides, in general. I love B-sides. |
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 06:18:22
Really good read Jason. It just occurred to me Dog In The Sand was the last Frank album that had space as one of its main themes (until Indie Cindy).
I've Seen Your Picture more relevant than ever - sounds like something Elon Musk would do when he has colonies on Mars. His picture all over the place. |
