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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
 Posted - 11/03/2002 : 17:57:09
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From Marc on AP:
http://www.hour.ca/magazine/index.asp?id=1931&parution=1043
Let's be Frank
Prolific ex-Pixie Frank Black proves himself more black than frank on two new albums
Ilana Kronick
"Essentially, we've been on tour for the last 14 years." Coming from anyone else, this might sound more like an unreasonable, nomadic beating than a rock'n'roll way of life. But coming from Frank Black, it's just hyperbole - and for him, quite mildly so. In typical recoil-style, Black quickly clarifies. "I mean, we do lots of short tours every year. Half on, half off. But it just feels so continuous."
The truth is, Black would be happy to stay on the road for the rest of his life. It's what he knows, what he does, what he wants. And more than anything, it always has been.
"We're musicians. We're living our childhood dream," he says. "We move around all these big boxes, packing things, plugging things in and turning them on, making lots of noise, staying up late, never having to come home, going into hotel rooms - you know, it's very child-like."
What brings him and his loyal company of players out this time is, of course, yet another fresh batch of tunes. Of rocking beauties in the keys of punk, pop, folk and just plain odd ("One song that's rockin', another one that's just weird, another one that's just slow - a whole hodgepodge"), there is no shortage.
Only this time, Frank Black and the Catholics had more than their usual glut of songs to expose you to. This time, the overflow was just too significant to crowdedly include, editorially discount or blatantly ignore. Another record, bulging with as many pieces as the first, had to be conceived. And so, in an act that's caused a very minor but detectable stir in the indie rock running of things, Black and his embracing Canadian supporters, Sonic Unyon, did the double duty: two records at once.
"I wasn't trying to make a big statement out of it. So we had two albums to put out? I mean, I am a musician, I write songs, that's what I do," says Black in defence of his recordings, both the planned and produced Black Letter Days and its playful extension Devil's Workshop.
What could strike you as a marketing move meant to encourage the simultaneous purchase of two CDs (they ask for the latest Frank Black and the Catholics, they're faced with two answers - isn't it easier just to pick both?) is actually more symptomatic of two other things: the musician and the fan base, both of which refuse to say no.
"People say 'Couldn't you have combed through your songs? Come up with a best of the best so you could have one great album instead of two good albums?' And I see the point. But the fact of the matter is, my records always have a slightly eclectic nature to them. When you have a stack of songs like mine, it just doesn't make sense to cut," he says.
"I don't want to put pressure on my fans or anything, but they either patronize or they don't. I mean that's just the way that it is. Fortunately, I'm very cultish; I occupy a small niche. So I have a little more freedom than a lot of people. And hey, I'm gonna put out a lot of records. What else do I have to do?"
Frank Black and the Catholics
and guests at Club Soda, Nov. 5 |
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Visiting Sasquatch
= Cult of Ray =
USA
451 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2002 : 19:10:24
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| I'm so glad he didn't cut songs and make just one album. Love both albums! And why the hell does he have to defend releasing two albums? That doesn't make sense to me either. |
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Thomas
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1615 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2002 : 19:49:49
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quote:
Let's be Frank
Prolific ex-Pixie Frank Black proves himself more black than frank on two new albums
Ilana Kronick
How cleaver
"It's the Nexus of the Crisis"
BÖCswu |
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zanni67
= Bio Elf =
643 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2002 : 05:39:28
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"We're musicians. We're living our childhood dream," he says. "We move around all these big boxes, packing things, plugging things in and turning them on, making lots of noise, staying up late, never having to come home, going into hotel rooms - you know, it's very child-like."
I love this quote! Frank just knows how to nail these lines!!
Zan
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