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dslator
- FB Fan -
24 Posts |
 Posted - 01/23/2005 : 02:42:45
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The book Gigantic: The Story of Frank Black and the "Pixies" by John Mendelssohn is out now in the UK.
Has anyone read it yet ?
I've just ordered it from Amazon (the_book_depository) for £13.63 (inc P&P).  |
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Boxcar Waiting
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
64 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 04:06:00
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Hmmm.. that looks a bit odd to me. You can buy it, rather than pre-order it, yet the release date is 1st May. Is that right?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184449490X/026-4920880-9225257
I'm tempted, but then again part of me likes the mystery surrounding The Man and The Band - I'm not sure if this book would ruin the mystery for me. How does he write those amazing songs?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Won't be long darling. I'm just taking the arse-bandit to the menders. |
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 05:49:23
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Boxcar - I pursued the link, thinking to order, but at the checkout page you get:
Estimated dispatch date for this item: 28 April 2005
Gigantic: The Story of Frank Black and the "Pixies" - John Mendelssohn
£13.96 (approx. $26.13) - Quantity: 1 - Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Condition: new
So I think I'll wait to order, probably thru Amazon USA.
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 06:14:01
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WOOHOO! A Pixies book at last. I have been waiting a long time for this.
Thanks dslator.
Love, love, my season |
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dslator
- FB Fan -
24 Posts |
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 09:53:47
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| Thanks again, dslator. Just ordered. |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 13:02:28
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Thanks all. I just ordered too. For those in the US it looks like there were some copies that ship from the US. It's supposed to ship in like 1-2 business days, so hopefully it will get here by the end of the week.
Any one want to start a book club thread?  |
Edited by - Daisy Girl on 01/23/2005 13:03:18 |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 13:54:57
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Think I am gonna wait for some reviews on here first. There is another book to check out now too, mentioned in another thread.
Love, love, my season |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2005 : 14:17:14
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Yeah, I got confused and I thought that was the one I ordered. |
Edited by - Daisy Girl on 01/23/2005 14:23:56 |
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madtempest
- FB Fan -
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2005 : 11:59:09
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Got this sent to me a few weeks ago:
"THE PIXIES
by John Mendelssohn
OMNIBUS PRESS JANUARY 2005_____________________________________________________
The Pixies were a shock to the system. Emerging from their first rehearsal in a squalid Boston basement, they were soon the toast of the UK and Europe - the new saviours of rock 'n' roll. Forerunners of grunge and with a repertoire of seriously weird songs, they made a virtue out of eccentricity. Then, when megastardom threatened, Pixies' singer/songwriter Charles Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis, ditched the band, rechristened himself Frank Black and insisted he hate the group...until deciding to reform it for a sell-out tour in 2004.
Never mind that their songs, full of images macabre enough for a David Lynch film - often not sung but shrieked - made you feel as though someone had slipped something evil into your drink. Never mind that the lead guitarist sounded as though he'd learned to play on Mars, or that the two singers harmonised as though of different species. Or that Thompson was small, rotund and bland-looking, vaguely evocative of Peanuts' Charlie Brown. The Pixies were no less a blast of fresh - if strangely acrid - air than The Clash and Sex Pistols had been a decade before, and without them, there would have been no Nineties, no Nirvana, no grunge.
Sometime music journalist and critic, John Mendelssohn has won prizes for his short stories in his native USA. These days he writes, acts, composes and directs for the stage. His last book was Waiting for Kate Bush (Omnibus, 2004).
John is now available for interview, and copies of The Pixies are available for review or competition. For further details, please contact Helen Donlon." |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2005 : 16:18:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Boxcar Waiting
I'm tempted, but then again part of me likes the mystery surrounding The Man and The Band - I'm not sure if this book would ruin the mystery for me. How does he write those amazing songs?
Wasn't this book written with no access to (or approval or interest from) Frank or the band? There was an upcoming book that some people were badmouthing here awhile back, right? And even Frank stepped in and commented that he didn't know anything about it, I think. |
Edited by - Jason on 01/24/2005 16:18:57 |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
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Domestiques
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
503 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2005 : 20:40:18
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I have it but have a backlog of books to get through before I can read it, virgin have it at a reduced price at the moment.
------------------------
“I want to be a star!” I cried
They said, “You’re overqualified.
Why don’t you learn to tune your damn guitar?” |
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stoffaboy
- FB Fan -
32 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2005 : 11:48:48
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got it, read it!
to be honest its very dissapointing! tells us uber fans nothing new at all, it almost reads like the uncut article published a couple of months ago! a fantastic article by the way!, but its been extended to 200 pages and doesn't quite work!
on the up side! there are some nice photos in there! |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2005 : 12:25:14
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quote:
Originally posted by stoffaboy
got it, read it!
to be honest its very disappointing!
we were warned, but it's made the author some bucks on the back of the reunion.
quote:
on the up side! there are some nice photos in there!
least you have them, better than nothing. |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2005 : 03:10:43
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You're right, that Uncut article was very good.
Love, love, my season |
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audiochild
- FB Fan -
Australia
16 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2005 : 04:40:51
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I can only say, there is no way The Pixies were the band that made Nirvana. I think this myth has been around too long. Stooges, Mudhoney, Buzzcocks, Leadbelly... the list goes on. Sure Kurt might have used the , yes, here we go again, soft verse loud chorus forumula, but in all due respect there are many differences in their music.
One major differences is The Pixies were all creative professionals, Nirvana was Kurt. The Pixies is much richer and more textured. However, there really should be no comparison, should there? i think it's all been taken way out of perspective.
think about it a bit guys
You been NASHED! |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2005 : 05:50:02
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If you only knew how bored I was with the comparisons. Just 'cos Kurt said he was trying to rip off the Pixies with Teen Spirit, doesn't make it true. I really just don't see it myself, and it IS very boring.
Love, love, my season |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 09:26:10
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Just walked through my door and an early birthday present from my mum there was waiting. This very same book. Well I'll be damned.
Few quick flicks through and some fun stuff I never knew about. Kim lending Joey her gold top Les Paul for first practises, and, this just made me chuckle, acknowldegemets to Rich gilbert, gil Norton, Lyle workman and one kylie Minogue. What?!
Oh, and apparantly i'm urged as a Pixies and/or FB fan to visit these excellant sites, Alec Eiffel and Frank black net.
And the pics are real nice. |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 10:02:19
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Ahem, "..we're probably meant to find his horrible off-key singing in the distortion-clogged 'Czar' exhiliratingly anarchic or something, but Gigantic finds it only grating. The scandalously over-arranged 'Every Time I Go Around Here' finds him singing..sounding strangely Dylan-ish, which in this instance is no compliment (f**k you! that's one of my faves). Parry The Wind features huge dynamic shifts, a theremin, and the rhythm section charging into half-time at the end under endless annoying repetitions of the title line, all to very little effect."
This guy's clueless, he seems pissed that the Pixies, especially FB, wanted nothing to do with this book. I wonder why, Jerk! |
Edited by - frank black conspiracy on 01/28/2005 10:04:22 |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 10:25:53
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Last one, I promise.
Oh dear, "Teenager of the Year, his second solo album, is best left shrink wrapped, as it's downhill after you've been amused by the photo of our unrepentantly rotound hero..."
MUM?!!!! I said "No pixie book". |
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Boxcar Waiting
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
64 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 10:54:26
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| Oh dear, the author sounds like a complete arse-hat. Thanks for posting these snippets. He is indeed a jerk. Just another ten percenter :o) |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 10:59:11
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i got more, but we could be here all night laughing at some of this shit
believe me, this guy doesn't hold back with his opinion and seems to leave the most poisonous jabs for the Man |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 14:14:26
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I found a nice little piece through all the FB album bashing which at best will just confirm your love or like for the man
Interview with Rich Gilbert
Let's hear your best story about life on the road with FB&TC.
We were playing a small town in Oregon, a late afternoon show at a small art performance gallery-type space that probably only held about 150 people, if that, maybe only 100. There was no stage, and we just set up on the floor. and everyone in the audience was 18 and under with the general age being 15 and 17. And you know, kids at that age are pretty awkward and shy when they're not solely amongst their peers, especially when they're pretty excited inside. They were all quietly thrilled to be there to see Frank Black, but kind of nervous and shy about it.
In the middle of the set Charles stopped to introduce the band. When he got through introducing us, he said to the kid standing right in front of him, "And your name is...?" almost like a friendly, cool substitute teacher. The kid got all flustered, but also was blown away by the fact that he was being directly addressed by Charles - kids at that age worship artists that communicate something to them, but they never get to actually interact or speak with most of these artists. He finally came out with a shy "Bill". charles then pointed to the girl next to Bill and said, "And you're...?". After the girl said Mary, he just had every kid there introduce themselves. And you could see these kids getting nervous but thrilled as the sequence was coming to them. You could see they were so psyched that they were going to get to reply. These kids were just beaming about this.
The rest of the show was just charged with a great communal feeling. Those kids couldn't have been more thrilled. it was a really beautiful atmosphere.
Oh, and frank's dancing bear quote from here gets a mention too.
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2005 : 08:24:06
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quote:
Originally posted by frank black conspiracy
Ahem, [i]"..we're probably meant to find his horrible off-key singing in the distortion-clogged 'Czar' exhiliratingly anarchic or something, but Gigantic finds it only grating.
Hey! Czar is one of my favourite Frank songs.
Love, love, my season |
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Peter Walker
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
189 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 12:56:40
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| The book gets pretty comprehensively murdered in this month's Q, for many of the same reasons already outlined here. I'll post the review if a) I get the time, and b) someone else doesn't. |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 17:45:42
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Cool, I'd like to see that.
Love, love, my season |
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Peter Walker
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
189 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2005 : 10:01:01
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OK, here it is. Bear in mind that the reviewer doesn't seem to be a fan of the Pixies or Frank either, but at least manages to largely stick to discussing the book.
STORMY WEATHER
==============
After the gale-force comeback, here's the soggy biog...
** (out of five)
With last year's reunion tour still fresh in the mind, it's perfect timing for a book that encapsulates everything exciting about the Pixies. Unfortunately, this isn't it.
John Mendelssohn's tome doesn't so much disappoint as baffle. For reasons unexplained, his chronologically linear biography of the band is intercut with entire chapters of fiction about a woman whose life twice vaguely intersects with the Pixies. The rest of her lengthy contribution comprises tales of her dysfunctional family. This could have worked as a stand-alone novella (see The Last Rock Star Book Or: Liz Phair, A Rant By Camden Joy); inelegantly shoehorned into another book, it's self-indulgent in the extreme.
The two-thirds of the book that actually concerns itself with the Pixies, and frontman Frank Black's largely undistinguished solo career, isn't a lot better. Mendelssohn's writing style, though readable and engaging to start with, quickly grates, as he takes every opportunity to sneer at other writers' views. Indeed, it isn't even clear that he's keen on much of the Pixies canon, the myriad musical deficiencies of bassist Kim Deal being a recurring theme, and Black's will-this-do lyrics are a subject for considerable scorn. Just to add to the already jarring effect, towards the end of the book the format changes completely and without any explanation an entire chapter is devoted to a Q&A with Rich Gilbert, one of Black's hired hands in the Catholics, and evidently as close to Black as Mendelssohn was allowed to get.
The fact that the reunion tour - the biggest deal for Pixies fans in 12 years - is dealt with as a tossed-off addendum merely underlines the overall lack of coherence. Approach with caution. (Phil Mongredien).
And in a side panel to the review, what Q calls "The Lowdown":
Best Bit: A Thai neighbour teaches the young Black Francis his vocal technique. "Sing it like you hate that bitch," was his advice.
Worst Bit: The nine chapters of mediocre fiction.
Strange But True: Surfer Rosa was going to be called Gigantic, but was changed in case people thought it referred to the cover star's breasts. |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 02/01/2005 : 10:23:26
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"A Thai neighbour teaches the young Black Francis his vocal technique. "Sing it like you hate that bitch," was his advice"
Haha, I had forgotten about this.
Love, love, my season |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 17:47:48
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There are nine chapters of fiction in the book? That's weird.
"Reunion? Shit union!" |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 12:14:26
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FBC, keep typing...keep typing.....
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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Ziggy
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
2463 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 04:34:17
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| If the guy can't appreciate any of Frank's work then he's missing out, all I can say! |
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 07:17:14
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quote:
Originally posted by frank black conspiracy
I found a nice little piece through all the FB album bashing which at best will just confirm your love or like for the man
Interview with Rich Gilbert
Let's hear your best story about life on the road with FB&TC.
We were playing a small town in Oregon, a late afternoon show at a small art performance gallery-type space that probably only held about 150 people, if that, maybe only 100. There was no stage, and we just set up on the floor. and everyone in the audience was 18 and under with the general age being 15 and 17. And you know, kids at that age are pretty awkward and shy when they're not solely amongst their peers, especially when they're pretty excited inside. They were all quietly thrilled to be there to see Frank Black, but kind of nervous and shy about it.
In the middle of the set Charles stopped to introduce the band. When he got through introducing us, he said to the kid standing right in front of him, "And your name is...?" almost like a friendly, cool substitute teacher. The kid got all flustered, but also was blown away by the fact that he was being directly addressed by Charles - kids at that age worship artists that communicate something to them, but they never get to actually interact or speak with most of these artists. He finally came out with a shy "Bill". charles then pointed to the girl next to Bill and said, "And you're...?". After the girl said Mary, he just had every kid there introduce themselves. And you could see these kids getting nervous but thrilled as the sequence was coming to them. You could see they were so psyched that they were going to get to reply. These kids were just beaming about this.
The rest of the show was just charged with a great communal feeling. Those kids couldn't have been more thrilled. it was a really beautiful atmosphere.
Oh, and frank's dancing bear quote from here gets a mention too.
that's a great story FBC
ist es möglich für ein quesadilla skrotum zu lecken? beim sprechen der quesadillas von LBF, ja. ja in der tatheheheheheheehehee! |
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frank black conspiracy
~ Abstract Brain ~
1126 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 17:33:35
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Few more quotes, enjoy the read
about teenager...
"There are a couple of nice "synthetics' on a couple of tracks - 'The Vanishing Spies' and 'Speedy Marie', for instance - and an appealing loony solo by the newly recruited guitar hero Lyle Workman on 'Bad Wicked World'...The lyrics to 'Abstract Plain' wherein Charles, whining Neil Young-ishly, pines to live on one, are very dry. For the most part, though, it's badly written and composed (Gigantic couldn't remember a single melodic phrase by the end of the 22nd song), badly sung, and inattentively produced..There's the usual sprinkling of the lyrics with unusual, intriguing words, "thalossacracy", that make promises the songs invariably fail to keep. there's an awful lot of weirness for it's own sake."
on recording live to two-track...
"If Charles were a novelist, would he allow his publisher access only to his drafts on the assumption that later, improved drafts would lack spontaneity? If he were an actor..would he get his agent to stipulate contractually that the director not be allowed to use bits of different takes when assembling scenes in which Charles appears.
The impulse was noble but the actual idea not such a good one, not at all. in the end, it's yet another stupid pet trick."
message to Charles...
"OK, Mr. Modern rock God, herewith some new not-so random parameters you might enjoy. Write some coherent songs that speak, in a reasonably comprehensible way, of the particular pains and pleasures of being Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV. Is 'The Last Stand Of Shazeb Andleeb' about xenophobia, and maybe even a fatal expression thereof. If so, how do you feel about it, or, at the very least, describe what you observed and let us make up our own minds. Lose five points for every hifalutin red herring (thalossocracy, say, or choragic) you toss in. Lose 10 points for every instance of letting rhyme or meter compel nonsensicality. And receive 1,000 points for every song that makes a non-pre-sold listener (we acknowledge that your preternaturally devoted fans find your every last bit of, well, drivel inexpressibly glorious) feel a little less alone in the universe becasue of your vivid evocation of something he or she too has felt. Write your own 'For No One'.
Fat (no pun intended) chance.
There are complementary comments in there too, SMYT gets a nod, I just like reading the parts that are such the opposite of my own opinion and thoughts. Maybe he raises a few questions or thoughts we might have had ourselves. Getting deep with Frank. maybe not.
I just don't understand why he took this opportunity to knock Franks music.
As a fan, why write a book that criticises an artist rather than just show the long path he's taken without injecting your own opinion. It all just reads from his point of view as an unimpressed listener. Some of us could do the same but to the other extreme.
(Oh, and the 'Thalasocracy' spelling mistakes are his fault not mine)
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 21:13:53
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What a buncha spiteful nonsense. I'm not buying this guy's book.
He couldn't attract any interest in his project from the band. The closest he got to Frank was reading his posts HERE. I don't think any of this stuff is thought-provoking (his live recording analogy makes so little sense that I don't trust him to come up with anything objective and interesting). It sounds like he's got an axe to grind. |
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Fast and Bulbous
- FB Fan -
Ireland
6 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2005 : 03:39:59
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Don't waste your money on this... I did and now I'm kicking myself.
This is a poorly written, lazy, disgrace of a book, which left me infuriated by the author's uninformed opinion and sneering attitude. It's clear that the author is bitter and extremely begrudging of many people to do with the band, and this comes through big-time in the way its written. If Charles & Co wanted nothing to do with him then they have good cause; he's a piss-poor writer who can't even get the basics like punctuation right.
Of the 198 pages (count them) more than a third consists of some inexplicable, mindless pap named 'Vicky's Story' which serves only as filler material.
He slates almost all of Frank's solo stuff and even half of the Pixies' material, contstantly drawing unfair, and poor comparisons with other artists. He even goes as far as devoting a whole paragraph to lecturing Charles on how to write his songs (as included by Frank Black Conspiracy already). Such nerve this guy has!
If you are a fan then do not buy this book. It's infuriating and you will kick yourself for parting with your cash for this. And you'll be left wanting to kick the author too. Quite a bit. |
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Topic |
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Gigantic: The Story of Frank Black and the Pixies
