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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
 Posted - 06/20/2006 : 02:46:35
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A review from Magnet magazine by David Dunlap:
FRANK BLACK
Fastman Raiderman
Some children, in the wake of a divorce, develop eating disorders. While some refuse to eat, others stuff themselves—a full belly feeling like a hug from the inside. And no, this isn’t leading to a fat joke about Frank Black, at least not exactly. Since the Pixies’ breakup in 1993, Black has developed a case of songorrhea. The man can’t seem to stop writing songs. He’s issued 11 solo albums, even releasing two different ones on the same day. Fastman Raiderman, his latest, is a double-disc. It continues in the same easygoing Americana vein of last year’s Honeycomb and even features a few songs from those Nashville sessions. By now, Black cultists know what to expect from one of his solo albums: a handful of gems (“In The Time Of My Ruin”) nestled among some capable-sounding throwaways (“Kiss My Ring”). The beery, country-tinged songs and their slapdash construction—especially on gritty, proletariat laments “Dirty Old Town” and “Raider Man”—help to counteract the polished production by Jon Tiven. The result is like an accomplished bar band being fronted by an eccentric wordsmith; imagine the Hold Steady without the “post-post-meta” element. Fastman Raiderman’s best songs could’ve easily been culled down to one disc, and it’s doubtful that fans will rank this one up there with 1994’s Teenager Of The Year and 2001’s Dog In The Sand. Nonetheless, Black’s faithful—who are as compelled to buy his albums as he is to record them—will find plenty on which to gorge.
"I thought that I had reached bedrock, but I had yet to reach Birmingham..." |
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7443 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 06:21:26
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The Pitchfork review just arrived:
<<Frank Black
Fast Man Raider Man
[Back Porch/EMI; 2006]
Rating: 6.4
Frank Black has entered his Royalty Phase, the part of his career where, having carried his weight as an innovator, he tours the world playing his old band's greatest hits and hangs out with fellow royalty like Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, P.F. Sloan, and Levon Helm. With them and other studio demi-gods, he's gone from making bar band music with the Catholics to crafting sepia-toned visions of Americana and crooked piles of Stax/Volt 45s.
Last year's Honeycomb established this new passage in Black's career, and it sounded tentative. On Fast Man Raider Man, Black seems more confident and brings better material to the table, but the rock'n'soul approach still sometimes doesn't gel with his songs and voice-- especially when he reaches for a falsetto on ballads and mid-tempo numbers. Part of what keeps it from coming together is veteran Jon Tiven's production, which is flat and arid-- there's little sense of atmosphere or people playing together in a room. This is ironic, because the record came together with near-spontaneous collaboration, but that communal sensibility only comes through on a handful of songs.
Black's duet with country singer Marty Brown on a cover of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" is one of those, and here you get the feel of skilled musicians just having their way with an old chestnut. The song has the natural build and dynamics of a group in its groove, and though nobody comes through with a truly memorable solo or anything like that, it's a lot of fun, which I think makes it a glimpse into what was going through Black's mind as he made this album.
Fun is fun, but it's possible to have too much of it, and Fast Man Raider Man definitely does. Lacking an editor, Black includes everything from several Nashville sessions and a final L.A. session, even dusting off four tracks that were (correctly) left off of Honeycomb. You can insert the near-obligatory double album critique here: If you just took the best tracks, you'd have a great single disc. Hard rocker "Elijah", Tom Waits-inspired "If Your Poison Gets You", and "The End of the Summer"-- which benefits from the actual use of reverb-- are all great, but then you also get "Raider Man", a story-song about a laid-off Polish coal miner that's clumsy and awkwardly sung.
"Dog Sleep" veers from a vague New Orleans vibe into a strange, off-kilter section that struggles to find real musicality in its rambling phrases. "Highway to Lowdown", left over from the Honeycomb sessions, just doesn't take off down the road its lyrics describe, derailing completely when Black and the lead guitar leave the rhythm section behind for a painfully stilted passage that's supposed to come off as bluesy. "My Terrible Ways" is a well-intentioned post-Katrina ballad of self-redemption, but the song could have used a rewrite or three-- or perhaps just some rigorous rehearsal, as the sax solo, brushed drums, and rhythm guitar are the only parts of it that work well.
I hate to focus on the negative, because Black seems genuinely pleased with this work. But you get the feeling that if this material had been road-tested and honed a bit before recording it could have been stronger. That said, there is a very good album here-- you just have to work for it. The more you work, the greater the reward, but it's still a limited return. If you enjoyed Honeycomb, this improves on it, but not to the point where many who didn't like that album are apt to come around to Black's latest direction.
-Joe Tangari, June 20, 2006>>
Denis
Your team sucks |
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7443 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 06:29:02
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Several reviewers have mentioned Tiven's less-than-stellar production on FMRM. Strange how nobody talked about it when Honeycomb was released. Strange also that Frank's "live to 2 tracks" approach was heavily criticized at the time, although I found the sound much more interesting on SMYT than on the following release.
Denis
Your team sucks |
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IceManCometh
- FB Fan -
58 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 06:36:59
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| This must be a sign of the end of the world. For once, I almost completely agree with a Pitchfork review. |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 07:12:24
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quote:
Originally posted by vilainde
Fast Man Raider Man
Rating: 6.4
out of 9.78?...
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 blackolero le only Frank Black / Pixies site 100% in français |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 07:34:25
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The Rock'n'Folk review is very bad. The guy (Basil Farkas) says he plays it in the redaction room and the other writers yell to him "Turn off that old people music".
I guess they played the Libertines or Black Rebel Bicycle Club afterwards and everybody felt happy and younger.
Yeah man, rock'n'roll... Poor old teenagers, why don't they "die before get old"? |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 07:47:22
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Ils deviennent encore pires que les Inrocks...
I like the Crossroads review (in French) on the sticker: "Frank Black equal to himself, always regenerated, always essential." It's so cliché, yet so true.
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blackolero le only Frank Black / Pixies site 100% in français |
Edited by - Frog in the Sand on 06/20/2006 07:47:57 |
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1965
= Cult of Ray =
Australia
799 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 07:51:39
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Interesting how most of the reviewers "hate to focus on the negative" but still manage to do so at will - and just because it has 27 songs on it, the thought process seems to be that half of the record MUST be bad, or it should have been edited down to 12 or whatever. F*k them.
I love this record just the way it is and distilling it down to 12, 13 or 14 would have been a mistake. imo.
(( I'm a Snake... cut in half 'cause I'm not the one you needed. )) |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5155 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 07:52:19
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The Pitchfork review is fair - i may not agree on all points (especially "Dog Sleep"), but it is one of their rare-genuine reviews, not soapbox preaching.
-Brian - http://bvsrant.blogspot.com |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 08:06:54
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Yeah, I thought so too. I don't agree, but it wasn't way out of left field...
 "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 08:15:40
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| And written in real english, isn't it? I say that because I have to focus a little bit, just like reading Frank Black's lyrics. |
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marcus4realius
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 08:45:41
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My review:
Pass, man/Traitor Man
"Shit sandwich" also comes to mind.
How do you take such a stellar cast and make such boring drivel? I'm not kissing his ring on this one. Sorry.
So I'm sure he's pleased with himself, jesus he had fucking Levon Helm and Steve Cropper amongst others, but he should have saved it for his own little special cigar box where he keeps his sentimental precious recordings.
This is a vanity project that should have never seen the light of retail.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"This is a weird story. President Bush has apologized today for scolding a member of the White House press corps for wearing sunglasses because he found out the reporter is legally blind. ... Bush also apologized for telling physicist Stephen Hawking `to get off your lazy ass.'"
---Conan O'Brien |
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marcus4realius
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 08:48:32
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P.S. - As for Tiven's production...what production? I believe what Tiven did, twisting the knobs and turning the machines on and off is called engineering.
I've produced chunks of my stool better than this.
So hate me, but this is an embarrassing pile of song.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"This is a weird story. President Bush has apologized today for scolding a member of the White House press corps for wearing sunglasses because he found out the reporter is legally blind. ... Bush also apologized for telling physicist Stephen Hawking `to get off your lazy ass.'"
---Conan O'Brien |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 08:49:45
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Another negative review from PlayLouder.com (2 out of 5):
http://www.playlouder.com/review/+fast-manraider-m/
Bessie Smith, queen bee of the blues, was in the rather evil habit of re-releasing and bettering her rivals' songs mere weeks after they first appeared, a practice she called "carving". Pretty mean, but exactly the kind of bloodthirsty mentality you have to approach a cover with - otherwise, the superior original will carve you. And so we come to the most threadbare patch on Frank Black's sketchier-than-Rolf-Harris twelfth album, his bash at Ewan MacColl's 'Dirty Old Town'. From the off, Black sounds hesitant, unconvinced: like he's singing someone else's song. The mournful mood defined so well by MacColl and the bitter anger of Shane MacGowan's version is diluted to a good-time, boogie-woogie, knee-slapping cosiness that's less dirty than slightly shop-soiled.
It's unfair to paint Black, though many do, as still struggling to escape Black Francis. Both with the Catholics and solo, he's carved a space for himself free of Pixies nostalgia, where he doesn't have to be angry or weird. But conversely, he's too often excused in his mediocrity by those who say "but it's Frank Black, he can do what he wants". Well, no, he can't. Not if he what he assemble a masterful troupe of country-rock musicians (including The Band's Levon Helm, Dylan and Stones collaborator Al Kooper and session legend Spooner Oldham) and use them, on 'You Can't Crucify Yourself', to pull off an eerily accurate Dire Straits impression.
While there are some moments of greatness (the menacing, psychedelic 'Dog Sleep', the mournful, pretty 'Don't Cry That Way'), the majority of this double album is dull, turgid and instantly forgettable. Too often, as on 'Highway To Lowdown', Black sounds like someone carefully, respectfully trying on a rhinestone Nudie suit and Stetson, using a borrowed vocabulary that never quite connects. Over an hour-and-a-half would be testing even if all the tracks were as tight and slinky as 'If Your Poison Gets You' or 'I'm Not Dead (I'm In Pittsburgh)' and only about 12 songs out of the 27 here are really worth releasing. Only one, the amusing, rocky 'Kiss My Ring', a reflection on rock-legendhood ("If you knew what I'd forsaken/Have you seen me in my gown"), really sparks with the energy of old.
Rather than flashy or ambitious, the musicianship of Black's backing band is precision-tooled competent, with the effect of something polished down to flatness. Whereas his last album, 'Honeycomb' had a muted, bittersweet gloom, the dominant moods of 'Fast Man Raider Man' are either a jaunty contentment or a half-asleep apathy. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that it was recorded in a 24-hour marathon session with little in the way of sleep or breaks. You get the feeling the odd power-nap might have helped out; after all, Margaret Thatcher only ever got four hours sleep a night and look what happened there.
Emily Mackay
reviewed on 20 Jun 2006
"I thought that I had reached bedrock, but I had yet to reach Birmingham..." |
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marcus4realius
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2006 : 09:08:56
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Yep. Just what I said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"This is a weird story. President Bush has apologized today for scolding a member of the White House press corps for wearing sunglasses because he found out the reporter is legally blind. ... Bush also apologized for telling physicist Stephen Hawking `to get off your lazy ass.'"
---Conan O'Brien |
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7443 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 05:47:38
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From http://www.alibi.com/index.php?story=15446&scn=music :
<<Sonic Reducer
By Marisa Demarco
Frank Black Fast Man Raider Man (Back Porch)
My little music lover's heart was looking for something. I didn't quite know what it was. Turns out it was Frank Black. Tip your hat to Black—him and his crazy tunes, his newly affected drawl. This review goes out to anyone yearning for a the right kind of alt.country, the kind with lyrics that nearly sing themselves, the kind with all manner of instruments just about calling out to your Southern bones. Most folks say you've got to give Frank a little time to settle into your mp3 player, to get comfy in your headphones. But not this double-disc release. This one moves right on into your head, pulls up a barstool behind your eye sockets and warbles at your ears from the inside. >>
Denis
Your team sucks |
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a guy in a rover
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
535 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 06:04:56
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quote:
Originally posted by marcus4realius
My review:
Pass, man/Traitor Man
"Shit sandwich" also comes to mind.
How do you take such a stellar cast and make such boring drivel? I'm not kissing his ring on this one. Sorry.
So I'm sure he's pleased with himself, jesus he had fucking Levon Helm and Steve Cropper amongst others, but he should have saved it for his own little special cigar box where he keeps his sentimental precious recordings.
This is a vanity project that should have never seen the light of retail.
quote:
P.S. - As for Tiven's production...what production? I believe what Tiven did, twisting the knobs and turning the machines on and off is called engineering.
I've produced chunks of my stool better than this.
So hate me, but this is an embarrassing pile of song.
I dont necessarily agree with your points but your post certainly made me chuckle!
A pig or a goat well, they wouldn’t let you be mistreated
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7443 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 06:14:03
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Yeah, right, calling Frank a traitor is too cool. I mean, the guy OWES so much to marcus4realius.
Denis
Your team sucks |
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PowerSurge
- FB Fan -
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 06:19:15
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From: http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2006/frankblack-fastmanraiderman.html
(3 out of 5)
Featuring 27 tracks spread across two discs, it’s safe to say that Frank Black’s Fastman Raiderman contains a little something for everyone save for those fans of the Pixies who have been perplexed by the myriad of avenues that he has pursued since embarking upon a solo career in 1993. Although it was recorded over the course of nearly two years, Fastman Raiderman feels as if it sprang from a single session as Black further refines the Nashville-imbued flavors that crept through last year’s Honeycomb. Right from the start, with the beatnik groove and Van Morrison-esque chorus of If Your Poison Gets You, it’s clear in which direction Black is headed, and the bulk of the album is kissed as much by the sad-eyed wistfulness of country as it is by the radiant passion of southern soul. Not that Black doesn’t dip into his customary array of classic rock influences, too, tucking the Rolling Stones into Fast Man, Creedence Clearwater Revival into Kiss My Ring, The Band into My Terrible Ways, The Doors into The End of Summer and When the Paint Grows Darker Still, and both The Beatles and Bob Dylan into Wanderlust. However, the overall ambience of the endeavor is decidedly different from anything else that he has ever done.
Nevertheless, there is one big problem that plagues Fastman Raiderman, ultimately keeping it from becoming something greater: its pacing. Much of the first half of the collection is unhurried and ruminative, while the latter portion of the set packs a bit more of a punch. Yet, for all of the distinctive textures that Black employs — and, ambitiously, the full range of the Americana spectrum is represented — each of the endeavor’s two distinctive segments inevitably becomes a tad too monochromatic for the outing to function as a whole. Make no mistake, though. With few exceptions, the material is strong, and supported by an all-star cast that includes, among others, P.F. Sloan, Al Kooper, Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, Buddy Miller, and The Band’s Levon Helm, Black wrings everything that he can out of his songs. Despite its flawed layout, Fastman Raiderman proves that Honeycomb was no fluke and that Black is as engaged as ever in his art.
For perspective, they gave Dog in the Sand 3 1/2 out of 5.
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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marcus4realius
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 07:18:29
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Frank doesn't owe me crap...what kind of argument/comeback/put down is that?
This is for reviews, that was my OPINION, my REVIEW.
I like everything else he's done, so quitcherbitchin, sweeties.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"This is a weird story. President Bush has apologized today for scolding a member of the White House press corps for wearing sunglasses because he found out the reporter is legally blind. ... Bush also apologized for telling physicist Stephen Hawking `to get off your lazy ass.'"
---Conan O'Brien |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 08:02:25
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From Amazon.com:
Recorded in the same casual manner as 2005's Honeycomb, in various hit-and-run sessions with superstar session musicians during gaps in the Pixies' unending reunion tour, Fast Man Raider Man abides by the this-will-do aesthetic that has been a hallmark of Frank Black's solo career. With songs seemingly made up on the spot, the singer delivers a thoroughly mellow 27-track double album that is largely free of the inscrutability and insanity of his most famous work. Instead, it is homey pedal steel guitars, sleepy saxophone solos, rootsy barroom rockers like "Down To You," a heart-on-sleeve R&B ballad or two such as "Sad Old World," and a wobbly cover of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town." His strangest offering yet? -- Aidin Vaziri
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blackolero le only Frank Black / Pixies site 100% in français |
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matthew
- FB Fan -
41 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 09:26:49
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| So, the average so far is 2.5 - 3 stars out of 5... |
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matthew
- FB Fan -
41 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 09:27:32
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| or 2.86 out of 5 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 10:01:47
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http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=1057&atype=CDReviews
Frank Black: Fast Man Raider Man
(Back Porch)
8.26822 out of 10
Goes Well With: Van Morrison, getting older, the sounds of Muscle Shoals
You can hear the Gen Xers at the record
store, complaining that they have to throw
on their knee-high boots and wade around
in Frank Black’s solo work to find the sound
they want. It’s not cohesive, they sneer.
But the best part about Black’s latest, a
concentrated dose of last year’s
Honeycomb, is that you can wade out to
the middle and throw off your boots. Dance
around. Kick it up. Sit down and cool off.
Dive in and swim around.
You certainly can’t be sure which Black
you’re going to catch at any given moment—whether it’s the teeth-kicking
Black Francis from the Pixies, the finely tuned Charles Michael Kittridge
Thompson IV or the alterna-quirky Frank himself—but that’s the beauty of it
all. There’s a dusty old waltz in “Dirty Old Town,” and “You Can’t Crucify
Yourself” is the song Ryan Adams always promised to come up with.
Black uses this album to pull close the reassuring sounds of the South and
the heartening promise of post-divorce reflection.
Caley Cook
http://www.cdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=3058
Frank Black - Fastman / Raiderman | 20-06-2006 16:30
Frank Black can be a pain in the proverbial. You just can't trust him to
be consistent in anything. Reforming the Pixies after an extended hiatus,
releasing some great music with his Catholics band and yet, just at the
back of your mind, there's that feeling that he's not quite got the hand of
quality control. For every good album he's released post-Pixies there's
been one that makes you recoil in hate. So, after releasing an album of
rather understated beauty in last years Honeycomb he's managed to
follow it up with a bloated mess of an album. This shouldn't really surprise
us.
Of course, the first thing that strikes your about this album is the sheer
mass of it - 27 tracks spread over two discs and clocking in at over one
and a half hours. I'm not scared by double albums, I like them. However,
the material has to be strong enough to last the distance. The new Red
Hot Chili Peppers album is the case in point - too few tunes spread too
thinly. The worse thing about the Frank Black album is that there are not
even that many tunes.
With the majority of the record being made in Nashville (the rest in Los
Angeles) and considering the choice of players on board; Levon Helm from
The Band, Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick and Steve Ferrone the
drummer from the Heartbreakers to name a few, it's not surprising that
the sound of this record is predominately Americana with touches of
Country-Rock. Gone are the aggressive guitar solos and Black's trademark
scream. Unfortunately the whole album proceeds under a dreary
atmosphere and is delivered at such a ponderous pace that it doesn't
take much for you to reach for the skip button. With the talent he's got
at his disposal here it's amazing that the arrangements sound so flat and
lifeless. Even Black's normally forceful vocals sound haphazard and half-
arsed, drawling each line as if he doesn't really care if we listen to him or
not. What I don't quite understand is that Black wanted this album to be
harder than the understated "Honeycomb". I just don't hear it at all - the
edges normally associated with him have been smoothed out and
removed.
The highlights are few and far between on the first disc and I really
struggled to make it through in one sitting. Disc two, however is at least
sime improvement. Kicking off with In The time Of My Ruin, this is a
jaunty little number that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the
"Show Me Your Tears" Catholics album, with a nice piano line and a
cheeky guitar line that descends into a country-rock solo at the
end,
Blacks vocals back to his gruff best. Down To You is another song with
plenty of urgency ushered in with acoustic guitar and keyboards that isn't
too far away from sounding like The Boss in this prime. But there's also
some howlers on here as well; Sad Old World is boarder line Dire Straits at
their very worse - all soft-jazz saxophones and slide guitar, it really just
made me reach for the skip button.
An album then that's very hard to enjoy and, what makes it even worse,
is that Frank Black is rather proud of it. Recent interviews have indicated
that he's at his happiest and most prolific at the moment. Let's just hope
someone pisses him off before the next Pixies record.
Richard Hughes
Cover
CD Specs
Type:
CD Album
Release Date:
Out Now
Number of Discs:
2
Tracks:
Disc: 1
1. If Your Poison Gets
You
2. Johnny Barleycom
3. Fast Man
4. You Can't Crucify
Yourself
5. Dirty Old Town
6. Wanderlust
7. Seven Days
8. Raider Man
9. End Of The Summer
10. Dog Sleep
11. When The Paint
Grows Darker Still
12. I'm Not Dead ( I'm In
Pittsburgh)
13. Golden Shore
Disc: 2
1. In The Time Of My
Ruin
2. Down To You
3. Highway To Lowdown
4. Kiss My Ring
5. My Terrible Ways
6. Fitzgerald
7. Elijah
8. IT's Not Just Your
Moment
9. Real El Ray
10. Where The Wind Is
Going
11. Holland Town
12. Sad Old World
13. Don't Cry That Way
Bonus Content:
Producer:
Label:
Cooking Vinyl
Catalogue Number:
COOKCD376
Other Releases:
Similar Releases: |
Edited by - Carl on 06/21/2006 11:01:53 |
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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 13:38:02
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Well, I'll give my initial, 3rd listen, thoughts, and maybe later a full-on review.
First of all, I'm really enjoying the hell out of this album! It's a WHOLE LOT to take in, if only for the length and number of songs. It's truly what you would call an "ambitious" project, and I'm not quite sure just yet if Frank and Mr. Tiven and the rest of the gang pulled it off. There are many, many great songs on here, and if one were to take the 14 best tracks it is easily an absolute masterpiece. Of course, as with any album, there are those songs that just instantly click with you (and this album has more than its fair share of them), and then there are those that take a few (sometimes a few hundred) spins to finally click, but when they finally do click, they really CLICK. And of course, ocassionally there are those songs that are just big steaming piles of shit. I want to think that most of this album falls into the first category, and thankfully, so far, none of it falls into the last. So given all of that, I'm not quite sure what exactly I'm so unsure about. I suppose I can think of a few things off the top of my head that I am, at least initially, disatisfied with. First of all, though I enjoy the vocals throughout the rest of the album, I really don't care for Frank's vocal performance on the first title track. Some of the falsetto parts are dead on, but some are distractingly off-keym and I think he could have done much better. This I blame on the producer more than on Frank. Secondly, a few of the songs, namely the first title track, "I'm Not Dead," "Fitzgerald," and a couple of others drag a bit. A part of me wishes that this would have been a singl album with 14 or so of the best tracks, which could have easily blown everyone, critics and fans alike, away, but another part of me says that I would then be upset that the other tracks weren't released, and yet another part of me is thinking that this may already be a masterpiece in its current state, and possibly the best album Frank has ever created, and that I just need to give it some time. So I am going to do exactly that before I say anything else...
¡Viva los Católicos! |
Edited by - NimrodsSon on 06/21/2006 18:17:33 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 17:34:34
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http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/homepage/article_1188748.php
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
AUDIO CLIPS: Furtado,
Black and Ross
Record reviews: Nelly Furtado gets lots in pop makeover; Frank
Black issues a double-disc sprawl.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
Frank Black, "Fast Man
Raider Man" Don't hold your
breath waiting for new Pixies
material. If the former Black
Francis' new 27-song double-
disc sprawl is any indication,
getting back to alt-rock
basics is the last thing on his
mind; duetting with Marty
Brown on twangy drinking
tunes is more like it. Like
most 2xCDs, this one could
have been pared down to a
stronger single, resulting in a
warmer extension of 2004's
"Honeycomb" (it features
much of the same lineup)
that might have been the
best, most soulful and
bittersweet work of Black's
solo career. Instead, it's
padded with a few loose ends
and oddball experiments.
Fans will love it; Pixies die-
hards will weep. Grade:B+ |
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Jontiven
= Cult of Ray =
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 19:45:19
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I'm going to make this brief.
There are songs on the album which will hit you right away, and there are growers. Anyone who thinks they can digest the whole thing in a few listens is only fooling themselves.
That's part of the reason for so many songs---I would suggest picking your favorite 13, pop them onto your Ipod, and then you might want to come back to the album and listen to it as a whole. At least that'll get you to stop complaining that there's too many songs.
And anybody who wants to make any kind of statement about what my contribution is to the album---if you weren't there, you certainly have no clue. Engineer? I think not, I did some engineering on a little of the record but Jake Burns is for all intents the recordisr, and he and David Z presided over the board during mixing.
What did I do? Well, all you haters can keep firing away, your arrows do not hurt me. My contribution is what it is. I don't understand the great resistance, but perhaps you were expecting me to resurrect the Pixies? Please. Anyone who has followed Frank's work post-Pixies should be well aware that he wasn't heading in that direction.
By the way, I would have supported a single cd as long as it included "In The Time Of My Ruin" and as that wasn't going to happen, my vote went to grand opus. There's a lot of great music here, and if some of it goes over your head, just wait until you have some emotional experiences that allow you to expand your musical/lyrical horizons and then perhaps you will find FMRM to be the Exile On Main Street of your generation. Miss it at your own peril.
bye,
Jon Tiven |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 19:53:18
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Jon, funny how you should mention growers.
I listened to the cd most of the day yesterday and all day today. I really thought it was cool how some songs didn't grab me right away, but then today I am like oh my god this song is awesome. Then I started thinking, how cool is it that FB's songs always get better, but you don't get sick of them like you might from other artists. You always want more FB. |
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danjersey
> Teenager of the Year <
USA
2792 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 20:22:29
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i got the neww dbl cd today and liked it.
after a feww rounds i put on honeycomb.
what great music. |
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ScottP
= Cult of Ray =
USA
618 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 20:52:25
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| I'm beginning to wish I had no knowledge whatsoever of who produced, engineered, or even played on these tracks besides Charles. I need to dig into them without all of this distraction. I'm sure it came out the way Charles wanted it to regardless of who was doing what. I'm solely interested in his art and not who, or how it was produced. |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2006 : 00:30:31
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From the local free cultural weekly of my town (I was going to throw it until my girlfriend told me there was a review of FM/RM in it, and it's a good one! although it's a little short):
INTRAMUROS, Effets Et Gestes Toulousains, n°301 21-28 juin 2006:
FRANK BLACK
"Fast Man, Raider Man"
Cooking Vinyl/Wagram
"Leader des Pixies qu'il a relancés en 2004, Frank Black, musicien iconoclaste qui en pleine vague disco avouait une vénération pour John Mayall, cache derrière un physique d'ours mal léché et une timidité maladive une volonté indestructible. Guitariste autodidacte, il continue contre vents et marées à produire une musique carrée, nerveuse, bien ficelée. S'attelant cette fois à explorer plusieurs aspects de la musique populaire américaine du jazz au blues, en passant par la country, le rock ou la soul façon Stax, son dernier opus reste néanmoins conforme à quelques principes qui ont fait la force du bonhomme: titres courts et explosifs, guitares toutes voiles dehors agressives ou caressantes, rythmique lourde et hypnotique, chant rauque. Une musique sans trop de fioritures exécutée avec une ribambelle de vétérans (un ancien batteur des Heartbreaker, un ex-Bad Company, un ex-The Band, un ex-Cheap Trick, des compagnons de route de Solomon Burke, de Wilson Pickett, de Percy Sledge, de Zappa, de Weather Report..) qui arrache des cris de joie, tant il est vrai que nous sommes quelques-uns à encore nous complaire à l'écoute de cette formule simple et ancienne, un peu oubliée dans ces temps électroniques: le triptyque guitares/basse/batterie parfois rehaussé d'un piano jazzy, d'un orgue très sixties ou d'une section de cuivres rutilante."
pas de bras pas de chocolat |
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Atertus Coveni
- FB Fan -
France
16 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2006 : 02:28:26
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It's so cool to see that a local cultural weekly (and a free one!)has put his attention on Fastman Raiderman, while french national press is so discret about Frank Black. This review is a little bit surprising on some points ("titres courts et explosifs, guitares toutes voiles dehors agressives ou caressantes, rythmique lourde ") but it is very very positive.
Thanks Cassandra is.
"La morte non è nel non poter comunicare ma nel non poter più essere compresi" Pier Paolo PASOLINI
"Death is not when you can not communicate, but when you can no longer be understood" |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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Fast Man Raider Man reviews
