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Originally posted by Carl

From Rolling Stone:

Pixies’ Frank Black Readies Tour
With New Band Grand Duchy
4/23/09, 2:36 pm EST

Photo: Teodoro/WireImage

In 1987, Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
released his first record with the Pixies (fans
know him best as Black Francis in that band).
Over the next two decades he would reemerge
as a solo artist (Frank Black) and with a band
(the Catholics), cut a few records in Nashville,
and even step behind the boards as a producer
for Art Brut on Art Brut vs. Satan, which came
out earlier this week. Now he’s ready to reveal
another new project: Grand Duchy, a sonic family
affair featuring his wife, keyboardist and bassist
Violet Clark.

“I am a duke,” Thompson goofed by phone with
his spouse from their home in Portland. “I wear a
Marlon Brando mumu wrapped around my body.”
Clark provided backing vocals and bass on the
Frank Black releases Bluefinger and Svn Fngrs,
but Grand Duchy is a more collaborative family
affair. After floating the single “Fort Wayne”
online, the duo released the Lovesick EP and full-
length Petit Fours across the pond in February
and in America this April. It was a painful
creation.

“I gave birth to two kids between the ‘Fort
Wayne’ single to the American release of Petit
Fours,” Clark explained. “The album was a natural
extension of our life. The downside was that our
life kept getting in the way.” What they ended
up with is described by Clark as “experimental
pop,” a rocktronic mixture of stomps and synths.
From the raunchy “Come On Over to My House”
to the ethereal “Seeing Stars,” Petit Fours
turned out to be a horny good time.

“One of the hallmarks of our relationship is sexual
tension,” Clark confessed. “We’re still boyfriend
and girlfriend.” Grand Duchy go on tour in May,
right before Charles jets to the Isle of Wight to
join the Pixies in June. But according to the duo,
a wish-list double-bill isn’t in the cards.

“I don’t think it is the realm of possibility,”
Thompson said. “Kim Deal invited us to play the
All Tomorrow’s Parties set that the Breeders are
curating, but we can’t do it for logistical
reasons,” Clark added. “There’s certainly no ill
will; it’s only support. But a double-bill would be
emotionally confusing.”

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped
Pixies fans interested in purchasing the
forthcoming Minotaur box set, whose details are
still a mystery to the band’s leader. “I don’t know
much about that,” Thompson admitted, “except
that it seems very big and very expensive. But
we’re working our own box set for the Der Golem
soundtrack. It will also be nice, but much less
expensive.”

Scott Thill

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quote:

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Originally posted by Carl

I remember stuff being posted about it before. Hmmm....maybe have and MP3 of it, must check!

The Rumpus.net - SWINGING MODERN SOUNDS: The Interactive Playlist.

[font=Georgia][size=3]Bonus find: Grand Duchy

This is a unrestrained shout-out for a record
that was until recently only released in the
EU (I think that situation has now been
remedied by Cooking Vinyl records). It’s the
newest project from Black Francis (of the
Pixies)–here collaborating with his wife
Violet Clark. It’s the most interesting side
project Francis has ever done (I have always found Frank Black solo work a little
challenging for some reason–as if he wants to resist what makes him great in the first
place).

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