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The Champ
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
736 Posts |
 Posted - 01/14/2014 : 12:27:55
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| I got the EP today. Sounds solid. Not over compressed or streamlined, certainly not radio friendly. Just 4 decent songs that sound like pixies. Only complaint is the EP covers feel like cheap recycled cardboard. |
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natenate101
= Cult of Ray =
USA
895 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2014 : 13:55:14
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It's wild to see how mixed the reactions are to the individual songs on either EP. One review says What Goes Boom and Hexe are a shameful attempt to recreate the old Pixies sound, while praising the mellower Andro and G&Bs.
The next review will then praise Magdalena, shit on G&Bs and sidestep Indie Cindy.
The opinions are all over the place. |
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BunsenH
= Cult of Ray =
296 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 07:10:41
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Don't think this was posted yet--Rolling Stone's review of EP-2:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/ep-2-20140114
Best quote:
"It's not quite the Pixies; more like spray-on Pixies. As with EP 1, released last fall, this four-song set feels like a faint echo of the band's later albums, 1990's Bossanova and 1991's Trompe le Monde, lacking those records' frizzy menace, zany propulsion and memorable tunes."
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natenate101
= Cult of Ray =
USA
895 Posts |
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Sprite
* Dog in the Sand *
1356 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 10:35:37
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Good idea!
There are some nuggets in those ones like the quote that Frank was cool with a replacement male bass player but Joey was firmly against. |
Edited by - Sprite on 01/15/2014 12:57:18 |
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johnnyribcage
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1301 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 12:29:53
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Got the vinyl today. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnd not surprisingly it sounds leaps and bounds better than those files. Similar to EP1, the compression and limiting is still there, but gone is a lot of clipping and fatigue. Still there, but way more palatable. Thank god for these vinyls.
I have no idea if they received a different mastering treatment or if it's literally just the digital file pressed on vinyl. It doesn't sound like the digital file, but if it is maybe the inherent qualities of vinyl just mellowed it out.
Maybe Charles can shed some light? I doubt he has any appetite for discussing mastering processes though - haha. Maybe I'll get lucky. Good stuff though.
"A word to the wise is infuriating." |
Edited by - johnnyribcage on 01/15/2014 12:36:31 |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 18:31:50
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| Got the vinyl today, too. After two weeks of playing the digital files, I did hear a little difference here. The vinyl is a shade more silky and powerful. Sounds great. Looks great, too. The design is a sibling to EP 1 and I gotta disagree with the opinion from a few posts above that the cardboard looks cheap. Maybe it's not bulletproof, but it is sturdy and I've seen cheaper (the paper stock here is the same as EP 1). |
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picpic
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1875 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 20:41:41
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quote:
Originally posted by johnnyribcage
Got the vinyl today. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnd not surprisingly it sounds leaps and bounds better than those files. Similar to EP1, the compression and limiting is still there, but gone is a lot of clipping and fatigue. Still there, but way more palatable. Thank god for these vinyls.
I have no idea if they received a different mastering treatment or if it's literally just the digital file pressed on vinyl. It doesn't sound like the digital file, but if it is maybe the inherent qualities of vinyl just mellowed it out.
Maybe Charles can shed some light? I doubt he has any appetite for discussing mastering processes though - haha. Maybe I'll get lucky. Good stuff though.
"A word to the wise is infuriating."
I hope we'll be able to hear EP1/EP2 without this awful compression one day...
That's not impossible. It happened in the past. When Metallica released their "Death Magnetic" album, compression was almost unbearable. A petition was even launched by a large number of fans, begging for a properly listenable version.
Then, eventually, a less compressed version of the album found its way as downloadable content in some videogame (Guitar Hero or something like that). Fans downloaded this version on P2P networks and were ultimately able to hear the album in a listenable version.
Comparision between two versions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nfqpr3ygSg
You can clearly hear the limiting on the snare drums (for example). Compare with a track like "Another Toe", you'll find the exact same symptoms.
Too bad this mastering is (almost) ruining some fantastic (and well-produced) songs. Fortunately, this effect is less identifiable on "slower" tracks like Indie Cindy, etc...
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"Service Unavailable" |
Edited by - picpic on 01/15/2014 20:43:22 |
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Discoking
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1146 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 21:30:47
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quote:
Originally posted by johnnyribcage
I have no idea if they received a different mastering treatment or if it's literally just the digital file pressed on vinyl. It doesn't sound like the digital file, but if it is maybe the inherent qualities of vinyl just mellowed it out.
Maybe Charles can shed some light? I doubt he has any appetite for discussing mastering processes though - haha. Maybe I'll get lucky. Good stuff though.
maybe we can find out where this was mastered/pressed, and try to contact the person who was in charge of it. they might be more willing to answer a question or two.
 it's educational |
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billgoodman
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Netherlands
6290 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 21:32:37
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Haters gonna hate:
“There’s an agent of ours in the U.K.; I always like to say that there’s no fifth member, but if there’s a sixth member, he’s the one. Basically, we haven’t done anything without his inside approval,” Francis said. “We were getting messages from him like, ‘You’re reaching the end of this particular period. No one dreamed it would go on for this long. You might want to think about some new music.’ ”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/songs+Pixies/9390132/story.html#ixzz2qY44W0UM
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2014 : 23:31:54
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quote:
Originally posted by billgoodman
Haters gonna hate:
“There’s an agent of ours in the U.K.; I always like to say that there’s no fifth member, but if there’s a sixth member, he’s the one. Basically, we haven’t done anything without his inside approval,” Francis said. “We were getting messages from him like, ‘You’re reaching the end of this particular period. No one dreamed it would go on for this long. You might want to think about some new music.’ ”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/songs+Pixies/9390132/story.html#ixzz2qY44W0UM
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken?
It's hard for me to imagine Charles Thompson as a highly suggestible person, but it may be a new aspect of his personality, since he was (exaggeratedly) known as a very stubborn person and maybe tried to listen more to other people in the last 10 years... the polishing side of psychoanalysis?
It also makes me think about Grand Duchy, how he accepted the musical tastes of someone else, even if at first it seemed an antithesis of his owns.
Personally I prefered the dictatorial way. Black Francis as the Pixies' Fürher. May be hard for human relations but artistically it's fine. Depends if you choose life or art. Who would like to be David Thomas or Vincent Van Gogh? I dont even know how David Thomas survived himself so long. |
Edited by - Grotesque on 01/15/2014 23:35:13 |
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picpic
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1875 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 01:04:24
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6th member = metaphor to name his UK audience ?
Won't do anything without their approval
Had the message to make new music from them
random guess...
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"Service Unavailable" |
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Jose Jones
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1758 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 01:45:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Grotesque
I dont even know how David Thomas survived himself so long.
he just loved making hamburgers. when you do what you love, your body can overcome even the squarest of burgers.
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they were the heroes of old, men of renown. |
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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
668 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 05:19:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Grotesque
It's hard for me to imagine Charles Thompson as a highly suggestible person, but it may be a new aspect of his personality, since he was (exaggeratedly) known as a very stubborn person and maybe tried to listen more to other people in the last 10 years... the polishing side of psychoanalysis?
It's not a matter of FBF being unusually open to suggestion. It's a clear case of something all the members (in varying degrees, doubtlessly) knew to be the case, which was then reinforced by the opinion of the very person they have put their trust in to help guide their careers (their agent and/or manager).
He was simply correct and concise. Everything FBF is paraphrasing that the man said is undeniably true.
You pay someone like that to help navigate your band through (or in spite of) the choppy waters of changing trends in the commercial music and touring marketplace, and they accepted his opinion -- because it dovetailed with their own -- and then ran with it.
Remember, most people who write to "Dear Abby" are not actually asking for advice.
They are in truth clandestinely seeking (perhaps even from themselves!) an outsider's validation of whatever decision they have already made internally but for whatever reason(s) have not had the emotional or mental fortitude to put into motion.
Kim Deal knew the time for new songs and a new record (of some sort) had finally come as well, and by all accounts legitimately tried to give her all to an aspect of being in the Pixies that she had remained resolutely against since their reformation.
In the end, she simply had to admit to herself and the others that she just wasn't up to it. It sounds like she did the noble thing, which was to quickly abdicate the situation, while kindly encouraging her bandmates to move forward without her -- as it obviously meant as much if not more to them to resume being an active, creative unit (as opposed to a re-active one) as it did for her to remain in human "shuffle mode" through their back catalog till death do they part.
That methodology was clearly grinding the other three's psyches down, regardless of how many tickets were being bought to their shows.
I miss her contributions to the group greatly, but admire her greatly for leaving and allowing this new and unpredictable phase of Pixies music and mythology to evolve and emerge. I see this not as a cowardly or negative action but as a brave and positive one.
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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rivum
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
272 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 07:05:42
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as usual, peter, you are a source of sound reasoning and logic, packaged in clear and elequent prose.
i agree with everything you said. |
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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
668 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 07:14:52
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Thanks for the kind words, rivum!
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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natenate101
= Cult of Ray =
USA
895 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 08:42:28
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quote:
Originally posted by picpic
6th member = metaphor to name his UK audience ?
Won't do anything without their approval
Had the message to make new music from them
random guess...
___
"Service Unavailable"
I'm not sure I follow? Seems like he is talking about someone specific. |
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BLT
> Teenager of the Year <
South Sandwich Islands
4204 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 10:54:34
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quote:
Originally posted by billgoodman
We were getting messages from him like, ‘You’re reaching the end of this particular period. No one dreamed it would go on for this long. You might want to think about some new music.’ ”
Y'know... if he wasn't such a strategic genius I'd think he had been reading this message board a few years ago. |
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johnnyribcage
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1301 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 12:34:26
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quote:
Originally posted by BLT
quote:
Originally posted by billgoodman
We were getting messages from him like, ‘You’re reaching the end of this particular period. No one dreamed it would go on for this long. You might want to think about some new music.’ ”
Y'know... if he wasn't such a strategic genius I'd think he had been reading this message board a few years ago.
Hmmmm....
"A word to the wise is infuriating." |
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picpic
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1875 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2014 : 19:57:33
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quote:
Originally posted by natenate101
quote:
Originally posted by picpic
6th member = metaphor to name his UK audience ?
Won't do anything without their approval
Had the message to make new music from them
random guess...
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"Service Unavailable"
I'm not sure I follow? Seems like he is talking about someone specific.
Well, maybe that was one of those cryptic messages...
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"Service Unavailable" |
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IBreed
= Cult of Ray =
310 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2014 : 18:12:40
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| how is he fucking with us? FB seems like a straight shooter and save for wanting to keep band politics personal, he's not into mythologizing or misleading people. i don't think anyway. |
Edited by - IBreed on 01/19/2014 18:15:18 |
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natenate101
= Cult of Ray =
USA
895 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2014 : 19:48:24
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And what was cryptic at all about what he said regarding the agent in the UK they've been associated with for a long time giving them some advice? Am I missing something?
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Jose Jones
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1758 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 01:42:20
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"There’s an agent of ours in the U.K.; I always like to say that there’s no fifth member, but if there’s a sixth member, he’s the one."
i don't know why you guys are confused by this. read left to right.
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they were the heroes of old, men of renown. |
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nadavatik
- FB Fan -
9 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 02:44:08
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I haven't posted here for so long that I forgot my username, but there's so much positive opinion here about the EPs, I felt the need to balance it out a bit.
I'm basically in the same camp as the Pitchfork guy, although I think he was a bit unfair on EP-2, which is alright, just a bit boring. EP-1 was dismal though. Most of EP-1 actually made me cringe.
To me the overall quality of these 9 songs is way, way below par. As much as I'd like to say that a lot of it is objectively terrible, one thing reading these threads (this and EP-1) has confirmed for me is that music is very, very subjective. Just look at all the different rankings of the songs, the various views on Another Toe etc. And add to that the fact that Pixies means so much to a lot of the people who post here, makes it even more subjective. To be honest, I probably didn't want to like the new stuff, cos I'd decided a while back that it would be a bad idea to make new material. Maybe some of you really wanted to like it, because you'd wanted new material for so long? Who knows, either way I sure am jealous of those of you who like the EPs. For you everything's rosy. For me music is basically dead.
The could have just released it under a different name. They could even be 'The New Pixies' or 'Pixies 2.0' (a bit like Talking Heads/The Heads). I can understand why they might have wanted to keep being 'Pixies', but it also means they can't complain when it's compared to the original stuff (I don't think people compare FB releases to Pixies, maybe the first couple of albums but not after that). Pitchfork's ratings aren't really fair, not if they're using the same metrics they apply to any other band - then they'd have probably given EP-1 a 2 or so, and EP-2 would have been a 4 or 5. But compared to the original Pixies catalogue, the ratings are about right. Compared to FB's post-Pixies work, it wouldn't be much higher.
There are a few moments that capture the spirit of the original stuff - the drumming on Andro Queen, the scratchy rhythm guitar in Bagboy and Magdalena, the 'grace' post-chorus on Boom, which for me is by far the best part of all the new stuff (the rest of the song sucks though). But it ain't Pixies for me, however much they sing about space, or throw in some screams or some lyrics in Spanish. It was never going to be. They're all much older, with wives and kids and stuff. I'm not sure they're any more emotionally stable than when they were younger (is anyone?) but they're probably trying. They're grown-ups. But Pixies wasn't really grown-up music.
Someone said people are being unfair in wanting the new stuff to be just like the Pixies of old, but also expecting a new direction. That's a fair point, and I think they've done pretty well, at times, to strike that very precipitous balance. And FB can still clearly write good songs (for my money he's the best songwriter in the world, only Lennon and/or McCartney come anywhere near). So why the hell is this stuff so much worse than FB's recent work, let alone the original Pixies?
Pitchfork are right, I think, when they say it sounds like none of them really turned up, like they don't really care. Are they really just writing songs so they have new stuff to play on tour? Did they really write Greens and Blues so they have a new closer? (Sorry if I'm mis-interpreting quotes here, but that's how they came across to me). Are they just trying to pay the bills?
It's their band, at the end of the day, and they can do what they want. But I sure wish they hadn't done all this. Before, when you typed 'Pixies' into YouTube, the first hit was Where Is My Mind. Now it's Indie Cindy. To me that's an atrocity. I'm very sad about all this. |
Edited by - nadavatik on 01/20/2014 03:40:10 |
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Joey Joe Jo Jr. Chabadoo
* Dog in the Sand *
1092 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 03:35:44
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Hi, it might be a little detail but the Talking Heads never reformed as The Heads or something. There was this project by Talking Heads members except David Byrne. Description here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Talking,_Just_Head
This is off-topic, but we need to be precise and careful with what we write because these days, thanks to the wwweb, false information and rumours get spread dramatically easily and alter reality...
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nadavatik
- FB Fan -
9 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 03:52:47
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Yeah, I know and it's not quite the same, just an example of using a different name for a new project, but that alludes to the old, erm, project. We could get philosophical about when it stops being 'the same band' but that would make for a very unproductive thread.
I was gonna qualify that point about The Heads but I thought my post was long enough already. I hadn't realised The Heads happened so long after Talking Heads split though. |
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Joey Joe Jo Jr. Chabadoo
* Dog in the Sand *
1092 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 05:33:10
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quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
Yeah, I know and it's not quite the same, just an example of using a different name for a new project, but that alludes to the old, erm, project. We could get philosophical about when it stops being 'the same band' but that would make for a very unproductive thread.
I was gonna qualify that point about The Heads but I thought my post was long enough already. I hadn't realised The Heads happened so long after Talking Heads split though.
No prob, I was actually just playing the picky, geeky style of this fan community 
Welcome back!
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 07:02:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Joey Joe Jo Jr. Chabadoo
Hi, it might be a little detail but the Talking Heads never reformed as The Heads or something. There was this project by Talking Heads members except David Byrne. Description here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Talking,_Just_Head
This is off-topic, but we need to be precise and careful with what we write because these days, thanks to the wwweb, false information and rumours get spread dramatically easily and alter reality...
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They reformed just to play live at the rnr hall of fame. I dont know if that ruins the heritage...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRNh_qdNB5c
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Joey Joe Jo Jr. Chabadoo
* Dog in the Sand *
1092 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 07:27:09
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[/quote]
They reformed just to play live at the rnr hall of fame. I dont know if that ruins the heritage...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRNh_qdNB5c
[/quote]
God! They sounded particularly awfull that day... just a la 21st century broadcast style.
Anyway, good old bands should forget about playing together again, it's so dégénérescence bourgeoise (see the tables in the room... that's what you are as the audience now)
I am curious to read the latest David Byrne book about music:
http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/books/how_music_works/
AND, to sort of go back to the topic, to see and read Black Francis' comic, illustated by Steve Appleby! I mean, the guy who drew the rockets on Trompe le Monde. My first fiths Pixie!
It's time to be serious now, to write and to read, the sound of contemporary music has unfortunetely stopped making sense...
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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
668 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 08:19:48
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nadavatik,
I appreciate your thoughtful and reasoned post, and respect where you are coming from, because you seem very sincere.
However, there are a couple of statements you make that are red flags for me. Not that they make me mad (like a bull!), but I think they speak directly to your perspective on this topic, and that perspective has --I believe-- at least as much to do with your disappointment in the new EPs as the songwriting and playing evident on them.
When you say:
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
Most of EP-1 actually made me cringe.
and
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
To me the overall quality of these 9 songs is way, way below par.
But then casually admit:
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
To be honest, I probably didn't want to like the new stuff, cos I'd decided a while back that it would be a bad idea to make new material... For me music is basically dead.
That predisposition to viewing this entire new phase in the band's career as a "bad idea" of which little to no good can possibly come cannot help but strongly color your perception of the work itself in a negative fashion.
It would seem that you reflexively set an almost impossibly high bar for the group to reach, based almost solely on your emotions rather than on the mechanics of the ambitious and risky task at (their) hand(s).
That comes across later in your post when you say again quite honestly:
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
I sure wish they hadn't done all this... I'm very sad about all this.
I think it's a totally understandable position to feel let down or disappointed in an artist or group that one has gotten a lot of pleasure/inspiration/solace from over a long period of time when they act in a way that is antithetical to how the listener might feel they themselves would act in a similar circumstance.
But, at the end of the day, the Pixies are a band, and they're just doing what good bands do - writing songs that they like, rehearsing them till they are tight, and then recording/releasing/performing them for the public.
As someone who has been in bands that went through periods of prolonged creativity and wrote new material at a rapid clip (like the Pixies did in their early days), but then found themselves stuck in a holding pattern of playing older stuff without writing new songs to augment the setlist and/or allow you to cycle out tunes that the members just "lost touch with," and which didn't feel relevant or comfortable anymore to play or sing, let me tell you: IT'S A BUMMER.
There is nothing worse than feeling you are going through the motions onstage. ESPECIALLY if folks are cheering like crazy.
It makes you start to question your very reason for being in ANY band, let alone that one.
So, I get why they had to do this, and I also am amazed that they summoned up the nerve to do it after so long. It would have made much more "sense" for them to have made and released new material back around 2006 - 2010, or, if not, then to simply have dissolved the band for good back around 2010 or 2011.
But, like most things Pixies, they have defied the odds and even what some would call logic to record new stuff in 2012 and release it in 2013. I would be willing to bet that the few moments during each show in which they are playing the new songs (even if they are not garnering as much applause as "classic" tunes from the back catalog) are some of the highlights of their entire time in the band.
Just loading up their guns and walking out into the tumbleweed-strewn street at dusk as they have done with these two records and the accompanying tours is a victory of sorts - whether the fans love the new material or not.
In the end, it comes down to the fact that some folks make art for themselves without giving a shit if anyone is ever even aware of its existence, and some folks make art specifically for other people to consume/admire/fawn over, and if no one pats them on the back for a "job well done" they see no point in making the effort.
Then there are those who truly make art for themselves but also enjoy showing it to other people just to see what they think - and are often brought joy or confidence when the response is favorable, which can in turn inspire them to create more for themselves.
My feeling is that the Pixies fall into that category.
So, I, just like many if not most on these boards, was of course nervous to see if I liked what the band came up with in terms of new material. But because I'd rather see this particular group of people continue to do whatever they want rather than be held back from taking the kinds of chances and risks that make them most happy, I am not overly concerned with comparing their new stuff to their old, or ranking their albums in terms of how "mature" or "commercial" they are or are not.
To me, it's all a gift, and the reputations of artists I appreciate, from Lou Reed to Bob Dylan to Patti Smith to James Brown to Camper Van Beethoven to Yusef Lateef to Robbie Fulks to Daniel Johnston to James Brown to William Shatner to Alex Chilton to Sun Ra to Malcolm Holcombe don't really get "better" or "worse" or "tarnished" or "burnished" depending on how their later releases compare with their earlier stuff.
Instead, they just get, you know, "MORE."
Now, I don't see myself as an apologist who's predisposed to indiscriminately loving whatever FBF or the Pixies release.
But I do see myself as someone who is in no way predisposed to disliking or being disappointed with whatever they release because of my own (perhaps unreasonable or unrealistic) expectations which I (perhaps unwittingly) place on their shoulders.
I hope you don't find my tone in this post to be argumentative or antagonistic in any way. I just wanted to express what I perceive to be a fundamental difference in the way we both seem to view this new chapter in the band's lifespan.
I should also say that when you wrote:
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
They're grown-ups. But Pixies wasn't really grown-up music.
that I found myself disagreeing vehemently. I always found the Pixies music to be exceedingly "mature for its/their age," and that was what attracted me to them in the first place. For me, energy and excess (in all forms) does not inherently equal youth or reckless abandon.
And also, in regards to this section:
quote:
Originally posted by nadavatik
Did they really write Greens and Blues so they have a new closer? (Sorry if I'm mis-interpreting quotes here, but that's how they came across to me). Are they just trying to pay the bills?
My feeling is that FBF has REALLY been misunderstood on this point, by a lot of people and in numerous ways.
To me, it seemed obvious that what he was saying is that in the Pixies catalog there are certain songs that fit unusually well within a certain context. This has to do with pacing, key, tonality, dynamics, delivery and lyrical subject matter.
Those facets are taken into consideration when planning the running order of an album and the running order of a setlist. Some songs work better in certain spots than in others.
FBF prides himself on being a workaday SHOWMAN - an entertainer. A rock guy who does his own specific thing, but within the confines of the popular music styles he grew up admiring and emulating.
Knowing when and where to utilize a specific song for maximum impact is a part of being an astute entertainer. Sure the Pixies have at times done things like made up alphabetical setlists and appeared to not dwell on such aspects of "show business," but at other times they have put a great deal of effort into such things (Snake behavior, anyone?).
FBF was merely making the point that when stepping back and looking at the amount of songs in their back catalog, there were not many that could USUALLY be counted on to feel like a good fit near the end of their shows - because they were inherently limited to playing ONLY the songs that had been written before 1992.
Just as the band was getting tired as a whole of playing those same songs night after night, so too must Kim Deal have been tired of singing "Gigantic" night after night - especially because it seemed to work best toward the end of the shows. In other words, placing it there was feeling stale and formulaic, both to the band and perhaps to the audiences.
There is likely nothing musicians in a band like the Pixies hate more than feeling that they have become totally predictable to their fans. So, FBF (who has openly admitted in the past to intentionally using a variety of strategems to force himself out of his songwriting "comfort zones") set himself a task: to try and write a new song that would contain many of the same attributes of "Gigantic," without being a clone of that song.
It's not a matter of "just trying to pay the bills," it's a matter of trying to find clever ways to do their jobs, and which can also - in a perfect scenario - make their jobs more fulfilling while simultaneously bringing joy to their audience.
As usual, FBF's attempts to convey this in one or two sentences to a journalist wound up being twisted and misinterpreted by folks who can't or won't take the time to ruminate on such concepts as they might apply to someone in FBF's position.
I dug "Greens and Blues," as a song from the first time I heard FBF play it at a solo gig back in May of last year, but it took a couple of dozen listens to the EP version before the whole thing opened up to me. Once I realized what should have been obvious all along, I really loved it for what it was, which is a very finely honed piece of pop confection.
A sheep in wolf's clothing, if you will.
I have seen others on these boards say that they wish they could like that song more, but that it is a shame it is missing what it obviously needs, which they say is backing vocals by Kim Deal.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I could, of course, be completely wrong (and I'd hope FBF will correct me if I am), but it now seems obvious to me that this song was always designed as a gift of sorts for Kim Deal to sing.
It's in her vocal register, and is sung from what could be a male perspective, but which is rife with mythological overtones which suggest it to be the words of a female-ish protagonist. This was meant to be a new Deal showcase, and to give her a worthy OPTION for a strong closing number in addition to "Gigantic."
I can't help but feel that FBF was always intending to sing backup on this song within the confines of the Pixies, and is only now singing lead on it out of necessity, since Kim is gone and the song itself was too worthwhile to abandon.
If you listen to the tune and picture Kim's voice and delivery in the lead, it makes perfect sense, and is a great example of FBF generously writing to someone else's strengths other than his own.
Just my .02, for whatever that may be worth...
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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natenate101
= Cult of Ray =
USA
895 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 09:30:21
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Good point about it being designed for Kim's vocals, makes a lot of sense.
Like Pete says, it's all a gift at this point. More please. |
Edited by - natenate101 on 01/20/2014 09:31:28 |
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IBreed
= Cult of Ray =
310 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 09:33:38
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| are some of you gals/guys under the impression that things said here have an effect on the bands future? |
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trobrianders
> Teenager of the Year <
Papua New Guinea
3302 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 09:49:33
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No one has to love the new stuff. It's gonna keep changing anyway. They may come up with something that really takes hold again if and when they feel like it. It's their habit. They're not chasing it. That's how I know them.
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Ed is the hoo hoo |
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sdon
= Cult of Ray =
France
786 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 11:26:57
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Great post, Pete
I sure would like to hear Greens & Blues verses sung by Paz, and choruses by both
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"Aristophanes! (gong sounds)" |
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Helmut
= Cult of Ray =
315 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2014 : 15:33:50
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The new tunes are pretty decent, more accessible and commercial than the original catalogue. I wish they'd put all the songs out on one vinyl record so they can be sequenced as an album and I don't have to get up to flip the EPs every ten minutes.
The songwriting for the new material is definitely strong, and it sounds like late era Pixies (when Kim was being phased out). Come on Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle where one offs, the output from a cohesive band that was hungry and well rehearsed. Bossonova is classic as there is nothing else quite like it, definitely a Frank and Joey album. I'm not sure why TLM is now held in such esteem, I remember at the time thinking it was kind of weak in the song writing department and a lot of it hasn't really stood the test of time for me.
There was a post by Paz saying they were recording a new Pixies song a few weeks ago, so I hope they are just going to do an album in between tours and drop it at the end of the year and keep doing this forever. From watching fan footage of Pixies v3.0 on youtube the bass is actually driving and prominent (it is virtually absent in Pixies v2.0). Still need to get some good footage to see how Paz's voice fits in. I can see why Joey is a big fan of her, she knows her place in the band after playing similar roles in A Perfect Circle and Zwan, and isn't pushing her other projects like Kim v2.0 was doing with the Muffs. Anyway, I'm all for them dropping an album or two a year from now on. |
Edited by - Helmut on 01/20/2014 22:49:10 |
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EP2
