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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
653 Posts |
 Posted - 06/22/2017 : 12:13:44
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Most of you may know that I really, really enjoy the entire Indie Cindy album, and I realize I appear to be in the minority on that.
It occurred to me today that if Head Carrier had come out first, in 2014, even if it did not contain any Kim Deal performances (let's pretend Paz replaced her before or during recording), and then Indie Cindy followed in 2016 (let's assume that it sounds basically the same, although - for the sake of this thought experiment - the bass and vocal duties are also handled by Paz), that both records would be viewed almost totally differently by the majority of the group's fanbase.
In fact, I believe that if Head Carrier had been the band's official return to long-form studio recording that it would have "made sense" to a far broader swath of listeners.
Especially longtime fans, who would have found it entirely logical that FBF would have written another "quasi-concept album," and that the band in general had instinctively chosen to lean back on the more raw, straight-ahead arrangements and basic instrumentation of its early albums.
It would have also "made sense" that they went with a new producer they'd never worked with before, instead of relying on the very familiar bedside manner and sonic palette of Gil Norton, which might have been seen as a reflexively defensive or perhaps less than inspired choice.
Then, two years later, with their sea legs under them and a few world tours featuring the Head Carrier tunes, Gil's back behind the boards, and - much as they did in the 1.0 incarnation of the band - they somewhat surprise their fans by making a drastic shift towards a more lush, densely-layered and heavily processed sci-fi/metal/power-pop melange that is substantially more difficult to reproduce live onstage with just the four of them.
That would be more of a natural progression for many who could not easily wrap their heads around the "thought experiment" with Gil that led to the idea behind (and the overall sound) of Indie Cindy in the first place.
So, for those of you who don't care much at all for the self-indulgent, freewheeling, "guitar scored" studio explorations of Indie Cindy, and prefer the more sparse, well-rehearsed-quartet-in-an-expensive-room approach of Head Carrier, try very hard to forget the natural curve of time and space and instead convince yourself they were written, recorded, released and toured in reverse order.
I think it may lead to a greater appreciation of both albums, for different reasons.
Eventually, my dream is that by not too long after their next LP is released, we start to see a few more Indie Cindy tunes (i.e., "Blue-Eyed Hexe," "What Goes Boom," "Ring the Bell" and "Jaime Bravo") reconfigured for raw, road-band arrangements, and the group's setlists will start to routinely be made up of at least 60% 2.0.-era songs - plus a few more NEW cover tunes, so they don't have to always rely on "Winterlong," "In Heaven" and "Head On," as much as I love their versions of those tracks.
Just my .02, for whatever that may be worth.
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"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1118 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2017 : 00:28:31
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Like that thought process Peter Radiator.
I initially viewed Indie Cindy as a starting point, a flag in the sand as a marker to show the start of the journey.
But from reading your post it got me thinking that Indie Cindy could be the final destination rather than the second beginning. The themes on the songs, farewells, death, leaving, travelling, fit that finality feeling.
And if this was the final album (hypothetically) the evolution to get there might start with Head Carrier and beyond.
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3148 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2017 : 12:43:10
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I want to think about your experiment a little more Peter, but I will say this:
After I heard Surfer back in 1990 my friend made me a tape of Doolittle and Bossanova. I just assumed Bossanova came out before Doolittle because I liked Doolittle so much more and just assumed the band could only get better with each release. When I figured out that Doolittle came out first it made me think less of Bossanova even more (of course now I don't have anything negative to say of any of those 1.0 albums really). The point is my perception of their release chronology did affect my opinion of their content.
So maybe you're experiment will prove itself. |
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picpic
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1874 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2017 : 00:39:10
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Got your point, but to me Indie Cindy always sounded like the logical sequel to Trompe Le Monde.
And Head Carrier always sounded like the logical sequel to Indie Cindy (Pixies trying to recapture some earlier vibe after ICs poor reception rather than experimenting new things).
That said, I remember when IC came out, the band said that Norton told them in the studio: "OK. The band is back from space and nothing really happened since Trompe" (like they spent some time on Magdalena 318 or something). Maybe the return trip caused some space/time distortion and the album planned as the 2nd 2.0 release happened to be their comeback record instead. Makes sense.
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3148 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2017 : 06:36:25
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| Having said that, if an album hurts your ears it doesn't matter if it hurts your ears first or second. |
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picpic
* Dog in the Sand *
Belgium
1874 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2017 : 01:50:37
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This topic resides in a parallel world where compression does not exists.
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pot
> Teenager of the Year <
Iceland
3910 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2017 : 12:19:52
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"Return to form" albums from old bands who've earned a name for themselves are all the rage, and I rarely find that they ever are whence claimed thus.
I tend to judge such long awaited album materials in the mindset of "what if a new band released this album? How would it be perceived by the general public?"
And in the case of the Pixies new material I think it's a safe estimation that they might get some recognition for IC and HC but would very quickly be forgotten.
As far as I'm concerned the Bluefinger years are and will always be Pixies 2.0.
Take Depeche Mode for example. They used to be a good band, then they went all industrial. The tracks I've heard from their new album bore me, but Radio 6 still like to give them plenty of air time. Same with Radiohead.
Apparently Gary Numan has a new album coming out. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3148 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2017 : 08:33:09
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quote:
Originally posted by picpic
This topic resides in a parallel world where compression does not exists.
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"Service Unavailable"
If this is true it changes everything. Well, not everything. But it definitely makes a difference.
But I guess it's up to Peter Radiator since it's his experiment. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3148 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2017 : 01:07:37
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Listening to Teenager this morning got me thinking about this thought experiment again, and how ultimately I can't get it to help me no matter how hard I try.
The output of the man from 88-94, holy crap, has anyone else ever done so much awesomeness in such a short period?
I can't even believe how fast these albums came out one after another. We were spoiled. |
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BunsenH
= Cult of Ray =
296 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2017 : 11:07:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Bedbug
Listening to Teenager this morning got me thinking about this thought experiment again, and how ultimately I can't get it to help me no matter how hard I try.
The output of the man from 88-94, holy crap, has anyone else ever done so much awesomeness in such a short period?
I can't even believe how fast these albums came out one after another. We were spoiled.
... too spoiled to realize it. :( |
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Pixies 2.0 Time Travel Thought Experiment
