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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
955 Posts |
 Posted - 05/13/2022 : 12:36:19
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Hey! I couldn't find a focused thread on the Pixies podcast.
I just relistened to the whole thing. If anyone hasn't, I seriously recommend listening to it again, this time being very familiar with Beneath The Eyrie and the songs left off of it. It's a lot more interesting.
I was wondering what others thought of the show. I do a music podcast myself and I have to say, this is one of the best explorations of the creative process and how an album gets made that I've ever experienced. There are moments from this podcast that I think about all the time, often randomly out of nowhere.
As I listened I kept going back and forth on if I "approve" of Tom's producing style or not. In one moment I'll find him way too controlling creatively, and in another I'll be admiring how he brought something out of the band that may not have reared its head. In one moment I'll roll my eyes at the very formulaic direction he wants a song to go in, but in another I'll go yeah, he's right. He's totally right. Sometimes the last chorus in a song does need that extra something. Sometimes a song does need a bridge.
In some sense you hear him sanding the rough edges off the Pixies a bit (tons of overdubs, polished sounding FX, trying to get them to use a sample of an instrument), but in another you see him unleashing their more wild side (convincing Joey to let loose, talking Charles into letting Black Francis out and going nuts.)
One of the great gifts of this show is for the first time I finally felt like I "got" Charles Thompson's approach to songwriting (and more.) It's not super different from my own, in that it really is a balance of "work hard on this lyric but don't think TOO much about it or you'll spoil the magic."
A lot of mystical stuff happened in that studio, especially the creation of Daniel Boone. His conversation about how sometimes chords just fall out of you so perfect with the exact right mood, you better not change a thing...I totally relate to that with some of my favorite songs (they aren't as complex as Boone though.) But a truly astonishing moment is when he's basically forced to write a bridge, he needs a day or two, but comes back with something that truly elevates the song and doesn't just feel like "I was forced to write a bridge, so here."
Plus there's all the rejected stuff that shows up in this. I believe episode 4 has pieces of a song none of us have ever heard. There's the making of Hear Me Out (it seems to promise such a better song than what turned out. Sorry.) Then there's the studio versions of some of the demo songs. What happened to those? Or are those the ones included on the demo LP? It's a bit unclear, actually.
I feel like I can go on and on about this show, and I feel like it was almost taken for granted around here. I mean this is all I could ever want with one of my favorite bands, to live in that studio for 3 weeks and capture the creation of art on a microphone. Many who watched Get Back were astonished at the scene of Paul writing Get Back one day, strumming and humming as George Harrison sits next to him yawning. This podcast has tons of stuff like that for a Pixies fan.
Thoughts?
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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
955 Posts |
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The Maharal
= Cult of Ray =
996 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2022 : 09:34:56
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| I found the host to be incredibly annoying on the first couple of episodes so that kind of killed my enthusiasm for it and I never got around to finishing it. I must. |
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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
955 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2022 : 16:49:46
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| Huh, I wonder why. He's not very intrusive or a large presence, and just sort of gives context for what you're about to hear. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3147 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2022 : 17:45:25
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| I liked the podcast. Only listened once. As I recall I liked the version of Daniel Boone on the podcast better than the album version because it just sounds like Frank in a room. |
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Brank_Flack
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1017 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 01:56:44
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I really liked it too and agree that it was a great insight into the process. I would like to go back and re-listen given how much I enjoy BTE. I came away with a positive impression of Tom - I thought, in particular, he did a good job trying to direct Charles' vocal takes. The Boone bridge sequence was the highlight for me.
It's too bad they're not doing it again, but glad to have the original! |
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Sprite
* Dog in the Sand *
1334 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 03:24:30
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| I gave up about episode 9 as I was worried I was hearing too much material and it would spoil the discovery when I heard the album proper. But been meaning to go back to it, this seems like a good time. Especially that we have a brand new album popping up in just a few months. |
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danjersey
> Teenager of the Year <
USA
2792 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 16:37:33
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uh..
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1118 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 22:43:02
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I listened to them all, found it better than any interviews with the band etc. What stuck out for me was despite working on all these new songs Charles just conjures up the workings of death horizon on the piano / organ out of the ether. Pretty special.
In addition to that I really liked the intro music and though I like Catfish Kate I was hoping it would have the energy of a Nimrod's son or holiday song that the intro reminds me of.
Wasn't there another cover they did along with Mambo Sun? Was it a buzzcocks? Wonder if that will ever see the light of day. |
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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
955 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2022 : 08:04:17
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I should have taken notes. I think they mentioned recording three covers. As well as studio versions of some of those demo songs too.
I know what you mean about the intro. I think Beneath The Eyrie would really benefit from just a small percentage of polish being removed and some of those raw tracks brought forward. |
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Sprite
* Dog in the Sand *
1334 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2022 : 09:26:58
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Wasn't it Grow Fins by Captain Beefheart? This is from memory of another thread, I am not sure I reached the point in the podcast where that was discussed.
Gotta agree on Catfish Kate, the taster sounded better than the final version. |
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jake3
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
248 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2022 : 12:35:06
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| The covers were 'Grow Fins' by Captain Beefheart, 'Mambo Sun' by T.Rex and 'The Whole of the Law' by The Only Ones. |
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billgoodman
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Netherlands
6214 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2022 : 04:11:22
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The podcast was so good. Loved it so much I listened to every episode at least twice.
There are still some original songs (or maybe just one) from this sessions. It has a great guitar line.
I loved the clean Paz vocals on Los Surfers Muertos on the podcast and was a bit dissapointed by the released version.
But overall I think the choice for lot's of reverb and delay was a good one.
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
955 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2022 : 23:22:48
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| There's a lot about Long Rider and how much went into that song that made me feel guilty for not liking it. That's the thing about art...like a movie you dislike still took so much time and effort from everyone involved. Even though I like BTE, I kind of feel that way about the podcast. It's this huge celebration of all the effort and creativity that went into this album that I don't rank very highly among Frank's overall discography. |
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Is there an It's A Pixies Podcast thread?
