Happy New Pixies Ear! New, Better Gigantic? EP-2 & Video for Blue-eyed Hexe

Like a surprise party, Pixies the other day released the second EP in what seems to be a series. EP-2 has four songs just like last year's EP-1, but Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering have offered a few comments on each song. Francis tells us that Blue-Eyed Hexe is a "witch-woman kind of a song", check out the video below. Santiago says Magdalena was born out of "weird Moog pedals that sounded like water". Francis suggests that "we basically needed a better Gigantic", and Greens and Blues "fills the emotional niche that ‘Gigantic’ occupied, another show-closer". Santiago reveals that Snakes came required him to include "sliding guitar just to emulate a snake".

For those that didn't think the first EP fixed their old-school Pixies jones, these tracks might do the trick, because it seems the band was trying to emulate its own past. Sounds good to me, even more like the Pixies of yore than the first four on EP-1.

You can purchase numerous formats and packages at the Pixies website.

Blue-eyed Hexe


Magdalena


Greens and Blues


Snakes

Pixies Lose Another Bassist, Muffs Will Prevail. What Goes Boom? Joey Santiago, Apparently.

In Pixies news, Kim Deal replacement bassist Kim Shattuck announced that her time with Pixies had come to an end. I have high hopes that people now pay more attention to her own band, The Muffs, which is a splendiferous entity that should have a new album out on Valentine's Day. Also, Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago blowed up real good.



The Muffs - I'm a Dick


The Muffs - Everywhere I Go


The Muffs - Don't Pick On Me


The Muffs - Outer Space

More New Pixies! 4 Tracks on Wax

Hot on the heels of BagBoy, Pixies have released a 4-song EP. 10-inch vinyl, limited edition t-shirt, lossless audio download, pick your package (purchase here). Does it sound like old-school Pixies? Not so much the first two records, but it sounds like it could have been a progression from the last two. What Goes Boom sounds the most like the roaring Pixies most people want, while the first track, Andro Queen, sounds least Pixiesish. What do you think?

Tracklisting - Andro Queen - Another Toe In The Ocean - Indie Cindy - What Goes Boom



UPDATE: Pixies also released a video today for Indie Cindy, which is mostly backwards like me.


Don't forget the previously-released Bagboy single.


Check out some isolated Pixies vocals:

Debaser Isolated vocals


H>ey Isolated vocals

Pixies New Song Bagboy Now Has Two Videos! Free mp3!

Pixies have released a second video for Bagboy, a new song that supposedly is part of a new collection of Pixies tunes - a full album maybe?





Get a free download here.






Recently found this Pixies documentary from 2002, it is flatout amazing - if you like the band and haven't seen it, do it now. Bowie, Bono, Thom Yorke, all explaining why they think the band was special, band members talking about the early days, I can't believe I haven't seen this yet.

Frank Black/Black Francis is Better Than Pixies Anyway

I went to see Pixies for their Doolittle concert recently, and it was a good time, noisy rock and roll show. My only complaint would be that at times the vocal effects were a little overwhelming, kind of like the dry ice fog clouds that obscured the band, the entire stage, and much of the crowd for Into the White.

But hey, that's quibbling, Doolittle is one of my favourite albums of all time, and that's the first time I've seen a band perform their whole record in sequence. It's an interesting idea, an audience member is compelled to listen to their least favourite songs along with their most favourite (or the hits). I had a friend who once said that the bad songs on a record make the good ones better. I don't know if that's true, but I know I am still intrigued by the idea of an album as a whole as a particular art form. If you missed the show and would like to make up your own mind about Pixies doing Doolittle in Winnipeg, check out Teenage Dogs in Trouble to get sorted.

What with Lovering and Santiago musing about the possibility of new Pixies music, I've also been thinking, What if they don't? I'll never get the amazed feeling of excitement that I got listening to Brave New Waves and hearing Monkey Gone to Heaven again. I don't know how likely it is that a new Pixies album would match my wonder upon doling out the shekels for Doolittle on vinyl and discovering a whole new world. But Frank Black/Black Francis has put out a lot of really good music that has a lot more dimensions than Pixies, bringing in touches of country, rhythm and blues, 80's synth pop with Grand Duchy, and singer-songwriter/storyteller flourishes. None of his albums have blown me away, but every disc has grown on me, and every one has a few stupendous songs and a few more good ones. I think it's time we shoved the new Pixies album hopes to the backburner and appreciate FB's work on its own merits.

Black Francis - Dead Man's Curve by cafe_magro

BLACK FRANCIS / Six Legged Man by indie-1

Frank Black Kicked in the Taco 1 by CreepCreep

Bill Jocko by Frank Black by Timedoor

04 Frank Black - 17 - Gouge Away by spunxtain

Where Is My Mind (Placebo ft. Frank Black) by ben.burns

Frank Black/The Man Who Was Too Loud by Briandoherty

Il Cuchaiao by Black Francis by Timedoor

The World - Black Francis by Amo Descubrir Canciones

Black Francis with Joey Santiago by Oedipus

Black Francis - She Took All The Money by Moitionpic







Comments are welcome below. Rant, rave, celebrate the fact you survived the Rapture.

Pixies To Hit Canada Again, Ticket Presales Blow Up Band's Site

Remember when Scruffy relayed the hint from Pixies' website that the band would come back to the Great White North? Well, it's now reality, as a cross-country tour has now been announced as a continuation of the band's Doolittle tour. Expect the entire Doolittle album plus all of the b-sides. Tickets will be available starting Friday, January 28th, but a fan pre-sale also started (and ended, in towns like mine) on the band’s website today. Unfortunately, there was a four-hour delay in the timing of the pre-sale, and the website was overloaded by the time it started. Scruffy did not get tix, ain't that a kick in the pants?

Pixies 2011 Tour Dates:
04/09 – Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre
04/10 – Moncton, NB @ Casino Moncton
04/12 – Quebec City, QC @ Salle Albert-Rousseau
04/13 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
04/16 – Ottawa, ON @ Civic Centre
04/17 – Kitchener, ON @ The Center in the Square
04/18 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hal
04/20 – Hamilton, ON @ Wentworth Room
04/22 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
04/23 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
04/24 – St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
04/27 – Winnipeg, MB @ Centennial Concert Hall
04/29 – Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place
04/30 – Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
05/01 – Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Center
05/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre

THE PIXIES - Monkey Gone to Heaven (KRUSHA Remix) by krusha

Pixies - Hey by fixintothrill

Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven (Roundtable Discussion Remix) by Roundtable Discussion

Pixies Coming Back to Canada?

photo Simon Fernandez

Pixies have released all of the live shows from their Canadian stops of the 2004 reunion tour. Actually, all 15 shows from the initial reunion are available, from the first in Minneapolis, the 2nd in Winnipeg (which I remember as being damn fine for a band that hadn't played in 11 years), all the way up to the Coachella show. If you were at those shows, you probably recall that each one was recorded and available for purchase - you could pick it up after the show or have it mailed to you. I thought that was a cool and gutsy move, and I still do. No studio fixing, just a cool momento of the gig. If you failed to get the show you were at back then, you can get it now for only $3.99. The following track was recorded at Prairieland in Saskatoon.

In unsubstantiated rumours news, the message I got from Pixiesmusic.com reads,
"Maybe we ought to come back to Canada in the New Year?" A tease? Foreshadowing? We'll see.



I'm Amazed - Pixies by FOE

Pixies - Hey by melmtree

Brick Is Red - Pixies by sarahmarshall

Pixies New Website, Free Download; Everything But a New Record

Pixies are unveiling a new website and are giving those on their mailing list a free download of the 2004 Coachella show, and supposedly there will be new shows every week. Even if you are wary of giving out your e-mail address, it looks like you can get digital downloads of shows for $3.99, and a cd and download is $3.99 plus shipping and handling. I know that Black Francis/Frank Black/Charles or whatever his name is has said that for Pixies, it's all about the commerce these days, but that seems like a fair price. And getting the 20-song Coachella set for free is pretty spiffy in my books.

Although Pixies are not putting out new music and are probably hoping we'll shell out the $8700.00 or what-have-you for the Minotaur box set, other people are sure into covering their songs or screwing around with them in other ways.

The Pixies "Debaser" Sloppy Seconds Extended Eyeball by Sloppy Seconds

03 Isla De Encanta (pixies cover) by theradiosweetheart

Weezer : Velouria (Pixies cover) by acrylica

Where Is My Mind (pixies cover) by Jeremiahandthesound

Dig for Fire (Pixies Cover) by TipiTash

07 - Drumkan - Alec Eiffel (Pixies) by akane_indie

Pixies - Debaser (Jake's Vamp Dub Mix) by jakeclemens

Neil Young's Shaky New Video, Angry World

As a kid growing up in Winnipeg, Neil Young was pretty hard to ignore. Young and The Guess Who seem to be brought up every time someone wants to prove that this little burg breeds rock greatness, which may be a sign of the town's inferiority complex. But Young hasn't lived here, or even in Canada, for so long it's time to give up that ghost. I try to take Neil for what he is and what he does, not worrying about where he played his first sock hop or whatnot.

So I've heard the classics ad nauseum, was drawn more to the oddball moves he's made such as Trans, Everybody's Rockin', and Landing on Water, was even persuaded to try (and fail) to sing Rockin' in the Free World in a basement band. I've always appreciated that Young goes off and does whatever the heck he wants, at his own pace - he's so original and unique I gotta respect him even if I can't get into all of his music. Unfortunately, somehow Young is associated for me with a misbegotten hippie dream, filled with drugs, bad campfire cover songs, a patchouli stink, and a naive worldview.

Which of course is not a balanced perspective, so I hereby pledge to go revisit the facets of Youngmusic I've skipped. I don't want the Cult of Neil to rain down darkness on me. And hey, this may be the greatest thing Neil Young has done in...decades? Angry World, from new album Le Noise, out September 28. Available everywhere, including the moon, probably on 8-track, 78 and wax cylinder too.



Heh. What if Young went all drum and bass on us?

Old Man (Neil Young) Future Child Remix by alagory

One of my favourite Young covers. There are a lot of good ones, but there's also a boatload of not just unnecessary covers, but also so many terrible ones that they've probably been a detriment to my enjoying his music.

Winterlong (Neil Young cover) by chocnut

I tripped across this track, which seems to be by Fascinoma aka Alanna Lin.

02 I Shot Neil Young by 2TRU401

Free Pixies EP

Pixies are giving away 4 live mp3s, track listing is Do the Manta Ray, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Crackity Jones, Gouge Away. Recorded in Paris on October 16th, the sound is all snap-crackle-pop in the best way: snappin' percussion, cracklin' vox from Black Francis, poppin' bass (and audible backing vox!) from Ms. Deal. I am gutted that I can't catch any of the Doolittle shows. I've loved that record for 20 years, it's still my favourite Pixies album (one of my all-time favourites by anyone, actually). However, I'm still a little sad that the band can't put out a new one after getting back together and playing shows for years now. Video from last night on Conan below:



At any rate, Black Francis/Frank Black has been putting out fine recordings since the last Pixies studio album, so I can't really complain. Did you know he has also put out a fun little eighties-style pop record with his wife Violet Clark? Grand Duchy offers up synth-happy art-pop with male and female voices trading off, and it ain't necessarily what you'd expect from one of the guys who set the stage for Nirvana et al, but that's why it's cool.


Grand Duchy - A Strange Day (download mp3 here)

To the Moon!

The anniversary of humans landing on the moon passed us by this week, so I started thinking about how many songs refer to space or the moon. A random sample of cds close at hand told me...maybe too many. Do you think songwriters dream about what's about there more than others, or are we all fascinated by what we don't know?

Here's one from Crooked Fingers, Under Sad Stars, found on the the band's self-titled album.



Some technical difficulties sent my spacey playlist all wonky, but you can go here to grab the rest. You'll find:

The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon
Possum Dixon - Crashing Your Planet
Scruffy the Cat - Kissing Galaxy
Eat - Red Moon
Bryan Ferry - Gemini Moon
Scruffy the Cat - Moons of Jupiter
Rupert Hine - The Wildest Wish to Fly
Crooked Fingers - Under Sad Stars
Pixies - Space (I Believe In)
Fountains of Wayne - Lost in Space
The Church - Under the Milky Way
The Church - Texas Moon

Of course, many people don't believe there ever was a moon landing. See the proof below. I wonder what Courtney Love thinks about it?