The Pixies vs The White Stripes

Once you've got all the Pixies albums check out Frank Black both solo and with the Catholics.

Bowie covers 'Cactus' from Surfer Rosa on his latest.

Paul

It'll be Dinosaur Jnr and Husker Du next...

Oh, and Pavement



happy trails

Already enjoying pavement,

As for Dinosaur Jnr, I was under the imression that they were too underground for my conservative tastes, will give them a listen though.

Simon

If you want tunes, go for Warehouse Songs and Stories

If you want noise, then it has to be New Day Rising

David

Nahhh if you want noise, go for "Everything Falls Apart" and you must listen to "Metal Circus" if only for Diane

Simon

Nick, Lo

I thought I had a high tolerence for noise, but those earlier albums are very hard on the ears from what I remember.

Never really found any of those Copper Blue or Bob Moulds albums that inspiring at the time. Maybe I should revisit.

David

Nick,

Whatever happened to the Birtwistle amnesty you promised? Expect some Xenakis at the next listening session.

Did the Coltrane last more than 5 mins?

David

OK,

To get back on track, The Pixies were a great live band in their early trips to the UK.

Both Surfer Rosa and Doolittle are good, but both are inconsistent. IMHO, they went downhill pretty fast after these two.

David

The live album that initially came with 'Death To The Pixies' is a real treat, if you can find it - one of my favourite live albums ever [and it's a very short list!]

throb

throb,

I'll keep a lookout in the 2nd hand shops for that one.

A few weeks back, a friend of mine gave me a brief listen to half of the Pixies tribute album called 'Where is my Mind'. Does anyone know whether this is this any good?

David

and whilst I'm also on the subject, I also used to have on tape a Neil Young tribute album (yes I threw it away), which had the Pixies on. Anyone remember what this is called. I think it also had Dinosaur Jr on.
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OK did a bit of searching online, and found it - it was called The Bridge, with the following track listing.

1. Barstool blues - Soul Asylum
2. After the goldrush - Flaming Lips
3. Cinnamon girl - Loop (1)
4. Winterlong - Pixies
5. Only love can break your heart - Psychic TV
6. Needle and the damage done - Henry Kaiser & David Lindley
7. Mr Soul - Bongwater
8. Don't let it bring you down - Victoria Williams
9. Captain Kennedy - Sudden, Nikki & French Rev.
10. Helpless - Nick Cave
11. Computer age - Sonic Youth
12. Lotta love - Dinosaur Jr.
13. Out of the blue - Ball
14. Words - Henry Kaiser

Some years since I heard it, but I thought it was a good album then.

David

[This message was edited by David Hobbs-Mallyon on THURSDAY 08 August 2002 at 11:49.]

Is that the Live in Newcastle one? I picked it up a month or so ago but have not seen it mentioned in discographies so assume that it is a bootleg.

Simon

Barry,

I didn't think I was dissing them, in fact at the time they were my favourite live band, particularly around the release of Surfer Rosa. I didn't count Come on Pilgrim, as that is usually appended to Surfer Rosa. I'd find it hard to choose between Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, although I tend not to listen to either all the way through as they both have some pretty weak songs on.

Bossanova always sounded a bit soft in comparison to me, and certainly by that stage I thought they had lost their energy live.

David

The live album from "Death to the Pixies" is based on a concert in Holland from 1990 just after Bossanova was released and can be highly recommended. I think on the CD release it was split into 2 parts and you can buy the live album separately without what will for most people be a redundant "Best of..." disc.

BTW The recent C4 documentary on The Pixes had some fabulous footage of their first UK conert at The Mean Fiddler. AFAICT this concert has never been released on video or CD which seems a shame.

As for rating the studio albums -- Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa are all-time classics, Doolittle is an not far behind, Bossanova and Trompe le Monde are merely very good.

Matthew

I suppose I should also confess now that I chucked out Bossanova a few weeks ago.

Oh dear.....

Barry, I said they were my favourite live band of the time -- isn't that praise???

Generally my musical tastes have gone back about 100 years or more.

David

This is the trck I find myself listening to the most from my best of album.

In fact it is rapidly becoming a fovorite.

I think it is from Surfarosa, is this track represenatative of that album?

I am not so keen on the rest of the best of, but I have only listened to it for a week or so.


Simon

BTW Matthew, if that video ever gets released, I certainly want to see it.

David

David,

The documentary is called "Gouge" and as well as extensive interviews with all the Pixies apart from Kim Deal there are contributions from David Bowie (a *huge* fan), PJ Harvey, Radiohead and rather bizarrely Bono who got all pissed off in 1988 because U2 were the biggest band in the world but all the cool kids were into the Pixies and thought U2 irredeemably naff.

The concert footage is the highlight though and has several songs played through completely (more or less) although to be honest it would be worth it just to see Kim sing the intro to Gigantic <wistful sigh>

If you have stuff to trade you can get it from bootleggers such as http://members.tripod.com/batyboot/bootleg2.html and http://www.angelfire.com/ri/videolist I have it on video but its a pretty poor copy as I have a dodgy arial and I have na facilities for making copies. I'd guess C4 will repeat it at some point though -- keep an eye on the 4Music slot.

Matthew

Shame about Kim Deal - can't watch too much of her. The fact that she had a twin sister made the fantasies even better.

quote:

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U2 were the biggest band in the world but all the cool kids were into the Pixies and thought U2 irredeemably naff.

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Still sounds good to me.

One of my favourite gigs of all time was seeing the Pixies supported by My Bloody Valentine. Not sure what could compete with that these days.

David

Love, love, love the Pixies, but personal experience with a live show doesn't hold up to the legend. They played a show in Denver at an old movie theater (which has since been restored). A large group of us from a nearby college town made the eager pilgrimage to the show, and we were all totally disappointed. Could have been an off nite, they just seemed totally flat and bored, despite a packed house. I forget the exact year, but it must've been the Surfer Rosa tour. Sebadoh opened, and was far more intriguing and enjoyable. Got to talk to Lou for 20 minutes outside the theater before the show.

M

I saw them at the Brixton Academy, probably fairly late on, perhaps 1990? No support that I recall. Great show.

Paul

I saw the Pixies twice, once on the Doolittle tour, and again on the Bossanova tour. Great both times,really tight and energetic. An excellent live band.

Tony.

PS I can't really see the comparison with The White Stripes, they are IMHO different things, and both great.

I bought & enjoyed 'Frank Black' and 'Teenager of the Year' and thoroughly enjoyed them in a non - Pixies way ...delicious tunes, and very poppy. Then 'Cult of Ray' left me completely cold, I never got into it at all. I would have left it there had I not come across 'Frank Black & the Catholics' cheap. Initially I was really disappointed, but it was a real grower and is now probably my favourite [and incidentally has fantastic presence as a recording, real demo stuff]. I think there are a couple more. What are they like? Worth getting?

throb

Also saw them at the Brixton Academy. Sounded pretty good to me. Found the old ticket which says 20th October 1990.

Also that Autumn: Soul II Soul, Shabba Ranks, Shinehead, George Clinton, Tackhead, Bootsy's Rubber Band plus the JB's, Electribe 101 at the Marquee (wonderful), Coldcut every saturday night at the Brixton Fridge, Pollini playing the Diabelli variations and stretching to January 1991, Tennstedt doing Mahler 8. Am I just getting old or have things gone down hill since then?

duncan