Depending on which way you look at it, Black Francis, Frank Black, Charles Thompson (or whoever the hell he is) is either really rather generous, or pretty opportunistic. Either way, he is making sure that 2004 has been the Year of the Pixies fan.
For the true-blue Pixie aficionado, this album is nothing short of a godsend, something to keep hunger at bay while The Pixies regroup in the studio. Disc One features Frank’s solo acoustic demos (recorded into a Walkman, no less) compiled in his apartment days before the Pixies laid down their Fort Apache sessions. Disc Two on the other hand is made of reconstituted versions of Pixies favourites, for which an open mind is sorely needed.
Still, Frank himself is aware of how tampering these songs might irk the Pixies purist – in the liner notes, he even makes reference to his ‘messing with the gospel’. After living with and loving the originals for so long, this second disc takes some getting used to. ‘Where Is My Mind’ loses its magical sonic quality, while ‘Wave of Mutilation’ has been stripped down to an oddly ambient track (oh, the fucking horror). ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’, on the other hand, is virtually unrecognisable in its wonky acoustic guise.
On the other hand, there is something intriguing about Frank’s home-made acoustic demos. The ‘bootleg’ quality of the disc, complete with Frank chatting seems to add to the ‘hidden treasure unearthed’ quality of the disc.
Anathema or a welcome addition to the canon? Frankly, the jury is out. Still, surely even Frank is aware that, for those who own even the most dog-eared copy of Doolittle or Trompe Le Monde, this offering is somewhat surplus to requirements.