STACK NZ Sep #77

By Graham Reid

PIXIES

Led Zeppelin The Complete BBC Sessions Although considered stuffy and staid, the BBC recorded Hendrix, The Beatles and many others at their peak. This three-CD expanded version of the 1997 double disc (remastered by Jimmy Page, with eight previously unreleased

In 1986, the man known as Black Francis (and later Frank Black) gave up the idea of going to New Zealand to see Halley's Comet to form a band.That band was the Pixies, who inspired countless others in their first lifespan.They split in 1993, reformed in 2004 (although founding member/bassist Kim Deal quit in 2013) and have a new album, Head Carrier , due out on September 30. A long, if broken, life... but what are their essential albums?

tracks) is for obsessives – three versions of You Shook Me and I Can't Quit You , five of Communication Breakdown , etc – but over the two years from March 1969 covered here you can hear them adding real swagger and taking no prisoners. Among the newly released tracks, check the explosive, five-minute Communication Breakdown from London's Paris Theatre in ‘71 where Page's guitar solo shoots fireworks in every direction, then the song deliberately stutters down to nothing and rebuilds to a thrilling conclusion. The release is on five- record vinyl also with download code, 44-page booklet and a limited edition numbered print of the cover art. Big got bigger, loud a whole lotta louder.

MUSIC

Surfer Rosa (1988) The impressive debut produced by Steve Albini announced a very different-sounding band (with odd lyrics) and topped the US indie charts. Raw, influential (Cobain loved it and got Albini in for Nirvana's In Utero ) and often bruisingly melodic alongside the sonic aggression. Doolittle (1989) The 'hits' album produced by Gil Norton, which includes Monkey Gone to Heaven and the poppy Here Comes Your Man with indie radio favourites Debaser and Crackity Jones . The easy-entry album for sometimes uneasy listening, and the quiet/loud dynamic which became a grunge hallmark. Trompe Le Monde (1991) After the spacerock-cum-surf sound and themes of Bossanova the previous year, this was a return to their raw mix of power pop, alt-rock and melodic noise. Not the critics' favourite (too much sci-fi), but fans loved it. Indie Cindy (2014) A collection of the three EPs released over 2013-2014 (all produced by Norton), and the first release without Deal. The strong beginning of their second life.

The Builders Beatin' Hearts

The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl You'd think there was nothing left to exploit in The Beatles' catalogue (other than the film Let It Be and an album of their final rooftop concert). But this is the first reissue of the live album from concerts in 1964 and '65, with four previously unreleased tracks. It's American rock'n'roll ( Twist and Shout , Dizzy Miss Lizzy , Roll Over Beethoven , Long Tall Sally , Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby ) in a British accent, and their hits of the time ( Ticket to Ride , A Hard Day's Night , Help , She Loves You etc). With screaming.

It's not often we get to use the word “polymath” but it describes multi-lingual poet, writer, publisher, dramatist and musician-without- portfolio Bill Direen, whose reputation seriously kicked in with this debut album (after a series of singles and EPs) in 1983. Released on Flying Nun, it includes a version of Denis Glover's poem The Magpies alongside Direen's idiosyncratic pop. Nun founder Roger Shepherd considers it “a masterpiece” and “totally timeless” although admits it was perhaps a “bit too grown up” for Nun fans at the time. Now reissued on vinyl, for grown-ups.

And also... Black Francis' output as Frank Black has its many highlights in a pop-meets- noise way, notably 1994's Teenager of the Year and, for real fans, the curiosity Frank Black Francis double from 2004 which comprises one disc of pre-Pixies demos, and another disc on which he revisits some Pixies songs in a stripped-back manner. Deal's band The Breeders (with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses) kicked off with the powerful Pod (1990) and peaked with Last Splash (1993).

For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit www.elsewhere.co.nz

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