| CD REVIEW Black Francis |
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Band : Black Francis Born Charles Michael Kittridge, Black Francis is the stage name under which the singer/ songwriter/ guitarist operated in his Pixies days. Following that band’s break-up in 1995, he continued his musical career as Frank Black, releasing two albums [the self-titled album in 1993 (recordings for it had already started in the hiatus time with Pixies in 1991 and 1992), with the 2-disc Teenager Of The Year following the year after] under that monicker on the Pixies label 4AD before leaving the label. A chance meeting resulted in Frank Black collaborating with Teenage Fanclub for a John Peel Session, first aireed on BBC Radio during 1994, then released as an EP in 1995 (and again in 1997 with different cover artwork). Following the 1996 release of The Cult Of Ray album under the Frank Black name, Frank formed a backing band and went on as Frank Black And The Catholics, who released their eponimous album in late 1998 (the release delayed due to internal struggles of the label a disagreement over the production of the album). By then however, I was personally so taken aback with Black’s deviation from the original Pixies sound, that I kinda put him aside in my mind! But FB&TC were nevertheless popular enough with the public at large, to allow the band to record album after album. Due to his problems with the first FB&TC, Frank had developed an avaersion to long-term contracts, and is adamant about maintaining ownership, licencing each album individually for release (including 1999’s Pistolero, 2001’s Dog In The Sand, 2002’s simultaneously released Black Letter Days and Devil’s Workship, and 2003’s Show Me Your Tears – the latter relating a lot to his divorce and ensuing therapy). In late 2003 rumours came that Pixies were rehearsing for a reunion tour, and indeed the band was out on tour (starting in the USA and Canada, they also did Europe that same year) in April 2004, playing for the first time in 12 years. They also recorded the Kim Deal song “Bam Thwok”, making it available through iTunes. Coinciding with the tour was also the release of the 2-disc Frank Black Francis album (said to bridge “his two personas”, disc 1 consisted of solo demos of Pixies songs recorded the day before The Purple Tape was recorded, and disc 2 contained studio collaborations with Two Pale Boys, again of Pixies songs). That same year saw Frank start a collaboration with a group of Nashville session people, releasing the Honeycomb album under the Frank Black monicker in July 2005. He continued to tour with Pixies througghout 2005 & 2006 and although FB&TC was at the time defunkt, they released the 2 separate compilation albums of B-sides and rarities Snake Oil and One More For The Road through iTunes. In June 2006, a second album with the collective of Nashville musicians, titled Fast Man Raider Man, saw the light of day. Having worked on new solo material earlier in 2006, the fall of 2006 saw Frank begin his first solo tour since 2003. He also announced that Pixies would start rehearsing and recording a new album in January 2007, but those plans were never realized. In stead, a steady stream of albums by the hand of Frank was to follow, starting with the December 2006 released compilation Christmass (featuring new studio songs as well as hotel room sessions and live acoustic material from his solo tour), followed by the “best of” compilation Frank Black 93-03 in June 2007, for which Frank (with a completely new backing band) did a promotional tour in Europe. Obviously, the “best of” was yet another “closing” in Frank’s career! As Black Francis, he debuted in September 2007 with Bluefinger, an album inspired by the llife and works of Dutch musician Herman Brood. Under the same monicker, he also released the mini-album Svn Fngrs in March 2008. Meanwhile, “Frank” started a collaboration with his second wife Violet Clark, and the duo released their debut album Petit Fours under the bandname Grand Duchy in February 2009. Throughout late 2008, Frank had contributed as producer to the 3rd Art Brut album Art Brut Vs. Satan. So, Nonstoperotik is actually the third release and second full-length of Mr. Thompson under his Black Francis monicker, not including 2003’s Frank Black Francis, of course! How do I feel about the album? Well, songs like album opener “Lake Of Sin”, “Wheels”, “Corrina”, “Six Legged Man”, and even album closer “Cinema Star” all get my seal of approval for sounding like something which could’ve been brought in a Pixies setting (even though the last song mentioned is almost acoustic). Apparently, fans have responded well to the album’s overall sound, “that draws inspiration from Black’s earlier records with Pixies”…but the other tracks on the album miss that specific vocal style and/ or are too acoustic for anyone who’s even gotten in touch with Thompson’s work in Pixies. I allowed myself to be interested with reviewing this album, because I was actually curious about the artist’s possible “progress” since the last albums I had heard from him under the Frank Black monicker (just so you don’t have to look that bit up in the above lengthy article, that was with 1996’s The Cult Of Ray). Quite frankly, exxcept for the songs just mentioned now, I wished I hadn’t bothered! Of course, you’re totally free to have another opinion on the matter! At Black Francis’ Myspace page (myspace.com/officialblackfrancis) you only get to hear the one and only “Sex Legged Man”, and if you’re gonna base your possible purchase of the album on that track alone, you’re gonna come out disillusioned! Better ask for the possibility to submit the allbum to a listening session at your local record store! Rating below is high, considering my negative approval of the album overall, but then there àre those couple of nice songs! 80/100 Tony. |