In the space of three years, The Pixies recorded 5 Peel Sessions.
And while not exactly competing with The Fall in terms of numbers, it still gives an idea of how popular the band were with Peel and his listeners.
Confirmed by the fact that they got a total of 15 tracks in just four of Peel's Festive Fifty charts. This session from 1990, however isn't strictly a full band affair. Of the three songs, the full band only actually play on one of the tracks. And that's not even a Pixies song. 'Hang On To Your Ego' is a cover of the Beach Boys classic. While The Pixies never recorded a studio version of it, Frank Black eventually included it on his debut solo album 3 years later. Never having heard that record, I can't say whether it sounded anything like this. What I can say is that this isn't exactly what you'd call a straight cover. While the vocal melody doesn't stray too far from the original, there's no gorgeous harmonies, no hint of the California sun so commonly associated with The Beach Boys music. The Pixies take on it is much more fractured. Losing the sweet nature of the original and replacing it with a sense of paranoia and increasingly, a tortured intensity. Which maybe makes it a truer reflection of Brian Wilson's state of mind at the time, than the Beach Boys ever managed to capture.
As for the other two tracks, 'Velouria' finds Frank Black on his own with his guitar fuzzed up the max. It sounds quite reflective. More sorrowful than the full band version. It's also, in all honesty, suffering from the a lack of drive that the rhythm section normally brings to the track. Alison on the other hand can hardly be accused of lacking urgency. With Kim Deal adding bass, this doesn't exactly overstay it’s welcome, clocking in as it does at just over a minute long.
The Pixies - hang on to your ego (Peel Session 11/06/1990)
The Pixies - velouria (Peel Session 11/06/1990) original version available on 'Bossanova'
The Pixies - alison (Peel Session 11/06/1990) original version available on 'Bossanova'
mp3 / music / the pixies
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Forevergreen
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2 comments:
Nice post. The Frank Black version is fairly different, much less abrasive and loud, but the vocals are pretty similar. Just replace the rest of the band with electronic pop. They're both good versions of a great song.
Strangely enough, of all the tracks on 'The Pixies at The BBC', the one I love most is 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' which was recorded not for Peel but for Mark Goodier....
Its great to get a hold of these...
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