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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Gouge

Pin

15:17 / 29.11.01

Well if nothing else, this programme conviced me to buy meself a copy of Surfa Rosa/Come On Pilgram, which I've been putting off for ages for no discernable or disirable reason.

What did people think of it, anyway? Speaking as a teenager now who only got into music two years agfter Cobain's death, it's save to say I missed them first time round... As such the most notacable thing about it all was they looked nothing like I wanted them to. I must also congrtulate whoever it was that shot the lvie footage of them in London for actually not focuing on their faces, allowing for much muso joy at watching the chords they're playing. It's sad...

So did any one else enjoy it? Even see it> Think it was on at a stupid time? That it added anything to the Pixie story? That it missed anything out?

14:21 / 30.11.01

I saw it.

I was annoyed by the way it concentrated almost entirely on celebrities going on endlessly about how great the Pixies are (BONO, BOWIE - YOU TALK SHIT!).

I was also annoyed by the way everyone slated 'Trompe Le Monde' - IT'S A FREAKIN' CLASSIC!

The concert footage was really cool though - I've never seen any footage of them performing before. Kim Deal is the coolest person on earth, and can that Joey Santiago wail on the guitar or what? wow..

.. for some reason though, I expected they'd be leaping around a lot more - charging around madly and such like, when performing all those nutty Surfer Rosa songs. Rather than standing perfectly still.

other highlights:

Joey talking about surf music:
"It didn't have any lyrics .. so it just made us think of all these people .. running around .. doin' cruel thing.."

Thom Yorke describing his initial impression that Surfer Rosa must have been made by "little angry people .. actual pixies."

And Pin - seek out Surfer Rosa IMMEDIATELY - it's a designated, 5-star, must have, mind blowing, insane CLASSIC that must be owned by absolutely everyone even remotely cool! By law.

Pin

16:42 / 30.11.01

quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
And Pin - seek out Surfer Rosa IMMEDIATELY - it's a designated, 5-star, must have, mind blowing, insane CLASSIC that must be owned by absolutely everyone even remotely cool! By law.

It's what's scaring the little life-insurance-to-replace-our-slightly-fucked-policy-with-that-company-that-went-poor-and-who's-name-I-can't-remember-right-now sales man right now...

And yeah, I wanted them to jump more, but this way I could watch them actually playing the instruments. Yeah, I know... Anyone else do this?

uncle retrospective

17:34 / 30.11.01

Though it was good. Loved the live footage, it was so good to see them and how fucking good they were from the start. I just wanted to jump up and down and scream "fuck Zepplin, fuck the Beatles, this was the BEST thing EVER!"

Watching Bono going on about the pixies was weird. When the pixies toured with u2 they treated them like shit. Bono only talked to them twice and one visit was only cause Nirvana turned up to see the Pixies.
But Travis extoling the virtues of the Pixies?
Weird.

18:53 / 30.11.01

The show was good, but weirdly disconcerting, having Bono and Bowie eulogise a band that I never heard either of them mention at the time.
And Travis? Fuck, I don’t hear anything in their songs to suggest that they have even heard a Pixies album, never mind bought and treasured one.
And the live footage was pretty much what I remember, exhilarating but strangely static.

All in all it was great to see airtime being spent on such an awesome band, even though I don’t think the programme really communicated the Pixies as I remember them (mostly because Kim wasn’t interviewed).

Despite this, I actually enjoyed the interviews with Thom Yorke and Polly Harvey, in that it made me remember what it felt like as a 15 year old, having my mind completely blown apart by Surfer Rosa, then put back together by Doolittle a year later (albeit in the wrong order).

I don’t think of their stuff as music that you can actually play or learn.
I don’t even think of people playing instruments at all.
It’s not real.
It’s something encoded in my back brain that makes me very, very satisfied without actually knowing what the fuck it is I’m experiencing:

A dead language.
A broken face.

Pin, buy the damn albums and make yourself whole.

Pin

07:56 / 01.12.01

That is my plan. Eventually. When I get my money together.

But can someone tell me: How many of the tracks on the first one are from Come On Pilgram and how many from Surfa Rosa?

And where the hell can I find Gouge?!

And yeah, move this to Music whenever you're ready...

08:38 / 01.12.01

Everyone needs the pixies wired into their head in my opinion...Still my favourite band of all time...

I think its about 14-7 Surfa Rosa - Pilgrim on the 1st combined CD can't remember offhand

Gouge away is on Doolittle

I also reckon it's worth checking out [URL=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056Q1P/o/qid=1007205235/sr=2-4/ref=sr_bt_4/026-3089266-5055624
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056Q1P/o/qid=1007205235/sr=2-4/ref=sr_bt_4/026-3089266-5055624]the B-Sides[/URL] and also at the BBC

And the others of course...well everything really!

Oh and Bonos a professional slag when it comes to music documentries...He said almost exactly the same comments about Shane Macgowen in one...He's right both times of course...doesn't mean he's not a banwagon jumping wanker!

08:52 / 01.12.01

The CD version of Surfer Rosa is a compilation of that album plus 8 tracks from Come on Pilgrim, their first release.
Everything from Bone Machine to Brick Is Red is Surfer Rosa
Come on Pilgrim runs from Caribou to Levitate Me.

Despite there being some obvious differences in the production/ presentation of the albums, the CD stands up well as single unit. Both parts are extremely well recorded and are full of fantastically brutal ambient touches that make the most of the material.

Albini puts a lot of emphasis on the bass and drums, and creates a very direct setting as a result. His Pixies sound extremely focused and exacting. As was noted in the programme, they sound as if they are actually in the room with you.

Smith’s work sounds more spatially aware. In comparison with Surfer Rosa, these tracks sound less focused, and perhaps a little primitive, but no less vital.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

12:52 / 01.12.01

I thought the documentary was a bit dissapointing.

And I really reaaaally disliked Kim's t-shirt. But I guess it was the 80's, so I can forgive her.

10:24 / 03.12.01

Hey guys - THIS WEEK'S DOCUMENTARY IS ON SONIC YOUTH!

<does mexican hat dance around the computer>

19:50 / 03.12.01

Same bat time?
Same bat channel?

20:09 / 03.12.01

To defend Bowie, he has become a friend of Frank Black or something like that (he invited him to that concert for his 50th birthday, but I don't know if that counts, even Dave Grohl was there). But he probably has been hearing Pixies from a long time ago; his horrible Tin Machine was obviously based on Pixies.
And yes, listen to what people here said: Pixies are one of the ten or fifteen greatest bands ever, and everybody should own the whole collection. And yes, Rizla, Trompe Le Monde IS a classic.

14:09 / 04.12.01

quote:Originally posted by RedRunningLord:
Same bat time?
Same bat channel?

12:40 tomorrow I believe.

Twig the Wonder Kid

15:29 / 04.12.01

Dammit that documentary was POOR.

They didn't have enough footage to back up anything anyone was saying. Where were the videos? Where was any proof of their existance post 88.

Admittedly the 1988 concert footage was good but it got increasingly ridiculous talking about the later stages of their career and illustrating it with footage of tracks of their first album.

It was also very dismissive of the last two albums, which was rather narrow minded.

And who the fuck invited Bono ? This was the period when he was doing "Rattle & Hum", exactly the kind of crap the Pixies were a reaction to.

And Kim Deal was conspicuous by her absence.

B- Could do better.

Jack The Bodiless

16:31 / 04.12.01

'A reaction to'? Could you be any more pompous? Next thing you'll be calling them 'important'...

Twig the Wonder Kid

23:56 / 04.12.01

I was 16 in 1989, the year Doolittle was out. I was at that age when the only thing that really spoke to me was loud guitars and screaming.

Dammit, the Pixes WERE important to me.

Hearing Bono, finest purveyor of Music For Range Rover Drivers, eulogise the Pixies was a creepiness on a par with your dad fancying your girlfriend.

13:42 / 05.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Jack The Bodiless:
'A reaction to'? Could you be any more pompous? Next thing you'll be calling them 'important'...

Raise the pompous level by a factor of 20 and things might be getting near to being about a quarter as pompous as 'bono'.