Back to Back Black

There is a review of Frank Black's double CD at spin.com. It's by a great friend of the Advanced Theory Blog, Andrew Beaujon, and I'd like to share a bit with you:

This double CD’s first volume is easy enough to understand. It’s a collection of demos by Charles Thompson, who later became Black Francis and later became Frank Black. It was recorded in 1987, the day before his band the Pixies went into the studio to make their first record, Come on Pilgrim. And for the type of fan who names his dog Crackity Jones, that will be recommendation enough....

Disc Two requires more explaining. So as not to leave fans who bought the demos feeling “a bit ripped-off,” Thompson says in the liner notes, he teamed up with the eclectic British trumpet-and-MIDI duo Two Pale Boys (best known for their work with David Thomas of Pere Ubu, a major Francis forebear) to re-record a passel of Pixies classics.... Perhaps a better motivation is indicated by the lyrics to “I’ve Been Tired,” in which a young Thompson expresses a desire to emulate a certain recording artist whose compulsive tinkering with his back catalog makes George Lucas seem like a preservationist. “I wanna be a singer like Lou Reed,” Thompson panted on that track. For better or worse, he got his wish.
-------
Needless to say, I think it's for better.