After some twenty-five years, 4AD are issuing an expanded pressing of the Pixies sessions for the BBC. Encompassing the years 1988-1991, it collects the recordings for five Peel Sessions and one for Mark Goodier in their apparent entirety rather than the bits and pieces compilation from 1998.
In some respects, this split works pretty well, because the first disc is more febrile. You can feel the initial rush of excitement that Pixies caused and there is a wild playfulness that show the tracks in different lights, highlighting aspects, stretching notes, playing with tones; while the second disc, where perhaps they had settled into a certain stride, feels a little more measured, more aware of what they had accomplished and the reaction it was having.
Whatever you might think of the current line-up and the material from them, it is really great to hear the essence of the band in their prime and letting the leash slip a little, reminding you just how much of a breath of fresh air they really were. Thirty-five years on, these tracks have lost none of their power.The sheer effervescence of the first session is palpable. Squeezing in five tracks, they stretch gaps and gurn words, deliberately pulling the sounds like teeth; “Levitate Me” turns into a football chant while the glorious “Hey” is slowed down and strung out. The wolf-howl guitar is highlighted in the breakdown, its interplay with the bass magnificent. Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (AKA Black Francis)‘s voice is wilder here; “In Heaven” is utterly manic and John Lennon and Paul McCartney‘s “Wild Honey Pie” is frantic in its pace. This session ends with a delightful “Caribou”, with more prominence on the duet between Charles and Kim Deal, its circular motif a little more hesitant. It is really enjoyable hearing the group enjoying themselves, mangling the structure of the tunes and doing them unexpected damage.
The second session is only about seven minutes long, with really spirited runs through “Dead” and “Tame”. “There Goes My Gun” is hypersonic and “Manta Ray” is lovely. Listening to these reminds what an essential live act this incarnation of Pixies was; the freewheeling mania and histrionics of Charles and Joey Santiago, and the rocking rhythm section always pressing when not beguiling.
It is always intriguing to know what prompts an act to play certain things in a session; and when you have surprise inclusions of tracks that may not make it to the actual recording studio, it is kind of worth the price of admission alone for the ardent fan. In this respect, the first session of disc two takes three tracks from Bossanova at a soft-focus, pedestrian kind of pace, almost beatific — apart from the steel-coated “Is She Weird”; but mixed in is a version of The Beach Boys outtake “Hang Onto Your Ego”, which eventually made it onto the first Black Francis album. Here it is a little more hesitant, as if they are still unsure as to its suitability, but great to hear.
The Goodier session is more of a hotch-potch, with a mellow “Monkey Gone To Heaven” half-sung by Charles with a sense of wonder. Kim’s voice is a melancholy delight and it is worth it for that alone, while the second version of “Wave Of Mutilation” is far scruffier than the previous one. These two earlier tracks book-end a lovely chilled version of “Ana” and another version of “Allison”, which is at breakneck speed, recalling The Wedding Present and beating us over the head in 1’13”. Heady stuff.
I never really gave Trompe Le Monde much time on its release and this is making me want to go back and remedy that. For fans of early Pixies, At The BBC is an essential release, showing all the songs in a new light, and also reflecting really positively on those first few years of the band’s existence. It is a good job by 4AD after all these years and looks particularly impressive on vinyl.
-Mr Olivetti-
