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A reunited Pixies hit the road on a gruelling US tour of festivals and arenas - and 4AD help us all celebrate with the release of a packed DVD compilation.

Pixies: Pixies/Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of The Pixies

May sees the release of two complimentary discs from 4AD, celebrating the careeer of one of THE high watermarks of guitar bands.

The long-awaited, much anticipated DVD debut of Boston’s finest export, the amazing – and amazingly reformed - Pixies hits the shelves on the same day as a brand new 23 track compilation of the band's opus. Could they be huge once again? We suspect they may never have stopped being just as gigantic as they are...

The Pixies – Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, Black Francis and David Lovering - are making a dramatic return to the live stage – with a forty-plus date tour of festivals and venues that is set to take in Iceland, Paris, Dublin, dates across the US, the T In The Park and V Festivals in the UK and a (sold out) five night residency at London’s Brixton Academy.

Historic

The historic reunion tour is already underway, kicking off at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis – which is also the first of 15 US concerts for which limited edition double live albums are being created - one from each of gig on the North American leg of the tour.

Formed in Boston – after Mrs John Murphy (AKA Kim Deal) answered an advert asking for a "bassist into Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary" – in 1986, the first recordings were made over three days of March 1987. Much of the resultant fine racket appears on the ‘Purple Tape’ recordings – and the rest on debut proper, the astonishing mini-album Come On Pilgrim.

Arriving on British shores in April of 1988 the band supported an early incarnation of label mates – and fellow Boston band – Throwing Muses. At this point the ‘Muses were fronted by Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly (soon to be of Belly fame). Beginning at London's Mean Fiddler. The band’s tour with the ‘Muses would be there last British support slot proper – such an impression did they make on the gig-going fans and the record buying punters.

Gigantic

Going on to record four of the finest albums yet to grace any turntable an play innumerable gigs, the band finally came to an end amid a flurry of side projects. With Black Francis affecting a new name: Frank Black, heading off into madcap surf territory with a string of solo recordings, occasionally accompanied by Mr. Santiago, on guitar, Kim Deal continued both with The Breeders (with twin sister Kelly) and The Amps and David Lovering became a drummer for hirer, before reportedly giving up music in favour of the life of a stage magician.

The Pixies DVD compilation/documentary/live package makes for nearly two and a half hours of archive Pixies action, taking the form of:

The Videos: All eight of the band’s rarely seen – and rarely shown - promotional clips. These include: Monkey Gone To Heaven, Here Comes Your Man, Velouria, Dig For Fire, Alec Eiffel, Head On and Debaser. Initially low on budget but high on wit and imagination, these videos are Pixies’ response to the promotional medium du jour. Unsurprisingly, they were never on high rotation at MTV, or anywhere else, for that matter!

On The Road: An intimate assembly of behind-the-scenes footage, mostly filmed during the Pixies' 1989 European tour. (Running time: around 30 minutes)

Gouge: A documentary – previously only seen in the UK by night owls fortunate enough to stumble across it in the small hours of the morning on Channel 4 a few years back. This ‘talking heads’ style feature traces the Pixies' story through the eyes of a surprising – sometimes unlikely - variety of interviewees, talking about their own Pixies memories. This features U2’s Bono, David Bowie, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Graham Coxon and Alex James from Blur, Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop of Travis, Polly Harvey, Tim Wheeler from Ash, Gavin Rosdale from Bush and Damon Gough himself, Badly Drawn Boy. (Running time: around 50 minutes).

Live!: A complete Pixies set from the band’s British debut tour, supporting 4AD label mates Throwing Muses – here recorded at London’s Town And Country Club in 1988. With a running time of forty minutes, this is the band performing less than two weeks
after their sensational UK debut, when their reputation was catching fire. Compulsive viewing with a choice of either stereo balanced or a 5.1 soundtrack.

The track listing for the live gig looks like this:

1. The Holiday Song
2. Nimrod’s Son
3. Bone Machine
4. Levitate Me
5. Ed Is Dead
6. Where Is My Mind
7. Caribou
8. Something Against You
9. Hey
10. Gigantic
11. I’ve Been Tired
12. Vamos
13. In Heaven
14. Tony’ s Theme
15. Wild Honey Pie

The new 23 track Wave Of Mutilation: The Best Of The Pixies CD compilation runs (almost) chronologically through the group's career and expands nicely on the previously released mid '90s Death To The Pixies collection.

The recordings still sound completely fresh and unique. Inevitably there are half a dozen tracks from the album that arguably made their name (who could have missed the strains of Monkey Gone To Heaven that had ears, when it was first released?) - Doolittle, frequently acclaimed as one of the best albums of all time!

There’s also a selection of quality B sides, the live favourite Into The White and, to end the sonic assault on a poignant note, a cover of Neil Young’s Winterlong.

The full tracklist looks like this:

1. Bone Machine
2. Nimrod’s Son
3. The Holiday Song
4. Caribou
5. Broken Face
6. Gigantic
7. Vamos
8. Hey
9. Monkey Gone To Heaven
10. Debaser
11. Gouge Away
12. Wave Of Mutilation
13. Here Comes Your Man
14. Tame
15. Where Is My Mind?
16. Into The White
17. Velouria
18. Allison
19. Dig For Fire
20. U-Mass
21. Alec Eiffel
22. Planet Of Sound
23. Winterlong

Former Pixies front man, Black Francis, under his post-Pixies persona of Frank Black (Charles Micheal Kitridge Thompson IV, to his mother), has also released a series of albums – high points include: Dog in the Sand, Frank Black, The Cult Of Ray, Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop, under the name Frank Black & The Catholics.

Purple Tape

These releases are mostly available from Cooking Vinyl in the UK – as is the truly great Pixies so-called ‘Purple Tape’ album – Pixies - which is comprised of the original recordings left over from the sessions that produced the band’s debut mini-album. Frank Black is rumoured to be planning a new album of his own, apparently called 'Frank Black Francis', though with his former band back together, who knows how long it'll be before 'The Catholics make another long-player.

The Pixies entire back catalogue: Come On Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), Trompe Le Monde (1991), the retrospective Death To The Pixies (1997), At The BBC (1998), and The Complete B-Sides (2001) is all worth a listen and all still available, on 4AD.

ILovePixies.com

Do you love Pixies? Can't wait for the UK shows? Can't get a ticket - or just can't get enough Pixies in your life? Well now there is a place you can find peace: ILovePixies.com. This is a brand new Pixies mini-site that offers fans a nostalgic trip into the world of one of this most adored bands. Put together using a bunch of weird and wonderful press clippings that have been tucked away for years in the corners of the 4AD archive, the mini-site is full of rare treats for fans old and new.

For a limited period only, fans logging on to: www.ilovepixies.com can download an exclusive digital single featuring the classic number Where Is My Mind?, three unreleased live tracks: Planet Of Sound, Tame and Debaser all ready to be wrapped up in the high quality PDF artwork supplied. Planet Of Sound and Tame were recorded live at London's, Brixton academy back in 1991, while the live version of Debaser is from a show at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago in 1989. If you love Pixies, it's well worth a click.

The Pixies - still raising the game for guitar bands everywhere...

Pixies, on DVD only, is available now from 4AD – and is accompanied by the release of the compilation CD – Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of The Pixies. The Pixies - every home should have them.

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