FrankBlack.Net News

The Golem Is Alive! And...Erotik?

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:04:00 PST

Today in the news, The Golem is on sale NOW!

That's right, our friends at BlackFrancis have officially released the limited edition Golem Book - 5 discs, a 50 page book, and only 500 copies! Take a break from reading this news and go over to the BlackFrancis webstore...

...ok, are you back? Hopefully you got one. If you didn't, we've been assured that a rock songs version will be released in the future featuring just the full-fledged songs, but not the interludes/score/etc.

Check out the making of video here, and while you're there you can watch the WHOLE FREAKIN' THING on the blackfrancisnet YouTube account. I'll give you some more time to go do that...

But we're back with even MORE exciting news! Many of you have no doubt seen this on our forum or around the interwebs, but we have a cover and press release for the upcoming NonStopErotik (we can finally confirm that spelling!). I'll let the press release do the talking:

I finally came into possession of an old guitar someone had given me at a nightclub in San Francisco awhile back; Eric Drew Feldman had been holding it for me there on Haight Street. He convinced me that it looked cool (it was black) and had been given in the spirit of benevolence. Every time I picked it up a nice chord came out and so I lovingly cleaned it with red wine in the dressing room the following night and began to write. I told the tour manager that we would drive in my Cadillac directly to a recording studio in Los Angeles (and could he book one, oh, and a rhythm section, too?) from the gig in San Luis Obispo which would put us at the studio at about 4am. It all happened according to plan and we cut the initial tracks there in the wee hours over a few days, and then moved on to an equally haunted studio in London and Eric Drew Feldman joined us there and we finished the record in St. John's Wood. Like I said the studio was haunted and I wrote many a couplet by candlelight in the studio accommodation, slept very little, and only felt the need to get the fuck out of there fast on the last night. The spirits had not ever bothered me, other than low drama moral support, but I was informed that they had heard enough and it was time to move on; plus I had a gig in Ireland.

When I was a boy the plant we boys called a fern was code for vagina, and to this day I love fern plants. In my heart the vagina is almost everything, and almost everything else could be summed up in what cock and seed have to offer; and everything else? The love of the father, dead or alive, the pain of too much pleasure, till death do us part, the voice of another song man from the other side, with or without God, Teri and the Possibilities, where ever you may be, the smell of sex in the air, seduced, slain, on my knees in prayer, sucking at the only thing that matters, my own personal Meret Oppenheim, I am Man Ray and I want you and to be all the way inside you, the cameras whirring as we put some elbow grease into the scene, the audience watching us in the dark. - Black Francis January 2010, Central Oregon

Very interesting stuff, indeed. Now, if you can't wait until March 30, tune in March 1st for our FrankBlack.net NonStopErotikast - a podcast full of discussion and music from NonStopErotik plus a few other little surprises!

Until then,
Brian]]>

New Year's News

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:20:00 PST

Today in the news,
First of all, Non Stop Erotic (or is it NonStopErotik?) is due out on March 30th in the US and April 5 everywhere else. However, if you want to get a special sneak peak at the record, i might suggest checking out our March 1st edition of the FrankBlack.net podcast...just saying, it should be a special one.

Speaking of special podcasts, back in December we featured 7(!) pieces from the as-still-unreleased Golem box set, and spoke with three musicians involved with that record - Eric Drew Feldman, Ralph Carney and Jason Carter. It was one of the most fun podcasts we''ve ever done, and we hope that you check that, along with all of our other podcasts (including January''s Workout podcast) on our podcast page, and remember, the first of the month, EVERY month, we''re back with another new episode.

If you are a podcast kind of person, check out the most recent episode of Sound Opinions, a great "rock and roll talk show" from Chicago Public Radio and American Public Media that features our good friend Black Francis discussing Doolittle and the early days of the Pixies.

Sad news for all of us East Coasters - Black Francis''s participation in a March 2 tribute to the Who in New York City is no longer happening. Maybe we can convince him into making it up to us with a few shows...

...or if you are a Northern Californian, you have good news regarding some last minute acoustic shows coming up soon. January 30th, you can catch the man at the Hard to Find Showspace in Goleta and Feburay 7 at the Blue Lamp in Sacramento. The Goleta show is all ages, but it appears the Blue Lamp is not.

Mr. Francis, along with his lovely wife Violet Clark, is currently in the studio working on the second Grand Duchy record, tentatively titled Give the People What They Want. We will promise to update you as soon as we get more information.

Future Podcast guests and new friends to the site Joey Santiago and David Lovering have a band called The Everybody and a brand new record called Avatar (don''t worry - James Cameron didn''t touch this!) and a really cool new website which, among other things, features ways for you to collaborate with the band! It is a really cool idea, so go to TheEverybody.com and try to become part of Everybody Else!

And finally, since we all haven''t bought Doolittle enough times already, there is a new "Omnibus Edition" coming out from the Beggars Banquet Archival imprint sometime in the future. We''re being promised a surround sound mix, a Blu-Ray (of what? Audio? Videos? No one seems to know), mastered demos of most of the tracks, and a booklet full of new interviews. (Info from the amazingly titled website, Slicing Up Eyeballs) It actually does sound pretty cool - we'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

-Brian ]]>

Non Stop!

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 17:42:00 PST

Today in the news, First of all, for all us North Americans, the Doolittle tour should be rolling into your town very soon! Please check the tour dates to make sure that you don't miss the show.

On Friday, the Pixies are paying a visit to the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien - make sure to set your DVRs to catch this rare network television performance - Friday, 11:35pm EST on NBC.

Moving on from the Pixies, Black Francis is hosting two nights benefiting Winston Bertrand. I'll let this press release tell you about Winston: Winston Bertrand was born on February 20, 2009 with a double whammy of two extremely rare and life-threatening conditions. Winston was born with two rare complex malformations called Lymphatic and Venous Malformations. Lymphatic malformations are varying sized cystic abnormalities of the lymphatic system occurring in perhaps 1 in 10,000 births. His parents, Jennifer and Chris Bertrand have had to practically abandon their business to assist in around-the-clock in-home medical care for baby.

So what can we do to help out Winston? Well, first of all, you can donate to "Winston's Village" by clicking here. But, more excitingly, there are two gigs coming up that sound like they're going to be great, with all the proceeds going to Winston's Village. They take place December 8+9 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The show on the 8th will feature Black Francis "doing band and solo performances with special guest appearances by people like members of THE PIXIES and LOVE & ROCKETS, FLEA, SHE WANTS REVENGE, WEIRD AL YANKOVIC, MICHAEL PENN, DAVID J, THE 88 and GRAND DUCHY...more to be added." The show on the 9th is a night of comedy hosted by Black Francis and featuring "TIM & ERIC (form the Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job!), BOB ODENKIRK, BRIAN POSEHN, DAVID LOVERING, solo performances from Black Francis plus others to be announced." These shows sound amazing, and all of your Angelinos better make it out to one, if not both, of these.

And finally, the biggest news we've had around these parts in awhile, we are able to announce a brand new Black Francis record! Co-produced by Eric Drew Feldman, featuring several Los Angeles based musicians (including former Catholic Dave Philips) and titled NON STOP EROTIK (or EROTIC - we're not exactly sure yet!). Here is the tracklisting:

1. When I Go Down on You
2. Lake of Sin
3. O My Tidy Sum
4. Rabbits
5. Wheels (Flying Burrito Bros cover)
6. Dead Man's Curve
7. Corrina
8. Six Legged Man
9. Wild Son
10. Non Stop Erotic
11. Cinema Star

Once we get a release date firmed up for this, and for the Golem, we'll let you know!

-Brian]]>

Mulcahy Tribute, New Albums and More

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:08:00 PST

Today in the news, First and foremost - this coming Sunday, anyone within driving distance to New York City should be checking out "Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy," a night of live music featuring our own Frank Black, as well as the great Vic Chestnutt, The Autumn Defense (featuring Pat Sansone and John Stirrat of Wilco) and many, many more. Tickets are available here. And make sure to pick up the album that the show is celebrating when released September 29th. For more information, including a tracklisting, see our last news post.

You may notice that our tour dates section has been recently updated to reflect the full North American Pixies Doolittle tour, starting in early November. And more tour dates keep rolling in, with the Pixies heading down under for some shows in New Zealand and Australia - we will get those up soon as well.

We are also happy to report some news on 2 long-gestating projects: Der Golem and another new record produced by Eric Drew Feldman (who also produced Der Golem)! Der Golem is due to be released "in time for the holiday season" according to our friends at BlackFrancis.net. Remember, there are only 500 copies available - so grab it as soon as it is out!

Here is a picture of FBF at work in Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles working during the LA sessions for this new record, which will pick up very soon in the UK for the next batch of recordings. Whether or not this will be titled Non-Stop Erotik, as rumored by NME, is yet to be determined.

Blackfrancis.net also reports that a 2nd USB release, Live in Nijmegen, featuring the Bluefinger band of Dan Schmitt and Jason Carter, will be ready for release soon as well.

According to their Facebook page, a 2nd Grand Duchy album, titled Let the People Speak is already on its way to completition. We hope to hear more about this soon.

And finally, here are some quick links to some cool articles of note:

Our old pal Ben Sisario (author of the 33 1/3 series book, Doolittle) recently wrote an article for the New York Times on a rare, vinyl-only collection of the �Best Recorded Screams� as voted on by New York record store owners and - surprise, surprise - Black Francis is represented (by �Vamos�). Read more here.

Magnet Magazine has been all about FB lately - and now looks at his cover of �Hang Onto Your Ego� and pits it against the Beach Boys� original. The article includes FB�s video, which if you�ve never seen it, is well worth a watch. Read about it here.

Ever wonder what Frank�s favorite Beatles song is? Wonder no more!

FB does a nice Q&A over at RollingStone.com.

And finally, Everybody, aka the Pixies� Joey Santiago and David Lovering, have apparently collaborated with Matt Sharp of The Rentals on a few tracks - read more over at, you guessed it, Magnet.]]>

All Over the World

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:34:00 PST

Today in the news, First of all, for all of our United States/Western Canadian readers, make sure to try and catch either Grand Duchy or Black Francis solo on their July tour!

July 6 - Edmonton, Alberta - Starlight (Black Francis only)
July 7 - Calgary, Alberta The Grand (Black Francis only)
July 8 - Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange (Black Francis only)
July 10 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock (Black Francis only)
July 11 - Madison, WI - High Noon (early show) (Black Francis only)
July 14 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe (Black Francis only)
July 15 - Easton, MD - Avalon Theatre (Black Francis only)
July 16 - Washington, DC - Black Cat (Grand Duchy)
July 17 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (Grand Duchy)
July 18 - Brooklyn, NY - Siren Festival (Grand Duchy)
July 19 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East (Grand Duchy)
July 20 - Wellfleet, MA - Beachcomber (Black Francis only)
July 23 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop (Black Francis only)
July 24 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean (Grand Duchy)
July 25 - Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Festival
July 29 - Denver, CO - Walnut Room (Black Francis only)

Now, for all those across the pond who feel left out, the Pixies will be touring Doolittle in its entirety, along with its appropriate b-sides, throughout Europe in October. The tour is celebrating the record's 20th anniversary.

October 1 - Olympia, Dublin
October 2 - Olympia, Dublin
October 4 - SECC, Glasgow
October 6 - Brixton Academy, London
October 7 - Brixton Academy, London
October 8 - Brixton Academy, London
October 9 - Brixton Academy, London
October 11 - Jahrhunderhalle, Frankfurt
October 13 - Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
October 14 - Forest National, Brussels
October 15 - Zenith, Paris

In addition to all the live dates, we have a bit of additional Pixies news. It seems that Mr. Black Francis has offered a challenge to Hollywood directors - let the Pixies score your film! �The band needs to work with a film director. Quentin Tarantino or someone like that. It�d be like, �Make some music for our film, you guys be the sound of the film�.� Will anyone take them up on this task? Do you see them working with someone like the aforementioned Tarantino, or someone like David Fincher? Or maybe even Judd Apatow!

And finally, we have some sad news from a friend of our website and of FBF, Mark Mulcahy. Some of you might recognize the name as the singer/songwriter behind Miracle Legion and Polaris, both of which featured Catholics David McCafferey and Scott Boutier, or perhaps you recognize the name from the liner notes of Christmass, as Mark provided backing vocals for both "Radio Lizards" and "Don't Get Me Wrong." Or maybe, like me, you saw Mark open for the Pixies in Atlantic City in 2005. Regardless, Mark's wife recently passed away, leaving him as a single dad to two small children. Some friends and admirers, including our Frank Black Francis, have recorded some of Mark's songs for a tribute record called Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy. Check out this AMAZING group of artists contributing:

01 Thom Yorke: "All for the Best"
02 The National: "Ashamed of the Story I Told"
03 Michael Stipe: "Everything�s Coming Undone"
04 David Berkeley: "Love's the Only Thing That Shuts Me Up"
05 Dinosaur Jr.: "The Backyard"
06 Chris Harford and Mr. Ray Neal: "Micon the Icon"
07 Frank Black: "Bill Jocko"
08 Vic Chesnutt: "Little Man"
09 Unbelievable Truth: "Ciao My Shining Star"
10 Butterflies of Love: "I Have Patience"
11 Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne: "Cookie Jar"
12 Frank Turner: "The Quiet One"
13 Rocket From the Tombs: "In Pursuit of Your Happiness"
14 Ben Kweller: "Wake Up Whispering"
15 Josh Rouse: "I Woke Up in the Mayflower"
16 Autumn Defense: "Paradise"
17 Hayden: "Happy Birthday Yesterday"
18 Juliana Hatfield: "We're Not in Charleston Anymore"
19 Mercury Rev: "Sailors and Animals"
20 Elvis Perkins: "She Watches Over Me"
21 Sean Watkins: "A World Away From This One"

The record comes out September 29th (my wedding anniversary!) on Shout! Factory records and was put together by friend of the site, Myles Mangino (who we hope to have on a podcast soon to further talk up the record).

And finally, the writers over at Magnet, one of the best music magazines still standing, have asked a question that has plagued our forum members for years now: Frank Black Vs. the Pixies. Read the funny (and controversial!) article here.

And, keep your ears peeled for new podcasts on the 15th of the month, every month, for the foreseeable future.

-Brian]]>