Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Frank Black in the godfather of alternative rock. Kurt Cobain acknowledged as much when he stated that Nirvana was his attempt to rip off Black’s Pixies project. Chris Carter, in his brilliant, under appreciated series Millennium, paid tribute to him by naming the brooding, haunted lead character after him. If that’s not enough, try this: go to your local indy music store (if you still have one), and pick up a sampler of local bands compiled within the last ten years. I am willing to bet that there will be at least one Pixies/Black sound-alike on it. I live in a community which, for whatever reason, numbers rock bands far in excess of what one might expect of its population. A recent sampler containing twenty-seven tracks had no less than nineteen that were Black-influenced. Black’s music is insane --- obscure lyrics dealing with exotic, bizarre topics, time signature changes that bounce off of unexpected chord progressions, yelping vocals --- which lodge in your brain and take it over like an inoperable tumor.

Black has been nothing if not prolific since the 1993 Pixies disbanding. 93-03 covers his nine solo and group (with The Catholics) projects from, well, 1993 through 2003. Actually, it does a bit more than that. Disc one of the two disc set includes the unaccredited “Threshold Apprehension” from the forthcoming BLUEFINGER CD (to be released under his “Black Francis” persona), an insane, instantly memorable romp that signals a 180 degree switch from the acoustic and country vein Black has been messing with recently. Disc Two, a “bonus” CD, consists of nine live tracks recorded from Black’s 2006 tour. Disc Two is perhaps better suited for Black diehards; Disc One is what you want to listen to if you are wondering, or had forgotten, what the excitement is about.

Over half of the tracks on Disc One of 93-03 are drawn from Black’s first three solo CDs --- FRANK BLACK, TEENAGER OF THE YEAR, and THE CULT OF RAY --- recorded before his work with The Catholics. Listening to these tracks is like driving downhill tailgating a semi, and suddenly realizing that your brakes have gone out: it’s exciting, unforgettable, scary, and possibly fatal. “Ten Percenter” is equal parts surf rock, Arthur Lee, and “Helter Skelter.” After fourteen years, it’s still a surprise. “You Ain’t Me,” Black’s slap at Pixies’ bandmate Kim Deal (whose friction with Black led to Pixies’ breakup), the closest to a commercial straight-ahead rocker you’ll hear from Black, is a head rocker from beginning to end, an instant classic. Yet, the quieter, obtuse “Abstract Plain,” is as well, with Black at times almost invoking the spirit of Gene Pitney in places. Or not. With Black, you never know. Black’s six CDs with The Catholics, however, while not critically acclaimed, most definitely have their moments, even some brilliance, as demonstrated on “I Gotta Move,” the “Street Fightin’ Man” influenced “Velvety,” or “Robert Onion,” whose pedestrian opening belies a track which progresses into a frantic ode to…I have no idea. But it’s a keeper.

It’s difficult to get a handle on Black’s ever-shifting perspective, but maybe that’s the point. 93-03, like Black’s the entirety of Black’s body of work, will never sound exactly the same way twice. Put this one in the time capsule and it will sound just as good fifty years from now.