The first Matt Johnson album, originally issued under his own name in 1981, mixes accessible pop and dissonant experimentation and is a valuable sketchbook for The The fans interested in dissecting the early inner workings of Johnson's art.
Bearing much more resembalance to the similiaity gripping, dark early work of bands like Cocteau Twins and The Cure than to the later fusions of music that would come too characterize the duo's sound, the debut is a striking, dour landmark in early-80's atmospherics.
After dismantling Pixies and inverting his stage name, Frank Black's debut album was an adventurous sketchbook of pop styles ranging from surf rock to heavy metal, from Beatlesque pop to new wave.
The first of the group's two eponymously titled 1993 efforts is a sprawling, remarkable set. The songs resonate with depth and poignancy, and rank as Kozelek's most fully realized collection of compositions.
With Gold sales in the UK and Platinum in the US, the Last Splash was a hazier, more disjointed continuation of the harder pop of Pod. With the sonic collage of "Cannonball", The Breeders had a crossover hit that catapulted the group into stardom.
With everything performed solely by Perry and Gerrard, the duo again create a series of often astounding numbers that sound like they should be millennia old, mixing and matching styles to create new fusions.
This Red House Painters collects the remaining tracks from the remarkably fruitful sessions which also launched the earlier album. Far more experimental in nature, it opens with "Evil," which acutely sets the album's haunting, dark tone.
