Tipped first by the Pixies’ tease of a big announcement on their Facebook page, then the appearance online last night of this image (left), speculation ran rampant — for a few frenzied hours, at least — that the legendary college rockers were about to drop their first new album since 1991’s Trompe Le Monde.
Turns out it’s just a new box set featuring reissued editions of the band’s four studio albums and debut EP. Make that a pair of very pricey, tricked-out box sets, due June 15 (we’re talking $175 and $450).
According to a report this morning from Rolling Stone, the Minotaur set will feature repackaged — but not remastered — editions of the Come on Pilgrim EP, as well as Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde.
No live tracks will be included, according to Rolling Stone, and “decisions about bonus tracks haven’t been finalized.”
The project will include new artwork, which is being handled by Vaughan Oliver, who oversaw the Pixies’ art direction in the ’80s and ’90s, and photographer Simon Larbalestier, who shot many of the photos for the original albums.
The two are working together once again, taking their cues from the band’s own music.
“My starting point would always be the music, reading the lyrics, talking with the band,” Oliver told Rolling Stone. “The images that Charles [Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis] painted with his lyrics really struck a chord. His work is full of fantastic imagery that always appealed to me, and those were ideas I was trying to reflect with the packaging.”
The Minotaur set will come in two editions, available through A+R, which handled the recent deluxe edition of Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV, among other projects.
Minotaur: Deluxe Edition ($175)
- All five Pixies albums on 24K layered CD and Blu-ray discs
- A DVD and Blu-ray of the band’s 1991 concert at London’s Brixton Academy
- A 54-page book of Vaughan Oliver and Simon Larbalestier’s project artwork
- All of the band’s videos on DVD and Blu-ray
- Custom slip case
Minotaur: Limited Edition ($450)
- Everything in the Deluxe Edition
- All five Pixies albums on 180-gram vinyl
- A Giclée print of Vaughan Oliver’s artwork
- A 72-page hardcover book of Vaughan Oliver and Simon Larbalestier’s project artwork
- Custom clamshell cover
Video: Pixies’ Minotaur
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