Pixies Trompe Le Monde (180 Gram Vinyl)The Pixies: Black Francis (vocals, guitar); Kim Deal (vocals, bass); Joey Santiago (guitar); David Lovering (drums). Additional personnel: Eric Drew Feldman (keyboards, synthesizer); Jef Feldman (tabla, dumbek). Recorded at Master Control and Pacifique, Burbank, California, Studio Des Dames, Paris, and Blackwing, London, England. The title might be French for "fool the world," but with Trompe le Monde, the Pixies weren't fooling anyone: this was

Part of the Last Shadow Puppets pop magic is the wry sense of humor that keeps their obsessions (namely femme fatales and the things men do to get over them) from ever getting too self-serious

fierce femininity

11 My Funny Valentine with Herbie Hancock 1

the movement was quickly co-opted by the major labels and radio as the best bands quickly evaporated into the pop mainstream while the rest faded into obscurity or day jobs

and even if they don't have the star-making power that "1901" and "Lisztomania" did

yet harmonious

but it doesn't feel like quite the leap forward Wolfgang was compared to what came before it

Recorded at G-Son Studios

nor is it quite the thickly colored freakout Homme's presence suggests

He has continued to develop his sample- & analogue synthesizer-based music further

yet contains one of the most compelling refrains since "Don't Fear the Reaper

" and the glorious "Creatures" endure precisely because they're not just aggressive and speedy: they're super-catchy