Every detail here seems to have been poured over with exacting care, and like so many things, Old Ramon is the sum of its parts. Not that long ago, it was easy to spot a Peel Sessions record. Well, those sleeves are long gone but John Peel, now 60 years old, still brings great talent into the BBC studios, with those sessions usually seeing release. Particularly wonderful is an acoustic rendition of Pacific that is so good the engineers break into applause as the song ends. Other cuts like You Turn Me On and Film convey the energy of a live setting and eclipse the original recorded versions on Va Va Voom and Disco Volante , respectively.
Expectations are always high when a so-called seminal figure in rock makes an appearance.
As leader of the Pixies, he carved out angular guitar rock laced with semiotic ramblings that would have a lasting impact on the alterna-rock scene complexion for years to come. With a deluge of greatest hits, live and tribute albums released in recent years, not to mention the rise of bands like Modest Mouse, who owe an obvious debt of influence to the band, the Pixies stature has continued to grow. Black and his band the Catholics are on tour in support of a new record, Dog in the Sand , but I would venture to guess that a good portion of the sold-out crowd was unaware of the disc or even cared. Within the short-song format, though, the Iowa trio too often attempted to cram in more ideas than were needed, which in most cases was only one. Black was obviously aware of the potential nostalgia value of the show.