Complete B Sides: 1988-97 (Remastered)

Continuing the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations, Complete B-Sides: 1988-97 by Pixies is reissued 25 years after its initial release. Having been remastered, the compilation of the band’s timeless “other” tracks are available on double black vinyl, double clear vinyl, and double CD; also marking the first time the release has been officially pressed on vinyl. Originally released on CD in 2001, while the band were almost a decade into a hiatus, Complete B-Sides contained 19 b-sides from the band’s classic 4AD era (1988-1991) and featured beloved Pixies tracks including “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)”, “Into The White”, “Bailey’s Walk”, and “The Thing”. As Pitchfork said in their glowing 9.6 review, “If nothing else, this release proves that, like Dylan in the 60s and Brian Eno in the 70s, the Pixies were the blinding visionaries of the 80s. Virtually everything they touched was groundbreaking and revelatory, leaving one to wish they could only have touched more.” For Complete B-Sides: 1988-97, all the tracks have been remastered from their original analogue tapes by Kevin Vanbergen – sounding amazingly fresh, it completes his extensive remastering work across the band’s catalogue. With the original tracklisting neatly fitting across 3 sides of vinyl, a fourth side of bonus live tracks has also been added, featuring six tracks culled from latter Pixies single releases including 1997’s Debaser re-release. This new edition works as a companion piece to the band’s recent Live at the BBC compilation reissue, where designer Chris Bigg (v23) has created striking new art, taking photos from Simon Larbalestier’s archive that were originally slated for use by Pixies, but were later shelved. Both long-term collaborators with the band, they worked on both reissues in tandem to remember and honour the band’s late-visual director, Vaughan Oliver.