There’s a special treat for Pixies fans coming next month with the release of a limited Pure Audio Blu-Ray version of their classic album, Doolittle.
First released in 1989 and although their second album, Doolittle was the first Pixies record to be made commercially available in their native US. An instant hit with both critics and fans, its slow burn success has since helped it to sell close to a million copies in their homeland alone. Among the many plaudits thrown its way, Pitchfork ranked it at Number 4 in their Best Albums of the 80s poll, while NME writers in 2004 named it the second best album of all time. 2009 saw the band tour the album to celebrate its 20th birthday, and 5 years on in 2014, the band released a deluxe 25th Anniversary edition on triple CD & LP.
Now in a first for both band and 4AD, Doolittle is being released as a Pure Audio Blu-Ray which contains both the album in high definition (96 kHz / 24 bit) 5.1 surround sound - having been remixed by audio specialist Kevin Vanbergen (FX) from the original analogue multi-tracks - and a HD transfer of the original stereo mix by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. The results are a revelation, separating out elements from the recordings that are buried in the stereo mix and adding space, depth and a clarity to the performances without diluting their energy and impact.

After 1988's brilliant but abrasive Surfer Rosa, the Pixies' sound couldn't get much more extreme. Their Elektra debut, Doolittle, reins in the noise in favor of pop songcraft and accessibility. Producer Gil Norton's sonic sheen adds some polish, but Black Francis' tighter songwriting focuses the group's attack. Doolittle's most ferocious moments, like "Dead," a visceral retelling of David and Bathsheba's affair -- are more stylized than the group's past outbursts. Meanwhile, their poppy side surfaces on the irresistible single "Here Comes Your Man" and the sweetly surreal love song "La La Love You." The Pixies' arty, noisy weirdness mix with just enough hooks to produce gleefully demented singles like "Debaser," -- inspired by Bunuel's classic surrealist short Un Chien Andalou -- and "Wave of Mutilation," their surfy ode to driving a car into the sea. Though Doolittle's sound is cleaner and smoother than the Pixies' earlier albums, there are still plenty of weird, abrasive vignettes: the blankly psychotic "There Goes My Gun," "Crackity Jones," a song about a crazy roommate Francis had in Puerto Rico, and the nihilistic finale "Gouge Away." Meanwhile, "Tame," and "I Bleed" continue the Pixies' penchant for cryptic kink. But the album doesn't just refine the Pixies' sound; they also expand their range on the brooding, wannabe spaghetti western theme "Silver" and the strangely theatrical "Mr. Grieves." "Hey" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven," on the other hand, stretch Francis' lyrical horizons: "Monkey"'s elliptical environmentalism and "Hey"'s twisted longing are the Pixies' versions of message songs and romantic ballads. Their most accessible album, Doolittle's wide-ranging moods and sounds make it one of their most eclectic and ambitious. A fun, freaky alternative to most other late-'80s college rock, it's easy to see why the album made the Pixies into underground rock stars.