User:Moisejp/sandbox

Breeders as creative outlet to offset Deal's diminishing role in Pixies?
"I've been singing less and less in The Pixies. Just oohing and aahing. You can get a syntheziser to do that, but Charles is lead singer. Not only that, he sings every f***ing one! Who does he think he is? Mr Hog! Mr Bigshot! Shut up Charles! Shut your f***ing food-hole for three minutes and give Kim a chance." "That's absolutely not true. Some people like to imagine me playing bass in a corner with a tear in my eye, wishing I had a creative outlet for all my wonderful ideas, but it wasn't like that." "
 * Santiago: "Deal as being "headstrong and want[ing] to include her own songs, to explore her own world" on the band's albums; eventually she accepted that Francis was the singer and had musical control of the band"
 * Santiago in Frank (p. 131): "[Things changed], I think, when Kim started doing her own stuff."
 * Donelly in Frank (p. 131): "I think that Kim not singing as much [over time in Pixies] was fall-out from band problems, which happens in every band, and it's the classic thing where you have this group of extremely different personalities which is what makes the music and the band what it is, but also that's what ultimately blows it apart."
 * ""While a couple of Pixies songs were co-written by Francis and Deal (“Silver,” “Gigantic”), the vast majority of the catalog was written solely by Francis. “I remember just one time this even came up,” he says. “She came to rehearsal out of the blue and said, ‘I have a bunch of songs.’ This has never been previously discussed. We played them and said, ‘This sounds way different than our other stuff.’ She was like, ‘Okay, fine.'” "
 * "I just wanted to sing. So I sang. I have a lovely voice and I should use it. If I can't sing in this band, I'll sing in another band, if I'm good at something, then I'll do it. At least I'll try. If I can't do it, then I'll soon find out.
 * ""The Breeders were perceived as a creative escape for Deal and Donnelly, who were secondary figures in their respective bands, but Deal denies this.
 * (in Aston p. 320): "Deal denies she felt liberated by the experience. "I didn't think Charles won't let me shine, now the spirit's come over me."
 * (in Life to the Pixies, Spin, p. 72): "People think that since they like my voice, obviously I'm being oppressed [in the Pixies]. Or because they prefer my voice, they think I should sing more. I don't want to sing at all! I'd rather play the drums."
 * (in Life to the Pixies). "I had gotten bored."
 * (in Life to the Pixies): Deal: "When journalists used to say things like, "Why doesn't Kim sing more?" Charles would leave the table. He would act so bad." / Thompson: "I have an ego. You have to have an ego to do this. At the time, we would be playing and I would say to myself, "I'm doing all the work. She's smoking a cigarette and the crowd is loving her. Why am I knocking myself out writing all these damn songs?"
 * (in Mico p. 30): "There were no songs I wrote that I definitely didn't want done by the Pixies," Kim explains, "but I think that Charles is the lead singer for the Pixies and he writes the songs and that's good, that's as it should be."

There has been speculation from journalists that a motivation for starting the Breeders was her diminishing role and lack of creative outlet in the Pixies. Deal has often denied this as a reason,(Aston p. 320)(Taylor, 1993)(Deal in Mico, p. 30) but once complained of Black Francis’ singing almost all of the songs: "I have a lovely voice and I should use it. If I can't sing in this band, I'll sing in another band ... I've been singing less and less in the Pixies. Just oohing and aahing. You can get a syntheziser to do that, but [Francis] is lead singer. Not only that, he sings every f***ing one! Who does he think he is? Mr Hog! Mr Bigshot! ... Shut your f***ing food-hole for three minutes and give Kim a chance."

The Pixies' Joey Santiago recalls Deal having a strong desire to contribute songs to the group to express her creativity, but that she eventually resigned herself to accepting Francis as the band's principal singer and songwriter. Francis has recounted that Deal once presented some songs for consideration by the group, but consensus among the other members was that the compositions were too different from the sound of Pixies' repertoire.

A year and a half passed without Deal and Donelly recording any new music. During this time, they had decided that their attempt at dance music was not working and abandoned it.[5][6] They resolved to repurpose their songs for a different genre. Deal became more serious about her work with Donnelly when Black Francis announced he was undertaking a solo tour. She decided that if he did activity outside of the Pixies, so could she. Because the Pixies and Throwing Muses were signed to different American record labels,{{refn|The Pixies and Throwing Muses were signed to UK-based 4AD, which handled UK distribution of both bands, and mainland European distribution of the Pixies only; for US distribution, 4AD licensed Pixies' albums to Elektra. Throwing Muses were distributed by Sire in the US, and by its parent company Warner Music in the rest of Europe.

Sales
Pod sold moderately well, although Deal has noted it “never sold [anything]” compared to their next album, Last Splash (1993), which was certified platinum in the US and silver in the UK.

Stage 4
I would say the key introductory points about Albini would be as follows, in descending order of importance: he avoids the term "producer" in favor of "engineer"; his general work style (setting up beforehand, pressing record, one complete take, badabing badaboom, no overdubs and no redos); his "punk" ideology (his reasons for preferring his barebones recording style, his dim view of the "mainstream" record industry and other producers); reputation for somewhat gruff/stubborn personality. All told, this could be its own paragraph. So far, you have a suggestion of his work style, which is described as "hands-off"; I think the best solution to avoid having to label his process is to simply describe his process, as outlined in my parenthetical ("badabing") above. You describe his reasons pretty well (the "main concern" sentence), although I think you could do a bit more to flesh out his reputation and thoughts, because it would better illustrate the difference between Albini and "normal" producers.

Having established all that, the next paragraph could focus on the issue of how the musicians felt that Albini made an impact, and/or how he was actually more "involved" (or "responsible" for the album's sound) than his "hands-off" reputation/attitude might suggest on the surface.

Draft:

Albini—who has worked on thousands of recordings including albums by Nirvana, Page and Plant, and PJ Harvey —identifies his role as more technical than artistic, and prefers the label engineer over producer, or asks for no credit on the album sleeve at all. He is famous for using analogue recording techniques, including adjusting the placement of microphones to achieve nuances in sound, while making a point of not changing the arrangements a band has decided on. Known for his dim view of the mainstream record industry, the press often depicts him as being not easy to work with. He has also sometimes had a reputation for being misogynist, in part from the name of his former band Rapeman.

Despite this reputation, Donelly recalls being especially comfortable working with Albini, whom she found "sweet". Wiggs and Donelly have both commented that although Albini often downplays his degree of influence on an album’s quality, for Pod his contributions were considerable. Donelly has praised Albini for the input that he gave the band prior to recording. This included convincing the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused". Albini paid attention to capturing strong live performances in the studio. His main concern was achieving the best sound, rather than seeking the best technical performances.

Albini had a policy of never doing more than two takes of each song. This led to confrontations with Donelly, who remembers: "For all the fights we had with him in the studio, for all the times I'd stomp upstairs in my pajamas screaming that I couldn't live with such-and-such a guitar part, the next morning I realized he was usually right." Deal also often fought with Albini. Wiggs was struck with how quickly Albini and the other musicians resolved issues through short, intense arguments, an ability she attributed to their being American.

Albini believed that Walford's drumming formed an important part of the band's appeal. Then 19 years old, Walford was a confident and "hard-hitting" drummer who typically played one of his drums behind the beat. Song tempos were faster than Wiggs had expected, which arose in part because Deal lacked the breath control to sing her lines in a slower manner.

Refs for future formatting
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Sound on Sound

Footnote
The Pixies and Throwing Muses were signed to UK-based 4AD, which handled UK distribution of both bands, and mainland European distribution of the Pixies only; for US distribution, 4AD licensed Pixies' albums to Elektra. Throwing Muses were distributed by Sire in the US, and by its parent company Warner Music in the rest of Europe.

As part of her contract, Deal also owed her first non-Pixies releases to 4AD. All of the Breeders' albums up to Title TK (2002), as well as her band the Amps' Pacer (1995), were included in the albums she owed 4AD. She later signed a one-off distribution deal with 4AD for the Breeders' Mountain Battles (2008), then released their EP Fate to Fatal (2009) independently, after returning to the label for All Nerve (2018).

For US distribution of Pod, Watts-Russell believed the album would be better matched to an independent label, rather than Elektra, so he licensed it to Rough Trade America. This division of Rough Trade went bankrupt, and Pod was distributed by Elektra in the US from then on. All of Deal's non-Pixies albums up to Title TK were likewise licensed to Elektra, while Mountain Battles and All Nerve were only released on 4AD. Deal has noted that by the time of Mountain Battles, 4AD doing more worldwide distribution rather than licensing albums.

Footnote for unpacking the bands' label situation. Points to consider adding:
 * Super nice useful quote in Fortune (2009): "the last record that I made under a deal, under a contract of time, was Title TK, and that deal stopped in 2002. So I’ve never actually been under a record contract. Mountain Battleswas a one-off. We’d gone into the studio, I’d paid for it, and I said, "Would you like to release it?" and they said, Yeah," and we gave them the masters, and the same with this one, too. 4AD is more interested in doing stuff worldwide now, instead of just in England and Europe, so I thought, "It’s an EP. I don’t know if we need a label or not." I got involved with 4AD because of the Pixies, and that was when I first met those people, so that was in the '80s. The first two recordings that the Pixies put out were import-only, they weren’t even released in the states, they were made by 4AD and manufactured overseas, and if somebody wanted to sell them, like Newberry Comics wanted to sell them, they would be in the import section. So that was the way Come On Pilgrimand Surfer Rosawere released. Then, people began to notice us a little bit more, and that’s when 4AD decided to do a licensing deal with Elektra. Because if you remember, at the time all the separate countries, Polygram was in Canada and Virgin in France and the Flying Nun label in New Zealand, and Rough Trade in Germany, so the fact that it was Elektra in the states ... it didn’t matter. It was just a licensing deal. So I’ve never really known a big label like Elektra, and the Breeders were never signed to Elektra ... it was only a licensing deal and it was the same continuation of the Pixies contract."
 * The Pixies and Throwing Muses were signed to 4AD.
 * In the US, the Pixies were licensed to Elektra by 4AD.
 * In the US, Throwing Muses were on Sire and distributed by Sire's parent company Warner's in mainland Europe. Quotes by Aston:
 * Ivo (about initial hesitation to sign Throwing Muses): "But my main caution was that 4AD didn't have guaranteed American distribution and I was concerned we wouldn't do them justice." (p. 208)
 * "The re-recorded track ['Soul Soldier'] was not the band obeying intuition but the influence of Throwing Muses' new American label, Sire. Seymour Stein wasn't only interested in British bands: he clearly wanted American bands on British labels. Someone at Sire, or parent company Warner Brothers—no one can recall who—had singled out 'Soul Soldier' as a possible route to success." (pp. 239–240)
 * "Ivo: ...things were beyond my control by then, because Sire had taken over the A&R. I really, really tried to persuade [manager] Ken Goes that it might be great for Sire to sign the band for America, but to let us represent them for the rest of the world and so not condemn them to the Warners system in the rest of Europe. But Sire had given the band money and we hadn't, so we ended with Throwing Muses only for Britain." (p. 240)
 * "On paper, Sire was a valid option. It wasn't uncommon for American bands to sign to a major label; the size of the country meant that US independents struggled to fulfill the needs of the larger alternative bands..." (p. 240)
 * "Across Europe, Pixies was handled by 4AD's licenses while Warners attended Throwing Muses."(p. 272)


 * In the US, Ivo originally licensed Pod to Rough Trade. When it went bankrupt, Elektra took over.
 * "Deal subsequently recorded a new Pixies album, though Ivo wisely kept the two records apart to avoid any conflict of press duties and reduce the number of unavoidable comparisons. Ivo also kept the two albums separate in terms of licensing, thinking Pod was more suited to an independent label. He managed to persuade Elektra of this thought, and licensed Pod to Rough Trade America." (Aston)
 * "The Breeders never got any money for Pod," recalls Kim Deal. "We were told the money Rough Trade America made [by licensing Pod] was reinvested in Butthole Surfers' [album] piouhgd, and then the label went bankrupt."


 * Deal owed three non-Pixies albums to Elektra. They were presumably Last Splash, Pacer, and Title TK.
 * "[Deal] had first been upset when Rough Trade America's licensing of Pod meant the album wasn't included as one of the three albums that Deal owed under her Pixies contract with Elektra."
 * [] (1996) "[Pacer] might well have gotten off to a faster start if Deal had continued to call her group the Breeders. Elektra certainly would have been a lot happier promoting a Breeders album. However, Deal is actually still signed to the Pixies' label, 4AD, which licenses her work to Elektra. And at 4AD, Deal said, she tells them what she's doing, and they say, Whatever, Kim.
 * [] (1995) "the Breeders aren’t really a signed band. I’m signed to 4AD, but just me, not the Breeders. I can deliver a Kim Deal tuba record if I want."
 * [] (2009) "Deal also took the opportunity to do a little record straightening. After complaining that a Rolling Stone story from several years ago reported the Breeders had been dropped from Elektra, she explained why this wasn’t so: “I’ve only been on 4AD. We couldn’t be dropped, we were only licensed to Elektra and Title TK was the last album we owed to 4AD anyway.” "


 * It could be interesting to know how many Frank Black albums were owed to 4AD/Elektra, and (if the detail is available somewhere) whether all the Pixies/Deal/F. Black 4AD/Elektra albums came from the same pool of owed albums.
 * 2 albums released on 4AD: [] and 3 on Elektra (including one irregular one): []


 * Did Donelly's Belly release any albums on 4AD, and were they owed?
 * 2 albums and best-of compilation on 4AD [] and Sire/Reprise and Rhino []

*By 2008, 4AD could handle worldwide distribution, and didn't need to license overseas? So far have not been able to find ref that says this explicitly. Would be nice to find. Found a good quote about this in Fortune (2009).
 * Some post-breakup Pixies compilations released on 4AD [] but not Elektra []. Not optimistic to find any sources saying how these may have fit in with the Pixies/Deal/F. Black albums owed to 4AD.
 * Deal's last Breeders album owed to 4AD was Title TK, then she released Mountain Battles on 4AD on a one-off deal, then Fate to Fatal was independently released then the Breeders re-signed to 4AD for All Nerve.

Recording: Wiggs vs. Donelly
From PR, idea to achieve here: It would be removing the words "hands off" (which could sound contradictory and confusing) and instead focus on how Wiggs and Donelly both say that although Albini claims he doesn't actively contribute to how songs turn out, he actually does. And then use BLZ's idea for adding a footnote to give some background about Albini's reported role, etc.

Draft:

According to writer Martin Aston, Albini focused on live performances and quick takes.[29] Albini's main concern was achieving the best sound from the equipment, rather than seeking the best technical performances. As long as the group succeeded in playing each song all the way through, he considered it good enough for the album.[27] He also convinced the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused",[39] and has praised Albini for the helpful input that he gave the band prior to recording. Wiggs and Donelly have both commented that although Albini often downplays his degree of influence on an album’s quality, his contribution to the process is considerable.

In footnote or out?
 * Donelly notes he shies away from using term “producer”.
 * Aston: He often uses “recorded by” (engineer role) as opposed to “producer” (page?).
 * Allmusic: “The constants in the wide variety of Albini-produced albums were raw percussion, raging guitars, and plenty of mid-range punch. He often refused to be credited as a producer, preferring instead the more hands-on title of engineer.“

From earlier version: Wiggs has said his "hands-off" approach had a big influence on how the recordings turned out.[38]

Quotes:
 * Wiggs: "Engineer Steve Albini wasn't interested in "perfecting" a song or a performance: his metier was getting the best sound from the equipment and pressing "record." (He was utterly pleased with himself when mixing the record, saying "Look - no EQ!") If we made it through the song from beginning to end, that was the take which made it onto the record. When Pod was released in 1990, people talked about its 'creative arrangements,' 'visceral production' and 'palpable atmosphere,' and they weren't wrong."
 * Wiggs in Thiessen: "Even though perhaps he likes to think his role is transparent, his 'hands-off' approach has a pretty big influence on the way an album turns out."
 * Raible: "There’s a wonderful bluntness to Albini’s production where you really feel like you’re in the room with the musicians playing."
 * Donelly: "It’s true and I love that. He likes to say he doesn’t produce or engineer but he does. And he did a lot of pre-production with us which is huge."


 * Donelly in Frank (p. 134): "I was just so impressed by him in the studio, too, just how decisive he is and he just knows how to get a sound that he has in his head. He also made decisions about cutting down some of the harmonies which we balked at initially, but he was 100 percent right. Some of the parts, it's just better having her single voice, it makes it more effective and sadder and sort of just more focused."
 * In Mico (p. 30):
 * "Jo believes Albini was the only man for the job bearing in mind the ridiculously small amount of time they had to play with. "A lot of the time, the things we played first ended up being the finished item," she says. Although the band seems hapy with the production, Albini's one-take policy caused minor ructions with Tanya."
 * "He wouldn't let us do anything more than twice," she says. "For all the fights we had with him in the studio, for all the times I'd stomp upstairs in my pajamas screaming that I couldn't live with such-and-such a guitar part, the next morning I realized he was usually right."
 * Kim: "You do something, he tells you what you thinks, if you don't change anything, he just calls you all kinds of names."
 * "To a certain extent, it was a conscious decision on Kim's part to choose Albini because she needed someone to fight with," Jo concludes. "The thing that really impressed me was the upfront and straightforward way which everything was dealt with. I put it down to them being Americans. You just have the tantrum and five minutes later, it's gone. It was astonishing to see people expressing their anger like Kim does and I started doing it myself."

Stage 2
I would say the key introductory points about Albini would be as follows, in descending order of importance: he avoids the term "producer" in favor of "engineer"; his general work style (setting up beforehand, pressing record, one complete take, badabing badaboom, no overdubs and no redos); his "punk" ideology (his reasons for preferring his barebones recording style, his dim view of the "mainstream" record industry and other producers); reputation for somewhat gruff/stubborn personality (especially since you should also add some text about Deal's fights with him, see below). All told, this could be its own paragraph. So far, you have a suggestion of his work style, which is described as "hands-off"; I think the best solution to avoid having to label his process is to simply describe his process, as outlined in my parenthetical ("badabing") above. You describe his reasons pretty well (the "main concern" sentence), although I think you could do a bit more to flesh out his reputation and thoughts, because it would better illustrate the difference between Albini and "normal" producers. Certainly worth its own paragraph. Ceoil (talk) 15:13, 27 January 2019 (UTC) Having established all that, the next paragraph could focus on the issue of how the musicians felt that Albini made an impact, and/or how he was actually more "involved" (or "responsible" for the album's sound) than his "hands-off" reputation/attitude might suggest on the surface. Some of the stuff in your sandbox about Albini and Deal fighting would certainly be worth including in the main text. It's keen insight into the recording process and reveals an interesting back-and-forth dynamic. Wiggs's observation about American tantrums is charming.

Pod was recorded in January 1990 at Palladium studios, Scotland,[32][24] a house with recording equipment on the first floor and bedrooms on the second.[27] The band sometimes recorded wearing pajamas and would go to a local pub without changing.[33] The studio was booked for two weeks, but the band finished recording the album in only a week. With the remaining time, the label hired a television crew to film a music video and the band recorded a session for John Peel's show on BBC Radio 1.[34]

Albini focused on capturing strong live performances in the studio,[28] and took a deliberately "hands-off" approach compared with the usual role of a record producer.[35] His main concern was achieving the best sound, rather than seeking the best technical performances.[27] He convinced the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused",[36] and has praised Albini for the input that he gave the band prior to recording.[37]

Albini believed that Walford's drumming formed an important part of the band's appeal.[31] Then 19 years old, Walford was a confident and "hard-hitting" drummer who typically played one of his drums behind the beat.[27] Song tempos were faster than Wiggs had expected, which arose in part because Deal lacked the breath control to sing her lines in a slower manner.[27]

The engineer had a policy of never doing more than two takes of each song. This led to confrontations with Donelly, who remembers: "For all the fights we had with him in the studio, for all the times I'd stomp upstairs in my pajamas screaming that I couldn't live with such-and-such a guitar part, the next morning I realized he was usually right." Deal also often fought with Albini. Wiggs has recalled being struck with with how quickly Albini and the other musicians resolved issues through short, intense arguments, an ability attributed to their being American.

"The thing that really impressed me was the upfront and straightforward way which everything was dealt with. I put it down to them being Americans. You just have the tantrum and five minutes later, it's gone. It was astonishing to see people expressing their anger like Kim does and I started doing it myself."

Stage 3
I would say the key introductory points about Albini would be as follows, in descending order of importance: he avoids the term "producer" in favor of "engineer"; his general work style (setting up beforehand, pressing record, one complete take, badabing badaboom, no overdubs and no redos); his "punk" ideology (his reasons for preferring his barebones recording style, his dim view of the "mainstream" record industry and other producers); reputation for somewhat gruff/stubborn personality (especially since you should also add some text about Deal's fights with him, see below). All told, this could be its own paragraph. So far, you have a suggestion of his work style, which is described as "hands-off"; I think the best solution to avoid having to label his process is to simply describe his process, as outlined in my parenthetical ("badabing") above. You describe his reasons pretty well (the "main concern" sentence), although I think you could do a bit more to flesh out his reputation and thoughts, because it would better illustrate the difference between Albini and "normal" producers. Certainly worth its own paragraph. Ceoil (talk) 15:13, 27 January 2019 (UTC) Having established all that, the next paragraph could focus on the issue of how the musicians felt that Albini made an impact, and/or how he was actually more "involved" (or "responsible" for the album's sound) than his "hands-off" reputation/attitude might suggest on the surface. Some of the stuff in your sandbox about Albini and Deal fighting would certainly be worth including in the main text. It's keen insight into the recording process and reveals an interesting back-and-forth dynamic. Wiggs's observation about American tantrums is charming.

Wiggs and Donelly have both commented that although Albini often downplays his degree of influence on an album’s quality, his contribution to the process is considerable. Albini focused on capturing strong live performances in the studio,[28] and took a deliberately "hands-off" approach compared with the usual role of a record producer.[35] His main concern was achieving the best sound, rather than seeking the best technical performances.[27] He convinced the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused",[36] and has praised Albini for the input that he gave the band prior to recording.[37]

Draft:

Albini—who has worked on thousands of recordings including albums by Nirvana, Page and Plant, and PJ Harvey —regularly refrains from calling himself a producer, instead preferring engineer, as he identifies his role as more technical than artistic; he furthermore sometimes declines to receive any credit for his recording work, believing such credit is unnecessary and can distracts from the artistic achievement of each band. He is famous for using analogue recording techniques, including adjusting the placement of microphones to achieve nuances in sound, while making a point of not changing the arrangements a band has decided on. Albini is known for his dim view of the mainstream record industry, and the press often depicts him as being not easy to work with. He has also sometimes had a reputation for being misogynist, in part from the name of his former band Rapeman.

Despite this reputation, Donelly recalls that she was very comfortable working with Albini, whom she found "sweet". Wiggs and Donelly have both commented that although Albini often downplays his degree of influence on an album’s quality, for Pod his contributions were considerable. Donelly has praised Albini for the input that he gave the band prior to recording. This included convincing the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused". Albini paid attention to capturing strong live performances in the studio. His main concern was achieving the best sound from the equipment, rather than attempting to improve the band's performances; as long as the group succeeded in playing each song all the way through, Albini considered it good enough for the album.

Albini had a policy of never doing more than two takes of each song. This led to confrontations with Donelly, who remembers: "For all the fights we had with him in the studio, for all the times I'd stomp upstairs in my pajamas screaming that I couldn't live with such-and-such a guitar part, the next morning I realized he was usually right." Deal also often fought with Albini. Wiggs has recalled being struck with how quickly Albini and the other musicians resolved issues through short, intense arguments, an ability she attributed to their being American.

Albini believed that Walford's drumming formed an important part of the band's appeal. Then 19 years old, Walford was a confident and "hard-hitting" drummer who typically played one of his drums behind the beat. Song tempos were faster than Wiggs had expected, which arose in part because Deal lacked the breath control to sing her lines in a slower manner.

Ceoil's version:

His main concern was achieving the best sound, rather than seeking the best technical performances.

Release
In "The Breeders Set Release Date for Pod" (Melody Maker May 19, 1990) there is "The Breeders have finally announced details of the album Pod...". That seems to express some anticipation, and could maybe be a start. Lamacq says the "record does all it can to justify the attention it'll receive because of the people involved with it—right down to engineer Steve Albini." Not sure if that's exactly the same thing as anticipation, though. I'll keep looking online just in case I can find anything.

Regarding "widely anticipated": I think a sentence along these lines to introduce the "release" section is the right idea, if not in that exact form. The text you pulled from Melody Maker and Lamacq would justify something like (feel free to rework this, it's just a sketch): "Pod generated anticipation in the British music press due to the involvement of Deal, known from her highly regarded work with the Pixies, and Albini, who had established a reputation for his engineering work for other artists' music."

Pod was released in the UK on May 29, 1990 by 4AD. Watts-Russell planned the date to be not too close to the release of the Pixies' Bossanova two and a half months later, for more effective publicity of both albums. For US distribution of Pod, Watts-Russell believed the album would be better matched to an independent label, rather than the Pixies' American distributor Elektra, so he licensed it to Rough Trade America. When this division of Rough Trade later went bankrupt, Elektra took over distribution of Pod in the US. Deal has noted that the Breeders did not receive any royalties from initial US sales because of Rough Trade's bankruptcy.

The album generated anticipation in the British music press because of the involvement of Deal and Donelly—known from their highly regarded work with the Pixies and Throwing Muses, respectively—and Albini, who likewise had a strong reputation for his previous engineering work. Pod reached number 22 in the UK, where it was promoted by a full-page ad in Melody Maker, and number 73 in the Netherlands.

Reception
Several Pod reviews have discussed its relative artistic quality compared to the Pixies' work. Among positive reviews, Phares hailed the album as "a vibrantly creative debut" that was better than the Pixies' 1990 album Bossanova, and commented on the latter's loss in not putting more of Deal's compositions on their records. Spin magazine's William Van Meter, Rob Sheffield, and Steve Kandell likewise each considered Pod to stand up favorably to the Pixies' output; Both Kandell and Sheffield cited tracks including "Fortunately Gone" as being superior to Pixies' songs—or to those by the group's main songwriter, Black Francis—and Kandell noted Pod's appeal for fans of Deal's popular "Gigantic" (on Surfer Rosa).

Both Clifton and Reynolds commented unfavorably on the restraint and lack of energy in Pod compared to the Pixies' work. For Clifton, the Breeders’ songs were "plodding"; to Reynolds, "the music sounds inhibited, moribund, stilted, never lets it rip like the Pixies ... Whenever a song gathers momentum or thrust, [the Breeders] throw in a weird bit, a gear change or an abrupt stop. They seem unhappy with the idea of simple rock exuberance." Critic Steve Taylor in The A to X of Alternative Music also found Pod to be inferior to the Pixies, but was impressed with Deal's versatility at being able to skillfully switch from bass to guitar for her new band.

Other negative reviews included mention of how poorly developed or insubstantial the songs were, including comments that the they sounded incomplete, like a building that is not solidly put together (Dolan), that the album was an "art project" with the Breeders not "[sounding] like a band" ("The Village Voice's Robert Christgau), and that the music and lyrics sometimes seemed forced (Greg Sandow in Entertainment Weekly).

Among other reviewers who described Pod in a positive light, Wif Stenger in Trouser Press Record Guide characterized the first side as "a bit shaky" but declared "the second half ... damn near perfect"; Lamacq opined that the listener may initially find the music too minimalist, but will soon warm to the sound immensely; The New York Times Karen Schoemer commented on Pods intelligence and, like Phares, on its originality.

→Phares: "Pod is a fresher and more successful work than the Pixies' Bossanova and the Muses' Hunkpapa, their main projects' releases from around that time ... Pod reaffirms what a distinctive songwriter Deal is, and how much the Pixies missed out on by not including more of her material on their albums ... A vibrantly creative debut, Pod remains the Breeders' most genuine moment."

→Kandell: "Manna for Pixies fans who craved an entire record like Surfer Rosa's sweet and bludgeoning "Gigantic". "Hellbound" and "Fortunately Gone" suggested Charles Thompson might be only the second-best aggro-pop songwriter in his own band."

→Van Meter: "Pod outshines the Pixies' increasingly spaced-obsessed later albums, who alienated any fans who'd ever gotten laid."

→Sheffield: "While Pod bears all the usual signs of a side project with its dashed off filler ... Deal far surpasses the Pixies on nuggets such as 'Fortunately Gone' ... 'Doe', and 'When I Was a Painter'."

→Clifton: "fashionably warts-and-all 'live' feel by Steve Albini ... too plodding [to be compared to the Pixies] ... did provide balm for purists who felt that the Pixies album of that year (Bossanova) was too solidly produced and science fictional for its own good".

→Reynolds: "The saddest thing about Pod is that the obvious put-down (just a collection of Pixies B-sides and fillers) is the correct one ... Throughout the album, the guitar playing is an immaculate forgery of Joey Santiago's signature: sudden squalls, geyser-gushing solos, surfadelic/Spaghetti Western twang, the lot. This wouldn't be so bad, except that the music sounds inhibited, moribund, stilted, never lets it rip like the Pixies ... Where Pixies music seems innately twisted, dirty, untamed, f***ed, the Breeders sound like they're trying too hard to be unhinged ... Whenever a song gathers momentum or thrust, they throw in a weird bit, a gear change or an abrupt stop. They seem unhappy with the idea of simple rock exuberance."

→Taylor: "Deal's songs ... are not of the same quality as her Pixies work. Having drafted Wiggs to play bass, she demonstrates that she's no slouch on the guitar though."

Other reviews:

→Stenger: "The sound of Pod favors the Pixies fan more than the gentler muses ... Side One's a bit shaky ... but the second half is damn near perfect."

→Lamacq: "a tight-ish piece of tantalising rock ... The initial thought, particularly on Side Two, is that they'd overdone the sparseness ... But it grows on you like hell. Pod is a lasting, enduring album ... Throughout Pod, the Breeders show what you can achieve by leaving some space in the songs: by leaving them out rather than the current trend of filling them in "

→Dolan: "music is rough-edged and unfinished-sounding. On later albums, such messiness made for rickety charm, but here the effect is a bit like carpentry that never stands as straight as you’d like. Still, there are several happily idiosyncratic moments—Deal’s repeating, two-note moan on “Glorious,” and “Iris,”"

Billboard: "succeeds best when the atmosphere is more spirited than dignified, but innovative or college formats should be ecstatic."

→Sandow: "Intriguing, dessicated sound, but both music and lyrics sometimes seem contrived."
 * Critic Greg Sandow in Entertainment Weekly found the music in some ways interesting, although at times it and the lyrics seemed forced.

→Schoemer: "Minimalist ... has a smart, innovative edge all its own"
 * The New York Times Karen Schoemer commented on Pods intelligence and originality.

Breihan: "Albini ... helped give the new band the punch that its sharp, elliptical indie-pop songs demanded."

Pitchfork: "Pod is a blissful mindfuck of a record ... the songs ... came across like the product of a band caught in a constant cycle of self-destruction and rebirth. Sure, the songs were catchy-- frighteningly so, in fact-- but that just served to make them all the more poignant when they fall apart ... this record remains deliciously inscrutable. Sometimes it's disarmingly gorgeous. Other times it's punishingly gritty and violent. Usually, it's both."

→Christgau: "The Village Voice's Robert Christgau called the album an "art project" and implied that the Breeders did not "[sound] like a band"; he assigned it a "neither" rating, indicating an album that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."

Wolk: "striking enough to spawn a career. It's hazy and creepily erotic, showcasing Deal's thin purr and bizarre, skeletal songs ... Aside from the racing 'Hellbound', it's as elliptical as rock gets, and it was just what college radio had been waiting for."

Currently used

 * "I wanted to play the songs slower, but Kim said she didn't have enough breath to hold the notes any longer, and that limited how slow they could be."
 * paraphrase: The tempo of the songs was faster than Wiggs had envisioned, because Deal could not keep her breath long enough to slow down each note.


 * "Albini stressed live performances and quick takes." (Aston)
 * paraphrase:


 * "Engineer Steve Albini wasn't interested in "perfecting" a song or a performance: his metier was getting the best sound from the equipment and pressing "record." (He was utterly pleased with himself when mixing the record, saying "Look - no EQ!") If we made it through the song from beginning to end, that was the take which made it onto the record. When Pod was released in 1990, people talked about its 'creative arrangements,' 'visceral production' and 'palpable atmosphere,' and they weren't wrong."
 * paraphrase: Wiggs has recalled that Albini's main concern was ensuring the best sound possible from the musical equipment, rather than attempting to improve the band's performances; as long as the group succeeded in playing each song all the way through, he considered that take good enough for the album.


 * “Even though perhaps he likes to think his role is transparent, his ‘hands-off’ approach has a pretty big influence on the way an album turns out.”
 * paraphrase: Wiggs has commented that his "hands-off" style of engineering greatly helped to shape the sound of the recordings."


 * "I was just so impressed by him [Albini] in the studio, too, just how decisive he is and he just knows how to get a sound that he has in his head. He also made decisions about cutting down some of the harmonies which we balked at initially. But he was 100% right. Some of the parts, it's just better having her single voice, it makes it more effective and sadder and sort of more focused." (Donelly in Frank)
 * paraphrase: Albini's contributions included convincing the band members to reduce the number of harmonies in the songs and give more prominence to Deal's vocals; Donelly believes this improved the album, by making the performances "more effective and sadder and sort of more focused".


 * AR: "There’s a wonderful bluntness to Albini’s production where you really feel like you’re in the room with the musicians playing." (Raible)
 * TD: "It’s true and I love that. He likes to say he doesn’t produce or engineer but he does. And he did a lot of pre-production with us which is huge. Gil is big on pre-production, too. Spending a couple of weeks in the room with the band, listening to the songs." (Raible)
 * paraphrase: "Albini was involved in the pre-production of the songs, which Donelly found beneficial."


 * "Britt ... made a big difference on that record." (Albini in Frank)
 * paraphrase idea: Albini has commented that Walford's drum performance was an important element for how the album turned out.


 * "Britt had a self-assuredness that comes only with youth. He was an authoritative hard-hitting drummer, and so behind the beat you almost felt it belonged in the last bar. He dispensed with the standard 'one-two-three-four' song count-off, and cued everyone by simply announcing 'one.' "
 * paraphrase idea: Walford was a very confident, powerfully hitting drummer, who played behind the beat.

So far unused

 * "Walford was a very minimalist drummer" (Aston) ...
 * paraphrase idea:


 * "Tanya played guitar in an almost absent-minded way, dispatching the last note of each riff as if to say, "How was that?" Kim was encouraging, "That's great. But can you play fewer notes?" "
 * paraphrase idea:

Pod
About "Hellbound", musician Sasha Alcott has written that "The guitar, drums and bass are all doing their own thing to build up and then slam into the refrain."


 * "creative songwriting... reaffirms what a distinctive songwriter Deal is"
 * "immediate production"
 * "fresher and more successful work than the Pixies' Bossanova and the Muses' Hunkpapa"
 * paraphrase: better and more original than recent releases by Throwing Muses and the Pixies.


 * "A vibrantly creative debut, Pod remains the Breeders' most genuine moment."
 * "Intriguing, dessicated sound, but both music and lyrics sometimes seem contrived."
 * paraphrase: interesting music, although at times it and the lyrics feel forced and unnatural.


 * The angular melodies, shattered tempos and screeching dynamics recall elements of each of the women's full-time bands, but Pod has a smart, innovative edge all its own."
 * "something subtly sinister to her cooing-- like a siren or a schoolgirl concealing a butcher knife, her methods of enticement immediately struck as inherently destructive. This dynamic was fully realized in the songs themselves, which came across like the product of a band caught in a constant cycle of self-destruction and rebirth."
 * paraphrase: Deal's singing is spooky, like a young girl hiding a weapon, or a siren (mythology).


 * songs are "catchy-- frighteningly so, in fact-- but that just served to make them all the more poignant when they fall apart"
 * "More than a decade later, this record remains deliciously inscrutable. Sometimes it's disarmingly gorgeous. Other times it's punishingly gritty and violent. Usually, it's both"
 * "seven of the twelve songs were closer to two minutes than three"
 * paraphrase: seven of the dozen tracks are less than two and a half minutes in length.


 * "some were mercurial ballads and others had angular, Hersh-style twists"
 * unlike Pixies' music, "under Albini's watchful eye, there were no busy rock heroics"
 * "Albini... helped give the new band the punch that its sharp, elliptical indie-pop songs demanded"
 * "hazy and creepily erotic"
 * "Deal's thin purr and bizarre, skeletal songs"
 * paraphrase: strange-sounding songs with minimal instrumentation.


 * "as elliptical as rock gets"
 * "lilting, low-mixed vocal melodies"; "background... plodding"
 * "spacious and haunting"
 * "the tenor of the work leant towards Deal's work with her parent band with plangent guitars, menacing melodies and uncompromised lyrics" /
 * paraphrase: Pod contains threatening melodies and loud, resounding guitar playing (similar to the Pixies).


 * Albini:
 * "I instantly preferred it to the Pixies."
 * "I instantly could tell that it was a unique perspective."
 * "And that there was a simultaneous charm to Kim's presentation to her music that's both childlike and giddy and also completely mature and kind of dirty. And I instantly liked that it had this sort of girlish fascination with things that were pretty but it was also kind of horny"
 * "That was a juxtaposition that, at the time, was unusual. You didn't get a lot of knowing winks from female artists at the time."
 * "But I also think that musically it was quite distinct from everything else that was around at the time."

Currently used

 * "Glorious" and "Doe" co-written by Ray Halliday

So far unused

 * Placeholder

Currently used

 * "spare, sensual... more lighthearted and good-natured than the work of Deal's other band"
 * paraphrase: more benign and friendly-sounding than the Pixies' songs.


 * "oddly wrenching [and] outwardly pretty and well-constructed"
 * Matt LeMay of Pitchfork described the latter track, "Iris", and "Oh!" as possessing a beautiful, surprisingly gripping quality.

So far unused

 * manifests "Deal's tobacco-stained delivery and Steve Albini's sharp, make-up-free production"
 * "overt Black Francis influence" (Mark Segal Kemp, Indy Week)
 * paraphrase: was clearly inspired in part by Black Francis's songwriting.

So far unused

 * "bipolar cover of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" perfectly encapsulates the record as a whole"
 * "Ivo's suggestion to cover "Happiness is a Warm Gun" resulted in one of the most inventive Beatles covers in years"
 * "sinuous"
 * "expressed the tension only implicit in the original"
 * "One single, a caustic cover of the Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun", became a minor hit on college radio"
 * "Kim Deal's voice fits the melody– perfectly and even gives the original a run for its money"
 * paraphrase: Deal's singing very much matches the melody.

Currently used

 * "Slint-like in its funeral pace and barren arrangements, with a stark drum tattoo, Carrie Bradley's lonesome violin, Deal's surprisingly raw, cracked vocal."
 * paraphrase: slow tempo, restrained drumming, Bradley's sad violin performance, Deal's unexpectedly raw singing.


 * "oddly wrenching [and] outwardly pretty and well-constructed"
 * paraphrase: possess a beautiful, surprisingly gripping quality.

So far unused

 * "murmured" backing vocals by Mick Allen.
 * paraphrase: Mick Allen provided soft and low backup singing.


 * manifests "Deal's tobacco-stained delivery and Steve Albini's sharp, make-up-free production"

Currently used

 * "bouncy momentum"
 * paraphrase: buoyant rhythm.

So far unused

 * "about a living abortion"; "unusual subjects"
 * " "Hellbound" in particular rides the edge between sweet and delicate frivolity and a fierce head-banging sing-a-long. All with the same basic riff! The guitar, drums and bass are all doing their own thing to build up and then slam into the refrain. But this is not accomplished with the simple engagement of a distortion pedal come chorus time, the parts are layered in the pre-chorus in a way that is, once again simple, but deeply satisfying."
 * "racing"
 * "harrowing"
 * "took the view of an aborted foetus"
 * Deal talked about "the most embarrassing lyrics [she has] ever written": the line "Hellbound" that goes "It lives, despite the knives internal." "I guess it's not so cringey as it's just not good."
 * "about a fetus that survives an abortion attempt" (Rae Alexandra, 2010, SF Weekly)

Currently used

 * about "weird/bad sex"
 * "strange or unsatisfactory sex"

So far unused

 * "quirky-but-direct sound... could have easily fit on Doolittle or Bossanova."

Currently used

 * "spare, sensual... more lighthearted and good-natured than the work of Deal's other band"
 * paraphrase: more benign and friendly-sounding than the Pixies' songs.

Currently used

 * "graphically detailed menstruation"
 * "oddly wrenching [and] outwardly pretty and well-constructed"

So far unused

 * "blend[s] the best of the Pixies' elliptical punk and the Muses' angular pop."
 * manifests "Deal's tobacco-stained delivery and Steve Albini's sharp, make-up-free production"

Currently used

 * "bouncy momentum"
 * "Opened", "Limehouse", and "Hellbound" contain a buoyant rhythm.
 * "quirky-but-direct sound... could have easily fit on Doolittle or Bossanova."

So far unused

 * "I saw the wind/ Blowing back her Barbie Doll hair, Ms. Deal (who co-wrote most of the songs) whispers menacingly in Opened,'' as if perversely fascinated by such an alien creature as a bimbo."

So far unused

 * "spare, sensual... more lighthearted and good-natured than the work of Deal's other band"
 * paraphrase: more benign and friendly-sounding than the Pixies' songs.


 * "didn't break with the record's stripped, wired dynamic"

Currently used

 * "bouncy momentum"
 * paraphrase: buoyant rhythm.

So far unused

 * "blend[s] the best of the Pixies' elliptical punk and the Muses' angular pop."

Currently used

 * "similar melodic parts" to Pixies' "Cactus"
 * cowritten by Wiggs, features Spanish guitar.

Reception

 * "The stark, creepy Pod outshines the Pixies increasingly space-obsessed later albums, which alienated any fans who'd ever gotten laid."


 * "Manna for Pixie fans who craved an entire record like Surfer Rosa's sweet and bludgeoning "Gigantic." "Hellbound" and "Fortunately Gone" suggested Charles Thompson might only be the second-best aggro-pop songwriter in his own band..."
 * paraphrase: In retrospective reviews in Spin magazine, Chuck Klosterman and Steve Kandell argued that Pod (surpassed) the Pixies' 1990s output, and that on some tracks, Deal was a better songwriter than Black Francis.

Legacy

 * Donelly: "I think of all the records I've made, that one is the truest—it's like the truest to the experience of making it, if that makes any sense. It really feels exactly the way it was when we were doing it. We did it quickly..." (Frank, p. 135)
 * Wiggs: "I do have an abiding affection for Pod. Making it was a pretty special experience. As individuals coming together to work on a shared project, and with so little time, everybody was really present, thoughful, and focused, which I think you can hear in the song arrangements and the playing on that record." (Thiessen)