Violet sends us word that the newest addition to the Frank Black clan has arrived! Jude Oliver Francis Thompson was born May 1st just in time for lunch; he takes his place in the clan as the fifth, after Julian, Annabelle, Jack, and Lucy.

Jude was born 6 pounds 14 ounces, 1'8", and at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon. The hospital keeps baby birth announcements and trivia on its site, and Jude Oliver's can be viewed by clicking on the photo above. Violet and baby Jude are doing fine.

Congratulations to Violet and Charles from all of us here at FrankBlack.Net!

-Dean

Oh, the humanity! Dean and Brian are back in what must be the most-difficult-to-produce podcast of our generation, Podcast 30 of the FrankBlack.Net Podcast. But who cares?! What's more important is that you can now download/buy/etc SVN FNGRS , the new Black Francis release direct from eMusic. Whatsmore, you can download it free as well as the new Seus EP (see below) and a few other tracks to boot if you sign up by clicking on the album art on the left. Not up on the download? You will notice, as well, that the physical disc is available at FrankBlack.Net Store for your pre-ordering pleasure. Whatsmore, the album comes to a local record shop near you on April 15th of this year, and, from all reports, is an exciting addition to the rapidly burgeoning Black Francis catalogue. You can, of course, hear a track from the record on the new podcast.

Oh yeah, the podcast. Recorded over the expansive oceans between New Jersey and New South Wales, edited in Singapore, and uploaded in Malaysia, it is finally ready for consumption the world over. In it? Well, you'll have to check it out and see, but it is our first enhanced podcast to date. This means that finally, finally, you can skip past endless banter and jump right to the song. We like to hope you'll just use it to get to replay your favourite parts of the podcast, but hey, we're realists. You can find the podcast here.

Back to Frank Black Francis discussion (of which there is plenty, by the way, in the new podcast), the mini-LP version of SVN FNGRS has been available for approximately a month in most places. One of the songs on there is called The Seus, a song which, as Mr. Francis puts it, "chronicles his travels as a young man from his home to Athens where his father is. He’s come to claim his rightful place next to his father so he has to pass by the six entryways to the netherworld and he has to fight all these thieves, I didn’t get to hit all six entries though, because I ran out of time!" You can get this song remixed by Charles Norman, Bloc Party, and Infadeles on a released-yesterday Seus EP. Grab it from eMusic here .

There's so much news that it is daunting to sit and write a news report, but here's something else that stuck out as fascinating. For all the budding videographers the internet has revealed, The Bureau, the faceless behind-the-scenes entity controlling the Black Francis world, has put out the call for treatments for the song When They Come to Murder Me.

"We would like to invite fans to submit treatments for a music video for the song WHEN THEY COME TO MURDER ME from Black Francis' SVN FNGRS mini LP. We can't offer cash for the ideas, but we will fully credit our winner and send them some cool stuff from The Bureau. Please note that that the video clip will be shot guerilla style (like the recent I SENT AWAY video) so keep your ideas in this DIY realm so that we can fully realize your artistic vision! Email treatments to info@blackfrancis.net. There is no deadline, per se, but we'll let you know when we have a winner."

Details here.

Oh, there's more news, so much more, but that's enough for one round, don't you think? We'll leave you to grab the news albums, EPs, and podcast coming your way at an incredible pace. Don't forget to discuss on our forum and on BlackFrancis.Net.

-Dean

These days, an encore has become something of an expectation. It's not a special treat, it's just an intermission. With that in mind, Black Francis has decided for his tour of Europe (on now) to play with NO encores. Instead, he will be doing something called a pre-core, where he will show up in some random but predetermined location with a guitar in hand and play free shows on the street. Now, it's possible you may still get an encore at a Black Francis gig, but if so, it truly WILL be a treat to a great audience. Here's what one fan, known only as Big Jim had to say:

"Black Francis payed a Pre-core set outside St Stephens Green Park gates just after 5pm Feb 9th. He had to play outside as park closes at 5pm. Just Frank and acoustic guitar.

"I was very close to him and it was amazing ... Quite a large crowd present and Frank was taken away in a police car afterward for 'safety' reasons! Read the NME report here.

The setlist was mostly Pixies material, perhaps to compensate for an absence of Pixies songs in the show later that evening. A complete list of all precore locations (some with drinks after!) are posted on Black Francis' official site forum.

Those wishing to get a little bit of Black Francis in but unable to make the show may be interested in checking out Frank Black live on BBC 6 Music's Nemone show, Wednesday Feb. 13 from 1-4PM GMT.

-Dean

Just a quick note that after a 20-hour straight session on the internet and a 30% reduction in hair, the FrankBlack.Net forum is back. There are still a few kinks and twists perhaps (please let us know if you encounter any), but for the most part everything appears functional. Unfortunately, some conversation has been lost, but we'll make up for that in no time I'm sure. Thank-you for your well wishes and patience, we'll see you on the forums!

-Dean

Hello again, and welcome - this time for real - to our new server. While we thought we had moved back in November, all that had happened was the files and databases had been copied across. A miscommunication led me to believe that the DNS had been updated so people looking for FB.Net were brought to the new server, but no, it was still pointed at the old one. We went along blissfully until quite recently, when discrepancies started cropping up. And then the move was made for real.

It's taken a bit of time, but most of the site is back and operational. Unfortunately, the heart and soul, our forum, is still suffering from some severe database problems. Not only are recent posts lost, but the ability to post new topics is non-existent for the time being. To avoid further complicating the problem, the forum is closed until we can find a solution. I apologize for the unheard of downtime and hope that it will all be resolved soon, if not for my sanity then for your convenience.

Meanwhile, all the best to everyone in the new year, and you will see us again.

SVN FNGRS - Coming soon!

Greetings folks. All of us here at FrankBlack.net wish you and your family a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. We got some happy news from Black Francis himself yesterday, first via his Myspace and then later on BlackFrancis.net...

I'll let the man speak for himself:

Black Francis has just finished the mini LP "SVN FNGRS" to be released by Cooking Vinyl in the new year. The track The Seus is to be featured as a b-side from the single She Took All The Money from this year's release "BLUEFINGER". The Seus (Charles Normal mix) is up on Black Francis' myspace page now!

Track listing for SVN FNGRS is:

1. The Seus
2. Garbage Heap
3. Half Man
4. I Sent Away
5. Seven Fingers
6. The Tale Of Lonesome Fetter
7. When They Come To Murder Me

This information was leaked onto FrankBlack.net a day earlier by forum member "backdoor," who many have suspected might be an alter-ego for Mr. Francis himself.

However, that is not the end of the news. On BlackFrancis.net's media player, you can hear another SVN FNGRS track, "The Tale Of Lonesome Fetter." These two new tracks show an interesting direction for SVN FNGRS, which according to the above post, should be available pretty soon. Exciting times!

Also, not only has BF taken the time to record a new record, he's taken the time to give back to the community. Again, this was released via Myspace and then later on BlackFrancis.net...

Black Francis signed guitar for auction!!!

We have donated an item to Waxploitation's 4th auction to benefit Darfur. Please check out the auction page and find something you'd like. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be split between three non-profit organizations working in Darfur: Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.

Click here to see the auction page!

This year's items have been donated by a 'who's who' of artists, including signed guitars from The Flaming Lips, Avril Lavigne, Norah Jones, Nickelback, Deftones and Common, as well as items signed by Coldplay, Kanye West, Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, Wilco, TV on the Radio, The Decemberists, Bloc Party, Aesop Rock, Macy Gray and Thievery Corporation, to name a few. The auction also features unsigned items from Bob Marley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brian Wilson, Lupe Fiasco, Robbie Williams, Don Cheadle, Julius 'DR J' Erving, Bam Margera, MTV, Sony Playstation, Xbox, Zoo York, Adidas, T-Mobile, Nokia, Nintendo, Adult Swim among others.

Good news for all of our European brethren! According to the latest video blog, Black will be doing "pre-cores" at each European show. What is a pre-core? According to the Black Francis forum, a pre-core will take the place of an encore this European tour, and will consist of a short set before each show at a fan-requested location. To suggest a pre-core spot, head over to the BF.net forum (but don't forget your roots over here!)

And finally, also via the video blog, it seems that the long-awaited Grand Duchy album will be a "mini-album," and not a traditional full length. More details, certainly, are forthcoming.

Again, Happy Holidays to you and your families!

Brian, Dean, Tre, and the rest of us at FrankBlack.net

Black Francis, an entity we still affectionately refer to as Frank Black here if only because it's the domain we own, will be touring Europe early next year. Unfortunately, Italy doesn't appear on the list of dates (yet), but the opportunity for a great headline was too much to resist. However, there are plenty of places that he will be found, large and small. And if you live in or near Zwolle, there's even the rare opportunity for a leap year show, rare indeed! Here are the confirmed dates:

Dublin - Vicar St.
Feb 9
Glasgow - Garage
Feb 10
Manchester - Academy 2
Feb 12
London - Koko
Feb 13
Paris - Elysee Montmarte
Feb 16
Cologne - Prime Club
Feb 17
Berlin - Postbahnhof
Feb 18
Hamburg - Fabrik
Feb 19
Luxembourg - Den Atelier
Feb 22
Lausanne - Les Docks
Feb 23
Zurich - Abart Club
Feb 24
Brussels - Botanique [orangerie]
Feb 26
Amsterdam - Melkweg
Feb 27
Nijmegen - Doornroosje
Feb 28
Zwolle - Hedon
Feb 29

If you live in any of these lucky locales, the man is also looking for great coffee, food, and recommendations. In exchange, you may requests songs for him to play. Pop by the new BlackFrancis.Net forum and give the man a hand. And don't forget to stop by his new Video Blog, too.

-Dean

As you may already have heard, Dave Noisy, our long time site administrator, is concluding his involvement with the site. As a result, our current server will be no more as of October 31. Does this mean that FrankBlack.Net will no longer exist? Yes. For a few days. And then we should be back. However, getting a new server is not cheap, and as we run this site with no ads or membership fees, the site has always survived on the generosity of the Frank Black community.

So, I have the unfortunate duty of asking anyone who feels that FB.Net provides them a valuable service (or hopefully several) to consider making a donation to our new server fund. The site will be back regardless, so I certainly don't want to scare anyone into donating, but of course if a few people give just a little it all adds up to helping keep things running smoothly.

So, if you would like to contribute to our Frank Black project, archive, and so on, you'd be surprised what a few clicks of a mouse can do:

See you on the new server!
-Dean

It may be rude to point, but I doubt there are any on the west coast that will be upset by this particular announcement. First of all, as of now, Sept 11, Bluefinger is available just about everywhere! If you want to check it out, may we recommend BlackFrancis.Net for video and audio. You can play and download the entire album free (don't worry, FB still gets paid) if you try out eMusic by clicking here . And of course it's available in our FB.Net Store for purchase, too. Of course, you all have the first Black Francis solo outing ever preordered, right? Right?? In which case, this second bit of news should make you drool all the more:

After traveling Europe as Black Francis in support of his brand-new solo album "Bluefinger", we're happy to announce that the artist formerly known as Frank Black will be offering a very special treat to the west coast of Canada and the US. Actually, 14 very special treats: a tour spanning the distance from Vancouver to Los Angeles from October 1st to the 16th! Most stops will have more than one date in small to mid-sized venues.

On tour with Mr. Black, none other than Mrs. Black (Violet Clark) on vocals, Dan Schmidt on bass, and Jason Carter on drums. And, apparently, Black Francis will not only be sporting guitar, but also a harmonica and one hell of a scream. This is going to be very exciting!

Confirmed tour dates for Black Francis' Fall West Coast are as follows:

OCTOBER
1 Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
2 Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
3 Richards on Richards, Vancouver, BC CANADA
4 Richards on Richards, Vancouver, BC CANADA
5 Wow Hall, Eugene, OR
7 Harlow's, Sacramento, CA
8 The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA
9 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
10 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
11 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
13 Soho Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA
14 Downtown Brew, San Luis Obispo, CA
15 Safari Sam's, Los Angeles, CA
16 Safari Sam's, Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to our anonymous assistant for all this great news! And if you don't have Bluefinger yet

-Dean
From somewhere in the skies above Australia

Although we previously reported that Bluefinger was available on eMusic, it seems that that is no longer the case - for the moment. In fact, it most likely was mistakenly put on their site a month too early. You should be able to expect it there around the same time the album itself is released. You can still preorder from our FB.Net Store or from Cooking Vinyl directly, however. And moreover, you can go and get your fill now at the new Bluefinger Website. So there's plenty to keep your thumbs from dancing a slow rotation of boredom as you await the Sept 3rd release.

And just to make sure, our friend Cohen (AKA Coastline) has been working busily with YouTube to chronicle and organize all the Frank Black related videos into our new FrankBlack.Net Video Archive. Be sure to open up the Playlists to navigate your way around. There are already videos for songs on Bluefinger and everything, so definitely go have a look. Thanks, Coastline!

-Dean
(Cairns, Australia)