Pitchfork

I'm dreaming of a Black Christmass, and it looks like my wish will come true just in time for the holidays. On December 18, Frank Black will release a limited edition CD/DVD by the, um, interesting title above.

Why the double-"s"? Black explained in a press release, "My father always encouraged me to one day put out a Christmas album, which I always found a bit strange, since he was a self-declared pagan. But, I guess by 'Christmas', he meant winter. And it always sort of bothered me that that extra 's' got dropped off of Christmas."

Yeah, we don't know what he's talking about either.

The UK release (no word on a U.S. version yet) will only be available by mail order through Cooking Vinyl, though it may be out in stores at some point in the future.

The album, produced Myles Mangino, features several live acoustic tracks recorded on Black's 2006 summer tour, as well as five studio cuts done in hotel rooms and Hartford, CT's Planet of Sound Studio.

A DVD including footage from one of the aforementioned summer shows will be packaged with the album, giving fans seven new songs altogether.

Videos for "Do What You Want Gyaneshwar" and "Don't Get Me Wrong" have popped up on YouTube and, according to the fansite FrankBlack.net, are reportedly slated for inclusion on the DVD.

Unfortunately, "Gyaneshwar" is extremely pixelated and blurry here, but we can tell you that it is fast-paced and family-oriented. "Don't Get Me Wrong" switches between high-contrast video of the Pixies frontman strumming his guitar (his head blends in with the white background, and it makes him look like an alien) and creepy clips of a shirtless, heavily eyeliner'd Black resting on what might be a silk teal pillow. Yikes.

CD tracklist:

01 Do What You Want Gyaneshwar
02 Bullet
03 I Burn Today
04 Wave of Mutilation
05 Living on Soul
06 She's My Way
07 Massif Central
08 Where Is My Mind
09 Raiderman
10 Demon Girl
11 Dead Man's Curve
12 Cactus
13 Six Sixty Six
14 Radio Lizards
15 Don't Get Me Wrong
16 All Around the World
17 Nadine
18 Manitoba
19 The Water
20 Outakes/The Shrimp Song

DVD Tracklist:

01 Brackish Boy
02 I Burn Today
03 Cactus
04 Nadine
05 Holiday
06 Sing for Joy
07 Dead Man's Curve
08 California Bound
09 Ed Is Dead
10 My Life Is in Storage
11 Two Reelers
12 Whiskey in Your Shoes