Fans of the Pixies are facing quite a weighty decision.

Artists In Residence, a design collective that has produced limited-edition album packages for Beck, Nine Inch Nails, and Sigur Rós, is collaborating with the pioneering alt-rock group on Minotaur, a career-spanning set that will include all five of the Pixies’ studio albums on 24k-layered CD and Blu-ray, plus a DVD with a live performance from 1991, the band’s videos, and a 54-page book.

Those pieces comprise the Deluxe Edition, which will set you back $175, but really rabid fans will surely want to feast on the Limited Edition of Minotaur (if they’re able to scrounge up the dough, that is). For a mere $450, this monster of a package adds the albums on 180-gram vinyl, an art print, and a 75-page hardcover book. (For that hefty price tag, maybe Black Francis could call your bank to apologize when you miss your mortgage payment because you purchased Minotaur instead.)

Here’s a peek at the effort involved in bringing this massive beast to life:

As the announcement of Minotaur preceded Wednesday’s celebration of Earth Day 2009 by a mere 24 hours, I figured it appropriate to feature a cover of the Pixies’ “Monkey Gone To Heaven.” Written by Black Francis, the song from 1989’s Doolittle addresses man’s impact on the environment by mixing in some Roman mythology and numerology. Opening lyrics: “There was a guy, an underwater guy who controlled the sea, got killed by ten million pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey.”

New York City’s Elk City recorded “Monkey Gone To Heaven” for Dig For Fire: A Tribute To Pixies, compiled and released by American Laundromat Records in late 2007. Elk City singer Renée LoBue somehow manages to sound like both Dusty Springfield and Patti Smith, making this “Monkey” heaven to my ears. Hear here:

Download Elk City – “Monkey Gone To Heaven” via iTunes. To purchase Dig For Fire: A Tribute to Pixies on CD, head to Amazon or American Laundromat Records.