I'm proud to be the only voter for "Cocksoldiers and Their Postwar Stubble".
This was hovering at the bottom of my list for a long, long time.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 30 September 2011 13:04 (twelve years ago) link
It's totally "filed"! ...Right? Not coincidentally, /l/ and /r/ (as speakers of American English know it -- that's not the official IPA symbol) are both approximants although they are articulated differently. We would only know the real truth if we lived inside Pollard's mouth.
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 30 September 2011 13:38 (twelve years ago) link
I would have pushed "Things I Will Keep" into the top 50 but I think that may be it. Love the guitar chords in that song.
― skip, Friday, 30 September 2011 13:54 (twelve years ago) link
didn't have a chance to chime in yesterday but "Don't Stop Now" is so great because of its dignity: the characters are low, drunks, deadbeats, there's a million of us, we're king shit, nobodies: but the big chiming chords are stately, they say: we are holding their heads up; they should strut like cocks of the block, they are the top of the line big daddies, they are worthy: don't stop now. I love that song so much.
― Euler, Friday, 30 September 2011 14:38 (twelve years ago) link
my 20, songs that did not appear in the ilx 60 highlighted:Quality Of ArmorI Am A ScientistExit FlaggerGame Of PricksEchos MyronLittle WhirlMy Thoughts Are A GasQueen Of Cans And JarsGleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim)Dodging Invisible RaysPeep-HoleMy Impression NowBig Boring WeddingTractor Rape ChainUnderwater ExplosionsAtom EyesNow To WarMotor AwayMan Called AerodynamicsSmothered In Hugs
― da croupier, Friday, 30 September 2011 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
Mine ...
1 Motor Away2 Game of Pricks3 Hot Freaks4 I Am a Tree5 Hardcore UFOs6 Pop Zeus - Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard7 My Valuable Hunting Knife8 Echos Myron9 Buzzards and Dreadful Crows10 I Am a Scientist11 Long Distance Man12 Tractor Rape Chain13 Everywhere With Helicopter14 Cutout Witch15 Exit Flagger16 Demons Are Real17 Gold Star for Robot Boy18 Underwater Explosions19 Glad Girls20 Dayton, Ohio—19 Something and 5
Five best albums1 Bee Thousand2 Alien Lanes3 Mag Earhig4 Under the Bushes, Under the Stars5 Live at the Wheelchair Races
― Viva Brother Beyond (ithappens), Friday, 30 September 2011 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
i totally lurked this thread b/c the thought of compiling a ballot made my brain go crazy... but thanking u, johnny
― rip van wanko, Friday, 30 September 2011 15:58 (twelve years ago) link
Here's my ballot:
Dusted (Fast Japanese Spin Cycle version)Quality Of ArmorMy Valuable Hunting KnifeDayton, Ohio in 19 Something and FiveGlad GirlsOver The Neptune/Mesh Gear FoxThe Official Ironmen Rally SongIndian Was An AngelTractor Rape ChainMy Impression NowPendulumBlimps Go 90Buzzards and Dreadful CrowsEchoes MyronOld BatteryTeenage FBII Am A ScientistGleemer (The Deeds of Fertile Jim)Game Of PricksTrap Soul Door
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 30 September 2011 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
Indian Was an Angel was my only one that didn't make the top 60. Should have voted for Tight Globes but I decided to cut out solo stuff.
― dmr, Friday, 30 September 2011 16:39 (twelve years ago) link
Old Battery! Interesting choice. Why did you choose it? I like to hear why people like songs as much as I like knowing which songs they voted for.
Amazingly, I haven't exhausted my willingness to talk about this yet.
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 30 September 2011 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks for doing all the work on it, Johnny.
― Viva Brother Beyond (ithappens), Friday, 30 September 2011 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
great poll!
I seem to have lost my ballot, which I would've posted otherwise, but I know I was the only vote for "girl named captain," "little lies" and -- shockingly to me -- "johnny appleseed." that one's a top 10 for me and I always thought it was a fan favorite. hmmm.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 30 September 2011 17:59 (twelve years ago) link
"little lines." oops. but "little lies" will be on my fleetwood mac ballot.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 30 September 2011 18:00 (twelve years ago) link
yeah -- johnny appleseed! buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzzi did not vote for that but it is a great little tiny song
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 30 September 2011 18:01 (twelve years ago) link
Old Battery! Interesting choice. Why did you choose it?
They really nail the early REM sound on that one. And like all great GBV songs, it's catchy as hell.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 30 September 2011 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
― Volvo Twilight (p-dog), Saturday, 1 October 2011 09:49 (twelve years ago) link
My Thoughts Are A Gas
I voted for this too!
― Juice Should Be Sterliized (Tom D.), Saturday, 1 October 2011 12:12 (twelve years ago) link
If I'm not mistaken the What's Up Matador? version of "Gas" isn't even listed in the discography of Jim Greer's GBV book. It's crazy!
And thanks, Johnny!
― da croupier, Saturday, 1 October 2011 13:04 (twelve years ago) link
It's probably been posted already on one of the two threads, but here's "Gas" again. The poster put up art for Tonic & Twisted Chasers, but this is the far superior version found on the "rarities" disc of the What's Up Matador comp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKsPHJNjnBU
― da croupier, Saturday, 1 October 2011 13:05 (twelve years ago) link
Here's my ballot. I purposely didn't consider any non-GBV Pollard song, because it took me long enough to decide among the GBV ones. Songs that came closest to making the cut but didn't include June Salutes You!, Twilight Campfighter, Johnny Appleseed, Office of Hearts, Unspirited, If We Wait, Scalding Creek, Non-Absorbing, Jar of Cardinals, Sad if I Lost It and Scissors.
1. A Salty Salute2. Peephole3. My Impression Now4. Over the Neptune / Mesh Gear Fox5. I Am a Scientist6. Exit Flagger7. Tractor Rape Chain8. Game of Pricks9. Spring Tiger10. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory11. Big Boring Wedding12. He's the Uncle13. The Ascended Master's Grogshop14. 158 Years of Beautiful Sex15. Echos Myron16. Surgical Focus17. The Brides Have Hit Glass18. Liar's Tale19. Dusty Bushworms20. The Closets of Henry
― erasingclouds, Saturday, 1 October 2011 14:53 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks Johnny! My ballot:
1. Tractor Rape Chain2. Game Of Pricks3. Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox4. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory5. Motor Away6. Weedking7. Big Boring Wedding8. My Valuable Hunting Knife9. Redmen And Their Wives10. Hardcore UFOs11. Bright Paper Werewolves12. Make Use13. Marchers In Orange14. Fly Into Ashes15. Fair Touching16. Pendulum17. Dayton, Ohio-19 Something And Five18. Rhine Jive Click19. Gleemer20. Do The Earth
I decided against any Pollard solo material but couldn't resist Make Use. Good times...
― ColinO, Saturday, 1 October 2011 17:28 (twelve years ago) link
Marchers In Orange is a good one, first time I've seen that mentioned
the colors we wear in our dreams, the flags we fly in our films
― dmr, Saturday, 1 October 2011 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
passed someone on the street at like 1AM the other night who had earbuds in and was singing 'motor away' off-key and/or drunkenly
― ciderpress, Monday, 3 October 2011 16:37 (twelve years ago) link
I'm working my way through Propeller and Vampire on Titus. Would definitely have put "Quality of Armor" up near the top with "Motor Away" and "Robot Boy." Played it four times on the way home tonight--I want my makeshift band to do it next spring at a school assembly. (We did "Subspace Biographies" last year; I've been waiting forever for an ex-student of mine to upload it to YouTube--students in the audience need to be blurred out--and if he ever does, I'll post it here.)
― clemenza, Monday, 3 October 2011 21:38 (twelve years ago) link
22 year old Daytonian pees his pants during this installment of "A Day in the Life of Mitch Mitchell"
Guided By Voices probably means more to this town than any other rock band in the Gem City’s history. In case you’ve been living with your ears closed for the past 30 years, or you’re new to the area, Guided By Voices is one of the seminal bands of the original wave of indie rock that followed the grunge movement in the mid-1990s. Most of the bands from that era have either morphed into new, albeit perhaps less-than-stellar incarnations of their previous glory, or faded into obscurity in the torrential pace of media consumption that revels in the hype of a new artist as fast as they cast them aside as one- or two-hit wonders.Not GBV. Firmly placed atop the best-of list of many music critics, the albums Propeller, Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under The Bushes Under The Stars, a host of singles and EPs remain influential, essential and relevant even today. These are the albums of the so-called Classic Lineup; its present incarnation containing Robert Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, Tobin Sprout and Kevin Fennell.After touring the festival circuit this summer, Dayton’s Guided By Voices found the crowds to be larger and more fervent than ever in their appreciation for the music. Somehow, along the way, the band secretly recorded the material for what would become a full album of brand new songs to be released in January 2012. The reunited Classic Lineup laid down all the tracks, utilizing many of the very same recording techniques that made those early albums so endearing to the ears. Let’s Go Eat The Factory proves, beyond disbelief, that GBV is back and back for good.There’s really no reason a veritable rock star should donate his time to a lowly 22-year-old reporter with a receding hairline writing for an alternative weekly newspaper. And yet that is precisely what makes GBV different. The band, like their music, is eternally accessible. Whether it’s the annual Heedfest where GBV acolytes from across the globe converge on Dayton for a weekend of sightseeing and drunken carousing with their heroes, or my own chance encounter with Mitch Mitchell at Fricker’s on Woodman, the impetus for this story. I was finally able to track him down at Blind Bob’s on Sept. 24.The question on everyone’s mind: Will Guided By Voices tour again in support of the new record, and the subsequent record to be released in May?Mitchell replied with a wink. “I can’t say for sure if we’re going to tour, but if we do tour it will definitely be in support of the new material, because it sounds great live and that was the idea this time around.”“On this past tour,” said Mitchell, “we played a lot of the bigger venues, and that’s nice because more people get the chance to come hear the music, but we still want to play the smaller venues along the way too. I’m just hopeful for some demand for the new record, and even if there isn’t we’ll just keep putting out records.”It’s strange hearing Mitchell speak with such humility. Demand? For the first GBV record in nearly a generation? It just demonstrates that the true focus of the band has always been recording, and the writing and recording process.“I always looked at it as an opportunity to record music and listen to finished recordings,” said Mitchell. “And that’s what great about Bob’s (Pollard) phenomenal writing talent. I think he writes a song every day at least. As long as he keeps doing that, I’ll be happy.”Looking at Mitchell, with tattoos extending from his wrists to his neck, surrounded by an entourage of well-wishers, musicians and female admirers, it’s hard to imagine him as anything else than a bona fide Dayton deity of rock. It wasn’t always this way though — Mitchell used to work as a truck driver, a job he says he’d probably still be doing if it weren’t for Guided By Voices.“I’ve always liked to travel,” said Mitchell, “and it’s kind of similar to being in a band since you get to see so many places all the time.”Since GBV “came of age” when the band members were all in their 30s, those long years of working and drinking and making records in garages and basements served to remind the band of the hard work that goes into hard-won success. Mitchell is imbued with a contentment and wisdom of someone who is master of his craft, and happy to give anything he can to the fans and to the town he calls home. Mitchell is still the consummate gentlemen — politely offering a light to any lady about to spark up a cigarette, and patiently listening as the drunks try to get close and tell stories of their own — too shy to talk to him unless thoroughly dosed with liquid courage. It’s a bit surreal. Mitchell says he has to pinch himself sometimes to make sure he’s not dreaming.“Listening to our records, which I still do, feels like an out-of-body experience,” said Mitchell, “because I’m a part of the recording but the music also affects me on a personal level, in my personal life as well.”GBV is a band of musicians who make music that they actually like, not products to make money, and to that they owe their endurance.“It’s real, it’s fucking real, and everyone can relate to reality,” said Mitchell.And indeed, amid a flood of artists peddling their castrated eunuch rock — the kind preferred by the stale tastemakers of this generation of critics — Guided By Voices has a new record on the horizon, at a time when a fresh breath of power chords, high kicks and testosterone is desperately needed.“It’s time for some good music again,” said Mitchell. “We can’t let it die. We gotta make it live.”
Not GBV. Firmly placed atop the best-of list of many music critics, the albums Propeller, Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under The Bushes Under The Stars, a host of singles and EPs remain influential, essential and relevant even today. These are the albums of the so-called Classic Lineup; its present incarnation containing Robert Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, Tobin Sprout and Kevin Fennell.
After touring the festival circuit this summer, Dayton’s Guided By Voices found the crowds to be larger and more fervent than ever in their appreciation for the music. Somehow, along the way, the band secretly recorded the material for what would become a full album of brand new songs to be released in January 2012. The reunited Classic Lineup laid down all the tracks, utilizing many of the very same recording techniques that made those early albums so endearing to the ears. Let’s Go Eat The Factory proves, beyond disbelief, that GBV is back and back for good.
There’s really no reason a veritable rock star should donate his time to a lowly 22-year-old reporter with a receding hairline writing for an alternative weekly newspaper. And yet that is precisely what makes GBV different. The band, like their music, is eternally accessible. Whether it’s the annual Heedfest where GBV acolytes from across the globe converge on Dayton for a weekend of sightseeing and drunken carousing with their heroes, or my own chance encounter with Mitch Mitchell at Fricker’s on Woodman, the impetus for this story. I was finally able to track him down at Blind Bob’s on Sept. 24.
The question on everyone’s mind: Will Guided By Voices tour again in support of the new record, and the subsequent record to be released in May?
Mitchell replied with a wink. “I can’t say for sure if we’re going to tour, but if we do tour it will definitely be in support of the new material, because it sounds great live and that was the idea this time around.”
“On this past tour,” said Mitchell, “we played a lot of the bigger venues, and that’s nice because more people get the chance to come hear the music, but we still want to play the smaller venues along the way too. I’m just hopeful for some demand for the new record, and even if there isn’t we’ll just keep putting out records.”
It’s strange hearing Mitchell speak with such humility. Demand? For the first GBV record in nearly a generation? It just demonstrates that the true focus of the band has always been recording, and the writing and recording process.
“I always looked at it as an opportunity to record music and listen to finished recordings,” said Mitchell. “And that’s what great about Bob’s (Pollard) phenomenal writing talent. I think he writes a song every day at least. As long as he keeps doing that, I’ll be happy.”
Looking at Mitchell, with tattoos extending from his wrists to his neck, surrounded by an entourage of well-wishers, musicians and female admirers, it’s hard to imagine him as anything else than a bona fide Dayton deity of rock. It wasn’t always this way though — Mitchell used to work as a truck driver, a job he says he’d probably still be doing if it weren’t for Guided By Voices.
“I’ve always liked to travel,” said Mitchell, “and it’s kind of similar to being in a band since you get to see so many places all the time.”
Since GBV “came of age” when the band members were all in their 30s, those long years of working and drinking and making records in garages and basements served to remind the band of the hard work that goes into hard-won success. Mitchell is imbued with a contentment and wisdom of someone who is master of his craft, and happy to give anything he can to the fans and to the town he calls home. Mitchell is still the consummate gentlemen — politely offering a light to any lady about to spark up a cigarette, and patiently listening as the drunks try to get close and tell stories of their own — too shy to talk to him unless thoroughly dosed with liquid courage. It’s a bit surreal. Mitchell says he has to pinch himself sometimes to make sure he’s not dreaming.
“Listening to our records, which I still do, feels like an out-of-body experience,” said Mitchell, “because I’m a part of the recording but the music also affects me on a personal level, in my personal life as well.”
GBV is a band of musicians who make music that they actually like, not products to make money, and to that they owe their endurance.
“It’s real, it’s fucking real, and everyone can relate to reality,” said Mitchell.
And indeed, amid a flood of artists peddling their castrated eunuch rock — the kind preferred by the stale tastemakers of this generation of critics — Guided By Voices has a new record on the horizon, at a time when a fresh breath of power chords, high kicks and testosterone is desperately needed.
“It’s time for some good music again,” said Mitchell. “We can’t let it die. We gotta make it live.”
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Tuesday, 4 October 2011 22:31 (twelve years ago) link
He does not actually pee his pants btw, but this made me lol
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Tuesday, 4 October 2011 22:32 (twelve years ago) link
lol at eunuch rock. while i'm not quite as amped up as this dude, i do confess to a slight giddiness at the prospect of new gbv.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 4 October 2011 22:58 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnyEJ36rmDc
GBV in '96 with Matt Sweeney on bass. 2 hours, 5 encores.
― Bastards of Young Dro, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:17 (twelve years ago) link
I used to have that on VHS. No clue what happened to it.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:19 (twelve years ago) link
i posted that upthread! i'm in the crowd.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:01 (twelve years ago) link
You guys this is adorable -- early 1983 version of Tractor Rape Chain called "Tell Me". Lots of the same lyrics, but instead of parallel lines, it's "you gotta tell me how you feel about me" You have to listen to it, just do it and thank me later
http://www.jamesgreer.net/2011/10/05/guided-by-voices-tell-me/
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Thursday, 6 October 2011 03:48 (twelve years ago) link
i seem to recall an alt version of echos myron with some of the most cheesy and lame lyrics i've heard him sing
― the men who stare at gotye (electricsound), Thursday, 6 October 2011 03:58 (twelve years ago) link
Flowers in your eyesA panoply of flies
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Thursday, 6 October 2011 04:02 (twelve years ago) link
"Tell Me" is so cheesy but it's amusing and worth hearing once. Or twice.
Wow, the REM-isms really come out in that early version in a way I'd never picked up from the final incarnation.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 6 October 2011 04:12 (twelve years ago) link
that is awesome
― skip, Thursday, 6 October 2011 14:09 (twelve years ago) link
the thing is, I am not much of a lyrics person and like this almost as much as the original, except for the super cheesy main chorus where the banality of the words is unavoidable.
― skip, Thursday, 6 October 2011 14:10 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, me too. it's just over the line of things that make me a little embarrassed for the person who wrote them, but his voice sounds so good that it's easy to overlook. well, kind of. still, what a treat!
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Thursday, 6 October 2011 14:20 (twelve years ago) link
eeyowch, just listened to the live "dayton ohio nineteen something" from the spotify playlist -- never heard that version! such a great song. is there a real strawberry philadelphia drive?
― tylerw, Thursday, 6 October 2011 16:40 (twelve years ago) link
"huffman prairie flying field" demo from suitcase 3 -- super fun for playing leg/table/desk drums too if you know the finished version of the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Vw2n0R3Uk
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Sunday, 9 October 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
I am very late but can I sub Mesh Gear Fox for my obvious blooper. Campbell you idiot. You skewed me
a good flying birdnon absorbingquality of armorexit flaggermy kind of soldierwished i was a giantteenage fbithings i will keepover the neptunegold star for robot boyshocker in gloomtownvaluable hunting knifegame of pricks they're not witchescut out witchofficial ironman rally songdont stop nowjane of the waking universehold on hoperaincloud
I forgot to rank them
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 9 October 2011 22:37 (twelve years ago) link
kind of a fascinating little glimpse into pollard's process here: http://www.jamesgreer.net/2011/10/13/trendspotter-acrobat/these blog posts greer writes about GBV are so much better than the actual book he wrote about GBV
― tylerw, Thursday, 13 October 2011 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
there's an amazing story by Greer on how he literally drew blood onstage playing with GBV. don't know if he posted this on his blog too, but you can find it in no. 13 issue of Five Dials here -> http://fivedials.com/files/fivedials_no13.pdf
― V79, Thursday, 13 October 2011 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
great story! imagine Bob commanding you to write a song. terrifying.
― spellcheck is really advanced these days (cajunsunday), Thursday, 13 October 2011 20:30 (twelve years ago) link
btw does anyone anywhere keep track of those Greer uploads and, like, rips them to mp3's or something? coz I missed another great one, just thinking that I had a chance to (but didn't) listen to an '83 version of "Tractor Rape Chain" makes me feel sick :(
― V79, Friday, 14 October 2011 00:22 (twelve years ago) link
you didn't listen? i will sing it for you, here:
you gotta tell meeeee how you feel about meyou gottatell meeee how you feel about mejangle jingle doot doot dootthe end
― Art Arfons (La Lechera), Friday, 14 October 2011 00:23 (twelve years ago) link
*tries to imagine that* *fails miserably*
― V79, Friday, 14 October 2011 01:07 (twelve years ago) link
lolthat early tractor rape chain was pretty great. not as great as what we know and love, but sort of nice in a bizarre, alt-universe way.
― tylerw, Friday, 14 October 2011 01:47 (twelve years ago) link
Pretty sure Greer said he didn't want people to download them, otherwise he'd stop putting more up, so although they are no doubt out there, it'll probably be on the downlow.
― Wandering Boy Poet, Friday, 14 October 2011 12:50 (twelve years ago) link