POLLSTAL BLOWFISH - ILM Artist Poll #8 - Guided By Voices - ReSuLtS!!!

52 ballots received (and, it appears, at least three ballots not received...a deadline's a deadline). Today we'll begin with the top ten albums list and pick up the tracks rollout Tuesday morning.

http://i.imgur.com/FaG83.jpg

Fuck yeah!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vtbFqfFAZnM/TgXYMvLPkbI/AAAAAAAAAVU/J_dWpGhVHa8/s320/pollard.jpg

For the albums, I just assigned 5 points to your first choice, 4 points to your second, and so on. A total of 23 different releases received at least one vote, many of them by just a single voter. Here are the top ten.

http://i.imgur.com/Ywknr.jpg

10. FAST JAPANESE SPIN CYCLE EP / 1994 (4 points)

I remember buying that one. I think I got it at Best Buy?!?

Seriously? I don't think I've ever seen GbV at a Best Buy, except the TVT stuff right when it came out.

My Best Buy was pretty cool! I had a friend who worked there. I got Boss Hogg and Sebadoh cds there too iirc.

lol 90s

That's pretty awesome. I honestly wonder if there are ways in which Best Buy employees were (they clearly don't anymore) able to have in stocking certain music, because I remember certain stores being much more well-stocked in certain genres than others. For example, there used to be a Best Buy out near Wheeling by an old office of mine that was really, really well stocked on metal stuff, even semi-obscure stuff.

Yeah, I had a pretty cool Best Buy too. Lots of indie cds bought in the 1993-97 range before I started getting online and ordering from labela/distros.

http://i.imgur.com/6B4gt.jpg

9. TONICS AND TWISTED CHASERS / 1996 (5 points)

^^ sign of quality voters imo

When it got issued on cd in 1997, I think it was one of the first things I ordered/bought online...direct from Rockathon.

Man, still going to have so much listening to do! Didn't vote for favorite albums, cause my votes would have been fairly worthless. More interested to see what others have to say about most things GBV.

damn, forgot to include an album ballot ;_; I think I'm gonna regret it if Same Place won't place

Also forgot the album vote. No prob though.

too busy to vote but can't wait for the spotify playlist.

V79 i can assure you that at least one person voted for it

http://i.imgur.com/HqqC6.jpg

8. SAME PLACE THE FLY GOT SMASHED / 1990 (7 points)

(this always happens in polls! people start talking about something and it's the very next thing to come up.)

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

hard to pick my favorite song from this album, but hard way -- drinker's peace -- mammoth cave -- when she turns 50 is a great string of songs. excellent album to sing the hell out of on a road trip.

The 5 albums list was tough because I could pretty much argue for any of them on any given day, depending on what type of Pollard mood I'm in that week - pop Pollard? proggy Pollard? etc etc etc

what's that you're eating?
could be midleading.

oof

MISLEADING

you don't wanna know

:))) thanks LL! (and everyone else who voted for this one)

and you're OTM about that great string of songs. and then there are, of course, Local Mix-up and the closer!

i've always thought of it as a hit parade
also i would like to reiterate that mammoth cave is an excellent tourist destination and everyone should visit it. hiking, history, nature, mammoth underground caves.

I meant to go there several times when I lived in Nashville (where it was reasonably nearby), but never did. :(

oh, so it's a tourist destination? so nice to know

2004, second trip to mammoth cave, something fucking stinks in here
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6166/6185047123_e9dfa14aa5_m.jpg

it's a national park!

http://i.imgur.com/uGx5s.jpg

7. ISOLATION DRILLS / 2001 (10 points)

Ok, too low. I think Isolation Drills is a very underrated album.

Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is really good. Really glad to get turned on to it.

Really like some of the unhinged Pollard moments. He really sings the hell out of some of these songs.

they've got at least 10 albums better than ID. it's good, but misses greatness to my ears. most boring show i saw by them was on that tour.

Disappointed that "Mammoth Cave" the song isn't included in this list of music composed in the honor of Mammoth Cave (the place)
http://www.nps.gov/maca/photosmultimedia/sounscapes.htm

Still, one of the oldest tourist attractions in the US -- began tours in 1816!

I also agree that Isolation Drills shows were dull. I felt like they had drank a bit too much Kool Aid at that point.

yeah. gillard was always good, but the rest of the band, it sort of felt like they had picked a few fans out of the crowd.

xp hey thanks, the more you know!

re ID, I just hope for a good placing of "Chasing Heather Crazy". like, top 10 would be nice enough

ID was my #3. Love it.

The show I saw for that tour was pretty good. Pretty debauched. I think that was Pollard's tequila stage. I will agree that the lows on that album are pretty low but 'Glad Girls'? 'Run Wild'? 'Chasing Heather Crazy'? 'The Brides Have Hit Glass'?

well, yeah, those songs are great!

I don't really like any of them tbh -- esp Glad Girls. I don't have a lot of negativity about GBV to offer, but that song always felt really lame to me, kinda lowest common denominator "give them what they want" boring rock song. Maybe it sounds half-hearted/uninspired? I dunno.

If there is anything I've learned about GBV fans over the years it's that there are as many different types as there are types of GBV songs.

Hmm, I voted for "Glad Girls", it possesses a certain steam-rollering quality imho, the song "drives" to my ears.

http://i.imgur.com/uuwFO.jpg

6. VAMPIRE ON TITUS / 1993 (12 points)

i dunno, i was all for GBV making a polished, radio-friendly rock album and ID comes closest to that. but there's just too much boring stuff on there -- i mean, if pollard had taken the hits from speak kindly of your volunteer etc. and put them on there, he'd have a classic, maybe?

Don't rate ID among their best at all though.

Not much to say about VoT really. I could spend twice as much time with it as I have and still not know it that well, though when I hear individual songs from it I think "hey, that's a really good one!"

http://i.imgur.com/iAoGP.jpg

5. MAG EARWHIG! / 1997 (13 points)

(perhaps not my favorite GBV album, but definitely my favorite GBV album cover.)

yeah, that's a nice one

I haven't heard anything off it yet, but I love the cover. I know Pollard loves his collages, but its just such a cool photo for him to use.

http://gbvdb.com/images/robert_pollard_mouseman_cloud_large.jpg

I wonder if he is in pinterest.

On

lol

agree, i like that pic of him

new pollard album, mouseman cloud dropping soon -- sounds ... kind of great?
as for the latest GBV, i actually like it more and more.

― tylerw, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can't say I'm surprised it sounds kind of great, especially considering how strong Bob's 2011 output was. Waving At The Astronauts, Space City Kicks, New Theory Of Everything, Lord Of The Birdcage, Let It Beard, Capsized!, and Let's Go Eat The Factory were all excellent albums. I can't wait for Mouseman!

Really wanted the classic line up to deliver again.

They didn't

Perhaps I should give it a fifth listen? That's a lot in these hectic times

i think you should give it another listen! it's a grower.

Ok , I will tylerw.

I'm trusting you

The only one that grabbed me was Waves by Sprout.

but i only do tunes. Having said that. Pollard's lyrics. FFS.

ignore me, i'm a weirdo

New GBV single "Keep It In Motion" up at Quietus. Bob and Toby on vocals!

http://soundcloud.com/firerecords/guided-by-voices-keep-it-in

Like this at least twice as much as any song on Factory. Hoping Class Clown is their "no fuckin' around" reunion album.

GBV gets the White House seal of approval, sort of:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/jay-carney-guided-by-voices-press-conference_n_1345403.html

Jay Carney's GBV crush has been documented in the past as well.

I just learned something unbelievable about a GBV song I thought I knew!
According to the gbvdb official lyrics for the original version of "If We Wait", the last line is

We'll all be there

not, as I have thought for literally umpteen years

We'll all be dead

My mind: it is blown.

Actually, even worse, now that I look, it's (acc to gbvdb) "Then we'll be there"

are we sure it's not we'll all be dead? that's what i thought it was too! gah!

i mean, it's definitely "we'll all be ..." maybe it's a mistake? please let it be a mistake!

i know! it HAS to be "dead"!! but i checked and listened to it a few times and it could either pollard using his fake english accent OR a poorly articulated "dead."

i just know that i have been singing "dead" at the top of my lungs for a long time and don't believe i will stop now.

listening to a stream of Class Clown -- title track is some kind of instant classic.

Is this a stream you can share with the class?

sorry, did not mean to be a tease, it's some kinda password protected thing. i'm sure it'll be available shortly. really sounding good though!

Class Clown Spots A UFO is an old GBV song, known as Crocker's Favorite Song on King Shit and the Golden Boys. There's also a version on Suitcase 3. The clip I heard from this newest version sounds fantastic...

ah ok, knew the title had been around for a while, didn't know it was that song. actually not the *worst* idea pollard's had -- to go back and rework some of those older tunes?

he's been doing that for ages -- tractor rape chain was one of those!

right, yeah! see, he should write songs, let them sit around for a decade or so, and then re-write them. instant classics!

another great one on the new gbv - Roll Of The Dice, Kick In The Head, 46 seconds of perfection.

Hoping Class Clown is their "no fuckin' around" reunion album.

Just now getting around to listening to it. Less fuckin' around than Let's Go Eat the Factory, but still not a terrible lot of umph to it. So this is the sound of old dudes making choons, I guess.

i like it a lot more than factory so far in general, but sprout's tunes are worse than ever

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/guided-by-voices-ready-third-album-of-2012-20120727

With a pair of albums already out this year, Guided By Voices releases another new effort this fall — and plans to put out a new album every six months after that, guitarist Tobin Sprout says.

The Bears for Lunch is due in November, and the band is set to begin work on the next LP, English Little League, in August.

The Bears for Lunch track listing:

"King Arthur the Red"
"The Corners are Glowing"
"Have a Jug"
"Hangover Child"
"Dome Rust"
"Finger Gang"
"The Challenge Is Much More"
"Waving at Airplanes"
"The Military School Dance Dismissal"
"White Flag"
"Skin to Skin Combat"
"She Lives in an Airport"
"Tree Fly Jet"
"Waking Up the Stars"
"Up Instead of Running"
"Smoggy Boy"
"Amorphous Surprise"
"You Can Fly Anything Right"
"Everywhere Is Miles From Everywhere"

i'm glad pollard is adhering to the one-album-about-airplanes-every-four-albums rule.

good tracklist

I saw them in Philly on their latest tour, and they played "Hangover Child". It was nothing special, but who knows, could be another grower. In general they were very good live, though, way tighter than on the reunion tour (until the 2nd encore or so, but it usually gets ropey way earlier).

So far Class Clown > Factory for me; but both are victims of Pollard's refusal to self-edit, unfortunately.

I don't think the leak of English Little League I just acquired is complete (it's missing some tracks and includes some b-sides, so whatever), but "Islands (She Talks in Rainbows)" is Tobin's best song in a dog's age.

i'm glad pollard is adhering to the one-album-about-airplanes-every-four-albums rule.

i had no idea gbv albums COULD leak. i thought they released them 35 seconds after recording them.

idk where else to put this where my fellow enthusiasts will appreciate it so i am putting it here
1 of my bands has a show wednesday and it's just two of us instead of 3 and i convinced guitar player/singer to cover my 6th favorite gbv song!!i am going to switch best/worst in the second verse because belligerence is truly the worst
so excited!!!

Exit flagger

We thought about it but went with Quality of Armor

MEAGH GEAR FIX?!?!?!

sorry I'm . wasted

Thought about that one but guitarist wanted something peppier. Sorry you're wasted :(

playing gbv songs with a band sounds like so much fun, totally jealous

My old band used to do "big boring wedding" and "tractor tape chain"

Brim are you in NYC? I wonder if we have enough musician ilxors who like gbv who would like to kick out the jams

How about you Lech?

I'm in Chicago. You guys should totally kick out some gbv jams.

Lol tape chain

i am not in NYC but would totally highkick out some gbv jams with ilxors in a neutral safe space

I dug their show last summer at Wicker Park Fest in Chicago. Better than when I saw them at Metro in late 90s (too drunk), not as great as a small club in '93 when they were like how I imagined The Who in '68. "Space Gun" from the upcoming album is quite good, and last year's August By Cake has some choons. Belatedly working my way through How Do You Spell Heaven now. Time for a GBV 2010s list/playlist?

I’m an exclusively pre-Mag Earwig man myself