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

Alien Lanes 	89
Bee Thousand 	88
Propeller 	40
Under the Bushes, Under the Stars 	39
Mag Earwhig! 	13
Vampire on Titus 	12
Isolation Drills 	10
Same Place the Fly Got Smashed 	7
Tonics and Twisted Chasers 	5
Fast Japanese Spin Cycle EP 	4
Do the Collapse 	3
Earthquake Glue 	3
Universal Truths and Cycles 	3
Crying Your Knife Away 	2
Half Smiles of the Decomposed 	2
King Shit & The Golden Boys 	2
Live at the Wheelchair Races 	1
Not in My Airforce 	1
Sandbox 	1
Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia 	1
Suitcase 	1
Sunfish Holy Breakfast EP 	1
Waved Out 	1

wow, splendid. Alien Lanes would obv be my no. 1 too, had I submitted an album ballot. but honestly speaking, they're both sides of the same coin to me - B1000 is the weird indie rock one, while AL is straight up powerpop, a shameless hookfest, almost a medley of 28 hooks.

Damn, I really need to listen to Propeller. I got into GBV with Bee Thousand, and never listened to the earlier albums until Box came out. But VoT and Propeller weren't included in that box set, so I never got around to those two albums. Putting them on my iPod right NOW.

Propeller's really dope, "Quality of Armor" was #21 on my ballot, a close shave

Propeller is awesome. It is on the vinyl version of Box but not the CD version (I guess because Scat had put that double-CD out by then).

GBV! GBV! GBV!

Cool, the top 5 albums was my top 5 - except I had Propeller and Under The Bushes... swapped over. Propeller has gone up in my estimation after revisiting it for voting purposes, definitely feels to me like a massive jump in quality from the earlier records.

who else voted for crying your knife away!!?
high 5, homie

Never even heard of that one!

crying your knife away is so good. that's actually where i heard a lot of those songs first -- i think i bought it pretty soon after i got bee thousand (pre Alien Lanes!), didn't even know it was a bootleg. was crazy to hear the beautiful, real version of if we wait after the insane singalong on CYKA.

It was just you. The #4 album on people's album ballots got 2 points.

I'll high 5 you anyway, tho.

oh man
thanks for not leaving me hanging

CYKA is the one where GBV cover "Invisible Man"

*off to youtube*

i have listened to that so much that i sing along with the ridiculous stage banter

WHERE'S MIKE HUMMEL

youtube came up short :(

yeah! and the way they start playing postal blowfish, but some lee hazlewood song is still playing in the background!

and the breeders cover!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZEKpC0lkL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

crying your knife away has such a classic album cover. I was stoked when I first got it. never listen to any of the live albums any more though. Jellyfish Reflector is probably the best one I think.

I think you HAVE to be drunk to listen to CYKA all the way though. they are so wasted.

I mean that cover makes my eyes light up with Ohio pride, for reals. The whole album does, but the cover looks like home. (I have gone for a ride in the Goodyear blimp btw, it's awesome)

album's comin out on scat matador records
you gotta say matador cuz it's more ~prestigious~

we should all pile into a bus and go on a massive gbv singalong road trip across the midwest
how embarrassing would that be

The "official" countdown is from 50-1, but I've got a little bit of spare time today (that I wasn't anticipating) if you guys are interested in a 60-51 bonus round!

Considering the amount of GBV songs, seems like 60 is warranted to me

a roll-in would be much appreciated, of course

TIE 60. "My Kind of Soldier" (Earthquake Glue, 2003) [110 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NaiQYgaSSw

that's a good lighthearted little song

This is a pretty late period track in the 90s mold. Others I like more on Earthquake Glue (especially The Main Street Wizards), but I totally understand why this one got a few votes tossed its way.

i think it goes without saying that i will participate in discussion of 60-1 with as much irritating zeal as 50-1.

i like the phonemic compatibility of soldier/shoulder; Pollard's appreciation of word sounds has always impressed me

TIE 60. "Chicken Blows" (Alien Lanes, 1995) [110 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH3GkxqrwQQ

I guess there's not much sense in shouting "TOO LOW" every time an AL cut shows up, is there

I didn't vote for anything from Earthquake Glue but 'My Kind Of Soldier' is one of my two or three favourites on there.

I love the backing vocals in 'Chicken Blows'.

I love the way my kind of soldier ends. It's very satisfying.

I was coincidentally singing this one just a few minutes ago. I also love how trippy the slowed down snippet on "Back To Saturn X Report" sounds like

i wonder when chicken blows was actually recorded, since it shows up in fragmentary form on back to saturn x. ha xpost
such a gorgeous, weird song.

58. "Postal Blowfish" (outtake, 1993) [111 points, 5 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uZJaVWWuks

This was the only version I could find on youtube. Can anyone confirm or deny that this is the re-recorded Brain Candy version? Because I remember the original being a little more "shambling".

this sounds like the brain candy version to me.
is there a version on king shit and the golden boys? that one iirc is more lo-fi.

when I fist heard "Chicken Blows" it wasn't that beautiful, nautical strangeness of recording that struck me first. what I noticed was how it blatantly references The Beatles with it's oh-ed backing vocals. yeah, I know

xp as far as I remember from Spotify that's the re-recorded version

57. "Bulldog Skin" (Mag Earwhig!, 1997) [116 points, 6 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqBp3rfTTc

^ don't think I'd ever seen that video before today. Uh, cute.

#1 will be Dragons Awake! i am calling it right now

Hah, two of mine already showing up. And I thought mine would be obvious high-placing songs (which I am sure a lot of them will be). I had Postal Blowfish pretty high (love that version above). Just one of those songs I never get tired of for some reason.

Likewise. Kind of embarrassing, I think, but w/e. Song sounds way better without the Wonder Years footage.

Ha, I really don't like 'Bulldog Skin' at all.

Same here.

Chicken Blows is like the best bootleg White Album demo ever

Same here, don't like it. Thought it was a candidate for "hated tracks" but found I really couldn't create a "hated songs"-list of GBV

60th seems about right for "My Kind of Soldier" and "Chicken Blows" which are both fine but never really close to making my ballot. Not crazy about the other two.

is there a version on king shit and the golden boys? that one iirc is more lo-fi.

yes. and yes more lo-fi.

actually think of the blowfish from crying your knife away as definitive.
fun song to cover. so easy! (and a lot of GBV songs are deceptively difficult -- pollard uses strange chords).