C or D : Guided By Voices.

is "overloaded" his best individual song since the reformation? it's the only one I've found that would be a highlight on the classic records

ah, it's written by Kevin March apparently, not Pollard

Love "Overloaded," which temporarily got me checking out the newer GbV records (which, unfortunately, I've mostly found to be a slog). Didn't know it wasn't a Pollard composition.

Hold on, so the best song is written by the drummer? Yeahhhhhh, think I'll pass guys.

there's some good pollard ones but they're much sparser than the original run

My favorite post-reunion Bob songs:

Imperial Racehorsing
Billy Wire
Jon the Croc
Mobility (this one is actually a Ricked Wicky song but it's great so I need to mention it)

I think overall I've just completely lost the patience required to absorb all of his stuff. I'm sure there's more good stuff on these records but it's been buried much deeper in shit lately.

He has also given us this which on the one hand is pretty funny but on the other hand is a live document of Bob surrounded by his weird army of sycophants so...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olTGp89WF0k

oh "she hides in black" is another good one but i think it's on a solo pollard

maybe someday i'll have the patience do a full survey of this stuff, i'm sure there's a dozen earworms i'm missing

Space Gun is sounding really good - not just the songs but the production, too. And I haven't particularly cared for the other reunion records I've heard.

― Simon H., Friday, March 23, 2018 7:23 AM (three months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is really good! def digging it more than anything i've heard in years

Also...Bobby Bare Jr is this band now?? weird

Zeppelin Over China is sounding great - got my Rockathon package this weekend, this fine record along with latest 'Eat' collage book. I'm a fan anyways, but what stands out every release in the last five years or so, is that for a band that did it on the cheap, and recorded lo-fi masterpieces once a upon a time, their records now sound GREAT. Drums/cymbals and guitar tone sound great. The bass lines are pronounced and not muddy like the old days. Super entertaining double LP here - way better than their last attempt at a double LP. Looking forward to 'Rise of the Ants' later this year.

He has also given us this which on the one hand is pretty funny but on the other hand is a live document of Bob surrounded by his weird army of sycophants so...
📹

Third album of 2019 out today.

add to that the Cash Rivers release from this year. new one has sort of a Gabriel-era Genesis feel. how the hell does he do it?

... why the hell does he do it more like it.

This new one is quite good, more muscular than usual, about on par with Space Gun. I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

Another new album today. I’m about halfway though but so far it might be his most consistent, at least compared to the albums he released last year. This might be my favorite of his latest run of albums.

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

I started doing this and made some progress, but now I already have a whole other album to add and I'm not sure if my listening can possibly keep up with his songwriting.

Another new album today. I’m about halfway though but so far it might be his most consistent, at least compared to the albums he released last year. This might be my favorite of his latest run of albums.

People say this (more or less) every time he releases an album. It's like, "Remember when I said his last album was a return to form? Well, it wasn't after all, but this one is. Honest".

Ha I don’t think it’s a return to form, I just like it more. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of the pace of his output. Hard to keep up and if I’m being honest, it causes me to devalue the albums, like the songs are tissues pulled from a box and cast aside.

the new one is really great, and I haven't felt like saying that about any of the post-reunion albums. his focus is tight, his hit-rate is high.

maybe it's just cause he's putting out more "proper" LPs under the same name, but it feels like his output is even more accelerated than in the old days

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

I started doing this and made some progress, but now I already have a whole other album to add and I'm not sure if my listening can possibly keep up with his songwriting.

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Friday, February 21, 2020 10:12 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol I am pertually in this place

"steely dodger" rules

Just out of curiosity: has his post-breakup output exceeded his pre-breakup output yet?

like the songs are tissues pulled from a box and cast aside

gbv in a nutshell

the new one is really great, and I haven't felt like saying that about any of the post-reunion albums. his focus is tight, his hit-rate is high.

Yup -- there are some fantastic songs scattered throughout the previous albums by this iteration of the band, and Space Gun was a high-water mark in particular, but even that was fairly spotty compared to Surrender Your Poppy Field. This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue. Tons of cool little touches on this one, and there's kind of a theatricality that I feel like sets it apart from maybe any other GBV album.

This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.
This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.
This probably won't sound like high praise to everybody, but I think this is the most I've enjoyed a GBV album since Earthquake Glue.

Just out of curiosity: has his post-breakup output exceeded his pre-breakup output yet?

― Hot, Now, and Oh-So-Very Wow! (Old Lunch), Friday, February 21, 2020 12:52 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think we still need 2 more LPs to match it on album count. if we're talking pollard and not gbv then it exceeded it ages ago via side projects and solo records

Started giving it a listen but right away don’t like the production that much. It’s like those Black Sabbath records when you can’t hear Geezer’s finger noises anymore.

Is the Acid Ranch stuff worth listening to?

Even for a catalog of his size I feel like there are a disproportionate number of songs with the word "Arthur" in the title.

xp I bought Some of the Magic Syrup Was Preserved because it happened to be released at the peak of my "buy everything with Bob's name on it" phase and I would generously describe it as inessential.

like the coolest thing about it is it has the song he lifted the spoken part from the end of "Alright" from.

agreed inessential but it when it comes up on shuffle I always dig it

The Who vs Porky the Pig
If we’re talking essential inessential

this one feels like a 00s pollard solo album to me in style and quality, still not as good as the 00s gbv records but fine

I'm toying with the idea of trying to put together a Human Amusements II from the reunion records but it's like 9 hours of music already to whittle down, which is exhausting.

Decided to give this a shot. I realized Half Smiles of the Decomposed actually came out after the Human Amusements comp, and with that album as fair game for a best-of volume 2, there's actually a nice bit of symmetry right now, because each volume would cover a 16-year span during which 15 GBV albums were released, by my count. So figured I'd try to do this before the next one comes out.

I never really got into the classic lineup reunion albums, other than maybe Motivational Jumpsuit, but I've got at least one track from each of them on here. Though you might be disappointed if you prefer that era to the current one.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1idxGsnYtzSHZY2ipxQSdP

cool thanks!

Oh wow, that's impressive. I'd have made room for "Sport Component National" but I can't complain as I've only made like 10% progress towards eliminating material in general.

vampire on titus getting a reissue for RSD

"Imperial Racehorsing" is my #1 essential track from the classic lineup reunion era.

pretty sure "overloaded" is my OPO from '10s gbv. dunno what my pick would be when restricted to pollard songs

I'd have made room for "Sport Component National" but I can't complain as I've only made like 10% progress towards eliminating material in general.

Love that song! Ended up cutting it in favor of more of what I thought of as crowd-pleasers. (I wanted to keep the running time more or less the same as Human Amusements.)

"See My Field" is my OPO from the last decade.

I've been working from home all week so I've listened to the new one a bunch. It's pretty good! I haven't heard anything since Space Gun, considering doing some back tracking now.

Still think August by Cake is the best I've heard from this lineup, but mainly because he let the other guys contribute (which unfortunately gave us "High Five Hall of Famers", but "Overloaded" and "Sudden Fiction" are so good it doesn't matter).

"Volcano", "Arthur Has Business Elsewhere" and "Steely Dodger" are the big keepers from this one for me. Also "Whoa Nelly" is pretty cool.

OK, time to go back and listen to these three fucking records from 2019 that I skipped.

Do you think Bob re-programs that same beat on his drum machine every time or does he have it saved

I want to train a neural network on Bob song titles but exclude "Your Cricket Is Rather Unique" and take bets on how long it takes the neural network to come up with "Your Cricket Is Rather Unique".

"Tiger on Top" is pretty fun! Otherwise Sweating the Plague feels like he's on autopilot so far.

Guitar player in my old band used to lighten the mood by launching into fake Pollard songs: “This one’s called Canadian Toothbrush Girls!” “This one’s called Umbrellas Go Viral!”