GBV assistance please

i really like the three albums that followed 'do the collapse' but not the final one. the 'volunteer fire department' album is great too. i don't particularly like any of pollard's post gbv solo albums.

jill hives is on earthquake glue. Which is a fucking brillll album and u should get it.

^^

isolation drills is IMO their best 'proper studio' album by far - fantastic production without all the nonsense that made do the collapse suck so much

search: King Shit and the Golden Boys, Tonics and Twisted Chasers, and Pollard's first solo album Not In My Airforce if you don't have those already. They're all from the same era as the "classic" GBV albums and better than Suitcase.

i'd rank Isolation Drills and Earthquake Glue the highest out of the "studio" GBV albums, but there are good songs (and bad songs) on all of them.

King Shit...and Tonics and Twisted Chasers - aren't those live or unofficial or bootleg or something? Like Crying Your Knife Away?

I have Not In My Airforce but haven't listened to it in a long time. I remember it being good, though. Will revisit.

So, no Suitcase, then?

i've never heard suitcase - i've never really felt the need

also - what about the Bee Thousand Director's Cut thing?

king shit and tonics are like official outtake collections ... king shit's totally essential. (it was the 6th lp on Box, not sure if it's on the cd version ... ?) those are studio (er, basement studio 4-track) stuff, knife is live.

volunteer firefighter also great

xp - director's cut has a lot of the king shit songs I think

xpost

King Shit is a disc that was included in Box (a box set of their pre-Propellor albums), it's outtakes from circa Bee Thousand. Tonics & Twisted Chasers was a limited edition fan-club-only release from 1996 I think.

Suitcase has maybe 15-20 good songs out of 100 so be prepared to do some wading through shit if you get it. I haven't bothered checking out Suitcase 2 yet, even though I'm a GBV nerd.

also i think Normal Happiness is underrated and is the best post-GBV Pollard album to date (and there are a lot of those already!)

Oh, OK, so how much of King Shit and the Golden Boys is actually on the B1000 director's cut lps? I imagine these outtake collections are a bit harder to find these days...

only ten tracks out of, uh, like 24.

by the way, you have described my GBV fandom to a T, and I LOVE the King Shit album. and Get Out of My Stations, which I assume you also know.

awesome. gonna track down this King Shit...album. Thanks everyone!

hey dumb question which is better

Director's Cut/6 LP or whatever of Bee Thousand

or King Shit?

I should listen to King Shit again, because I don't particularly remember liking much of it. The Bx1000 Director's Cut is pretty cool, though, especially the versions of songs that appear on later releases.

Director's Cut - without a doubt - an excellent Rockathon effort.

I like about half record's worth of both 'Half Smiles...' and 'Universal Truths...' - but "earthquake glue' and 'isolation drills' have never been stopped midway - solid throughout.

I'm kinda a sucker for Pollard's 'Waved Out' and he and Gillard's collaborative "mist king urth" (as Lifeguards). Though his Phantom Tollbooth collaboration "Beard of Lightening" gets panned a lot - if you like early Pollard, I think you'll love this too.

I happen to play the Matador "Hardcore UFO's" box and my own personal bootlegs (aud and sbd) more than anything else in the canon.

I would definitely rather have Bee Thousand in its standard edition and King Shit than the b1000 Director's Cut.

Tonics & Twisted Chasers is more essential than King Shit for an odds and ends collection though.

Latter-day picks: Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department (all of it!), Universal Truths And Cycles (Abt half of it), Earthquake Glue (abt half).

Over time, my favorite GBV song has become "The Closets of Henry," but I wouldn't recommend much else from Half Smiles of the Decomposed. But I'll echo everyone else in the thread who says Isolation Drills and (especially) Earthquake Glue are essential.

the matador and just before years, in other words. first two pollard solo albums on matador, not in my airforce and waved out (especially waved out) are every bit as good as

"Vampire on Titus, Propeller, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, and all the EPs that were released during that period"

also, you might want to give under the bushes under the stars another go; it's up there with bee thousand and alien lanes as one of my favorite three gbv albums. of the two new merge solo albums, coast to coast carpet of love just might be a minor return to matador form. hope that helps and i'm not steering you too wrong

The Bee Thousand Director's Cut is superb - the pressing is delicious and the amalgam of material is sequenced in a way that almost re-introduces you to the material.

All the "proper" GBV releases after Alien Lanes are spotty, as are both of the Suitcase releases - but gems do abound. I like The Pipe Dreams Of Instant Prince Whippet, even though it is an odds and sods.

The Airport 5 releases and the Go Back Snowball projects are mostly misses.

The Fading Captain Series has quite a few really interesting releases, and what i re-visit most often.
Lexo and the Leapers - Ask Them
Pollard - Kid Marine, Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department
Lifeguards - Mist King Urth
Circus Devils - Harold Pig Memorial, Sgt. Disco (these finally have Bob delivering on his prog aspirations)

"Waved Out" is about the best Pollard record I know

The Bee Thousand Director's Cut record is worth owning I think. The CD it comes with has most -- but not all -- of the tracks on the vinyl. One that they left off is 'Alien Lanes.' (!?)

I've given up ever hoping for mid-90s magic ever again, but Bob's recent album Normal Happiness is a bit of a grower.

The Director's Cut CD tried to fit everything that was not otherwise available on CD, so some (or all; I'm not checking) of the "Grand Hour" stuff like "Alien Lanes" isn't on it. But the incredibly great "rock" version of "My Valuable Hunting Knife" fortunately is. I can't understand why that sat unreleased for a decade, and then only as a bonus track afterthought.

is "relaxation of the asshole" funny or just sad?

But the incredibly great "rock" version of "My Valuable Hunting Knife" fortunately is. I can't understand why that sat unreleased for a decade, and then only as a bonus track afterthought.

is this different to the version on the tigerbomb ep?

I love Relaxation of the Asshole! But then, I downloaded it and didn't pay $20 for it on 'vinyl'

is "relaxation of the asshole" funny or just sad?
Funny! And 'Asshole 2' is even better.

Asshole 2?

I haven't heard the Tigerbomb EP, but looking at the GBVDB I don't think it's the same version of "Knife". The one on Director's Cut is called the "Shernoff Version". If you know the 7" version of "I am a Scientist" (also Shernoff recorded), this has a similar treatment.

Robert Pollard
Coast to Coast Carpet of Love / Standard Gargoyle Decisions
Merge; 2007

Styles: drunken elementary schoolteacher indie pop rock

Asshole 2?
MEET THE KING : ASSHOLE 2
Meet the King: Asshole 2. It's the second comedy (read: stage banter) album from Robert Pollard. It's available now on Yuk Yuk Motherfucker Records. Meet the King is the follow up to 2005's Relaxation of the Asshole. Recorded mostly during the final Guided By Voices tour, you get to hear Bob's routines on family ("Fuck you Dad!"), offer advice to the youngsters ("we got any college kids out there looking for jobs? Get wasted when you do your interview!"), take on modern music ("Three years ago I thought Alien Ant Farm was the worst it could get. Now I look back nostalgically on Alien Ant Farm") and even examine his own career ("I'm Burt Bacharach in reverse").

If you know the 7" version of "I am a Scientist" (also Shernoff recorded), this has a similar treatment.

that makes it sound like it is the same one as Tigerbomb

haven't heard the director's cut tho

another good track to look out for is "If We Wait" ..... it was on an oop split 7" and then ended up on one of the many odds and ends collections (sunfish holy breakfast)

"if we wait" was the "hold on hope" of that era -- the tuneful, pretty ballad that made some fans swoon and others vomit, and that the band itself absolutely wouldn't play no matter how hard anyone asked. i liked it. it's a nice 6/8 homage to john lennon circa "this boy." the flip of the split featured jennie mae laeffel, who went on to make at least one decent album (on anyway records, i believe) that i'm reasonably sure no one currently alive remembers. according to google, she does not exist except as a sidenote on three gbv websites.

also I just put some of the fading captain LPs in my ebay pile (only so much room in my apartment) so if you're looking for any of these on vinyl, email me and i'll give you a good deal

dmr3345 at geeeeemail

circus devils - ringworm interiors
circus devils - harold pig memorial (orange wax)
go back snowball - calling zero
lifeguards - mist king urth

the band itself absolutely wouldn't play no matter how hard anyone asked.

haha there's a ridic. drunk version at the end of crying your knife away

that's where that title comes from actually, a lyric in if we wait

the only time i ever saw "if we wait" attempted was at tramps in new york where, bowing to a barrage of audience shout-outs for it, the band sent this dude from portland onstage to do a solo-acoustic cover of "if we wait" as the first encore. i'm blanking on the dude's name, but he had a gbv cover band that was legendary in gbv geek circles.

The Tigerbomb version of "Hunting Knife" and the Director's Cut version and NOT the same.

?

and=are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0yg20pzUs

what is this from? i only know the live version from suitcase with the loud people talking over it

n/m,it's SUITCASE 3

gbv.com sez that's the only version xpost

they're on letterman tonight iirc

I don't suppose that one guy falling on his ass was part of the performance lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8aOZPNyVaIY
lol at Greg Demos. i guess that is appropriate.

Thought for SURE Mitch would have an unlit square in his mouth through the whole thing ...

i haven't watched it yet because i was afraid of being disappointed
should i watch it
or will i be disappointed?

it's ok! still a little on the fence about the new album, but i like it.

PFork review noting that Sprout's songs on the new one are the best ... uh that's true of all their "classic" period albums imho

I lol'ed in the office at Greg Demos in that Letterman clip.

this might be bad form, but my gbv piece ran http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jan/05/guided-by-voices-dont-give-up-day-job

good piece imo

Oh wow, you wrote that? I read it a few days ago and loved it so much b/c it wasn't bob-focused! A++ article!!

thank you! tbh the lack of bob-focussedness was entirely my choice, but was really pleased with how it all panned out! have only been waiting to write this story since 1993...

Not being hyperbolic when I say it was my favorite piece about them in ages. I was even gonna post it here but I forgot! Glad I forgot tbh:)

Totally want to hear more truck driving stories.

oops i meant the lack of bob was NOT entirely by choice...

and thanks again ll!

really enjoyed that article Stevie