Self-Inflicted Aural Nostalgia takes an in-depth look at the history of, and context behind, every Guided By Voices record, starting with their 1987 debut. Each episode talks about how every LP was made, the songs it contains, its sound and how it fits into the Guided By Voices universe. A new episode will be uploaded every two weeks until we get through them all.
Thank you; this is going to be helpful as I investigate GBV (via the Airport 5). Is it just me or are they the closest thing the US has to the The Fall?
Actually so hard to pick. At this exact moment this would be A list… 1. Weedking 2. Short on Posters 3. We Liken the Sun 4. How to Murder a Man (In 3 Acts) 5. Hang Mr. Kite 6. Slopes of Big Ugly 7. That’s Good 8. If We Wait 9. Sleep Over Jack 10. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Actually so hard to pick. At this exact moment this would be A list… 1. Weedking 2. Short on Posters 3. We Liken the Sun 4. How to Murder a Man (In 3 Acts) 5. Hang Mr. Kite 6. Slopes of Big Ugly 7. That’s Good 8. If We Wait 9. Sleep Over Jack 10. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Actually so hard to pick. At this exact moment this would be A list… 1. Weedking 2. Short on Posters 3. We Liken the Sun 4. How to Murder a Man (In 3 Acts) 5. Hang Mr. Kite 6. Slopes of Big Ugly 7. That’s Good 8. If We Wait 9. Sleep Over Jack 10. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Actually so hard to pick. At this exact moment this would be A list… 1. Weedking 2. Short on Posters 3. We Liken the Sun 4. How to Murder a Man (In 3 Acts) 5. Hang Mr. Kite 6. Slopes of Big Ugly 7. That’s Good 8. If We Wait 9. Sleep Over Jack 10. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Actually so hard to pick. At this exact moment this would be A list… 1. Weedking 2. Short on Posters 3. We Liken the Sun 4. How to Murder a Man (In 3 Acts) 5. Hang Mr. Kite 6. Slopes of Big Ugly 7. That’s Good 8. If We Wait 9. Sleep Over Jack 10. Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Interesting results here: Bee Thousand, Propeller and Under the Bushes right up there, but Alien Lanes and Vampire on Titus so low on list?? (My first purchase was Vampire/Propeller too. Then, The Grand Hour, which is GBV's Watery Domestic!)
1 Demons are real 2 man called aerodynamics 3 dusted 4 14 cheerleader coldfront 5 game of pricks 6 the gleemer 7 key losers 8 my valuable hunting knife 9 as we go up we go down 10 your name is wild
The short songs on Alien Lanes are like Haiku masterpieces; Cigarette Tricks, Hit, Gold Hick. If the lyrics made clear sense, the songs would be unremarkable, and unbearable.
1. Valuable Hunting Knife 2. Game of Pricks 3. Tractor Rape Chain 4. As We Go Up 5. Chasing Heather Crazy 6. Space Gun 7. Cut Out Witch 8. Sad If I Lost It 9. Smothered in Hugs 10. Dayton, Ohio
Ya lost me with this episode. I put up with the red herrings and non-sequiturs as well as the "i know it's very obvious i'm just reading something off wikipedia", because at least the observations were thoughtful and easy to connect with as a fan. But "Cigarette Tricks" is a PERFECT song. It is pure zen. Part of me does wish it were longer, but I also feel at the same time it is complete and does what it does correctly and arrives at the station right on time. "Dumbcharger" is also exactly what it should be. It's fabulous with its chord progression that taps into the limbic system and vocals creeping ethereally overtop. I'm not a huge fan of lo-fi or a gbv purist who thinks this is their sound and not to be produced, but these are some of their great songs and they're just particularly good at being musical wizards of basement recording.
hey ty Jeff for all the work you put into making these videos. fans for years to come will be watching. as for warp and woof, to me it feels like another Do the Collapse - an underrated album that will one day be seen as top 10 in the gbv catalog.
Cut out witch Do the earth My kind of soilder Jill hives Echoes myron Glad girls Local mix up / murder charge My valuable hunting knife Gunna never have to die Dusted
Imagine being a Guided By Voices superfan and your major gripe with recording artists is too many songs. I mean, cmon. WTF. _That's_ one of the things that makes GBV great. It's a trademark. Imagine if GBV only had 12 studio albums with 12 tracks each. No one would even know who they are. A surplus of tracks takes nothing from an album, especially these days. I would argue it never has.
For me, this is where the serious work of GBV commences. I love this record. "The Future Is In Eggs," "White Whale," and "The Qualifying Remainder" are some standouts to me but more the half of the songs are worth singling out.
Just discovering this podcast! Beyond stoked to see someone dedicating this level of attention to a mythologic band hiding in plain sight. Oh Frostman I'm with you.
Thank you so much for making this GBV series! I've listened to it multiple times over the past few years. If you ever get the itch to do some more, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Bob's solo records :)
I think the reason that mainstream critics didn't cover them is twofold. 1) Bob and co probably don't "pay" for good reviews/press coverage anymore through a strong publicist. And 2) if I were a mainstream critic, I'd be a little wary of giving an honest/balanced review when a group has a smallish but extremely devoted fanbase. There isn't much of an ROI on giving them free press and then being attacked on twitter by a bunch of people 🤣
This is really an incredible record that I think gets a bit overlooked. And I'm with you, I love Tobin's dreamy melodies during this era. It's a nice contrast to Pollard's more muscular rockers and weird ditties
I’ve been blessed to have done sound for GBV multiple times, first time was at the infamous Sudsy Malone’s in Cincinnati in the 90’s. I had heard the band’s recordings before and was unimpressed. Live was a totally different experience. Simply put the best bar band I’ve ever heard, absolutely stunning. It tickles me hear the names of various people & bands I’ve worked with over a 30+ year career, Kim Deal, Steve Albini, The Grifters among others. A brief random story, I worked a day job picking up donations for a thrift store and at night I provided P.A. and did sound at clubs in the Cincinnati area. Sometime in the 90’s I was picking up donations in Dayton on Arthur Ave. off of N. Dixie Ave. and I came to a house and in the garage is a Buick with a Guided By Voices bumper sticker, in the bags of clothes i picking up was a GBV tee shirt and there was a wooden sign next to the door that said “The Pollads” I knocked on the door and Bob’s Mother answered the door. We talked for a minute and she revealed Robert’s nickname, this is a secret I don’t reveal to anyone but my closest friends. There’s more stories.
The GBV catalog is huge so I haven’t heard everything but Propeller and Vampire on Titus are 2 of their worst not one good track on either one of them which is amazing as I’ve always been able to find a least a few good tracks on everything I’ve heard by them. I can’t overstate how bad those 2 albums are. Awful crap
I can imagine how a fan might dislike a great GBV album. With so many different sounds to each album, there are some albums that you can fall in love with to the point it makes others difficult to palate. Same problem if you ever listen to much Capt Beefheart. ...But I imagine the day may come that you will hear this again and enjoy it the way many of us do.
There are songs on these two albums that mean so much to me. Back in the 90s when I first heard these songs, I was just blown away and could not believe what I was hearing-this band that no one had heard of with these beautiful gorgeous songs with such great melodies and interesting lyrics
You've got some interesting ideas. 1) Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia - I think you rate this one criminally low. It's my favorite early GBV album. Perhaps as good as, if not better than, Propeller. 2) Mag Earwhig - oof. I would have rated this much higher. 3) Alien Lanes - I know I'd get as much garbage thrown at me as thrown at you on this...I think you've got a point. This album is forgiven/loved/adored because there are a good 10+ absolute gems. But the other half or so...not so much. I'm not sure where it would rank among all 30, but I think you're on to something. 4) Universal Truths & Cycles - I guess I say you underrate this one because this is my favorite Guided By Voices album. Perhaps it could lose a song or two, but not many. 5) I am going to listen to several of these other, newer albums now. Hard to believe they're any better than Isolation Drills or Universal Truths & Cycles. I hope you're right.
