Still Here

I know it has been a while (over a year now) since my last post. I just wanted to put out a quick note saying I'm still around, but other things have left me little time to post on this blog. I do want to complete the entries, and there have been tons of new stuff as well to review, so I'm hoping to one day get back at it!

Robert Pollard: Coast to Coast Carpet of Love (2007)

I have raved about Pollard's solo twosome from 2006 of From a Compound Eye and Normal Happiness, and claimed that they were amongst the best albums in the GBV-related catolog. 2007 saw the release of another combo, the edgy Standard Gargoyle Decisions, and the focus of this post, the mellow and pop-whimsical Coast to Coast Carpet of Love (which I'll abbreviate CTCCOL from here on out). The familiar recording process of Todd Tobias laying out all the instrumental tracks, and then Pollard mixing the vocals would be used here. Though the 2007 offerings do not quite meet the level of awesome of Pollard's 2006 albums, there is still stuff to like here, however, there is something wrong with how the guitar sounds on CTCCOL. I would like to hear other's comments on this, but the way guitar is recorded on CTCCOL prevents me from enjoying it more...

Boston Spaceships: The Planets Are Blasted (2009)

One of my absolutely favorite Pollard songs was released in 2009, the incredible opener to Planets Are Blasted, Canned Food Demons. If I made a one-disc sampler of GBV-related tunes for a friend, this track would be on it for sure. The song serves as a perfect opening to Planets Are Blasted, the Boston Spaceships' follow-up to Brown Submarine. The trio of Pollard, Slusarenko, and Moen had a difficult task ahead of them when they set out to top their wonderful first offering, Brown Submarine, but they not only met that challenge, but managed to create one of the best albums in the entire Pollard-related catalog. This one is right up there with FACE/Normal Happiness and the best of the Guided By Voices records...

Boston Spaceships: Brown Submarine (2008)

In 2008, Robert Pollard put together his new band Boston Spaceships, who are named after the spaceships on the album covers of the band Boston. The band also includes Chris Slusarenko (most instruments) and The Decemberists' John Moen on drums, though the songs are all written by Pollard. Since then, Boston Spaceships have released four full albums, an EP, and have a fifth album due in August. Brown Submarine is the first album from what is likely Pollard's most exciting and consistently rocking post-GBV band (including the solo stuff)...

Grand Reopening!

Hi everyone! I have updated the site to the new Blogger templates, which I hope makes it easier to navigate, and should make it easier for me to update. Now, I just need to post a new review :-)

Soon Soon

I let a whole year go by without a post, so sorry about that. However, this site is still ongoing as far as I'm concerned, and I hope to find some time to post some new reviews over the summer.

Robert Pollard: Fiction Man (2004)

You will notice in my reviews for From a Compound Eye (FACE) and Normal Happiness that I mention that they are among my favorite Robert Pollard releases. Those albums perfected the method of Todd Tobias recording full band versions of Robert Pollard's demos, and Pollard recording the vocals afterword. Though this method was somewhat used with the Tobias brothers (Tim and Todd) and Pollard for the Circus Devils albums, the method truly got its start when Todd Tobias recorded the instrumentation for Fiction Man, based on the unused demos from Guided By Voices' album Earthquake Glue. I think I will just get it out of the way now that this album is not among my favorites, and that some of the issues I had with Earthquake Glue filter down to this album as well...

Robert Pollard: Motel of Fools (2003)

After getting Suitcase 3 in the mail, I realized that I once again let a fairly decent amount of time go between posts. I decided to go over an album I honestly do not spend too much time with, Robert Pollard's somewhat experimental Motel of Fools. I've heard somewhere that this album was meant to sound like a movie soundtrack, and from the album notes, a few regular Pollard contributors show up for this one (Jim Macpherson, Greg Demos, Chris Slusarenko, and Tobin Sprout included). What I tend to do, when planning to write up an album I do not know too well, is listen to it while driving for a little while. Songs seem to imprint themselves on my brain easier if I hear them while driving. Over the course of listening to Motel of Fools a few times, I went from having only 1 of the 7 songs making the playlist, to 4...

Purpose

Time to redefine the purpose of this blog. Originally, the following three items defined the purpose:

1) To create my ultimate GBV/Robert Pollard playlist
2) To create my ultimate GBV/Robert Pollard CD box set
3) To give those new to GBV/Robert Pollard a good starting reference

I'm scratching out point #2, as it has already gotten way to big for a CD box set...

Robert Pollard: Normal Happiness (2006)

In my write-up for From a Compound Eye, I mentioned that it, along with its sibling Normal Happiness, are the two Pollard albums I listen to the most. They are likely my favorite albums in the entire GBV-related catalog, so it probably wouldn't surprise you that all but one of the tracks from FACE made the playlist (and the majority of those on Normal Happiness are going to as well). That being said, the majority of the comments I received from my FACE post, either through email, the comments section, or that chat thing I have on the right of the screen, are focused on the exclusion of Payment for the Babies off the playlist. When this happens, I tend to spend some time with the song and see if I can figure out what I'm missing, and in this case, I can not. Payment for the Babies stays off the playlist, and once again we have proof that every single song of the GBV library has its supporters. Alright, now lets get to this great album...

new post coming this weekend...