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...
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...
In 2006, the solo era of Robert Pollard truly began with two of the greatest albums of Pollard's; From a Compound Eye (which I'll refer to as FACE) and Normal Happiness. Both albums were done in collaboration with Todd Tobias (Pollard providing Tobias with the basic structure of the song, and Tobias recording most of the instruments), and both stand out as two of my personal favorites. There is not a bad song in the batch among these 26 tracks, and unlike some other Pollard solo albums that are full of recommended tracks (for example, Kid Marine or Coast to Coast Carpet of Love), the majority go beyond being simply good, and many are among the best in the entire Pollard catalog...
