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LP
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SV 204LP
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"Originally released in 1996 as a limited fan-club pressing for Rockathon, Guided By Voices' Tonics & Twisted Chasers has always existed as an anomaly in Robert Pollard's vast discography. In many ways, the album serves as the tail of a creative comet that in just two years included the 'classic line-up' trilogy of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes, Under the Stars and countless singles that crammed endless hooks in their grooves. In the intervening space, Tonics & Twisted Chasers has taken on a mythic status. It's arguably Pollard's strangest, gnarliest, most enlightened record and also the fans first chance to see the stitches that bind his galaxy of songs. It's like peering at the caliber inside a watch, responsible for making the whole enterprise tick. This nineteen-song collaboration with guitarist Tobin Sprout could be interpreted as spontaneous sketches, late-night improvisations, ideas that blossomed later in the timeline ('Knock 'Em Flyin'' and 'Key Losers'), but as with anything in Pollard's orbit, its intention is clear when heard as a cohesive whole. The Pollard tenet that 'less is more' is on full display here. The songs rarely creep past ninety seconds and coalesce much like Pollard's collage-styled visual art. Arena anthems in miniature ('158 Years Of Beautiful Sex') bash up against eerie piano laments ('Universal Nurse Finger') without any time to breathe, acoustic lullabies that sound like a Midwestern summer's twilight ('Look It's Baseball') segue into monochromatic post-rock ('Maxwell Jump'). The euphoric joy and obtuse melancholy in Pollard's voice is so palpable on the album's standout, 'Dayton, Ohio 19 Something & 5' (which has since become a live staple), that it's impossible to find a more autobiographical yarn in his catalog. The album's closest analog is 1993's Vampire On Titus, as it contains that album's prickly, dark and shimmering obfuscation that only reveals its beauty after repeated listens. Tonics & Twisted Chasers maintains the lore because the melodies are so strong. Using a primitive drum machine, Radio Shack effects, minimal instrumentation and the DIY spirit that guided them in the first place, Pollard and Sprout constructed a masterpiece of pop that could only come from a basement in north Dayton, Ohio. Anyone in that hallowed era who happened upon it, kept it as a secret."
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SV 204C-LP
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Translucent orange vinyl version. "Originally released in 1996 as a limited fan-club pressing for Rockathon, Guided By Voices' Tonics & Twisted Chasers has always existed as an anomaly in Robert Pollard's vast discography. In many ways, the album serves as the tail of a creative comet that in just two years included the 'classic line-up' trilogy of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes, Under the Stars and countless singles that crammed endless hooks in their grooves. In the intervening space, Tonics & Twisted Chasers has taken on a mythic status. It's arguably Pollard's strangest, gnarliest, most enlightened record and also the fans first chance to see the stitches that bind his galaxy of songs. It's like peering at the caliber inside a watch, responsible for making the whole enterprise tick. This nineteen-song collaboration with guitarist Tobin Sprout could be interpreted as spontaneous sketches, late-night improvisations, ideas that blossomed later in the timeline ('Knock 'Em Flyin'' and 'Key Losers'), but as with anything in Pollard's orbit, its intention is clear when heard as a cohesive whole. The Pollard tenet that 'less is more' is on full display here. The songs rarely creep past ninety seconds and coalesce much like Pollard's collage-styled visual art. Arena anthems in miniature ('158 Years Of Beautiful Sex') bash up against eerie piano laments ('Universal Nurse Finger') without any time to breathe, acoustic lullabies that sound like a Midwestern summer's twilight ('Look It's Baseball') segue into monochromatic post-rock ('Maxwell Jump'). The euphoric joy and obtuse melancholy in Pollard's voice is so palpable on the album's standout, 'Dayton, Ohio 19 Something & 5' (which has since become a live staple), that it's impossible to find a more autobiographical yarn in his catalog. The album's closest analog is 1993's Vampire On Titus, as it contains that album's prickly, dark and shimmering obfuscation that only reveals its beauty after repeated listens. Tonics & Twisted Chasers maintains the lore because the melodies are so strong. Using a primitive drum machine, Radio Shack effects, minimal instrumentation and the DIY spirit that guided them in the first place, Pollard and Sprout constructed a masterpiece of pop that could only come from a basement in north Dayton, Ohio. Anyone in that hallowed era who happened upon it, kept it as a secret."
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LP
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SCAT 084X-LP
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Blue color vinyl. "Even back in 1987, Guided By Voices was not content to release just one album in a year -- Sandbox was released in the summer of that year following Devil Between My Toes' appearance that February. Likewise, in similar GBV style, the sound and approach of the two albums could not be more different. Where Devil mostly mines a darker, lo-fi psychedelia, along with several instrumental explorations, Sandbox is sunny, direct, has a bigger, crunchier sound, and zero instrumentals. Where Devil has a murky and impressionistic black and white photo of a rooster for a cover, Sandbox sports a full color photo of the band relaxing on a lawn on a sunny day. Let's also recall that unlike today, in 1987 a full-color album jacket wasn't just a little more expensive than a black and white one, it was way more expensive. Right up front, the band was communicating that this was a more commercially ambitious endeavor, while behind the scenes they rented better gear for a bigger sound, and tackled more sophisticated arrangements and honed in on the hooks and harmonies of the songs. Of all the band's early self-released albums, Sandbox differs the most from the sound fans would later associate with the group, which is in itself a recommendation. Nowhere else will you hear the perfectly rendered three-part harmonies of 'Long Distance Man,' direct Beatles quotes, or Robert Pollard reveling in his southern Ohio drawl. It's also true that one of the more enjoyable aspects of the record is finding all the places where the band's future is indeed foreshadowed. Simply put, Guided By Voices just can't help but be a little weird, even when attempting something like a power pop album. At the close of the opening track, Pollard announces, 'Ladies and gentlemen! Back by popular demand for your entertainment and spiritual enlightenment; Electric Jam Soul Aquarium!' a truly 'wtf is happening here' moment. Or the stripped-down gloom of 'Trap Soul Door' -- a track that could be right at home on nearly any later GBV album wherein Pollard intones, 'Just one spark can start a hell of a fire.' Little did he know how true that statement would become."
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CD
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GBVI 121CD
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"Building on forty years of GBV history, the majestic and triumphant Strut Of Kings is the forty-first album by indie rock royalty Guided By Voices. Largely recorded in Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), the album is perhaps a gesture towards the malevolent 'kings' on the world stage. As the 'Serene King' waltzes across the battlefield, Emperor Pollard evokes castles, King Kong and strutting roosters, a surreal yet regal journey."
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GBVI 121LP
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LP version. "Building on forty years of GBV history, the majestic and triumphant Strut Of Kings is the forty-first album by indie rock royalty Guided By Voices. Largely recorded in Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), the album is perhaps a gesture towards the malevolent 'kings' on the world stage. As the 'Serene King' waltzes across the battlefield, Emperor Pollard evokes castles, King Kong and strutting roosters, a surreal yet regal journey."
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LP
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SCAT 090LP
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"Originally released in 1990, Same Place The Fly Got Smashed was Guided By Voices' fourth album in as many years. Roughly a concept album about an alcoholic named Joker Bob who goes on a bender, someone dies, and Bob gets the chair ('the electrifying conclusion'). From the moment the needle drops, the listener is served notice that this isn't going to be an easy listen, as an argument taped off of a TV cuts to a basement recording of a lone, blaring electric guitar with someone yelling over the top. But for those brave enough to pass the opening hazards, there are wonders within. This particular album has come to be held in higher and higher regard by fans, and they are correct to consider it a top-tier release. The story and sequence have a flow, and consideration for approachability is optional. Many of the crudest tracks reveal themselves as necessary stitches in the album's tapestry. Yet it also contains all-time greats like 'Drinker's Peace,' 'Mammoth Cave,' the epic 'Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge,' and of course 'Pendulum' with its immortal opening line: 'Come on over tonight, we'll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!' -- a rare break in the clouds on one of the band's darkest albums. This reissue, like the previous ones in this series, is a mostly faithful reproduction of the original pressing of 500 on the band's own Rocket #9 label. And like the others, the virgin RTI vinyl is housed in a thick tip-on jacket, and includes Robert Pollard's original handwritten lyric insert."
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SCAT 090X-LP
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Color vinyl version. "Originally released in 1990, Same Place The Fly Got Smashed was Guided By Voices' fourth album in as many years. Roughly a concept album about an alcoholic named Joker Bob who goes on a bender, someone dies, and Bob gets the chair ('the electrifying conclusion'). From the moment the needle drops, the listener is served notice that this isn't going to be an easy listen, as an argument taped off of a TV cuts to a basement recording of a lone, blaring electric guitar with someone yelling over the top. But for those brave enough to pass the opening hazards, there are wonders within. This particular album has come to be held in higher and higher regard by fans, and they are correct to consider it a top-tier release. The story and sequence have a flow, and consideration for approachability is optional. Many of the crudest tracks reveal themselves as necessary stitches in the album's tapestry. Yet it also contains all-time greats like 'Drinker's Peace,' 'Mammoth Cave,' the epic 'Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge,' and of course 'Pendulum' with its immortal opening line: 'Come on over tonight, we'll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!' -- a rare break in the clouds on one of the band's darkest albums. This reissue, like the previous ones in this series, is a mostly faithful reproduction of the original pressing of 500 on the band's own Rocket #9 label. And like the others, the virgin RTI vinyl is housed in a thick tip-on jacket, and includes Robert Pollard's original handwritten lyric insert."
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CD
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GBVI 120CD
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"This record is massive and amazing. Nowhere To Go But Up is Guided By Voices' third album of 2023 (and thirty-ninth overall) and is a sprawling, wild adventure. With virtually no choruses and just two repeated lyrics in forty minutes, GBV is audacious and unafraid. One of the most fully realized works that Guided By Voices has created, Nowhere To Go But Up showcases an expert rock band at the top of their game. The band is on a roll and unstoppable. Following their monumental 40th Anniversary Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, GBV begins their fifth decade with a bang!"
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LP
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GBVI 120LP
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LP version. "This record is massive and amazing. Nowhere To Go But Up is Guided By Voices' third album of 2023 (and thirty-ninth overall) and is a sprawling, wild adventure. With virtually no choruses and just two repeated lyrics in forty minutes, GBV is audacious and unafraid. One of the most fully realized works that Guided By Voices has created, Nowhere To Go But Up showcases an expert rock band at the top of their game. The band is on a roll and unstoppable. Following their monumental 40th Anniversary Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, GBV begins their fifth decade with a bang!"
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LP
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SCAT 087LP
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2024 repress. "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia was Guided By Voices' third album, self-released by the band in 1988 in a pressing of 500. While both of the band's earlier albums exhibit strong songwriting and plenty of vision, it is here that the GBV sound really begins to coalesce. While Devil Between My Toes is rife with contrasts, variety, and dark psychedelia, and its follow up Sandbox is a cohesive '60s-influenced affair, Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia marries the two approaches to outstanding effect. Unsurprisingly, recording began before Sandbox was even done pressing. These sessions would yield an aborted LP titled Learning To Hunt, but after personnel changes and second thoughts, Robert Pollard shelved most of the tracks, dismissing them as too similar to those on Sandbox. Fair enough, as many of Pollard's more recent songs were simply on another level than previously. Here are the first of the classic Pollard slow-burners, often built on a simple melodic or rhythmic figure that circles itself ever outward, accumulating heft, variation, and inevitability as the song evolves into something unexpected yet inevitable. It's the aural equivalent to watching a butterfly grow out of its cocoon. A few things are unique to this particular LP. Original powerhouse drummer Peyton Eric returns for nearly half the tracks, while engineer and lead guitarist Steve Wilbur shines at his brightest, resulting in some of the most thoroughly rocking GBV songs to ever be cut to lacquer, such as 'Earful o' Wax,' which simply explodes out of the speakers when the solo section begins. On the other end of the spectrum, you get Pollard recording perfect pop gems at home with just voice and guitar, which would become a calling card on later GBV albums. There's simply a tremendous variety of material, all strung together in such a way that the album is all of one piece, a mosaic."
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LP
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SCAT 087X-LP
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Yellow vinyl version. "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia was Guided By Voices' third album, self-released by the band in 1988 in a pressing of 500. While both of the band's earlier albums exhibit strong songwriting and plenty of vision, it is here that the GBV sound really begins to coalesce. While Devil Between My Toes is rife with contrasts, variety, and dark psychedelia, and its follow up Sandbox is a cohesive '60s-influenced affair, Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia marries the two approaches to outstanding effect. Unsurprisingly, recording began before Sandbox was even done pressing. These sessions would yield an aborted LP titled Learning To Hunt, but after personnel changes and second thoughts, Robert Pollard shelved most of the tracks, dismissing them as too similar to those on Sandbox. Fair enough, as many of Pollard's more recent songs were simply on another level than previously. Here are the first of the classic Pollard slow-burners, often built on a simple melodic or rhythmic figure that circles itself ever outward, accumulating heft, variation, and inevitability as the song evolves into something unexpected yet inevitable. It's the aural equivalent to watching a butterfly grow out of its cocoon. A few things are unique to this particular LP. Original powerhouse drummer Peyton Eric returns for nearly half the tracks, while engineer and lead guitarist Steve Wilbur shines at his brightest, resulting in some of the most thoroughly rocking GBV songs to ever be cut to lacquer, such as 'Earful o' Wax,' which simply explodes out of the speakers when the solo section begins. On the other end of the spectrum, you get Pollard recording perfect pop gems at home with just voice and guitar, which would become a calling card on later GBV albums. There's simply a tremendous variety of material, all strung together in such a way that the album is all of one piece, a mosaic."
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CD
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GBVI 118CD
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"Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices ran up an extremely prolific streak in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave four star and five star reviews in the process. In case one were snoozing, the last album, La La Land was Uncut magazine's 'Best Of The Month.' The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities. Welshpool Frillies finds the gang back together, in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison. Much of it was recorded live to tape. The catchy ear worms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of 90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of GBV's start in Dayton, Ohio. Robert Pollard was an elementary school teacher with no formal music training, and his unlikely success has been an odds-defying adventure. It's never too late to discover this vital rock band and join the GBV cult."
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LP
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GBVI 118LP
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LP version. "Robert Pollard has a very strong work ethic. With most of their touring canceled due to the pandemic and then a fractured kneecap, Guided By Voices ran up an extremely prolific streak in the studio, recording and releasing eight albums in the past three years and garnering piles of rave four star and five star reviews in the process. In case one were snoozing, the last album, La La Land was Uncut magazine's 'Best Of The Month.' The pandemic records were particularly notable and unique that the band members recorded most of their instruments individually in separate cities. Welshpool Frillies finds the gang back together, in a Brooklyn basement with producer Travis Harrison. Much of it was recorded live to tape. The catchy ear worms in these new songs are undeniable, as the kinetic energy of the band is captured in its most raw and pure form. The album is brash, no-frills, and punky, inspired by the wiliness of 90s-era GBV, specifically the Scalping The Guru compilation that Pollard put together in 2022. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of GBV's start in Dayton, Ohio. Robert Pollard was an elementary school teacher with no formal music training, and his unlikely success has been an odds-defying adventure. It's never too late to discover this vital rock band and join the GBV cult."
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Label |
Catalog # |
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LP
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SCAT 084LP
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2024 repress. "Even back in 1987, Guided By Voices was not content to release just one album in a year -- Sandbox was released in the summer of that year following Devil Between My Toes' appearance that February. Likewise, in similar GBV style, the sound and approach of the two albums could not be more different. Where Devil mostly mines a darker, lo-fi psychedia, along with several instrumental explorations, Sandbox is sunny, direct, has a bigger, crunchier sound, and zero instrumentals. Where Devil has a murky and impressionistic black and white photo of a rooster for a cover, Sandbox sports a full color photo of the band relaxing on a lawn on a sunny day. Let's also recall that unlike today, in 1987 a full-color album jacket wasn't just a little more expensive than a black and white one, it was way more expensive. Right up front, the band was communicating that this was a more commercially ambitious endeavor, while behind the scenes they rented better gear for a bigger sound, and tackled more sophisticated arrangements and honed in on the hooks and harmonies of the songs. Of all the band's early self-released albums, Sandbox differs the most from the sound fans would later associate with the group, which is in itself a recommendation. Nowhere else will you hear the perfectly rendered three-part harmonies of 'Long Distance Man,' direct Beatles quotes, or Robert Pollard reveling in his southern Ohio drawl. It's also true that one of the more enjoyable aspects of the record is finding all the places where the band's future is indeed foreshadowed. Simply put, Guided By Voices just can't help but be a little weird, even when attempting something like a power pop album. At the close of the opening track, Pollard announces, 'Ladies and gentlemen! Back by popular demand for your entertainment and spiritual enlightenment...Electric Jam Soul Aquarium!' a truly 'wtf is happening here' moment. Or the stripped-down gloom of 'Trap Soul Door' -- a track that could be right at home on nearly any later GBV album wherein Pollard intones, 'Just one spark can start a hell of a fire.' Little did he know how true that statement would become."
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CD
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GBVI 117CD
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"La La Land doubles down on the intricate proggy-pop displayed on Guided By Voices's last album Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. On a hot streak of critical acclaim, Robert Pollard continues expanding his songwriting towards extremes of prettiness, heaviness and poeticism. As always, unforgettable hooks are everywhere. But with this latest, it seems Pollard is playing with the extremes of his abilities as a songwriter, emboldened by the power of this lineup now on their fourteenth album together since 2017. The prettiest stuff is prettier than ever ('Queen Of Spaces') and odder, more complex songs like 'Slowly On The Wheel' combine minimalism, whimsy, and cinematic inclinations. There are the exquisite power pop bangers that fans come to expect like 'Ballroom Etiquette' and 'Pockets.' Tracks like 'Instinct Dwelling' and 'Caution Song' effortlessly display a cranked-up weight and complexity most bands could never muster. Celebrating forty years in 2023 with their thirty-eighth album, GBV has lately been garnering rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Uncut, MOJO, Shindig, Paste, Popmatters, The Quietus and many more."
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LP
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GBVI 117LP
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LP version. "La La Land doubles down on the intricate proggy-pop displayed on Guided By Voices's last album Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. On a hot streak of critical acclaim, Robert Pollard continues expanding his songwriting towards extremes of prettiness, heaviness and poeticism. As always, unforgettable hooks are everywhere. But with this latest, it seems Pollard is playing with the extremes of his abilities as a songwriter, emboldened by the power of this lineup now on their fourteenth album together since 2017. The prettiest stuff is prettier than ever ('Queen Of Spaces') and odder, more complex songs like 'Slowly On The Wheel' combine minimalism, whimsy, and cinematic inclinations. There are the exquisite power pop bangers that fans come to expect like 'Ballroom Etiquette' and 'Pockets.' Tracks like 'Instinct Dwelling' and 'Caution Song' effortlessly display a cranked-up weight and complexity most bands could never muster. Celebrating forty years in 2023 with their thirty-eighth album, GBV has lately been garnering rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Uncut, MOJO, Shindig, Paste, Popmatters, The Quietus and many more."
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CD
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GBVI 116CD
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"Scalping The Guru is an archival Guided By Voices release, envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four GBV EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard-to-find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with classics including 'My Impression Now,' 'Matter Eater Lad,' and 'Big School.' They feature the line-up that includes Robert Pollard with Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Jim Pollard, Dan Toohey, Greg Demos, and Larry Keller. Recorded on four-track cassette by Tobin Sprout, with some songs lovingly fucked with by Mike Hummel."
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LP
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GBVI 116LP
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LP version. "Scalping The Guru is an archival Guided By Voices release, envisioned and sequenced by Robert Pollard as a cohesive album, featuring select tracks from four GBV EPs released in 1993-1994 by Domino, City Slang, Siltbreeze and Engine Records. These hard-to-find records are essential for fans of Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand, with classics including 'My Impression Now,' 'Matter Eater Lad,' and 'Big School.' They feature the line-up that includes Robert Pollard with Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Jim Pollard, Dan Toohey, Greg Demos, and Larry Keller. Recorded on four-track cassette by Tobin Sprout, with some songs lovingly fucked with by Mike Hummel."
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CD
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GBVI 115CD
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"Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."
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LP
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GBVI 115LP
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LP version. "Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."
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CD
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GBVI 111CD
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"The mighty Guided By Voices are set to unleash upon the world their 35th and quite possibly... best album, Crystal Nuns Cathedral. How do they do it you might ask? Well, we have no idea how they do it, but we certainly do know why they do it. They do it because, quite honestly, we need them to do it. The world needs The Rock, and we need loud guitars, we need anthemic songs, we need a reason to raise a rock fist in the air and give a 'Hell Yeah'! On Crystal Nuns Cathedral, the band delivers all of this and so much more. Just four months since It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!, comes this latest, twelve songs determined to challenge for the title of greatest Guided by Voices album of all-time. Hyperbole you say? Not this time. The guitars are bigger, the arrangements are more ambitious, the songs are uplifting, epic, and as incredibly hook-laden as always! Pure power pop perfection like lead single 'Excited Ones' mix perfectly with the slow burning 'Climbing A Ramp,' which reaches its climax on a stunning guitar lead before dissolving into the fist pumping anthem 'Never Mind the List,' which serves as the beating heart of the entire album. Do you still need convincing? Listen to the one-two punch of 'Forced to Sea' and 'Huddled' and marvel at the epic scope and vision of an incredible band on full display. This record is a statement, a challenge, a monument, a call to arms. Top this one if you can, this is the new benchmark. Who will best it? Who will try? Listen to Crystal Nuns Cathedral, and report back to us. We will be eagerly waiting."
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LP
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GBVI 111LP
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LP version. "The mighty Guided By Voices are set to unleash upon the world their 35th and quite possibly... best album, Crystal Nuns Cathedral. How do they do it you might ask? Well, we have no idea how they do it, but we certainly do know why they do it. They do it because, quite honestly, we need them to do it. The world needs The Rock, and we need loud guitars, we need anthemic songs, we need a reason to raise a rock fist in the air and give a 'Hell Yeah'! On Crystal Nuns Cathedral, the band delivers all of this and so much more. Just four months since It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!, comes this latest, twelve songs determined to challenge for the title of greatest Guided by Voices album of all-time. Hyperbole you say? Not this time. The guitars are bigger, the arrangements are more ambitious, the songs are uplifting, epic, and as incredibly hook-laden as always! Pure power pop perfection like lead single 'Excited Ones' mix perfectly with the slow burning 'Climbing A Ramp,' which reaches its climax on a stunning guitar lead before dissolving into the fist pumping anthem 'Never Mind the List,' which serves as the beating heart of the entire album. Do you still need convincing? Listen to the one-two punch of 'Forced to Sea' and 'Huddled' and marvel at the epic scope and vision of an incredible band on full display. This record is a statement, a challenge, a monument, a call to arms. Top this one if you can, this is the new benchmark. Who will best it? Who will try? Listen to Crystal Nuns Cathedral, and report back to us. We will be eagerly waiting."
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CD
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GBVI 110CD
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"It's been just a few months since Guided By Voice's faux rock opera Earth Man Blues garnered four-star and five-star reviews, with Rolling Stone proclaiming that it 'squarely hits all the marks that make Guided By Voices great -- again and again and again.' 'Again and again and again', is perhaps GBV's credo, with Robert Pollard's never-ending supply of fascinating and supremely catchy rock. Just when one thinks one's got them pinned down, album number thirty-four opens with bizarre percussion, mariachi trumpets, strings and acoustic guitar. The adventurous spirit pervades yet another killer album from the greatest and most versatile GBV line-up. The golden boys (Doug Gillard, Bobby Bare Jr, Mark Shue, Kevin March) can do no wrong. Hooky singles 'My (Limited) Engagement', 'High In The Rain' and 'Dance of Gurus' intermingle with occasionally dark lyrics and the oddest of GBV oddballs, the ridiculous 'Razor Bug', 'Psycho House', and the 'Maintenance Man Of The Haunted House'. The horns and strings return intermittently, with 'The Bells Get Out Of The Way' going full Burt Bacharach. It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! is a creative tour-de-force full of surprises from the most prolific and captivating band on the planet."
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LP
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GBVI 110LP
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LP
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SCAT 035LP
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2024 repress. "Little introduction should be required here. Let it suffice to say that Bee Thousand is arguably the best, or at least among the top Guided By Voices albums in a copious discography. Accordingly, the album has stacked up accolades over the years, including being voted #1 on Amazon.com's '100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time.' It's a staple of such lists, and has also placed highly on those curated by Spin, Pitchfork, Mojo and Rolling Stone. This new LP pressing, the first since the late '90s, honors the album's 20th anniversary. It features new (and definitely improved) mastering from John Golden, a substantial gatefold jacket with a previously unpublished Robert Pollard collage, and high-quality virgin vinyl from RTI. We've also included a free download card."
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