Splitting the Difference # 15 - Bevil Web/3 Dream Bag 7" (1994, Simple Solution)

This slab of wax featuring no less than three prominent Guided By Voices "guildsmen" between both sides (Tobin Sprout = Bevil Web; Greg Demos & Don Thrasher = 3 Dream Bag) was probably by no coincidence recorded and ultimately released during the Vampire on Titus/Bee Thousand bumper crop heyday era of GBV. The grainy, and now fabled lo-fidelity aesthetic, manages to seap it's way into each pore and crevace of this record, almost to the extent that it struck my ears as though Sprout and his next door neighbors on the other side were slaving at a fever pitch to keep up with The Joneses (i.e. Robert Pollard).
There's little to separate Bevil Web from Tobin Sprout's solo work of the same period (check out my spotlight on another Bevil Web single here). In fact, "Gleemer (The Deeds of Fertile Jim)" was later (or perhaps prior) cut in a slightly alternate version for Guided By Voices Vampire on Titus LP. Here is some background details on 3 Dream Bag, as laid out on their Myspace page (linked above):

3 Dream Bag is a home recording project featuring Greg Demos (Guided By Voices) and Don Thrasher (Guided By Voices, Swearing at Motorists) The former bandmates in the New Creatures, gathered together on several occassions in the early '90s and recorded more than 70 songs. Some of the material has been released, most recently on the new Gas Daddy Go! Records limited edition CD "Memory Garden." Other releases include the 4-song EP "A Frenzy In Frownland" (Gas Daddy Go!), split 7-inch with Tobin Sprout's Bevil Web (Simple Solution Records) and the vinyl-only LP release "The Fertile Octagenarian" (Naked Fat Baby Records). Fresh new review: 3 Dream Bag / Memory Garden (Gas Daddy Go! Records) ...while there have been countless satellites hovering around the gravitational pull of the Guided By Voices galaxy for years, it's been a while since the elusive3 Dream Bag has made any waves.

Bevil Web
01. Dig The Catacombs
02. Apple Cores & Plums
03. Gleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim) [Different Version]

3 Dream Bag
04. Saline Man
05. Demons Become Doves
06. Bad Rice Stew/Chase & Sanborn

Hear

Guided By Voices - Beyond the Bars and Churches (1990s)

I guess you don't need me to inform you that this autumn has been a banner season for Guided By Voices fans, with the "classic" halcyon, mid-90s lineup of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, and Kevin Fennell reuniting for roughly twenty gigs across the country.  Doug Gillard be damned.  In fact, half of the heavily touted Hallway of Shatter-Proof Glass Tour has come and gone, and yours truly will be attending the Columbus, OH show at Outland Live tomorrow.  It's going to be a capacity crowd, as are many of the remaining dates, but the band has recently launched Guided By Voices Digital, an online repository for the bulk of the GBV catalog, including concert recordings from the tour in progress, available for a nominal fee of course, so even if you can't see them live in the flesh you can at the very least live vicariously.  Didn't have that option back in '95, did ya?

In 2007 and 2008 I shared two fan-curated bootleg compilations of GBV outtakes, miscellanea, and the like, To Trigger a Synapse, and The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast, respectively.  Many of you did in fact find these to be a blast, and in conjunction with the tour in progress, I'm unleashing yet a third, like-minded compendium dubbed Beyond the Bars and Churches (it's title swiped from a lyric in "Taco, Buffalo, Bird Dog, and Jesus" if I recall).  This time around there's not a great deal of quality studio material, and in fact Beyond... yields little that's revelatory in that regard, yet it's a downright fun listen, chockablock with anecdotal interview segments, tv performances, concert banter, numerous random live cuts, and even a Guess Who cover - almost all of which is culled from the band's heyday, which I'm more than happy to revisit as I'm sure you are.  Also be advised of the two GBV tribute albums I've been hosting, Scalping the Guru and Blatant Doom Trip, and be on the lookout for at least one more tribute collection on here before years end.  Dig in!

01. NPR interview 1  

02. Motor Away (demo)

03. NPR interview 2

04. Mannequin's Complaint (alt vers)

05. NPR interview 3

06. Gold Star For Robot Boy (live with intro count)

07. NPR interview 4

08. Gee, What a Bitch

09. NPR interview 5

10. Shakin' All Over (live Guess Who cover)

11. NPR interview 6

12. The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone) (unmixed)

13. NPR interview 7

14. Burning Flag Birthday Suit (live Much Music)

15. chatter

16. My Impression Now (quite mix)

17. talk about recording (Tobin Sprout)

18. My Son Cool (live Jon Stewart)

19. chatter

20. Piano Piece X3 (Tobin)

21. Ambergris (live)

22. chatter

23. Gleemer (tribute by Dr. Atom & The Orbitals)

24. Eat my ass

25. Glad Girls (rehearsal)

26. Bob talks to the kids

27. chatter

28. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront (live)

29. untitled

30. Wished I Was A Giant (live)

31. talk about working with Steve Albini

32. Non-Absorbing (live)

33. talk about Cobra Verde lineup

34. Jar Of Cardinals (live)

35. talk about songwriting (int by Pat DiNizio)

36. Marchers In Orange (live)

37. Wondering Boy Poet (live)

38. Taco, Buffalo, Etc (partial)

39. Matter Eater Lad (live)

Hear

Tobin Sprout/eyesinweasel - Demos & Outtakes (unabridged version) (1999, Luna)

Am stunned I didn't think of getting to this sooner.  To introduce this under the banner of "file under Guided By Voices" will probably be an insult to go a good half of you reading this, but for the unacquainted Tobin Sprout was perhaps the foremost member (aside from frontman Robert Pollard) of Guided by Voices' classic lineup, responsible for seminal lo-fi indie platters as Propeller, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, in the early/mid '90s, and for a slew of records in the '00s when said lineup reconvened for an extended reunion.   

These days, Sprout's focus is on painting, not so much making music, but when GBV started to blow up circa 1994 he was all in, not only contributing a bevy of stellar songs to the aforementioned albums and beyond, but also prepping material for a spate of solo albums, beginning with Carnival Boy in '96.  The 1999 release which I'm sharing today is a double vinyl LP collection of demos for songs that would occupy his first three solo records, plus the singles and lone full length for his short-lived but remarkable Eyesinweasel project.  

So far as demos, outtakes, odds & sods compilations go in general, the worthiness of such compendiums depends for better or worse if the songs occupying them are promising in their most nascent incarnations. In Toby's case, his Clinton-era material proved to be his absolute halcyon era, both within and without Guided By Voices. As songwriting went, the man in question was always the more insular yin to Pollard's extroverted yang in GBV, and this modest acumen carried over to his solo material as well, belying a certain charm and sensitivity that Tobin could genuinely lay claim to.

Right from the get go, armed with just a guitar (and/or keyboard), a drum machine, and naturally, a portastudio of some variety, the initial versions Sprout laid down captured not only the flow and arrangement of his songs, but more importantly the essence thereof, so much so that laying down the finished versions was seemingly a breeze given that Toby nailed down the demos to a fault. That's not to say there aren't differences between these prototypes and the versions that were recorded for mass consumption, which is what made this collection such an enormous treat. Plus, there are some worthwhile cuts here that never made it past the demo stage, "The Lords Of Pretty Things," "Quarter Turn Here," and an ace cover of the Tall Dwarfs' Kiwi-pop gem "Highrise" among them.

The original incarnation of Demos & Outtakes was 31 songs long and spread over two vinyl LPs, housed in a plain white gatefold sleeve, with transparent stickers and black typeset identifying the title of the album and it's songs. I bought it upon release and almost immediately made a tape of it for my car. Two years later a truncated 20-song version of Demos... landed on CD. To my knowledge, this is the first digitized creation of the entire thing, and as mentioned, I can't believe it just dawned on me to put this together now. Voila, and enjoy in both MP3 and lossless FLAC. 

01. Seven and Nine
02. The Lords of Pretty Things
03. Jealous Mantles
04. I Didn't Know
05. To Remake the Young Flyer
06. Making a Garden
07. Highrise
08. Hit Junky Dives
09. Dusting Coattails
10. To My Beloved Martha
11. Cereal Killer
12. Quarter Turn Here
13. E's Navy Blue
14. Little Bit of Dread
15. Blankets of Hair
16. Sot #1
17. I Wonder If It's Cold Outside
18. Slow Flanges
19. Something Today
20. Silicone Slugs
21. Paper Cut
22. Digging Up Wooden Teeth
23. Ketiling Park
24. Curved Warlords
25. Smokey Joe
26. Exit Planes
27. There She Goes Again
28. Water On The Boaters Back
29. MP
30. Hint #9
31. Piano

MP3  and  FLAC

84 Nash - Band for Hire (1999, Rockathon)

Let's see, 84 Nash called Columbus, OH their stomping ground, a city not far removed from Dayton.  In addition to that, two of the groups albums were co-opted by Rockathon Records, and their often obliquely titled songs usually tapped out by the two-minute mark.  It would be a shoo-in to assume that this trio was a prodigy of none other than Robert Pollard and Co.  Guided By Voices sphere of influence is not the least bit lost on 84 Nash, but the same goes for their more distant contemporaries, Superdrag and Eric's Trip.  Band for Hire was Nash's second album, following up 1997s The King of Yeah, also a Rockathon product, and the first non-GBV title for the label at that.  A roughhewn, basement-nurtured aesthetic is baked into this scrumptious cake, and the band stuns with a gale-force surge in the shape of Hire's opening salvo "The Giggle Party." Deeper into the record "To the Equator" and "Cinnamon Block" are equally as satisfying, packing not only a similar, visceral rush, but some considerable harmonies as well.   Here's some more background details on 84 Nash, ripped straight from their Myspace page:

They are 84 Nash, from Columbus, Ohio. Kevin Elliott, Andy Hampel, and J.P. Herrmann have been together since high school in various small towns around Southwest Miami County. Unknowingly their homemade four-track cassettes developed a following in nearby Dayton, winning the ear of other Dayton bands, such as Swearing at Motorists, Brainiac, and Guided By Voices - whose leader, Robert Pollard, made 84 Nash's first proper LP; The Kings of Yeah (1997). It was the first non-GBV release on Rockathon Records. These static-rock soundings were a snapshot of things to come, full of agitated, youthful energy jumping head-first out of the gates. They were let loose upon the world of pop music. Shortly thereafter 84 Nash moved east towards university and the fertile rock landscape of Columbus. Rockathon then released the stellar second record, Band for Hire (1999), to wild acclaim - among the core fanbase of maybe 50 kids in town. However a few things were different this time out. The bursts of frenetic noise became more fully realized songs. Anthems were soon crafted by our action pop superheroes, colored in all shades of melody and sharp hooks. The rock simply rocked more, while the pop became the signature that separated 84 Nash from the rest.

01. the giggle party

02. snacks of wealth

03. i speak in falcon

04. across from actorsville

05. no more phones

06. ice breakers

07. shot bully

08. mao tse tsung

09. invisible

10. i've got 'em all

11. room of steel

12. ur stripes

13. slower version of friends

14. to the equator

15. sandful of hand

16. cinnamon block

17. they cancelled your birthday

18. demon national

Hear

Guided By Voices - The GBV Super, Fun, Wow, Xtra Valu-Pak!

When I was approached by a reader a few weeks ago to share some scarce and miscellaneous Guided By Voices songs, it dawned on me that while I've posted no less than three voluptuous collections of rare GBV material, there were still plenty of gaps.  Not only that, that aforementioned trifecta (consisting of To Trigger a Synapse, The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast, and most recently Beyond the Bars and Churches) wasn't the product of my labor and/or assemblage, but that of other gonzo GBV sycophants.  It's kind of misleading to credit myself as the "curator" of this fourth batch of long deleted vinyl sides, compilation appearances, and home recordings, but it's the closest I've come thus far to piecing together something in that arena (though technically, a handful of the tracks were cherry picked from already cherry picked fan comps, that for one reason or another I failed to obtain in their entirety). 

Whatever the case, here's thirty more doses of Pollard scree, offal and debris, in all their mangled, half-assed glory.  Things commence with the four songs from their 1994 split single with the Grifters.  From there it's onto more studio gold, including the three bonus tracks from the Jellyfish Reflector boot (5-7), the Nightwalker singles (8-10), compilation tracks, outtakes (17-26), and I close things out with the stark, melancholic, and exceedingly arcane "The Mind Refuser," culled from the Japanese incarnation of Half Smiles of the Decomposed.  One song here, "Whiskey on Your Breath" was also included on my first clusterfuck share (Trigger a Synapse), but I'm presenting again with slightly improved fidelity.  It's my favorite GBV outtake, and in fact, the melody was lifted for a song (the title of which escapes me) that later appeared on Suitcase 2.

Given their extended and apparently open-ended run of "Classic Lineup" dates, one would hope the boys had the horse sense to sneak into a recording studio for a week or two to rekindle some of that prolific, Clinton-era magic, but don't hold your breath - not by a longshot it would seem.  At any rate, three cheers for the mind refuser...

from split 7" w/ the Grifters
01. Hey Mr. Soundman
02. Announcers & Umpires
03. Evil Speaker B
04. Uncle Dave

Jellyfish Reflector studio songs
05. Pantherz
06. I'll Buy You a Bird
07. Bughouse

Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker split 7"
08. The Freedom Cruise - Cruise
09. Nightwalker - Lucifer's Aching Revolver

Nightwalker - one sided 7"
10. Firehouse Mountain

11. Scorpion Lounge Shutdown (Ptolemic Terrascope magazine comp 7")
12. One Track Record (Sponic magazine comp)
13. I Am A Scientist (live) (Threadwaxing Space Live: The Presidential Compilation)
14. Invisible Man (Breeders cover on vinly vers. of Crying Your Knife Away live boot)
15. Sucker of Pistol City (Plugs for the Program ep)
16. The Opposing Engineer Sleeps Alone (split single w/ New Radiant Storm King)

Otherwise unreleased:
17. Foolish Booger
18. Dancing With My Gun
19. Whiskey On Your Breath
20. Talk to Me
21. Industrial Morning
22. Up We Go (aka New World Rising)
23. The Happy Song
24. Never
25. Ruth (fan mix)
26. Sea of Clover (Sprout on vocals)

X Fest 99 compilation
27. My Valuable Hunting Knife
28. Teenage FBI
29. I Am a Scientist

30. The Mind Refuser (from Japanese Half Smiles of the Decomposed)

Hear

Guided By Voices - Learning to Hunt (1988, aborted album)

It's been a long time between posts everyone, my apologies.  I hope this makes up for it.  What we have here is a hypothetical GBV album, one that would have probably slotted in between Devil Between My Toes and Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia.  The fourteen songs presented here eventually found their way onto Self-Inflicted, and much later on rarities and outtakes collections including the Suitcase series.  After the jump is an explanation (provided by gbvdb.com) penned by Robert Griffin of Scat Records, the label Learning to Hunt was slated to be issued on.  If you are unfamiliar with anything Robert Pollard and his varying guild of compatriots were up to prior to such seminal favorites as Propeller and Bee Thousand, this is actually a handy and often satisfying way to acquaint yourself with early Guided By Voices.  This album (that never quite was) contains some of the burgeoning band's most affecting songs, included but not limited to "Paper Girl," "We've got Airplanes" and "Liar's Tale."

From Robert Griffin (Scat Records): "Of course there may have been a few different sequences, but Learning to Hunt goes like this (according to a cassette Bob gave me when we were putting together the first Box). I don't know where the side break would go. A few of the songs wound up on Self Inflicted..." Also, this: "Below are the sequenced track lists for Back to Saturn X and Learning to Hunt, direct from the cassettes that Bob gave me when we were putting together the King Shit... LP. I'm not sure where the side breaks would have been, Bob didn't indicate that on the j-cards. Both of these records were totally ready to be put into production - edited master tapes, completed artwork, but in each case Bob decided at the last minute that were fatally flawed and 'shitcanned' them." (Note: see the separate Back To Saturn X for that aborted LP's tracklisting).

01. Taco, Buffalo, Birddog and Jesus
02. Blue Gil
03. Slopes of Big Ugly
04. Paper Girl
05. Turbo Boy
06. Soul Flyers
07. Let's Go Vike
08. Dust Devil
09. Uncle Dave
10. Settlement Down
11. The Qualifying Remainder
12. Liar's Tale
13. We've Got Airplanes
14. Short on Posters

Hear

Splitting the Difference # 16 - fluf/j-church (Goldenrod, 1996)

Technically, this is the second pairing of Fluf and J Church on a split single (the first appeared in the West X North-South 7" compilation box set on Vagrant Records, but everybody knows that). And if that coincidence didn't grab ya, this is the second entry in the Splitting the Difference series to feature J Church. What's more, J Church cover a Guided By Voices song here, "If We Wait," which GBV contributed for a split single of their own, with the previously profiled Belreve. See how everything comes full circle? Both of the J Church songs wound up on their third singles comp, Altamont 99. I believe Fluf's "Assmunch" is exclusive to this single, not even turning up on The Classic Years singles compendium. As you may be able to discern from the pics, this record came in a nifty die-cut sleeve, but it was printed in other colors in addition to the rather mundane maroon that I came into possession of. Here are some additional notes on this disk from the dearly departed Goldenrod Records site:

"Fluf and J Church are happy to help you beautify your house, jacket, neighborhood, and the world with the new SuperStencil Cover from Goldenrod. This record cover serves a dual purpose: besides being a stencil which can be used for spray painting Fluf's and J Church's logo all over everything in sight, it also protects two new J Church songs and the first recorded song by Fluf since Josh Higgins joined the band. On the J Church side we've got a cover of Guided By Voices' If We Wait..., an upbeat song with some good ol' J Church harmonizing [and] Contempt For Modesty, a great song played at high speed and high intensity in typical J Church fashion. Fluf comes with their first venture into the studio with a song called Assmunch, about the perceptions of certain bands simply because of the labels they release their records on. A crunchy little (chocolate coated) number."
 

A. Fluf - Assmuch

B1. J Church - If We Wait

B2. J Church - Contempt For Modesty
 

Hear

Guided By Voices - The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast (198?-9?)

I procured this 15 track collection of GBV rarities a few years ago On Soulseek, but I know nothing of it's origins. Not even listed among the many GBV bootlegs on the great and otherwise thorough Guided By Voices Database, this is obviously a fan-assembled compilation. Carefree Kitchens is akin to the much lengthier To Trigger a Synapse clusterfuck I posted last Halloween.

Surprisingly, for a GBV mix of this scarcity, there's some pretty substantive and revealing cuts, not the least of wish demo incarnations of later to be classics "Echos Myron," "Smothered In Hugs," and even "Glad Girls," which much to my surprise began life all the way back in 1993. Almost as rewarding is "Sleepers," a buried gem which had a significant portion of it's melody grafted onto Bee Thousand's "Peep-Hole." Same situation with "Song of Below," which served as a demo of sorts for "The Goldheart Mounatintop Queen Directory," which appeared on Bee Thousand.

As many of you know, Robert Pollard and Co. for no explicable reason, aborted an entire album's worth of material that was to be released as The Power of Suck. Many of it's songs were later released on official GBV albums including Under the Bushes Under the Stars, but Carefree Kitchens ostensibly contains four songs from the abandoned Suck sessions, with only "I Am Decided" seeing the light of day on any official release (specifically the Suitcase 2 box). By the way, "Decided" has it's antecedents in a much rawer and livelier unreleased GBV song, "Whiskey On Your Breath" that I will try to upload in the not too distant future.

In the midst of all the aforementioned are a handful brief but admirable sketches, "Separation of Church and State," "Roving Reporter," "Good Old Mr. Expandable," and the distorto-punk outburst, "I Can't Win," all presumably recorded prior to GBV's notoriety. All in all, Carefree Kitchens is a real find for the die-hards out there. My tip of the hat to the fine soul(s) that cobbled together this collection, and of course, the bard of Dayton himself.

 

01. I Can't Win

02. Separation of Church and State

03. Echos Myron (acoustic demo)

04. I Am Decided (Power of Suck demo)

05. Song of Below

06. Stingy Queens (Power of Suck demo)

07. Roving Reporter

08. Sleepers

09. Speak Like Men (Power of Suck demo)

10. In Need You Now

11. Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping Stones

12. Good Old Mr. Expandable

13. Sweeping Bones (Power of Suck demo)

14. Glad Girls (1993 demo)

15. Smotherd in Hugs (demo)

 

Hear

Guided by Voices - Pissing in the Canal, (1984, aborted album) & Nate Farley Sessions (2003)

Much in tandem with the Game Theory post from last night, over the years I've given you a lot by Guided by Voices, particularly in the way of rarities and shall I say, "unsecured" material.  I'm getting to the bottom of my proverbial "well," and while there's certainly more out there, it may never see proper dissemination.  

Per GBVDB, the Pissing in the Canal "sessions" from 1984 represent one of the last bastions of untapped early GBV recordings, and even some of these have already seen the light of day on various Suitcase box sets, which were often composed of demos and rough cuts from Robert Pollard's nascent, '80s home recordings. In it's entirely PitC is said to consist of ten songs, and I was only capable of locating 90% of them. Had this sucker actually hit record racks it would've pre-dated 1986's, Forever Since Breakfast, the band's maiden release. In keeping with GBV's sonic tendencies of that era, these nine cuts skew predominantly to their (relatively speaking) "conventional" era, with clean, song structures bearing a folk-ish guitar-pop lilt, with more than a wink and a nod to the still burgeoning R.E.M. There's veritable gold here in the guise of the brisk, melodious tilt of "Angry Pillows (Gone Away)," which easily qualifies as one of ten most inviting songs of their '80s tenure. "Lockets of the Empress" could have given Stipe and Buck some serious competition had GBV enjoyed greater visibility in the Reagan-era.  Elsewhere, there's an early incarnation of "Quality of Armor" with significantly different lyrics, and also a few more tunes previewing the basis for future songs that would be fully realized in the band's more renown '90s heyday.    

The so-called Nate Farley Session is comprised of seven numbers tracked in a basement studio on June 23, 2003, ostensibly in preparation for that year's Earthquake Glue LP.  I'm tempted to deem it as a rehearsal or even demos, but the performances strike me as more competent than that.  To refer to to it as the "Nate Farley" session isn't really saying much, as Nate was brought on board as a full-time guitarist for ...Glue.  The title gives me the impression Nate's roll was a one-off for this particular recording, but at the end of the day who knows. At any rate, solid stuff, and only one more album would follow before GBV's short-lived "breakup."  For more fun, check out some of my previous forays with Pollard & Co. here. 

Pissing in the Canal

01. Angry Pillows (Gone Away)

02. Lockets of the Empress

03. The Quality or Armor (early vers)

04. Tell Me

05. Walls and Windows

06. Echoland

07. Before My Eyes

08. Together/Apart

09. Amnesia 

Hear

Nate Farley Session 

01. Useless Invenions

02. Secret Star

03. I'll Replace You With Machines

04. My Kind of Soldier

05. Of Mites and Men

06. Bull Spears

07. Alone, Stinking and Unafraid

Hear

V/A - Scalping the Guru - a Tribute to Guided by Voices (1996, Kelp)

Scalping the Guru was the "working title" for Guided By Voices 1995 Alien Lanes album, but ultimately it became the actual title of a home-dubbed, cassette only tribute comp to the band, issued on the Canadian Kelp Records label the following year. You won't recognize any of the contributors here, despite the fact many were actually based in the U.S., but amazingly, none of them even come close to butchering any of the classic songs within. Given it's mid-90s release, Scalping the Guru's quality control is built in, given that Pollard and Co. had yet to falter at this point. The are several Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout interviews and stage commentaries interspersed between the covers, and the tape concludes with a pair of live GBV songs.

If you're new to Wilfully Obscure, please investigate two GBV rarities collections I previously posted, The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast, and To Trigger a Synapse.

01. intro (Robert Pollard interview fragment)
02. A:R - #2 in the Home Model Series
03. Big Daddy Blues Explosion – A Good Flying Bird
04. Durian – Sopor Joe
05. Sinus Wave (Joe Bartlett) – Hey Mr. Soundman
06. Deral Fenderson – Dog’s Out/Tobin Sprout interview fragment
07. Matt Verilek & Jerry Webber – Awful Bliss
08. Paul Harrison – Some Drilling Implied
09. Armchair Rambo – Postal Blowfish
10. Can Can Dynamite – Kisses to the Crying Cooks
11. (GBV live banter)
12. The Awkwards – Hot Freaks
13. Kilgore Trout – Tractor Rape Chain
14. Bob Saget – Johnny Appleseed
15. Pollard/Sprout interview fragments
16. Myke Weiskopf’s no-fi ’96 – Crux
17. Johari Window – Metal Mothers
18. Tobin Sprout int fragment regarding the tour with Urge Overkill
19. Dr. Atom & The Orbitals – Gleemer
20. more Pollard live banter
21. Paul Harrison – I Am a Scientist
22. Armchair Rambo – Exit Flagger
23. Kilgore Trout – Motor Away
24. Big Daddy Blues Explosion – King & Caroline
25. Tobin Sprout interview
26. GBV – a brief “Do You Love Me” & Pollard commentary
27. GBV – Burning Flag Birthday Suit w/ intro
28. GBV – King & Caroline (live)
29. GBV – Motor Away (live)
30. outro (Sprout interview conclusion)

Hear

Guided by Voices - Beer Thousand Insects Of Rock Tour 10" - Threadwaxing Space, New York, June 25, 1994

This one is pretty cut and dry.  2014 saw the twentieth anniversary of Guided By Voices breakthrough masterstroke, Bee Thousand.  Considering the onstage antics of figurehead Robert Pollard go hand in hand with booze, it was only a matter of time that the tradewinds of cross-marketing would propel the man in question to unite with a hip distillery to craft a hearty new brew.  An expanded Director's Cut reissue of Bee Thousand dropped on the album's tenth anniversary in '04, and I suppose the only fitting way to up the ante ten years later was to let the sweet amber flow.

You can peruse some pertinent details about the collaboration with Dogfish Head brewery here, where you will learn (if you haven't already) about a special 1000 pack bundle of the drink that was paired with an exclusive GBV 10" ep, featuring ten songs from a 1994 gig at New York's Threadwaxing Space.  This particular combo has long sold out, and to my knowledge the music hasn't been made available elsewhere.  That's about to change right about now.  Behold, a veritable dream setlist from the band's storied Pollard/Sprout/Mitchell et al incarnation, and a performance that can ironically be described as...sober.  Go ahead and get hammered.  I'm making this available in FLAC and MP3.

01. Shocker in Gloomtown
02. Non-Absorbing
03. Gold Star for Robot Boy
04. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront
05. Break Even
06. Postal Blowfish
07. Drinker's Peace
08. My Impression Now
09. Echoes Myron
10. I Am a Scientist

MP3  or  FLAC

Various - Blatant Doom Trip - a Tribute to Guided By Voices (1998, Simple Solution)

Roughly two months ago I posted a thing called Scalping the Guru, a homegrown, 1996 Guided By Voices tribute tape on Kelp Records, featuring predominantly Canadian acts. Blatant Doom Trip, released a couple years later, is inarguably more formal (albeit a bit on the lo/mid-fi tip itself), and has the roster to prove it. Nepotism is rampant here, with groups like Cobra Verde, Gem, and Swearing at Motorists all containing in their line past or future GBV alumni (Doug Gillard comes courtesy of those first two, Don Thrasher the latter). Local H's "Smothered in Hugs" appears here on the heels of that band's gold selling As Good As Dead, a convenient selling point to be sure. Thurston Moore and Steve Shelly hold the keys to Male Slut who tackle a real obscurity, "Stabbing a Star," plus there are also contributions from the relatively renown Portastatic, Lotion, and New Radiant Storm King (the last two "cheating" so to speak with tunes that had already appeared on singles). Best of all, since Blatant Doom Trip was minted in '98, the material covered within is drawn from GBV's halcyon era. There was talk around 1996 of yet another GBV tribute to see the light of day, with an even higher pedigree lineup including Bob Mould and Sebadoh, but twas not to be. Nevertheless, at least we have this, and BDT is pretty damn impressive at that.

01. Cobra Verde - Striped White Jets
02. Male Slut - Stabbing A Star
03. Chapter 18 - Matter Eater Lad
04. Gem - My Impression Now
05. Rally For Japan - Rubber Man
06. New Radiant Storm King - I Am A Scientist
07. Shove - Melted Pat
08. Local H - Smothered In Hugs
09. Earnest - Back To Saturn X
10. Resolve - The Future Is In Eggs
11. Real Lulu - Postal Blowfish
12. O-Matic - Motor Away
13. Swearing At Motorists - Volcano Divers
14. This Busy Monster - Gleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim)
15. 84 Nash - Hot Freaks
16. Gem - Kisses To The Crying Cooks
17. Portastatic - Echos Myron
18. Lotion - Quality Of Armor

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Guided by Voices - Kit Kat Acoustic Break session, 1997

For better or worse (most likely the latter) we're right smack dab in the middle of the week where I have little or nothing on the burner ready to fire.  Hopefully I'll have my act together in a few days, but until then, here's another selection from my dwindling folder of Guided by Voices rarities and curios.  This is the band's installment in the Kit Kat Acoustic Break series.  These live, in-studio sessions originated from the mid-90s and were pressed up on CD and sent to college radio stations for weekly airplay.  You'll no doubt recognize host, Pat Dinizio from Smithereens renown.  His approach was anti-climactic at best, but he was at least hip to GBV.  I don't have an original copy of the disk, but I was able to find a digitized version of the set, presumably taped from an FM radio broadcast.  It's the Mag Earwig lineup of GBV (Doug Gillard, etc), nipping on the heels of the "classic" lineup (Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, etc).  And yes, Pollard and Co. managed to maintain their sobriety for the entirety of the set.  Am not quite sure if that's a plus or a minus, but anyway.

Seven songs: Quicksilver, Not Behind the Fighter Jet, Bulldog Skin, Choking Tara, My Impression Now, Now to War and Teenage FBI.

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Various - GBGBV (Guided by Guided by Voices) (2010, Wild Animal Kingdom)

Earlier this year when Pitchfork mentioned in a GBV related article that the cassette label Wild Animal Kingdom was releasing a tribute compilation to Robert Pollard & Co that was to be limited to a paltry 100 copies, I headed over to their webpage and snagged myself one just in the nick of time.   WAK sold out of GBGBV months ago, and even though the tape consists of contributions from totally unknown quantities (most situated in Washington state and New Jersey for some inexplicable reason) it's always a treat to hear GBV interpretations regardless of whose hands are molding the clay.  The full track list is below.  Despite a serious deficiency of name recognition there are some brilliant songs covered here like "Chicken Blows," "A Salty Salute," and "As We Go Up We Go Down" that were not taken to task on the two GBV tribute collections I've shared previously, Scalping the Guru and Blatant Doom Trip (that first one also being cassette only).  GBGBV is a pretty lo-fi affair, and quite fitting when you think about it.  Enjoy (or not).

01. GBGBVOLY - intro
02. Invisible Hand - Non Absorbing
03. Chromium Bitch - Tractor Rape Chain
04. No Demons Here - Wondering Boy Poet/Game of Pricks
05. Martin Courtney IV - Kicker of Elves/As We Go Up We Go Down
06. Andrew Cedermark - A Good Flying Bird
07. Air Waves - Back to the Lake
08. Big Troubles - A Big Fan of the Pigpen
09. Alex Bleeker and Evan Brody - Motor Away
10. Eternal Summers - A Salty Salute
11. Pill Wonder - My Valuable Hunting Knife
12. Hallelujah the Hills - Chicken Blows
13. FZ - I Am a Scientist
14. Harpoon Forever - Awful Bliss
15. Citymouth and Chromium Bitch - They're Not Witches
16. Fluffy Lumbers - Club Molluska
17. Dana Jewell - 14 Cheerleader Coldfront

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VA - The Iodine Book Report - Virtuous Precognitions 1967-1972 (four cd-r set assembled by Robert Pollard)

A quick read of the header to this piece will indicate Wilfully Obscure is in relatively uncharted territory.  "Since when did he start covering music from 50+ years ago?" you might be asking yourself.  Indeed, this collection is a rarity in more ways than one. First and foremost The Iodine Book Report is not an assemblage of bygone punk or even proto-punk artists, and in fact traditional power pop, as we knew it by the late seventies isn't represented among this compilations 85 tracks.  So what gives?

Well, the fact that this set was curated by Robert Pollard of Guided by Voices was a major draw for me. Secondly, I'm actually partial to vintage psychedelic and garage, and comparatively less so beat music.  Though it isn't one of my fortes I'm actually a bit of a Nuggets guy.  No, you won't find me plunking down $300 for a first pressing of a 13th Floor Elevators or Seeds single, nor will I ever own an original 1967 mono copy of Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Nonetheless, I'm happy to indulge in CD reissues of the aforementioned and I have a modest appreciation of everyone from Bubble Puppy to the Creation. Regarding the album at hand however, IBR delves much, much deeper than the aforementioned acts I just mentioned. By and large it has to given it's status of an unofficial and unlicensed release, one that was printed up in an edition of merely twenty copies on cd-r. The publication date of Iodine is unknown, but almost certainly within the past two decades. It may have only gotten as far a few of Bob's close associates and friends, and I don't recall it being made available for purchase at any time/place online. And no, I don't own a physical version myself.

The scope of IBR is period specific, but geographically things get a bit more vague, drawing on a pool of artists largely from Europe and the UK, with homage paid to the Netherlands as well. There are contributions from a handful of Stateside acts, but they seem to be minimal by comparison. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison but from what I'm able to glean there isn't much overlap here between the rosters populating the Nuggets and Pebbles compendiums, and I'm not even spotting much common ground between the much loved-upon Chocolate Soup for Diabetics CD series. As prolific of a recording artist Pollard is wont to be, he's an avid record collector, with many of the tracks here presumably culled from scarce singles in his own personal archive. In fact, the total net worth of all the original vinyl copies IBR is pieced together from might be enough to mortgage a modest trailer home.

Diversity is a watchword as far as this one goes, ranging from the heavy, epic-length acid rock of  Stray's "All in Your Mind" to Gordon Waller's prim orchestral pop on, "Rosecrans Boulevard," the latter of which Zumpano went to the trouble of reinterpreting in the '90s.  If you're looking to delve into pure amped-out psych and rawer garage selections you can largely stick to the first disk. It lends itself to some of Iodine's longer, headier and frankly more ragged pieces, with recommended selections by Wimple Winch (pictured above), Juganaut, Flower Traveling Band and The Hush.

Strangely enough, this compilations other odd-numbered disk (that would be #3) houses a disproportionate share of quality songs, by worthy but unheralded Brit Invasion combos The Poets and Mandrake Paddle Steamer. The Virgin Sleep deliver a spartan dose of minimalist psych in the form of "Halliford House," The Smoke exude what can be best described as "power-folk," The Stray wow us with another uptempo banger, and The Four Kinsmen's "Glasshouse Green, Splinter Red" is harmony-laden pop that yields a colossal Beatles-esque hook. The most intriguing item on disk 3 is by the curiously monikered The Sound of Imker, a fiercely distortion-prone Dutch troupe who's "Train of Doomsday" was once described by Jello Biafra as possibly qualifying for the first hardcore punk song ever. To this day I swear it sounds likes Credence Clearwater Revival interpreting Motorhead, and has earned it's rightful spot in this collection.

For whatever the reason Iodine's second and fourth cds weren't as effective in maintaining my interest, but even they boast a small bevy of keepers including a couple of relatively renown Dutch exports, Q65 and the Outsiders (the latter pictured to your left). BTW, The Outsiders were aggressive beat enthusiasts, responsible for one of the best albums to ever emanate from the Netherlands, 1968's excellent C.Q.  Disk two's most enticing contributions come courtesy of Paul's Collection, Elli, Argosy and the aptly dubbed Euphoria. 

The fourth and final quotient of IBR, is notably limp by comparison (save for the aforementioned Q65/Outsiders). To these ears The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band sadly never lived up to their lofty premise (boy, I've wanted to get that off my chest for ages, but I digress). Nonetheless, disk four isn't a complete loss - Timebox and the Traveling Salesman channel jangly inclinations, mild as they may be. Fire's bouncy "Man in the Teapot" bears a winsome gate.  California's Millennium were downright mainstream given the standards of this other wise obscuro collection, and The Action have long been coveted by acolytes of early UK mod. 

If the Iodine Book Report strikes you as a fish-out-of-water endeavor for Wilfully Obscure it generally is.  Yes, there's a lot here that will have you reaching for the advance-button...but when the going is good you'll be hitting 'repeat' in equal amounts. Hopefully I've pointed you to some of the more worthwhile moments.

CD 1
01. Stray – All In Your Mind
02. Mother Sunday – Midnight Graveyard
03. Cloud Burst - Fragile
04. Weird Stoat – Rising Heartbreaks
05. Honeysuckle - She Brings Me Down
06. Juganaut - A Taste Of Hell
07. Blonde On Blonde – Ride With Captain Max
08. The Savage Resurrection – Thing In "E"
09. Wimple Winch – Atmospheres
10. The Ballroom – Baby, Please Don't Go
11. Flower Travellin' Band – Satori Part One
12. Wimple Winch – Save My Soul
13. Damascus – Mighty Mushroom
14. The Hush - Grey
15. Nimrod – The Bird
16. Vamp – Floatin'

CD 2   
01. The Petards – Tartarex
02. Kiss Inc. – Hey Mr. Holy Man
03. The Cool - Highway Song
04. The King Biscuit Entertainers – Stormy
05. Serendipity - Round & Around
06. Paul's Collection –    Man
07. 1st Century – Dancing Girl
08. Flowers, Fruits & Pretty Things – Wanting You
09. Chris Carpenter – Waterfalls
10. The Calliope – Ryan 5
11. 1st Century – Looking Down
12. The Ark - Poverty Train
13. Paul's Collection –    What Have I Done?
14. Elli - Never Mind
15. Whichwhat –    The Wind Out Of Nowhere
16. William Sheller – Living East, Dreaming West
17. The Exception - Don't Torture Your Mind
18. Blackthorn Winter – I Will
19. Euphoria – Hangman's Rope
20. Argosy – Mr. Boyd
21. Tuesday's Children – A Strange Light From The East
22. Andy Ellison – Cornflake Zoo
23. Tidal Wave – Spider Spider

CD 3   
01. The Poets - That's The Way It's Got To Be
02. The Klan - And I Love It So
03. The Glass Opening – Does It Really Matter?
04. The Virgin Sleep – Halliford House
05. The Executives – Moving In A Circle
06. Brains Ltd. – Change Your Life
07. The Nicols – She Had A Name To Find Out
08. Global Village – Keep Your Feathers Fine 2
09. The Smoke – Utterly Simple
10. Andromeda –    Let's All Watch The Sky Fall Down
11. St. Giles's System – Swedish Tears
12. Sound Of Imker – Train Of Doomsday
13. The Dream – The Doting King
14. Crying Wood – Blue Eyed Witch
15. Group 1850 – Don't Let It Be
16. Linda Van Dyck With Boo & The Booboos – Stengun
17. Mandrake Paddle Steamer – Overspill
18. Stray – Mama's Coming Home
19. The Four Kinsmen – Glasshouse Green, Splinter Red
20. The Poets – I Am So Blue
21. The Attack – Strange House

CD 4   
01. The Eastern Alliance – Love Fades Away
02. The Driving Wheels – One Year Ago Today
03. Primrose Circus – In My Mind
04. The Outsiders – I Love You No. 2
05. Timebox – Poor Little Heartbreaker
06. Wimple Winch – Marmalade Hair
07. Gordon Waller – Rosecrans Boulevard
08. Los York's – Mi Mente En Ti (When My Mind Is Not Alive)
09. The Third Power – Lost In A Daydream
10. Fire – Man In The Teapot
11. Now – Marcia
12. Q65 – It Came To Me
13. Bodast – Mr. Jones
14. Mandrake Paddle Steamer – Strange Walking Man
15. The Traveling Salesmen – Days Of My Years
16. Gordon Alexander – Miss Mary
17. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – I Won't Hurt You
18. The Millennium – It's You
19. Curt Boettcher – Sometimes
20. The Action – Brain
21. Wally Tax –    You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
22. Wally Tax –    The Dream
23. Wally Tax –    Last Night
24. Wally Tax – You Didn't Call Me
25. Wally Tax – I've Been Too Good To You

Disk 1  Disk 2  Disk 3  Disk 4