Introduction
[If you want to skip the introductory stuff, then click here for links to all the album posts.]
Introduction (the short version)
I'm conscious that the original introduction to this blog that I wrote (below) is rather long. If you have the time and inclination to read it, then thank you - and you can scroll down just a little to find it. If you don't, then fair enough - here is a potted version:
- I've been aware of GBV's music for a long time.
- I've always meant to find the time to investigate it properly, but - and I'm sure this is a familiar story - was a little daunted by the sheer size of the back catalogue.
- I tried sticking everything that's on Spotify in a big playlist and hitting shuffle - my default method for getting a feel for an artist - but it never 'clicked' somehow. (See note re Spotify - also in red text - below)
- At the beginning of 2024, I was inspired by a podcast interview to give GBV another go - this time in a more focused and organised fashion.
- It 'clicked' this time - very much so - and, as I write this, I have been listening to very little else for five months. In fact, virtually nothing else.
- I'm going to write a series of personal reactions to each album, avoiding much in the way of research.
- Why? Very good question. It's for me, above all else. Having spent the last few years continually writing about music in pretty much every spare minute I have, I now find that the only way I can process a body of work this size is to put my thoughts down on (virtual) paper. Not that I won't be delighted if others read it and comment, but big reading figures are not the goal.
- Why avoid research? Not because I can't (I can) or can't be bothered, but I want it to be pure personal response. More explanation of this (and the rest) below.
Introduction (the full version)
'I must have at least been aware of them'
I was born at the very tail-end of the 60s (about three weeks before the first moon landing), so my teenage years took place in the 80s. I was, at various times, a big fan of, for example, The Smiths, REM, Billy Bragg, The Wedding Present, Teenage Fanclub and The Fall. I've no idea when I first heard (of) Guided By Voices, but I guess that I must have at least been aware of them by the mid-90s.
As is probably obvious by the tone of that last sentence, GBV didn't really impinge on my consciousness in any major way. I picked up on the general vibe that surrounded them in a vague fashion, and learned a little more (but only a little) as time went on; but by the time we reached the age of streaming, I still only had a sketchy idea of what they actually sounded like.
'This approach simply didn't work'
The advent of Spotify et al, of course, made it possible to investigate pretty much any artist to your heart's content without having to shell out for the privilege. For me, GBV always lurked on that long list of 'artists that I must get around to listening to properly one day' that most people who are more than casual about their music listening have.
At some point, a few years ago, I did start to make some sort of an effort. I used my default method of scoping out an artist: dragging every song that was available into a massive Spotify playlist and hitting shuffle. Normally, this does the trick. My job involves a lot of home-working interspersed with a lot of travel and stays in hotels, one of the advantages of which is that it gives me substantial opportunities to listen to music during the working day as well as evenings and weekends. The 'random trawl through the back catalogue' method usually pays dividends: normally, I fairly quickly get a pretty sound measure of [a] whether I like the body of work as a whole and [b] which albums/periods do/don't appeal to me.
A note regarding Spotify: I know that some people react negatively to the very mention of it, and I completely understand that. Personally, I use it to discover new music and then buy what I enjoy (especially material by contemporary artists) - usually from Bandcamp.
Unusually (for me, anyway), this approach simply didn't work with GBV. I didn't dislike what I heard, but somehow it just didn't stick with me. I just couldn't get a handle on the band. I'm still not 100% sure why, but after several attempts over a few years, they were in danger of being consigned to that 'never quite got' category that most of us have...
'His passion and enthusiasm for the band was contagious'
I have to do a substantial amount of driving as part of my job, but, for personal reasons that I won't bore you with, the latter half of 2023 found me having to spend even more time in my car than usual. My natural inclination re journey soundtracks is towards music and audiobooks, but I was persuaded by the recommendations of some friends to give podcasts a go.
Now, I've always been rather skeptical about podcasts, the majority of which seem to me to be comprised of self-indulgent waffle. I did, however, find a few that were worth listening to. One of them was Trust The Wizard's Robert Pollard’s Guide To The Late 60s. This wasn't actually about GBV, but it covered an era of music that I'm generally drawn to, and it did set me to thinking that I really should give that 'big GBV playlist' another go...
That, however, wasn't the actual turning point. The origins of my new obsession in fact lie in another podcast: Adam Buxton's. Back in the late 90s, I'd enjoyed The Adam & Joe Show and had always found him an agreeably amusing bloke. Although, in the end, I decided that the podcast format wasn't really for me, I did listen to quite a few of his shows. One of them was epsiode 197, in which he spoke with Paddy Considine. I'm not much of a TV/film viewer, so I must confess that I didn't really know who Paddy was. Nonetheless, I found the interview quite engaging. But, most importantly, he talked about his love of GBV (if you click on the episode link above, it's at 50m in).
"I don't think there's a day goes by when I don't listen to Guided By Voices... Robert Pollard literally changed my head profoundly."
He went on to speak about his Damescene conversion whilst he was brushing his teeth, listening to 'Not Behind The Fighter Jet': 'That was it: I was a fanatic from that moment on.'
His passion and enthusiasm for the band was contagious. In the first place, it inspired me to listen repeatedly to 'Not Behind The Fighter Jet'; it also convinced me that I needed to take a different approach to listening to GBV's albums...
I did tell you it wasn't rocket science...
It wasn't rocket science. Like many people, I had - to some extent, at least - fallen out of the habit of listening to whole albums. Not entirely - a new album by an artist with whom I was already familiar would get a couple of proper, 'old-fashioned' airings, and my preparation for my book about The Fall involved me listening intently to full LPs on a loop for extended periods of time. However, ever since I acquired (when I was about 13) a stereo system capable of making them, I've been a bit obsessed with making mixtapes - and then, later on, mix-CDs.
I'm afraid that if anyone ever casually mentioned that they didn't know the music of xxx that well, I'd be that guy that leapt in with, 'Well I could make you a compilation if you like...' You've all met me. I'm still at it when I get the chance.
Inspired by 'Fighter Jet', I gave Mag Earwhig! three or four 'proper' listens, and realised that the way forward was simply to abandon the 'big playlist on shuffle' approach and experience the albums in the format in which they were intended to be heard. I did tell you it wasn't rocket science...
To wind back a little...
...I had actually dipped my toe into this sort of approach before. During lockdown, a guy called Jonny Swift started a Facebook group called HIP PRIESTS - every album by The Fall, which he described with admirable conciseness as 'Every Fall album. One per week. In consecutive order.' Having by this point having posted quite a lot of content about the group, from my point of view it was a lot of fun getting to act as a 'so-called expert' as others experienced The Fall's back catalogue in full for the first time.
To wind back to the present...
I haven't just listened to each album several times then moved on to the next. I've built up a playlist and repeatedly looped back to experience two, three or more LPs in 'chunks' - nearly always in chronological order, to give me some sense of how GBV's music has developed over time. For perspective, I've been doing this since the beginning of 2024, and (as I write this in late May) have got as far as English Little League. (And I say 'nearly always in chronological order' because I do have a 'GBV Favourites' playlist - old habits die hard - that I occasionally put on when I can't decide which album to listen to or want background music. It has 118 songs on it at the moment.)
Why do we need another one of these? You don't, of course...
I've written a few music blogs. My very first was called The Fall In Fives, in which I wrote a personal reaction to batches of randomly-selected tracks. I then went on to do a chronological, research-based blog called You Must Get Them All, which went on to be published as a book. I've done stuff on Dinosaur Jr, The Wedding Present and Cinerama too, and various other bits and pieces.
Why do I want to write about Guided By Voices? For my own ends, basically: these days, I find these days that the only way I can process such a large body of work is to set my thoughts down on 'paper'. Not that I wouldn't be delighted if people read it and comment, but that's not the primary objective here. The YMGTA blog was a concerted effort to engage people in telling the story of The Fall in a way that hadn't been done fully before, with (as the readership grew) one eye on how it might be turned into a book. The original Fi5 one was much less concerned with potential audience; more spontaneous and 'pure' in that it simply captured my reaction to each track, largely unencumbered by context.
Why do we need another one of these? You don't, of course. I'm well aware that similar things already exist. I have had a quick scan of some of Jason Hernandez's blog, for example, and it's clearly comprehensive and very well written. I look forward enormously to reading it in full at some point in the future. But for now I'm going to eschew any research beyond the bare basics in order to retain that 'pure' Fi5 approach.
When I was participating in Jonny's Facebook Fall group, I found reading about newbies' reactions to the group's back catalogue fascinating. Seasoned Pollard veterans may find my musings about my GBV journey similarly interesting. On the other hand, they might consider the ill-informed ramblings of an ignoramous like me unworthy of attention - which is fair enough. But I know I'm going to enjoy it, and if anyone wants to accompany me on the ride, then you're very welcome.
Are you, at any stage, going to cease this introductory waffle and actually get down to writing about the music?
Indeed I am: although my personal circumstances (my wife and I have 18mo twins) means that I can't hope to match what was, in retrospect, the cracking pace I established with the Fall blogs.
A few practical notes:
- I am just going to do the studio albums, of which I reckon there 40 (or there will be once Strut of Kings is released next month - I also realise that it's not that unlikely that there'll be another one out before I'm finished).
- I wasn't 100% sure whether to include Tonics & Twisted Chasers, but I'm going to anyway. I'm sure people have opinions.
- I'm not going to touch the array of singles, EPs, solo albums and side projects - I know some might suggest that I'm missing out hugely by doing so, but I think I have more than enough to be going on with - for now, anyway.
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