guided by voices, vampire on titus (scat)
vampire was gihyb's intro to tha mighty GBV. seem to recall hearing about them via a scat (label at the time) mailer (mailer!). right band at the right time syndrome. hook-heavy wavery recordings. this was DIY practiced from below ground level. in the songs you could visualize the chair he sat on while mixing. and behold the lo-fi years ...
lo-fi is a bit of a misnomer. you can't tell me brian wilson was any more obsessive working on pet sounds than pollard was on these recordings. listenin with new ears reveals tons of subtle touches under the histrionics. pollard compulsively shoots for a 'live at leeds' bonus track most times up, but the (mostly inadvertant) use of tone and hiss add an air of place, time and context that the arena rock he so clearly loves lacks (all apologies to cheap trick).
(ed. note: more cliches coming!) pollard should've been recording 2 decades prior to this. unabashed anglophile that he is woulda fit right in mid-60s london (ed. note: without the source material!!!).
great melodist of our generation? name another ... elliott smith ... maybe?
unsung track: gleemer (godilovesprout)
% listened to before either skipping/turning off/deciding to never listen to music again: 100
revisionist rating (out of 10): !!!!!!!!!
rating after original purchase (ed note, possibly as made up as revisionist): !!!!!!!!!
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