I'm on a bit of a Guided By Voices bender at the moment. A combination of re-discovering the fan-fave Bee Thousand in the lead up to my DJ set at Death to 1994 last week and reading the book Perfect From Now On by American writer John Sellers. He's a bona-fide GBV nut, compulsive listmaker and card carrying indie-rock fan, much like myself, and his book is a really kick-arse read. Here's a little excerpt:
At 193 listens, the song I had played most often during the previous twelve months was written by a band that most people have never heard of. In fact, the top ten songs—and seventeen of the top twenty (and thirty-five of the top fifty, and sixty-three of the top one hundred)—were all by that same band or its offshoots. The facts told me what I had only just begun admitting to myself: I was obsessed with Guided By Voices.
Ok, maybe your sides aren't yet split asunder... but he also goes on a piss-funny booze-soaked roadtrip to hang with Bob Pollard and writes about his pre-GBV obsessions with New Order, Pavement and Morissey. Perfect From Now On (also the name of the best Built To Spill album) can be found locally or on Amazon. Thanks to BK, who gave me the book for my birthday!
Top Five GBV songs, from their Best Of CD, by opening guitar riff:
05 Cut Out Witch
04 Everywhere with Helicopter
03 Surgical Focus
02 Game of Pricks
01 I am A Tree
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