Guided by Voices - Same Place The Fly Got Smashed - VINYL LP

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 it's 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 it's 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 InchEarful o' Wax,Inch 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.

*ON LIMITED TRANSPARENT RED VINYL!!! 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 (Inchthe electrifying conclusionInch). 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 . 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 InchDrinker's Peace,Inch InchMammoth Cave,Inch the epic InchLocal Mix-Up/Murder Charge,Inch and of course InchPendulumInch with it's immortal opening line InchCome on over tonight, we'll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!Inch-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 tag. 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.

Even back in 1987, Guided by Voices was not content to 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 InchLong Distance Man,Inch 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, InchLadies and gentlemen! Back by popular demand for your entertainment and spiritual enlightenment... Electric Jam Soul Aquarium!Inch a truly Inchwtf is happening hereI