Kicker of Elves selects one from each of Robert Pollard’s 100

The 7th of April last year (remember that?) saw the release of what was deemed to be the 100th album from prolificacy’s poster-boy, Robert Pollard. This was marked by the release of a stunning 12″ x 12″ coffee-table book featuring the artwork from each album and when put all together looks like this:

Having reorganised (this part of) my Robert Pollard vinyl collection, it then became obvious that I needed to undertake a chronological listening experience that would inevitably lead to a Trust The Wizard’s favoured ‘one from each’ list, where I choose my favourite track from each release. This proved to be much easier in some cases than others and, of course, is open to change each time I listen to particular records (hello, Bee Thousand), where it was like choosing your favourite child, or doughnut. Impossible.

Nevertheless, here is what I have gone with.

1. Like I Do (Guided By Voices – Forever Since Breakfast, 1986)
2. The Tumblers (Guided By Voices – Devil Between My Toes, 1987):
3. Trap Soul Door (Guided By Voices – Sandbox, 1987)
4. The Great Blake Street Canoe Race (Guided By Voices – Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia,1989)
5. Club Molluska (Guided By Voices – Same Place The Fly Got Smashed, 1990)
6. Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox (Guided By Voices – Propeller, 1992)
7. Gleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim (Guided By Voices – Vampire On Titus, 1993)
8. Smothered In Hugs (Guided By Voices – Bee Thousand, 1994)
9. Crutch Came Slinking (Guided By Voices – King Shit And The Golden Boys, 1995)
10. My Valuable Hunting Knife (Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes, 1995)
11. No Sky (Guided By Voices – Under the Bushes Under the Stars, 1996)
12. Psychic Pilot Clocks Out (Robert Pollard – Not In My Airforce, 1996)
13. Unbaited Vicar Of Scorched Earth (Guided By Voices – Tonics and Twisted Chasers, 1996)
14. Now To War (Guided By Voices – Mag Earwhig!, 1997)
15. Subspace Biographies (Robert Pollard – Waved Out, 1998)
16. Powerblessings (Robert Pollard – Kid Marine, 1999)
17. Dogwood Grains (Nightwalker – In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music By Nightwalker 1984-1993, 1999)
18. Liquid Indian (Guided By Voices – Do the Collapse, 1999)
19. Pop Zeus (Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard – Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department, 1999)
20. Wondering Boy Poet (Guided By Voices – Briefcase (Suitcase Abridged: Drinks And Deliveries), 2000
21. A Farewell To Arms (Hazzard Hotrods – Big Trouble, 2000)
22. Pivotal Film (Guided By Voices – Isolation Drills, 2001)
23. 7th Level Shutdown (Robert Pollard And His Soft Rock Renegades – Choreographed Man Of War, 2001)
24. Stifled Man Casino (Airport 5 – Tower In The Fountain Sparks, 2001)
25. Apparent The Red Angus (Circus Devils – Ringworm Interiors, 2001)
26. However Young They Are (Airport 5 – Life Starts Here, 2002)
27. It Is Divine (Go Back Snowball – Calling Zero, 2002)
28. Dungeon Of Drunks (Acid Ranch – Some Of The Magic Syrup Was Preserved, 2002)
29. Storm Vibrations (Guided By Voices – Universal Truths and Cycles, 2002)
30. Action Speaks Volumes (Guided By Voices – The Pipe Dreams Of Instant Prince Whippet, 2002)
31. Soldiers Of June (Circus Devils – The Harold Pig Memorial, 2002)
32. Harrison Adams (Robert Pollard – Motel of Fools, 2003)
33. Society Dome (Lifeguards – Mist King Urth, 2003)
34. A Good Looking Death (Phantom Tollbooth – Beard Of Lightning, 2003)
35. My Kind Of Soldier (Guided By Voices – Earthquake Glue, 2003)
36. Sick Color (Circus Devils – Pinball Mars, 2003)
37. Their Biggest Win (Robert Pollard – Fiction Man, 2004)
38. Everybody Thinks I’m A Raincloud (When I’m Not Looking) (Guided By Voices – Half Smiles Of the Decomposed, 2004)
39. Dolphins Of Color (Circus Devils – Five, 2005)
40. Invisible Train To Earth (Guided By Voices – Briefcase 2: The Return Of Milko Waif, 2005)
41. I’m Not Looking (Acid Ranch – As Forever: A Manifesto of Fractured Imagination And Wreckless Living, 2005)
42. U.S. Mustard Company (Robert Pollard – From A Compound Eye, 2006)
43. Be It Not For The Serpentine Rain Dodger (The Takeovers – Turn To Red, 2006)
44. Jesus The Clockwork (Psycho And The Birds – All That Is Holy, 2006)
45. Death Of The Party (Keene Brothers – Blues And Boogie Shoes, 2006)
46. Pegasus Glue Factory (Robert Pollard – Normal Happiness, 2006)
47. Lie To The Rainbow (Acid Ranch – The Great Houdini Wasn’t So Great, 2007)
48. Circle Saw Boys Club (Robert Pollard – Silverfish Trivia, 2007)
49. Pretty Not Bad (The Takeovers – Bad Football, 2007)
50. Swing Shift (Circus Devils – Sgt. Disco, 2007)
51. Miles Under The Skin (Robert Pollard – Coast to Coast Carpet of Love, 2007)
52. Shadow Port (Robert Pollard – Standard Gargoyle Decisions, 2007)
53. Love Your Spaceman (Robert Pollard – Superman Was a Rocker, 2008)
54. Enon Beach (Psycho And The Birds – We’ve Moved, 2008)
55. Weatherman And Skin Goddess (Robert Pollard – Robert Pollard Is Off To Business, 2008)
56. Go For The Exit (Boston Spaceships – Brown Submarine, 2008)
57. Stars, Stripes And Crack Pipes (Circus Devils – Ataxia, 2008)
58. The Butler Stands For All Of Us (Robert Pollard – The Crawling Distance, 2009)
59. Keep Me Down (Boston Spaceships – The Planets Are Blasted, 2009)
60. In Your Hour Of Rescue (Circus Devils – Gringo, 2009)
61. Nude Metropolis (Cosmos – Jar Of Jam Ton Of Bricks, 2009)
62. Accident Hero (Robert Pollard – Elephant Jokes, 2009)
63. Question Girl All Right (Boston Spaceships – Zero To 99, 2009)
64. There Are Other Worlds (Guided By Voices – Briefcase 3: Cuddling Bozo’s Octopus, 2009)
65. I Can See (Robert Pollard – We All Got Out Of The Army, 2010)
66. Lurking (Circus Devils – Mother Skinny, 2010)
67. Each Is Good In His Own House (Robert Pollard – Moses On a Snail, 2010)
68. Unshaven Bird (Boston Spaceships – Our Cubehouse Still Rocks, 2010)
69. Something Strawberry (Robert Pollard – Space City Kicks, 2011)
70. Paradise Is Not So Bad (Lifeguards – Waving At Astronauts, 2011)
71. Wish You Were Young (Mars Classroom – The New Theory Of Everything, 2011)
72. Dunce Codex (Robert Pollard – Lord of the Birdcage, 2011)
73. No Steamboats (Boston Spaceships – Let It Beard, 2011)
74. Cyclopean Runways (Circus Devils – Capsized!, 2011)
75. Laundry And Lasers (Guided By Voices – Let’s Go Eat The Factory, 2012)
76. Dr. Time (Robert Pollard – Mouseman Cloud, 2012)
77. Class Clown Spots A UFO (Guided By Voices – Class Clown Spots A UFO, 2012)
78. Red Rubber Army (Robert Pollard – Jack Sells The Cow, 2012)
79. White Flag (Guided By Voices – The Bears for Lunch, 2012)
80. Biographer Seahorse (Guided By Voices – English Little League, 2013)
81. I Killed A Man Who Looks Like You (Robert Pollard – Honey Locust Honky Tonk, 2013)
82. Atlantic Cod (Teenage Guitar – Force Fields At Home, 2013)
83. Idiot Tree (Circus Devils – When Machines Attack, 2013)
84. Locomotion Blue Note (Circus Devils – My Mind Has Seen The White Trick, 2013)
85. Tonight’s The Rodeo (Robert Pollard – Blazing Gentleman, 2013)
86. Vote For Me Dummy (Guided By Voices – Motivational Jumpsuit, 2014)
87. Males Of Wormwood Mars (Guided By Voices – Cool Planet, 2014)
88. A Year That Could Have Been Worse (Teenage Guitar – More Lies From The Gooseberry Bush, 2014)
89. Diamond Boys (Circus Devils – Escape, 2014)
90. Mobility (Ricked Wicky – I Sell The Circus, 2015)
91. Faulty Superheroes (Robert Pollard – Faulty Superheroes, 2015)
92. Jargon Of Clones (Ricked Wicky – King Heavy Metal, 2015)
93. Poor Substitute (Ricked Wicky – Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair, 2015)
94. Hue N’ Dye (Circus Devils – Stomping Grounds, 2015)
95. Linda’s Lottery (Guided By Voices – Briefcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won The War, 2015)
96. Little Pigs (Robert Pollard – Of Course You Are, 2016)
97. Glittering Parliaments (Guided By Voices – Please Be Honest, 2016)
98. Royal Cyclopean (ESP Ohio – Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean, 2016)
99. Do The Nixon (Circus Devils – Laughs Last, 2017)
100. Dr. Feelgood Falls Off The Ocean (Guided By Voices – August By Cake, 2017)

91% of these songs are currently available on Spotify:

Here are some of the others:

Not sure why Spotify has a live version of Trap Soul Door under Sandbox, but here’s the album version:

Finally, some statistics of note:

UPDATE: There are 7 releases that could have been included in Robert Pollard’s first 100 ‘albums’, but weren’t.

For the completists, here are my selections from them:

• If We Wait (Guided By Voices – Sunfish Holy Breakfast, 1996)
• Alone, Stinking And Unafraid (Lexo And The Leapers – Ask Them, 1999):
• I’m Dirty (Howling Wolf Orchestra – Speedtraps For The Bee Kingdom, 2000)
• Avalanche Aminos (Guided By Voices – Daredevil Stamp Collector, 2001)
• Look At Your Life (The Moping Swans – Lightninghead To Coffeepot, 2005)
• Sucker Of Pistol City (Guided By Voices – Hold On Hope (Re-pressing), 2009)
• UFO Nights (The Sunflower Logic – Clouds On The Polar Landscape, 2013)

Depending on where you are in the world, you can listen to most or all of these here: