1. Alien Lanes- Guided By Voices

I have decided not to do this review of my CD collection in any kind of logical order. I recently moved, and my music is not alphabetised, organised or any other method of categorization. Some are in my Car, some are in a box still because i need to get a new CD holder that will fit all that i have acquired. So I'm just going to pull my albums as they are put away in my shelf, from the box and the car, as I see fit. If anyone is even reading this, I doubt you will be offended by the lack of clarity of vision.



So why Alien Lanes, a Guided By Voices album from the mid-nineties first? Because it is in my car, and it was the last CD i listened to before commencing this Blog. Simple.



Recently I told a group of friends about the danger of something being too good. I used food as an example, saying that I didn't mind the fact that a lot of the "ethnic" foods that I enjoy, like sushi or Thai or what have you, are not as solidly authentic as something you would get in say Japan or Thailand. My reasoning was that once you eat something that is so good as to make any other attempt at it meaningless, you will never enjoy it again. If some master sushi chef made me a $10,000 plate of sushi (I've seen these suckers in National Geographic, they exist!) then i probably would never enjoy sushi again. Whats the point? You have had the best and now what? I used this example as an example of the danger of things being too good. it can be just as punishing as it is rewarding.



What does this have to do with Guided By Voices? Well, first, let me say that i am not saying that Guided By Voices "Alien Lanes" is so good it makes all other music pointless. I am using the above metaphor as a way of demonstrating a similar point when it comes to this album. "Alien Lanes" is 28 songs in about 35 minutes. A bunch of the songs are under a minute, some reach 2, the longest is a whopping 2:56. I find more than a few tedious, thirty second experiments into whatever the hell the band is interested in sounding like. But the real issue is more like my problem with great food. A couple of the songs on this album (which, by the way, i like, start to finish, but not necessarily in a "traditional album" sense) are incredible. But they are 2:00 minutes long. So this is what I've been getting at: while 30 second songs are interesting snapshots of a band experimenting with their sound, or ideas or what have you, a really good pop song leaves you wanting that much more when its only 1 minute long. I may be alone on this one, but listen to the song "Blimps Go 90" and tell me you don't wish it was another minute long. It's like food that is too good, it leaves you not necessarily wanting more, but thinking no matter what, your not going to get another two minutes of song, as great as that would be.

So that's my point about great food, or great short songs. they can be a blessing and a curse, because once you've had or heard it, everything else is going to pale in comparison, or feel like it could be just so much more. I doubt i got this point across very well, but i try. Fortunately, i doubt anyone is reading this, so there you go.

All in all, however, "Alien Lanes" is a solid album, though it intentionally skewers what people think of as a traditional album. The short sketches of songs leave the whole thing with an unfinished feel, but after multiple listens, you realise that's probably the point. The short bursts of genius are just that, short bursts, that all flow together. The album as a whole feels as complete as anything else after you get over the fact that's shorter than some Pink Floyd songs.

So there it is, the first album reviewed at random. Not sure exactly what is next, or whether or not i am going to do all of an artists work in one post or do album by album, so this could be incredibly long. Fortunately, I may be the only one reading.