GUIDED BY VOICES
SUITCASE 2 - AMERICAN SUPERDREAM WOW
# 37 in the Fading Captain Series

MOJO - DECEMBER 2005
BY STEVIE CHICK

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Weird, wonderful ephemera from indie-rock’s often-inspired, often-distracted Bard

When a flooded basement threatened his fabled suitcases of demo-tapes, Guided By Voices lynchpin Robert Pollard began digitising the dog-eared cassettes, prompting this second volume in the Suitcase series, offering a hundred such misfires over four disks. The path through these diamonds and detritus is painstakingly programmed, sketching Pollard’s restless, prolific trash-art via skewed power-pop, slivers of whimsy, and abstruse pop-concrete. Those listening solely for the nuggets of melodic-savant genius are missing the point, however; while such moments are abundantly present, Suitcase 2 (like the best GBV) is best savoured as a whole, a magical mystery of Pollard’s pop-obsessed, haphazardly-filed subconscious. His cut’n’paste sleeves for records never released, by bands that never existed, only underscore Suitcase 2’s Nuggets-esque feel - but this flood of music is the product of one insanely prolific artist.