NOW Toronto
November 20, 2003
By Tim Perlich

Guided By Voices
Hardcore UFOs Box Set
Matador Records

Subtitled Revelations, Epiphanies And Fast Food In The Western Hemisphere, the five-CD (with a bonus DVD) Hardcore UFOs box isn't an attempt at a definitive Guided by Voices career anthology but, rather, a "stuff you might've missed" odds "n" sods set designed for people with a dedicated GBV-head on their Christmas list who thinks he/she already has everything. Along with the Human Amusements best-of disc (also sold separately), there's the Demons & Painkillers collection of B-sides and compilation tracks - often better than the album cuts - and the first digital release of GBV's impressive seven-song Forever Since Breakfast debut EP from 86. The big draw here is the Delicious Pie disc of top-quality session outtakes and demos that really should've been released along with the 32-track Live At The Wheelchair Races compendium of shockingly coherent performances taken from various booze-ups over the past eight years. The bonus DVD includes Banks Tarver's excellent GBV historical documentary, Watch Me Jumpstart, appended with another Tarver film, Beautiful Plastic, focusing on Robert Pollard's creative process, in addition to GBV's eight money-wasting promo video clips and some recent live footage. Swell job.