#tobin sprout

[guessimdumb]

Guided by Voices - Islands (She Talks In Rainbows) (2013)

So many Guided by Voices LPs to choose from.  As much as I admire Robert Pollard’s dedication to putting out 3 LPs a year, sometimes I’ve enjoyed Tobin Sprout’s songs more.  Less lyrically obtuse, more straightforward jangly pop like this fantastic tune.

[guerrilla-operator]

GUIDED BY VOICES

[heidismagblog]

[spilladabalia]

Guided By Voices - I Am A Scientist

[dinosaursr66]

GBV has recorded hundreds of songs. When asked which song is my favorite, Game of Pricks is often the answer.

SONG OF THE DAY - September 16, 2023

[sinceileftyoublog]

The Lost Days Interview: 8-Track Document

Sarah Rose Janko & Tony Molina; Photo by Alicia Vanden Heuvel 

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The combination of lo-fi power pop and warm-hearted Americana is not one I would have chalked up to work on paper, but The Lost Days are pretty perfect. Tony Molina and Dawn Riding’s Sarah Rose Janko met at a memorial, quickly hitting it off and turning their mutual musical admiration into a full-blown home recording project. They released the Lost Demos EP in 2021, and afterwards, Molina, still wanting to churn out bursting, cassette-recorded pop songs a la Bill Fox’s first three records, started to write with Sarah’s voice in mind. The two eventually recorded these songs at Nick Bassett’s basement studio on his Yamaha MT8X 8 track; the result is The Lost Days’ debut album In The Store, out today via Speakeasy Studios SF.

Molina and Janko’s musical relationship early on was defined by all-night singing sessions and empty wine bottles; In The Store, in contrast, is a 13-minute document of alcoholism, being subsumed by it, the self-involvement of it, and ultimate recovery from it. Alongside shimmery guitar, keyboard, and organ, jangly percussion, and Janko’s sweet coo are fatalistic lyrics. “I think I’m gonna have to tell you that the present don’t look too good,” they sing on the album’s opening song. On the chugging, wiry “For Today”, they sing, in a duet of dependency, “The hardest part of staying sober is any time that you come over.” On the layered and melancholy “Long Before You Know”, Molina realizes that “Everyone will talk about when you have fallen,” toeing the line between self-awareness and egocentrism. If on Molina’s solo records he jam packs a thousand musical ideas into a runtime in the teens, on In The Store, he and Janko tell a whole story, too, at once personal and universal.

Last month, I sent Molina some questions over email about The Lost Days, working with Sarah, In The Store, and his favorite Guided By Voices record. Read his responses below, edited for clarity.

Since I Left You: How would you compare writing for another person's voice versus your own? What are the similarities and differences?

Tony Molina: For this record, the only difference was that I had to change the key of certain songs for Sarah to sing them because I have a lower register with my voice. So it wasn’t an issue as long as I had a capo on me.

SILY: A lot of the influences on this record (Bill Fox, Guided By Voices, The Beatles) are named influences in your solo records, too. Were there any newfound touchpoints for this specific project?

TM: Mainly, The Lost Days are a home recording project and not a studio entity. I had been on a Bill Fox bender for about three and a half years when I made this one, so the concept was to make the record on cassette. Bill uses a 4-track; we used a cassette 8-track. Besides Bill and the Tobin [Sprout]-era GBV classics, I’ve been wanting to make a record on cassette since my mentors and older brothers from the West Bay, Los Rabbis, Tommy Lasorda, and Broken Strings were on that tip when I was a youngster. It took me about 20 years to get the guts to do it, but it finally happened.

SILY: How do you achieve the contrast of bright, sunny melodies and harmonies with melancholy or dark lyrics?

TM: I don’t know, melodies are melodies, I’m not someone who can write a song about surfing or having pizza parties or whatever other fools do.

SILY: Many of the songs on In The Store reference alcoholism. This project was also born out of a time when you and Sarah were "singing to an audience of empty wine bottles" and frequenting a liquor store you frequented in a formative time in your career. What's your relationship with alcohol these days, especially as it pertains to music? I've read that you often don't pull from your personal life in your songwriting, but I'm wondering if this record is an exception.

TM: Yo shout out Jacksons Liquors!!! The whole album is about alcoholism and from the perspective of someone who sees the world through an alcoholic lens. The thing about alcoholics is that we have a lot in common and share similar stories and experiences. So I was touching on some things from my personal life that I think are super common among others who live a similar life. From the darkest points of addiction, struggling with recovery, and chronic relapse, to the paranoia and anxiety that comes from withdrawal. As a person in recovery, I felt like I needed to document these things at the time when I was going through it.

SILY: Songs like "Long Before You Know" and "Pass The Time" make references to other people's perception of you, and how it may or may not affect you. How often are you thinking about these outward feelings in your songwriting?

TM: These songs are also about the life of a fader, specifically the self-centeredness that comes with addiction.  

SILY: The title track is the longest song on here, with two verses and comparatively complex arrangements. What compels you to write shorter songs? Do you think you'll ever play around with more non-traditional pop song structures?

TM: I think I just do what feels right. The first time Ovens were ever on wax in ‘04 we had an 8-minute song on the compilation Letters From The Landfill. That song was long as fuck! So it kinda just depends.

SILY: What's the story behind the album art?

TM: I didn’t know what to use, so I think Sarah and I decided a liquor store and a fool getting faded in a graveyard would look sick. Sarah was down to do it, so there you go.

SILY: What's your favorite GBV album, and why?

TM: Same Place the Fly Got Smashed, hands down!!! Its a concept record about an alcoholic fool who turns into a murderer! Its got some super dark moments, and it sounds like a gloomy rainy day in Dayton. On some true Midwest darkness. There’s also some great upbeat feel good songs on it, too. But you know, “Drinker’s Peace”, “Club Molluska”, those are heavy. That is easily my favorite GBV ever and has been for a long time.

SILY: What else is next for you in the short and long term future?

TM: Some reissues of old stuff, and I still record all the time.

SILY: What have you been listening to, watching, and reading lately?

TM: I’ve been listening to Heron's self-titled and Duncan Browne’s self-titled (with bonus tracks) religiously.

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: Dayton's Nick Kizirnis Shares Bluesy and Mournful "The Distance"

New Video: Dayton's Nick Kizirnis Shares Bluesy and Mournful "The Distance" @NickKizirnis @lungtheband @heygroover @romainpalmieri @DorianPerron

Nick Kizirnis is a Dayton, OH-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who has spent the past two-plus decades writing genre-twisting and genre-defying material on over ten solo albums, while also collaborating playing in bands like The Mulchmen, Tobin Sprout’s Eyesinweasel, Cage and others with a collection of up-and-coming local musicians. Over the past decade or so, the Dayton-based artist has…

[noloveforned]

welcome to 2024! no love for ned is still here and still on wlur every friday night from 8pm until midnight! i was hoping to have a new theme set to go this week but we're going to stick with our fall 'food songs' for another week.

our last show of the year was the annual look back twenty years ago for our best of 2003 show (now streaming on mixcloud). if you enjoyed the show, you can also check out the previous nine retrospective shows spotlighting 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995 and 1993 (1994 will be produced later this year as a special a 30th anniversary show).

no love for ned on wlur – december 29th, 2023 from 8pm-midnight

artist // track // album // label the aislers set // languor in the balcony // how i learned to write backwards // slumberland shout out louds // the comeback // howl howl gaff gaff // bud fox matt suggs // calm down // amigo row // merge belle and sebastian // i'm a cuckoo // dear catastrophe waitress // rough trade the rosebuds // kicks in the schoolyard // make out // merge the lucksmiths // midweek midmorning // naturaliste // drive-in sprites // do it yourself // starling, spiders, tiger and sprites // march camera obscura // suspended from class // underachievers please try harder // elefant st. thomas // a long long time // hey harmony // racing junior bishop allen // little black ache // charm school // champagne school herman düne // why would that hurt? (if you never loved me) // mash concrete metal mushroom // shrimper bearsuit // itsuko got married // itsuko got married 7" // bearslut dressy bessy // baby six string // dressy bessy // kindercore the new pornographers // testament to youth in verse // electric version // matador all girl summer fun band // dear mr. and mrs. troublemaker // 2 // k david and the citizens // graycoated morning // until the sadness is gone // adrian saturday looks good to me // alcohol // all your summer songs // polyvinyl the essex green // the late great cassiopia // the long goodbye // merge beulah // landslide baby // yoko // velocette reclinerland // give up your film career (lenny's theme) // the ideal home music library // hush blanket music // hyper-ballad // read: interpreting bjork tribute // hush tobin sprout // doctor #8 // lost planets and phantom voices // mr. whiggs plastic mastery // i fell in love on the way to a funeral // sverige ep // 555 the thermals // no culture icons // more parts per million // sub pop rainer maria // mystery and misery // long knives drawn // polyvinyl joel plaskett emergency // extraordinary // truthfully truthfully // maple music sloan // false alarm // action pact // vik guided by voices // useless inventions // earthquake glue // matador deerhoof // dummy discards a heart // apple o' // kill rock stars lil' hospital // there could be girlfriend // i wanna be well // best friends the national splits // she's my baby and she's alright // fontana // mr. whiggs murder beach // eight great ways // first string teenage high- songs of tullycraft played by people who aren't tribute // bumblebear casiotone for the painfully alone // jeane, if you're ever in portland // twinkle echo // tomlab bobby birdman // i will come again // heart caves ep // states rights

erykah badu // back in the day // worldwide underground // motown the books // take time // the lemon of pink // tomlab nanang tatang // bunny hop hop // muki // tiger style so // a // so // thrill jockey piana // hide and seek // snow bird // happy broken social scene // anthems for a seventeen-year-old girl // you forgot it in people // arts and crafts califone // michigan girls // quicksand/cradlesnakes // thrill jockey the strugglers // the new room // the new room // tract magnolia electric co. // just be simple // the magnolia electric co. // secretly canadian crooked fingers // big darkness // red devil dawn // merge the trouble with sweeney // the break up // i know you destroy // burnt toast vinyl barzin // past all concerns // barzin // where are my azure ray // hold on love // hold on love // saddle creek seekonk // move // for barbara lee // kimchee sun kill moon // carry me ohio // ghosts of the great highway // jetset the american analog set // come home baby julie, come home // promise of love // tiger style the twilight singers // teenage wristband // blackberry belle // birdman spiritualized // she kissed me (it felt like a hit) // amazing grace // sanctuary the postal service // the district sleeps alone tonight // give up // sub pop her space holiday // my girlfriend's boyfriend // the young machines // mush styrofoam // a heart without a mind // i'm what's there to show that something's missing // morr music howard hello // my friend / the parasite // don't drink his blood // temporary residence pernice brothers // one foot in the grave // yours, mine and ours // ashmont the salteens // damn you // let go of your bad days // drive-in the unicorns // i was born (a unicorn) // who will cut our hair when we're gone? // alien8 the hidden cameras // ban marriage // the smell of our own // rough trade yo la tengo // today is the day // today is the day ep // matador

[daggerzine]

V/A- Shine On- A Tribute to Pete Ham (Y & T)

Miami’s Y & T label has been at it for a few decades releasing some terrific roots rock , power pop, singer songwriter stuff and the like. For this new release the label is paying tribute to the late, great Pete Ham of Badfinger. I always felt like Badfinger (and thus Ham) never really got their due so hopefully this will help rectify that a bit.

35 cover songs spread out of over two discs and there’s plenty of highlights here. Sone of my faves include Mary Lou Lord tackling “Baby Blue,” Tobin Sprout (ex of GBV) with a great version of “Dear Father” and Mary Karlzen’s gentle, pretty “We’re For the Dark” (that’s all on disc 1).

Over on disc two you’ve got Wreckless Eric and wife Amy Rigby doing a sorta spacey version of “Midnight Caller” and Dennis Diken doing a dramatic version of, yup, “Dennis” and power popper Nelson Bragg doing a pretty version of Carry On Til Tomorrow.”

There’s plenty more here to enjoy and you can tell this whole project was a real labor of love  (down to the excellent cover painting of Ham by Lesley Daunt) and the liner notes by Bill DeYoung (and the thank you list by Y & T’s Rich Ulloa). Very well done and worth your time and money.

www.ytmusiconline.com

[radiomaxmusic]

Tuesday, December 5, 2023 5pm ET: Feature LP: Guided By Voices - Nowhere To Go But Up (2023)

Guided by Voices (GBV) is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted of Pollard (lead vocals), his brother Jim (guitar, bass), Mitch Mitchell (lead guitars), Tobin Sprout (vocals, rhythm guitars), Kevin Fennell (drums),…

[barefootjim]

[guerrilla-operator]

GUIDED BY VOICES

[rastronomicals]

Tobin Sprout

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Monday, 7 August 2023:

Demos and Outtakes 2 Tobin Sprout (Persona Non Grata) (released this week)

Tobin Sprout, long associated with the classic years of Guided By Voices, has been a recording force of his own since his 1996 solo debut Carnival Boy (which came out on the exact same day as Robert Pollard's solo debut Not In My Air Force). I've long contended that if Tobin isn't in GbV, then I've zero interest in the band. I've long ago given up being interested in the band as well as anything Pollard does, but I'm still buying everything and anything that Tobin does.

Tobin released his first double album of Demos & Outtakes back in 1999 (credited to himself and Eyesinweasel which was his own band for a brief period of time). It was a limited release and when it came out on CD a year later, it omitted 11 tracks! If you ignored that album, good look finding a reasonably priced copy in the US.

Above is the album cover and the back of the album. It is far more ornate than his last Demos & Outtakes installment, that's for certain. Below are the four sides of the record labels.

I've long forgotten why I buy Tobin on both formats, but I most certainly do. I also picked up the CD version of this set (and yes, it contains all the songs on the vinyl version). Below you can see the CD version: cover, gatefold, back and the CD itself.

And because it is a tough life for an artist in 2023, Tobin included a blurb about his children's book he both wrote and painted. Guys like Tobin have a family to feed so they have no choice but to endlessly market themselves.

And lastly, the back of the album mailer contains a stamp of Tobin's company Petrified Fish.

[dinosaursr66]

Former Guided By Voices guitarist, Tobin Sprout has recorded many great solo records. I am a huge fan. This track is one of my all-time favorites.

SONG OF THE DAY - January 8, 2023

[anticosmicist]