Airport 5: Tower in the Fountain of Sparks

Airport 5: Tower in the Fountain of Sparks

2001

Fading Captain Series

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Burns Carpenter, Man of Science  2. Total Exposure  3. Subatomic Rain  4. One More  5. Mission Experiences  6.The Cost of Shipping Cattle  7. Circle of Trim  8. War & Wedding  9. Stifled Man Casino  10. Up the Nails  11. Tomorrow You May Rise  12. Feathering Clueless (The Exotic Freebird)  13. Mansfield on the Sky  14. White Car Creek  15. Remain Lodging (at Airport 5)

This is a collaboration between Guided By Voices front-man Robert Pollard and ex-Guided by Voices sideman Tobin Sprout. Tobin sprout was part of the classic GBV line-up which broke up somewhere in the mid-90's, so when they did  this "record-by-mail" project in 2001, it was a pretty big deal at the time for us GBV fanatics...

I ran to the record store and bought this the day it came out, practically salivating at the thought of the Beatles-y, Who-sy power pop that must lie within...

Except in a few select cases that isn't exactly what I got. Most of the record is odd, abstract and brooding. Robert Pollard is at his most oblique, and Tobin Sprout is at his moodiest.  I can't quite say I was disappointed at first, because Robert Pollard albums do usually take a bit of time to fully reveal their awesomeness to me. I did eventually get used to it and I ended up enjoying this quite a bit.

It has to be said, every album Pollard makes has at least one song that I consider to be the best in Rock N' Roll history.  I'm dead serious. I think this guy has written more great songs than anybody. This is mostly due to the fact that he's written more songs than everybody. But I swear to God, that the best of his best stands up tall right next to the greatest songs ever written. I would stack "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" or "Game of Pricks" against any Beatles song. I believe that if those tracks weren't recorded on a 4-track tape machine and were credited as being written by REM or the Beatles, everybody on planet Earth would be agreeing with me.

The greatest song ever written on this album is....

 drum roll, please...

 "Stifled Man Casino." This song so thoroughly kicks my ass! That chorus, man! THAT CHORUS!! Glorious! I  bow to you for this one, Mr.  Pollard. "Total Exposure" comes pretty close too. It's an acoustic rocker with a slippery bassline but it's just as sticky.

And that's about it for the big pop songs, the rest of it is emotionally diffuse, dark post-rock...Kind of an update of Wire's "154."  I mean, listen to those nervy vocals on "Subatomic Rain." Bizarre. And check out those lyrics on "The Cost of Shipping Cattle:"

"The thorn removed itself,
and grew into a stake,
impaled itself into a tree,
which became flesh and lurched toward the moon...
Did he or did he not,
use shocking equipment to make you happy?? "

 Bizarre! Bizarre! The record actually has a strong second half. "War & Wedding" and "Circle of Trim" are near-pop. "Mansfield in the Sky" is a slow-motion anthem,  beatutiful with its wide swaths of echoed guitar and understated vocals. It really is evocative of a snowy day in a  desolate modwestern locale. I'm sorry I moved to Arizona before I heard this, because I would have loved to listen to this driving around in a Michigan snowstorm.

If you're a Guided By Voices novice, I probably wouldn't start here, but if you have  a taste for some of Pollard's more far-out material then this one should be right up your alley...

There were a couple of singles released from this album, but we'll discuss those later when I get to the Guided by Voices section, since they're included in the Guided by Voices release "Selective Service."

If you haven't heard it yet, check out "Stifled Man Casino." Posted below for your convenience.