good music for people who like road tripping

this weekend i bought a few records while i was hanging with out with one of my cousins in the city. when i go shopping for music, i mostly rely on albums to pop out at me like beacon of light. i wish i was one of those people who kept a list of records to buy, but usually my mind goes blank when i'm at the store. this time though, i had a few songs that i was looking for in this new road trip mix i am making. first on the agenda: guided by voices. i was looking for "teenage fbi," but as i listen to the "best of" album i bought, i found like 10 other songs i'd like to put on the mix. i don't care if it's cheesey to buy the best of album... it's was $10 for 32 amazing songs at kim's on st. marks. it was something i simply could not pass up! why is this band so fucking good? hearing the recorded versions of songs is so different from hearing them live. i've seen gbv live a couple times, and i just can't believe this is a band that once opened for the strokes. that is shameful. they are legions better than new york's favorite indie boy band. come on now, peeps. so anyone who reads this site knows how much lyrics are important to me. if you have great music and bad lyrics, i kinda can't get past that. it's laziness. you're musicians. work it. make it perfect. make it mean something. make it reach out into my heart and grab the words right out of my skin. just fucking do it!

my fave cuts:
"everywhere with helicopter" - what sticks out about this song is the vocal rollercoaster, which really reflects the idea of flying all around with a helicopter. it's as if his voice is gliding along the wind with each note.

"my kind of soldier" - this song sounds so classic and seamless. it just sways back and forth with whimsy in between cascading guitar notes that fall onto your skin like vapory drops of water from a sprinkler.

"glad girls" - is it wrong to say i used to think he was singing "hey black girls?" listen closely, it could be easily misconstrued. boy was i relieved to hear he was actually singing "glad girls." after i found that i out, i fell in love with the capriciousness of the song.

"surgical focus" - the lyrics resonate as strongly as the music: "with surgical focus, she stared at me and said, 'i'm willing to reach out, get into your head, and i will keep you and cleanse you.'"

"cut-out witch" - "do you suppose she can change your life? if she could, then i wish she would." it's both frenzied and sedate, and leaves me dizzy and aching.

"non-absorbing" - the lyrics get caught in my throat, like peanut butter, like guilty pleasures... "do you see me like i see you? ...we wants to be alone but we can't be alone."

"teenage fbi" - these are anthemic lyrics! it makes me want to scream and shout and jump up and down until i get the attention of the entire world. "someone tell me why i do the things that i don't wanna do. when you're around me, i'm somebody else."

honorable mentions: i also really liked "learning to hunt," "tractor rape chain," "game of pricks," "the best of jill hives," and "motor away." or basically all of the songs were good. ha. the one thing i can say is that the band wasn't very good at coming up with song titles. but the words that do resonate, resonate hard.