Ich Bin Ein Nerd

Doug Gillard Live Residency At Pianos In NYC!

Doug Gillard and his band will be playing every Wednesday night in January at Pianos in New York City, starting this Wednesday, January 7th! And each show will feature special guests and friends. Here is the schedule thus far...

January 7th - Regal Standard (acoustic version), including Chicago's own Jason Narducy (of Ascended Masters and Boston Spaceships fame) and Larry Schroeder will lead off at 9 PM. Doug Gillard and band will take the stage at 10 PM.

January 14th - Gramercy Arms with Dave Derby (Dambuilders) at 11 PM, DG and band at 10 PM.

January 21st - Arrow (Russ Fink), Nights (NYC) at 9 PM, followed by DG and band at 10 PM.

January 28th - Mascott featuring the great Kendall Meade at 9 PM, DG and band at 10 PM.

And while there, make sure to pick up a copy of Gillard's brilliant new LP Call From Restricted!

Guided By Voices - Matter Eater Lad Live 1996 Video

Along time ago (1996) in a galaxy far far away (Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, Ohio), Guided By Voices had a release party for Under The Bushes Under The Stars and played the lost (and comic book related) classic Matter Eater Lad. Behold and Happy 2009!..

Robert Pollard / Boston Spaceships Music & Merch Now Available at Rockathon Records!

Sorry for the lack of updates in late oh-eight, good people. December was a beastly month for your boy- mountains of life, work and holiday stress. But the good news for you fans is that Robert Pollard's Facebook page has had consistent updates by yours truly for much of 2008. And the simple interface makes it a lot easier to keep up with than this blog. So if I disappear round here, you can rest assured that all the latest news and updates can be found over there.

Speaking of long overdue updates, Rockathon Records has continued to be your one-stop source for all Bob music and merch in spite of my lack of reportage. So here's a list of what you may have missed from October to December...

1. Boston Spaceships Tour Merch, including tour tee shirts, EAT 6 (another all-collage issue), and the Bostons Spaceships sticker. And don't forget that every purchase of a BS tee shirt includes a MP3 download card with a song from new and upcoming Robert Pollard/Boston Spaceships/Circus Devils releases!

2. Robert Pollard - The Butler Stands For All Of Us 7"- released on November 4th, the latest Robert Pollard EP features the magnificent first "single" off of January's The Crawling Distance and 4 non-album b-sides, which are...

1) First Wave
2) Elevator To Far Worse
3) The Throat Is Young
4) I Would Be A Fish Tank

This vinyl-only release is limited to 500 copies on black vinyl, so get your order in before they are gone!

3. Boston Spaceships - Headache Revolution 7"- the incredibly powerful remake of the classic Suitcase 2 track off of February's The Planets Are Blasted includes 3 full band non-album b-sides...

1) Dementia Is Rising
2) Take That Off (And Put This On)
3) 7 Is The Hot Noose

Again, this is a web-only limited edition release. So order now or be prepared to bid later...

4. Robert Pollard - The Crawling Distance LP/CD. In spite of its January 20th release date, pre-orders of Bob's latest solo LP have already been shipping and arriving! Every vinyl order comes with a free promo CD of the record, as well! And you will get a break on shipping if you combine this order with the Headache Revolution 7", using the special buttons on the order page.

And while you are at Rockathon's music page, give a listen to the lovely yet creepy Imaginary Queen Anne MP3, track 8 off of The Crawling Distance!

More news to come...

Guided By Voices Music Featured In Soderbergh 3-D Movie Musical- Updated!

1/2/09 Update- As reported by Defamer and Variety, Hugh Jackman is out for leading man role Marc Anthony in Cleo, citing "scheduling conflicts"...

Huge news! As reported by Variety and Ain't It Cool News, Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard music will soon be the cornerstone of a 3-D rock opera entitled "Cleo", scripted by former GBV bassist Jim Greer and directed by longtime GBV fan Steven Soderbergh!

As you may recall, Robert Pollard music was an integral part of a earlier Soderbergh indie film, Bubble. But a big-budget musical extravaganza based on the life of Cleopatra, (potentially) starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Hugh Jackman with Bob singing the vocals for one of the characters, is a whole other thing entirely!

Apparently, this project has been in the works for quite a while, with Soderbergh hand-picking a bunch of appropriate Bob songs (Little Lines rumored to be among them) and Greer, Pollard and Soderbergh rewriting some of the lyrics to match the story. If I were to guess, the film shouldn't be hitting the theaters until sometime in 2010, considering the early phase it's in. But count me among those in line on opening day! And the pontential for Bob's music to get wide exposure and acclaim is limitless. So congrats to Bob and keep your eyes glued to this spot for updates as they come in....

Guided By Voices - Alone, Stinking And Unafraid Live 2001 Video

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's a special holiday treat to savor while you loll off into a ubiquitous food coma- Guided By Voices (the Jon McCann on drums configuration) performing the classic Alone, Stinking And Unafraid on the rarely seen 2001 HBO Reverb show. And is that Bababooey in the crowd at the beginning of the clip!? Anyway, enjoy the music and see you in December!

Doug Gillard's New LP "Call From Restricted" Now Available For Download!

Doug Gillard's fantastic new album Call From Restricted is now available for download on iTunes! Physical CD copies (and with any luck, vinyl?) will follow and be available shortly- stay tuned.

I had the pleasure to preview many of the tracks on Call From Restricted, both live in 2007 and as a regular MySpace and Facebook friend of Gillard's. And that early excitement was more than confirmed over the last few days of careful listening. The same brilliant musicianship and unique pop/rock songwriting of 2004's Salamander (if you don't own this, for shame!) comes roaring back with a vengeance on Call From Restricted. Highlights include the relentless guitar blast of the title track, From What I've Done's anthemic wall-of-sound, the angular pop of No One Above You, and my favorite surprise- the moody timelessly melodic (When Will You Be) Driving By. Juicy harmonies, guitar solos to make you weep, sweet production- the Doug Gillard you know and love is back.

And if you are lucky enough to live in the Austin, Texas metro region, go see Doug and his band tomorrow night (11.25.08) at Club Deville, with Cavedweller and Jacob Schulze...

Robert Pollard Limited Edition Collage Prints

Hey now! Long time, no post. Been uber busy with work and life- you know the deal. And as always with the ever-prolific Mister Pollard and Co., there are tons of news items to catch up on. So please stay tuned to this blog in the coming days for more noteworthy updates...

First on the docket is Robert Pollard's debut set of art prints, the first of which, "Greetings From Camp Confusion", is already for sale at Rockathon Records and Hard Pressed Studios (each website selling half of the run)! Produced in conjunction with Hard Pressed Studios, this set of five high quality fine art screen prints are strictly limited to 100 copies each. Every 15" X 20" print is numbered and signed by Robert Pollard. So don't delay- this low cost alternative to purchasing original Pollard collages won't last forever...

Upcoming Doug Gillard NYC Live Shows - Updated!

Guitar god Doug Gillard and his band will be appearing at New York City's CMJ Music Marathon And Film Festival next Wednesday, October 22nd and Saturday, October 25th! The first Wednesday gig will be at Alphabet Lounge on Avenue C in Manhattan starting at 8 PM, followed by an 11 PM appearance at Southpaw on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn for a Surfrider Foundation Fundraiser.

Then on Saturday afternoon (1:45ish), Gillard and band will play a free show at the BrooklynVegan party at NYC's Knitting Factory. Don't miss this opportunity to see Gillard's amazing solo work live and in person, including kick-ass tracks from his upcoming LP!

Also, Doug will be appearing tomorrow evening, October 16th, sitting in as guest musical sidekick (along with Moby and Walter Schreifels) for The Dave Hill Explosion comedy show at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre in Manhattan! And admission is only 5 bucks, cheap. Very cool!

And if you are a part of the Facebook revolution (or something like that), be sure to check out Doug Gillard's new Facebook music page. You can find news updates, show info and preview tracks from Doug's entire musical career...

Guided By Voices - "Wished I Was A Giant" 1996 Soundcheck Video

Guided By Voices (including Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell and Greg Demos) broke out into a spontaneous "Wished I Was A Giant" during a soundcheck at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, Ohio on April 6th, 1996. And thankfully, Dayton resident and frequent mid-90's videographer Scott (aka Chapter 18) was there to capture the moment. Great stuff and look for more of the same in the upcoming Some Drinking Implied 2 DVD. Thanks Scott!

The Textbook Committee At Chicago's Beat Kitchen - This Friday!

The Textbook Committee, Chicago's own brilliant Guided By Voices tribute band, will be hitting the stage of Beat Kitchen this Friday, October 17th at 10PM! TBC played a private party for Robert Pollard, family and friends in Dayton this past summer and completely blew the roof off the dump. So if you live in the greater Chicago area, don't miss your chance to see Blob Pollard, Tobin Stout and the boys in action. And sharing the stage with TBC are Georgia's mighty Ninja Gun. Rock on, Chicago!