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....