News - Bob News

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MAY 1 - FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS TO PUBLISH TOWN OF MIRRORS : THE REASSEMBLED IMAGERY OF ROBERT POLLARD

On August 6, Robert Pollard will release Town Of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery Of Robert Pollard, the first ever collection of his artwork. This 144-page tome will collect more than 180 collages that Pollard has created throughout the years, including several made exclusively for this collection. The full-color, coffee table-ready book, which will be published by Fantagraphics, includes an introduction by author Rick Moody, who performed similar honors for 2004's self-explanatory The Wilco Book. No stranger to the art world, Pollard created most of the surreal album covers for Guided By Voices and his solo albums, and his work has been exhibited in Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante in New York and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in his native Ohio.

More info at Fantagraphics Web Site
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FEBRUARY 19 - ROBERT POLLARD IS OFF TO BUSINESS - the next Robert Pollard album

After amicably departing Merge Records after 4 albums in two years, Robert Pollard Is Off To Business will be Robert Pollard's only proper "Robert Pollard" full-length for 2008, released on Robert Pollard's new Guided By Voices Inc. label.

At 10 songs in 35 minutes, it's an extraordinary rock tour de force. Robert Pollard Is Off To Business sports Todd Tobias' cleanest and meanest production yet, giant songs and riffs that pack a wallop, and arguably Pollard's finest singing ever captured on record. For Pollard, whose albums normally run 15-25 songs, this 10-song work (the majority 3:30 or longer) is a departure from form. Since
freeing himself of a band in 2004, his albums have each had very distinct and varied flavors, and his creativity has flowered.

Extraordinarily influential, Pollard is not just a founding father of indie rock, but in the long run will prove to be an important part of rock history, with a significant oeuvre that branches from The Who, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, Wire and The Clean.

In stores: June 2, 2008. The release coincides with Fantagraphics' Town Of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert
Pollard, a lavish coffee-table book retrospective of Pollard's collage art and lyrics, as well as several Pollard art exhibits.

Robert Pollard Is Off To Business will be released on Pollard's new label, Guided By Voices, Inc. The first release on GBV Inc.
will be a 3-song EP released April 8, available only through www.robertpollard.net. The limited edition EP (cd & 12" 33 1/3
vinyl) will include one album standout "Weatherman And Skin Goddess" plus two exclusive non-album tracks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STUDIO DANTE, New York City- "Do The Collage", the debut art exhibit featuring the noted collage works of Robert Pollard, will be held December 9th and 10th, 2007.

Pollard’s exhibition will consist of more than 50 collages that date from 1990 through 2007. Using collage elements from 1930’s - 60’s era magazines, pamphlets and found obscure pictoral paperbacks as his primary tool, he portrays allegorical personas and hallucinogenic-type environments to create small, almost random synapses of unmistakable compositions with sardonic titles, each serving as a story unto itself. The Artist’s media utilizes the archetypes of the working class, becoming pawn deities and martyrs found within the strata of near fantasy religion and the collective unconscious.

Do The Collage is being hosted by two close friends of Pollard: visual artist Todd DiCiurcio and actor Michael Imperioli, who, along with his wife Victoria, are the Artistic Directors of Studio Dante.

Pollard is the former leader of indie rock legends Guided By Voices and at present, solo recording artist. One of Spin Magazine’s “Top 50 Rock & Roll Front Men of All-Time", he is a prolific songwriter, and a gifted visual artist, working exclusively in the medium of collage. Pollard has created the art featured on a majority of the Guided By Voices records and countless other Pollard-related releases. The cover collage for 1997's Guided By Voices record “Mag Earwhig” was displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. His art will be the subject of a 2008 Fantagraphic Books release, “Town of Mirrors : The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard.”

Under the artistic leadership of Michael & Victoria Imperioli, Studio Dante is a not-for-profit, off-broadway theatre conceived and built to house progressive new plays in a setting inspired by the grand architecture and design of traditional 19th Century venues. Studio Dante is located at 257 29th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenue) in Manhattan. Opening night is Sunday December 9th from 6 PM to 10 PM and the exhibit will continue thru Monday, December 10th from 12 Noon to 10 PM.

For more details on “Do The Collage” please contact Rich Turiel, rnt65@yahoo.com

Robert Pollard made quite a splash with his debut on Merge Records in 2006. Uncle Bob released not one, but two new albums on his new label – From A Compound Eye in January and Normal Happiness in October 2006. Well, now Bob has one-upped himself – again! Merge Records is excited to announce that on Oct 9th 2007 we will be releasing not one, but TWO brand new Robert Pollard albums – Standard Gargoyle Decisions and Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love. Both albums will be sold separately and will share the same release date. What could be better than a double shot of great music from one of rock’s most acclaimed (and most prolific) songwriters of the last 20 years.

As was the case with From A Compound Eye and Normal Happiness, all of the material on these recordings was written, recorded and performed by Bob and his long-time collaborator Todd Tobias. For these two new releases, Pollard has put together two markedly different albums -- one focuses on his super-catchy pop side the other his more down and dirty rock side. It's like Beatles Vs. Stones! A battle to the death and, of course, Bob emerges as the victor.

Here’s a track listing for each release:

Standard Gargoyle Decisions

The Killers
Pill Gone Girl
Hero Blows the Revolution
Psycho-Inertia
Shadow Port
Lay Me Down
Butcher Man
Motion Sickness Ghosts
I In The World
Here Comes Garcia
The Island Lobby
Folded Claws
Feel Not Crushed
Accusations
Don’t Trust Anybody
Come Here Beautiful
Spider Eyes

Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love

Our Gaze
Count Us In
Exactly What Words Mean
Current Desperation (Angels Speak Of Nothing)
Dumb Lady
Rud Fins
Customer’s Throat
Miles Under The Skin
Penumbra
Slow Hamilton
Looks Is What You Have
I Clap For Strangers
Life Of A Wife
Youth Leagues
When We Were Slaves
Nicely Now

As an extra special bonus surrounding these releases, Pollard will be starting his Happy Jack Rock Records Singles Club in June, through robertpollard.net. The Singles Club will feature one 7” single each month for a year with a track from Standard Gargoyle Decisions or Coast to Coast Carpet Of Love as the A-side, and a non-album track on the B-side. These 7” singles will be available exclusively through robertpollard.net. More info coming soon on this!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 23 - ROBERT POLLARD'S SILVERFISH TRIVIA LP OUT ON APRIL 17TH

Silverfish Trivia, a 7 song, 22 minute mini LP will be the next release in the Robert Pollard discography. The LP will be the first release on Bob's new label Prom Is Coming. Silverfish Trivia is lush with the beautiful string arrangemets that book end this (mini) album, Come Outside and Speak In Many Colors. It is powered by Circle Saw Boys Club, the track that is destined to become a Pollard classic. The lyrical imagery that Pollard creates on this track is equal to his greatest works. Silverfish Trivia is anchored by Cats Love A Parade. This incredible psychedelic ride clocks in at nearly 8 minutes, and by the end you could have sworn you’ve heard 5 or 6 different songs. The LP will be distributed world wide by Revolver and will be in stores on April 17th and also available directly from RobertPollard.net.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 22 - BOB IN THE NEW BOOK - PERFECT FROM NOW ON

Bob and Guided By Voices find themselves a major part of a new book coming out. John Sellers book "Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life" will be released by Simon & Schuster on March 6.

The book chronicles John's life as an obsessive fan of music, culminating in a death-defying crush on Guided By Voices. The last five chapters heavily involve GBV and these sections include his trip to Dayton to meet Bob, an opinionated outsider's history of the band, and scenes from a few of the final shows on the Electrifying Conclusion Tour.

You can find out more about the book here:

http://www.johnsellers.net/book.html

And here's a GBV-related excerpt:

http://www.johnsellers.net/excerpt.html

Other bands discussed at length in the book include: Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, the Smiths, Bob Dylan, Van Halen, Dinosaur Jr., Slint, Yo La Tengo, Sebadoh, U2, the Shins, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Built to Spill, and many others.

John will be doing some readings across the U.S. starting in March, and you can find that info in the sidebar on the above links. He'd love to meet any and all friends-in-GBV and grab some beers afterwards. Please e-mail him at perfectbook@verizon.net if you want to be added to the mailing list, or if you have any questions or comments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEPTEMBER 12 - BOB COLLAGE IN OBSCURER 1 ART EXHIBIT

Bob was asked to participate in the Obscurer 1 art project in Liverpool. Curator Alan Dunn chose Bob's collage Normals in Tight West (from EAT 2 ) to appear on a billboard near 48 Seel Street in Liverpool. You can read more about the project and see photos of Bob's collage on display right here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JULY 3 - BOB NAMED IN TOP 100 LIVING SONGWRITERS BY PASTE MAGAZINE

Paste Magazine recently named Bob amongst their top 100 Living Songwriters. He finished higher than Wayne Coyne but lower than Dolly Parton.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNE 30 - 33 1/3 BEE THOUSAND BOOK

As we have mentioned before, the fascinating 33 1/3 book series, published by Continuum, will be releasing a book on Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand LP. The book is written by Marc Woodworth and it is offically slated for a September/October release. Check out the 33 1/3 Bog Spot for some samples! (look for the June 16th and June 30th entries)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNE 29 - NORMAL HAPPINESS RELEASE DATE AND TRACKLISTING

The From A Compound Eye tour officially came to an end with incredible shows at the Intonation Festival and 2 opening dates with Pearl Jam (search YouTube for Robert Pollard Pearl Jam to see Bob sign Baba O'Riley with Pearl Jam)

In typical Bob fashion with one tour done it is time to set the table for the next solo album release - Normal Happiness.

The album will come out on Merge Records on October 10th 2006. Just like From A Compound Eye Bob and Todd Tobias play all the instruments. Here is the tracklisting:

Accidental Texas Who
Whispering Whip
Supernatural Car Lover
Boxing About
Serious Bird Woman (You Turn Me On)
Get A Faceful
Towers And Landslides
I Feel Gone Again
Gasoline Ragtime
Rhoda Rhoda
Give Up The Grape
Pegasus Glue Factory
Top Of My Game
Tomorrow Will Not Be Another Day
Join the Eagles
Full Sun (Dig the Slowness)

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APRIL 8 - 3 NEW FADING CAPTAIN RELEASES COMING IN MAY

Bob has three new side projects that will be released in May. Psycho and the Birds, The Takeovers and Keene Brothers are the newest additions to the Fading Captain family. Psycho and the Birds is a new collaboration with Todd Tobias. Bob records songs boombox style and sends them to Todd to dress them up. The Takeovers is a collaboration with former GBV bass player Chris Slusarenko. Chris enlists some of his friends from the Northwest to help out (Sam Coomes - Quasi; Dan Peters - Mudhoney just to name a couple). The Keene Brothers is a collaboration project with Bob and Tommy Keene. It's pure pop magic when those two get together. The 3 LPs will be released every other week starting on May 2nd Ordering details on the LPs will be coming shortly. Check out the preview tracks from all 3 releases.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FEBRUARY 13 - EMUSIC.COM COMMERCIALS

Emusic.com started running some new TV commercials. Shots of Bob from the Electrifying Conclusion DVD are featured in both of the spots:

See them here and here

Bob's touring band for his solo tour in support of From A Compound Eye is all set:

Bob - vocals
Tommy Keene - guitar/keyboards
Dave Phillips - guitar
Jason Narducy - bass
Jon Wurster - drums

The tour will start in late January. Look for tour date announcements in late December.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOVEMBER 29 - GUIDED BY VOICES TRACK ON FIRST AVE COMP

A compilation celebrating the 35th anniversary of First Avenue in Minneapolis will include a live version of GBV doing Queen of Cans and Jars. Proceeds from the CD go to charity. You can get yours right here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------OCTOBER 14 - ROBERT POLLARD SIGNS WITH MERGE RECORDS

Release here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UPDATED OCTOBER 10 2005 : The Guided By Voices/Bob Book is OUT NOW!
The book Guided By Voices: A Brief History. Twenty-one Years of Hunting Accidents In The Forests of Rock And Roll, written by James Greer, has been released. It is published by Grove/Atlantic and features an introduction by Steven Soderbergh.

This book is the true definitive piece on Bob and the stories behind Guided By Voices. Having had a chance to read it, I can tell you it captures the real spirit behind Bob and the bands early days and rise up the indie rock charts like no one else has before. Stories from Bob's childhood and teenage years will have you rolling on the floor laughing. There is also incredibly poignant commentary from people like Ric Ocasek, Dennis Cooper, Bun E Carlos and Bryan Pollard. During the Bee Thousand and beyond era it was so easy for a lot of writers to take the easy route and tell the same beer drinking buddies/lo-fi recording/elementary school teaching story ad nauseum. Jim Greer obviously knows there was so much more there and he gets it all.

Order now from AMAZON

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK COVER

Read more from Grove/Atlantic (go to home page and search for Guided By Voices)

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SEPTEMBER 21 - EAT II release

Robert Pollard's literary series EAT continues with Issue #2. Rockathon Records is proud to announce that EAT II, Volume I Issue II Summer 2005, is ready for release. EAT contains all ORIGINAL poems and art work created by Bob. This issue features 35 full color collages and 41 poems. The book is 52 pages in total.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH ROCKATHON RECORDS

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AUGUST 31 2005 - Propeller Re-Issue

Scat Records is doing another fantastic re-issue, this time taking on Guided By Voices' Propeller. It's an LP and CD re-issue using two of the original covers from the original vinyl Propeller issue.

ALL THE DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT HERE AT SCAT'S WEBSITE

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UPDATED AUGUST 30 2005 Guided By Voices - The Electrifying Conclusion DVD

On November 15th, Plexifilm will be releasing GBV's The Electrifying Conclusion DVD. The DVD is the COMPLETE FINAL Guided By Voices show, recorded at the Metro in Chicago on December 31st 2004. We'll have more information fairly soon.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR GUIDED BY VOICES: THE ELECTRIFYING CONCLUSION

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UPDATED AUGUST 31 2005 - Robert Pollard - Music For "Bubble"

Recently Bob was approached by director Steven Soderbergh to record some music for his upcoming movie "Bubble". Bob went in to the studio in Kent and recorded several tracks with Todd Tobias accompanying and producing. 6 of those tracks will be released as Fading Captain Series #36 - Robert Pollard - Music For"Bubble". After the first batch of recordings and the decision to use some for the EP, Mr. Soderbergh approached Bob and announced that he wanted to use only Bob's music in the film and Bob recorded several more instrumental tracks for the movie. The movie is scheduled for a fall 2005 release. The 6 songs on the EP consist of 4 full band and 2 instrumental recordings. The EP will ship the first week of September and will be in stores September 27, 2005. It will be available on vinyl as a 7" and on CD in digipak form.

LUNA MUSIC IS NOW TAKING PRE-ORDERS FOR THIS ITEM:

http://robertpollard.net/luna.html

SEE BUBBLE AT THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 25th & 26th

The second set in the unearthing of recordings from Robert Pollard’s Suitcase project. #37 in the Fading Captain Series. Like the previous Suitcase, each song here (100 of them) has been credited to a different band name, depending on the players involved. The recordings featured here date all the way back to the late 70's and are as current as Spring 2005. Demos, full band, live in the studio, discarded finished tracks, sketches of ideas...they are all here. The 4 CD set will ship first week of October and will be in stores October 31st. They are very special deals for people ordering through LUNA. The first 900 copies of the box set will be hand signed by Bob.

For more details and pre-ordering through Luna Music:

http://robertpollard.net/luna.html

Tracklisting!!

#38 in the Fading Captain Series – Briefcase 2 – The Return of Milko Waif; a vinyl only “best of” Suitcase release. This time Briefcase features TWO tracks that have never been released and are not on Suitcase.

Track Listing

SIDE ONE 1. HEADACHE REVOLUTION 2. I AM DECIDED 3. MANNEQUIN’S COMPLAINT 4. YOUR CHARMING PROPOSAL 5. SUPERSONIC LOVE FUNKY LOVE GUN 6. SINISTER INFRARED HALO 7. PERCH WARBLE 8. WHAT ABOUT THE ROCK?

SIDE TWO 1. LION W/ THORN IN PAW ** 2. INVISIBLE TRAIN TO EARTH 3. YOU’RE NOT THE QUEEN ANYMORE 4. METRO XVI 5. DAUGHTER OF THE GOLD RUSH 6. SORDID FORST 7. LONELY TOWN 8. MY DREAM MAKING MACHINE 9. SUPERWHORE ** 10. BYE BYE SONG
** Exclusive to the vinyl release

LUNA MUSIC IS NOW TAKING PRE-ORDERS FOR THIS ITEM:

http://robertpollard.net/luna.html

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MARCH 23 2005 : Re-press of Relaxation of the Asshole
A decision has been made to re-press the Relaxation of the Asshole vinyl. For those who have missed out on it the first time around, you can get a copy at Rockathon Records.