Ex Guided by Voices singer returns
November 21st, 2005
FROM A COMPOUND EYE is Robert Pollard’s first full length solo release since disbanding the legendary GUIDED BY VOICES on New Years Eve 2004.
When things came to an end with GBV, Pollard made no secret of the fact that this would not mean the end of his songwriting and recording career. If anything, it was a new beginning. In leaving behind his main vehicle of expression for the last 20 years, Pollard freed himself from the expectations of “the next Guided By Voices record”. This freedom meant recording when he wanted, what he wanted, with whomever he wanted. And the results – FROM A COMPOUND EYE - are no less stunning than anything he has produced thus far in his illustrious career .
With From A Compound Eye’s 26 songs clocking in at over 70 minutes, Pollard has finally made good on his threats of releasing a double album. And the wealth of new material is astounding. Highlights include some of the best of the Pollard / GBV canon ("Dancing Girls and Dancing Men", "I’m a Widow" and "Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft"), as well as other nuggets that find Pollard tweaking his style and experimenting with new sounds. "A Flowering Orphan" has an elegant, if somewhat skewed, chamber pop feel, while "U.S. Mustard Company" and "I’m a Strong Lion" are buoyant and shimmering pop tunes. "Kensington Cradle" features a noisy sound collage that works perfectly, while "Conqueror of the Moon" is epic and daunting in its prog-rock grandeur. And that’s just scratching the surface of the breadth and depth of the songwriting here.
FROM A COMPUND EYE follows a flurry of Pollard and GBV-related activity as we enter the closing stages of 2005 ;
October ‘05 saw not only the release of ‘Suitcase II – American Superdream Wow’ - the fourth (that’s right! FOURTH!!) Guided By Voices CD boxset, containing 100 previously unreleased Pollard compositions – but also an EP ‘Music For Bubble’, featuring music especially recorded for the forthcoming Steven Soderbergh film, err, ‘Bubble’ (if rumour is to be believed, Bob is also collaborating with Soderbergh on a big budget Hollywood musical based on the story of Cleopatra… starring Catherine Zeta Jones!! The mind, indeed, boggles).
Mid-November ‘05 brings the release of the ‘Electrifying Conclusion’ DVD, containing the full 4 hour final Guided By Voices show recorded in Chicago on New Year’s Eve.
AND… as if that weren’t enough, November also sees the publication of the first GBV biography, ‘Guided By Voices: A Brief History. Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents In The Forests of Rock And Roll’ written by Rolling Stone journalist James Greer.
