Watch Bob Jumpstart

This past weekend, the Intonation Music Festival set Chicago abuzz with some of the best music to grace this city in some time. The two-day line-up – curated by Vice Records - was a mishmash of styles tailored to the iPod generation. Indie rock, hip-hop, UK grime, metal, experimental, good ol’ fashioned rawk ‘n’ roll and more sat comfortably side-by-side in the shadow of the Sears Tower.

A highlight was the appearance by Robert Pollard, ex-frontman of indie rock veterans Guided By Voices. Pollard’s back-story is legendary: hard-drinking elementary school teacher toils in band for a decade, only to finally hit it big in the early 90s when his lo-fi amalgam of anthemic pop, proggy weirdness and ultra-catchy melodies hits the ears of tastemakers outside of his southwestern Ohio environs. Having recently disbanded the long-running Guided By Voices, the elder statesman of indie rock has hit the road as a solo artist to show the kids how it’s done. However, Pollard has not abandoned his back catalog, as a few GBV gems made their way into his energetic Intonation set.

For those unlucky enough to have missed Pollard during his Guided By Voices days, Banks Tarver’s Watch Me Jumpstart is the essential document of the era. Tarver follows Pollard and bandmates as they wax nostalgic on their music, songwriting, friendships and life in the blue collar suburbia of Dayton, Ohio. While live, rehearsal and recording footage of Pollard and company are plentiful, Tarver’s film is not the typical music promo doc. As a native of Ohio myself, (I grew up a stone’s throw down the highway from Pollard), I can attest to the film’s view of life in southwestern Ohio, where often the only escape from the cold grey winters and the lifeless, artless populace is to grab a case of beer, some friends and head to the basement to crank out music on out-of-tune guitars. Tarver perfectly captures the inherent desire to create art that drives some to do so at all costs, naysayers and surroundings be damned. Luckily, Pollard was fortunate enough to come out of the basement and share his art with the world.

Thanks Uncle Bob.

Robert Pollard is also a movie nut. In addition to supplying the soundtrack to Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, Bubble, Mr. Pollard also graciously agreed to contribute a list of his ten favorite films for inclusion in Facets Movie Lover’s Guide to be released later this year.

Enjoy this preview!

1) The King of Comedy
2) Blue Velvet
3) Psycho
4) Husbands
5) One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
6) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
7) Big Night
8) Last Night at the Alamo
9) GoodFellas
10) O Lucky Man!

- Phil Morehart