Robert Pollard

Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent... personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. Guided by Voices initially disbanded in 2004, though many of its former members remain musically involved in solo careers or other projects. Noted at first for its lo-fi aesthetic and typically Portastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, Guided by Voices' music revealed influences from post-British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. The band also garnered much attention for its prolific output, with a seemingly endless stream of releases. Most songs are in the two-minute range, but many are even shorter; often they end abruptly or are intertwined with odd and homemade sound effects. In 2010, the "classic lineup" of Guided by Voices reunited to perform at Matador Records 21st anniversary party, and subsequently undertook a national tour.
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Airport 5 was a musical collaboration project between Guided by Voices's Robert Pollard and one-time bandmate Tobin Sprout, released through the... Fading Captain Series imprint by Luna Music in Indianapolis, Indiana. Collaborating chiefly by mail, Sprout provided completed backing tracks which he composed, and Pollard added his own lyrics and vocals. Two 7-inch singles and two full-length albums were released between 2001 and 2002: Tower in the Fountain of Sparks and Life Starts Here.
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Anacrusis is a progressive/thrash metal band from St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Anacrusis was one of the first bands to attempt to blend thrash and... progressive metal. Their albums Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers are considered as classics of the progressive thrash metal / prog metal genre. Anacrusis' first demo, Annihilation Complete was voted Best Demo of 1987 by the readers of Metal Forces magazine and was later included in the publication's Demolition Scream Your Brains Out! compilation album. This led to a deal with England-based indie Active Records, for whom the group created its first album, Suffering Hour, the following year on a meager $1,200 budget in just under a week. The following Reason album began revealing signs of the band's popular sound. Anacrusis toured in support of the band D.R.I., but without an album released on an American label, the drummer Mike Owen left to join the United States Navy shortly after they returned home. Former Heaven's Flame member Chad Smith took over the drums, while the band was eventually signed to the American label Metal Blade Records.
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Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records... reaching the top of the Billboard music charts. After releasing a number of 7" records and cassettes, the first Merge Records full-length CD release came on April 1, 1992 with MRG020 Superchunk - Tossing Seeds, the band's first collection of singles. The label's first album to reach the USA Billboard 200 was the Arcade Fire's Funeral, a 2004 release. Arcade Fire gave the label its then highest-charting release with their follow-up, 2007's Neon Bible, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, and, later, reaching #1 with their third album, 2010's The Suburbs. Other Billboard Top Ten releases include Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Transference, along with She & Him's Volume Two.
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