Just look at Nard Wars II, the most illuminating feature on the disc - a complete MuchMusic special which follows Nard on a long and arduous attempt to track down Snoop Dogg for their third bizarre, surreal and sporadically uncomfortable interview. We watch him on every step of his preparation: consulting with a record shop-owner for vinyl presents to give to Snoop, staking out a hotel room for the interview, and making several calls to Snoop's people, most of which are met with indifference. Somehow, it's both depressing and inspiring; depressing because, for much of the five hours he waits, Nardwuar seems likely to get the cold shoulder, and inspiring because he not only secures the interview, but his persistence and unflappable enthusiasm as he tries is, frankly, infectious.
The fruits of Nardwuar's considerable efforts, with Snoop Dogg and others, can be viewed extensively on both Nard Wars I, the original MuchMusic special, and on the disc two special features, some three hours of unedited footage entitled Nard Raw. But fans of such details as "context" and "coherency" may find themselves a little disappointed: the original special casts its net wider than an hour-long runtime will allow and incorporates that irritating post-MTV jump-editing, unwisely skipping between random interviews when one of the joys of a Nardwuar interview is the slow, creeping alienation of its interviewee. Nard Raw fares better, but it ain't quite as "raw" as it claims: a montage of clips between Nard and his longtime sparring partner/current distributor, Jello Biafra, splices together footage taken over 16 years into one fifteen-minute segment. It's a disorienting viewing experience, to be sure, but then again there's something a little instructive about the juxtaposition; by boiling one of Nardwuar's many love/hate relationships into such a compact package, Doot Doola Doot Doo allows us to glimpse a strange kind of love taking the lead.
Besides, it's a little silly to quibble about too much editing on a package as bizarrely lavish as this: Doot Doola Doot Doo contains not only Nardwuar's interviews, but videos and amateur live tapings of his bands the Evaporators and Thee Goblins, a sixteen-page booklet with some very funny historical press clippings and interview excerpts, and even audio commentary by the Nard himself. It begs the question: is anyone really that big a fan of Nardwuar? But hey, Alternative Tentacles isn't exactly known for putting out packages with mass appeal; and the beauty of this DVD is that the more you get to know Nardwuar, the more you respect him as a personality, a human being, and yes, a journalist.
Article comments