Bob Mould: Classic or Dud?

Anti has been capturing a lot of veterans on their second wind. That'd be cool if it happened again.

Yes it would. I didn't like Mould's electronic stuff, but the last rock album he did had at least one great song (New No. 1), so I'm hopeful.

New one hailed as a "return to form"

which form?

rooock n' roll!

Saw DISTRICT LINE in HMV and felt sorry -but also proud- for it,
Had a place of its own on the 'new release' shelf. Despite it being late in the day it was clear to me that the staff had either been restacking to keep it neat after the rush, or no fker had bought it. I feared the latter and purchased to make a dent.

It's not bad. But not great, although I sense a grower.

Please kids - listen to 'Who Needs dreams' and enjoy . Had it on a loop. Grandad.

I cannot stop listening to "Believe What You're Saying"

http://modulate.blogspot.com/2008/09/press-release-from-little-brown.html

BOB MOULD TO PUBLISH AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Michael Pietsch, Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced this week that Bob Mould will be writing his autobiography in collaboration with Michael Azerrad, author of the bestselling Our Band Could Be Your Life and Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.

The memoir will, for the first time ever, delve deeply into Mould's life as a musician and his experiences with Hüsker Dü, as a solo artist, and in his most commercially viable and successful work as leader of the 90s indie rock kingpins Sugar. He will also tell the story of his other lives, including his internal struggle with his sexuality, the coming-out process, and his subsequent embrace of, and service to, the LGBT community; his work as a creative consultant / director in the world of pro wrestling; his work as a record producer, including seminal projects by Soul Asylum and Magnapop; and his foray into electronic / dance music, including the popular BLOWOFF club events held nationwide.

Bob Mould said, "For many years, people have asked if and when I would write my autobiography. I have always looked forward to this point in time, where I could tell my stories, to answer the many questions about the music and the lifestyle, and how they inform the creative process. I have not been alone on this ride: friends and foes, mentors and associates, peers, lovers, all traveling by my side. The ride so far has been incredible, and I hope to do my memory right in documenting the journey."

It is expected to be published in autumn 2010.

I've ordered this already!

Autumn 2010? FFS

30th anniversary world tour with original members, all reading excepts to promote Bob's book- in between the hits. Surely?

Do you think Grant will get a chapter?

I hope they all write a fucking book, even if Greg's is a list of recipes

Excerpts.

Sorry journoes/English teachers etc

I'll be buying it for sure

wrestling and gay stuff could be intriguing...

I just heard "See A Little Light" in a TV ad for...something. Fuck. Can't remember what it was, but it sure was inconfuckinggruous.

^^ TIAA-CREF iirc

Update: I cannot stop listening to "Circles"

epic 9-minute live take...

Mr. iTunes keeps shuffling Zen Arcade and the Zen Arcade rough mixes in with a bunch of 00s metal, and I'm getting a refresher on how astonishing Mould's playing was at that point. But then Spot's digital effects rack and Bob's "I'm a serious songwriter now" attitude came into the picture. He's been loud since then, but did he ever really shred again? "Plans I Make" is the only one I can think of.

"Plans I Make" is a total rampage.

Yeah. About as heavy as you can get.

Funny, I just spun "Bob Mould" and "The Last Dog And Pony Show" for the first time in years. Both have strong moments and Bob-by-the-numbers moments as well. I much prefer the two pre-Sugar solo albums and haven't bothered with his 21st century output.

A review of his memoir:

Hüsker Dü played faster and louder than almost any band of its era. The noise was an evocation of, and a cover for, Mr. Mould’s roiling emotions. He knew he was gay at 5, but throughout most of his career he fled from the stereotypical gay lifestyle. There was nothing campy or effeminate about Bob Mould.

After the years with Hüsker Dü and Sugar blow past, “See a Little Light” changes, and so does Mr. Mould. He begins to seek out pieces of what he calls “the big gay puzzle” and, typically for him, does nothing halfway. He gets buff. He becomes a D.J. and makes electronic music. He begins to describe himself as a “bear” and hangs out in leather bars.

Mr. Mould had several long-term relationships, but once those end, his libido begins to roar the way his guitar did. He writes about his fondness for gay military porn and sleeps with “someone from every branch of the military.” He has so many one-night stands that he learns to “keep a Costco family pack of toothbrushes on hand” because he is, he says, a “thoughtful whore.”

Read it the other week. He writes prose like he wrote lyrics: dourly, and with almost no trace of humour. He warns at the beginning that readers should not expect anecdotes, and boy does he deliver on that warning. He comes across as self-justificatory, misanthropic and really rather boring. He intensely resents (in order of resentment): Grant Hart, assorted former lovers, Greg Norton, assorted former label people. Every time he admits fault for something, there's a "but …" to follow. The misery lifts rather when he discovers his bear identity, but it's still not a barrel of fun. Best section is the stuff about wrestling, which is actually interesting, maybe because it's the one part of his story where he is not the most important creative person around, and knows it.

Still, it made me go back to New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, which was enjoyable.

Big Washington Post profile today that doesn't say too much(it's a cleaner version of the above). I want to hear more about his songwriting and wonder what his memoir says about that.

He really doesn't talk too much about his songwriting in the book.

"Not campy or effeminate"...is this some people's ideas of what all gays are? I had no idea he was a "bear"!

One of my closest chums is a good friend of Mould and his boyfriend. They go to bear clubs together.

"Campy or effeminate" is what Mould's idea of gay men was - he didn't realise there were other gay men like him, and because he was so tied up in the rock underground, he didn't discover them until he was pretty much middle aged. That's when he becomes happy, when he realises he can be an out gay man without being campy and effeminate. He writes at some length about getting himself in trouble in one interview, when he's discussing his sexuality but tells the interviewer he's "not a freak", by which he means campy and effeminate. Naturally, he blames it on the interviewer.

The indie rock scene at the time was pretty difficult for gays. Campy or not, it wasn't very supportive. Then again the entire eighties culture wasn't very supportive. People like Bob Mould coming out created a more tolerant atmosphere.

Oh, I wouldn't dream of criticising him over any choices over his sexuality. My only complaints are about his prose.

At least he looks great on the cover!

He writes at some length about getting himself in trouble in one interview, when he's discussing his sexuality but tells the interviewer he's "not a freak",

I seem to recall that the interviewer was A-V gay novelist Dennis Cooper. (in SPIN)

Will probably get this outta the library at some point for the military-porn/soldier-fucking content, and since I saw Husjer and Sugar play multiple times. I lost most of interest in BM when he stopped drinking, started working out and doing crap DJ work.

that Cooper interview was bizarre: lots of throat-clearing before Mould issued the most guarded of admissions.

I was semi-aware of his sexuality years before that when some indie zine (likely C0sl0y's) had some indie troll saying in an interview, "Well, you gotta feel sorry for Husker Du, they're fat AND gay."

what's his beef with greg norton?

"beef"

envious of mustache

I had no idea Mould was gay until after Sugar disbanded. had simply never occurred to teenage Husker Du fan me.

not that it matters, really. but you'd think (hope?) the punk/indie world of the 80s would have been a little more welcoming of out gay performers.

these days I don't really enjoy his stuff, the lyrical obsessions are all so accusatory and unhappy

His sexuality was the http://images.ientrymail.com/famousdeaddb/paulharvey_small.gif REST OF THE STORY of my pals and mine's high school obsession with Hüsker.

"You like that song? Do you? Did you know that it's about A GUY? SEE? Look how tolerant we all are…"

Mould's Hüsker songs preferred on the second person pronoun over gender specificity.

Grant, too.

Well, I wouldn't take indie alone to task for it, most rock scenes of the day had issues. It's just that you expect people who posture about their dissent with the mainstream to be more supportive.

that's presumptive. Jerks listen to the same music as non-jerks.

long interview with the guy on the (local) NPR yesterday with some call-ins. there was a good qn from chris osgood of suicide commandos about his writing process in the crazy in-the-van years, and he basically said "notebooks".

then there was a very guarded qn from the interviewer along the lines of, "so many people love HD so much, they look back on those days fondly, they'd like to know why you all hate each other". and he was basically like "eh, i'm older now but i still don't like those guys"

i'll try to find it

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/14/bobmould/

xpost He thinks Norton was lazy. Didn't do enough on the business side, didn't write songs, had to have his bass parts redone by Mould or Hart on later albums. AND HE STILL EXPECTED TO GET PAID!

Him getting mad at Norton for not writing songs… I always assumed that Norton just gave up trying to compete. When he did write a good one, it got relegated to a B-side!

Yeah, it's not so much that Norton didn't write songs, but that he didn't write songs and wanted decent money.

One WTF moment is when he reveals he vetoed 2541 from one of the early Hüsker albums cos it sounded to similar to something by the Dream Syndicate (Tell Me When It's Over, maybe - he doesn't say). He thinks that's when Hart started to feel bitter. He accepts now it was one of Hart's best ever songs but clearly doesn't feel that bad about vetoing it.

i dunno, you tour america as the third member of a band with ppl like mould and hart, you deserve some $

It's not like he's getting any composer royalties.