Bob Mould: Classic or Dud?

Yeah, that's what tends to happen when the outrage (etc.) takes over. Southern Rock Opera had the music, plus the relief and release of hearing my white Southern near-neighbors/contemporaries delivering it rat on time, in the early heydays of our homeboy George W. Had the added creative spark sardonic humor too, which they seem to have lost along the way, or tend to neglect. But they've continued to make good albums from time to time, ditto Mould, so I'll check in at some point.

*fellow* white Southerners, Ah meant to say.

BOB MOULD ANNOUNCES DISTORTION ANTHOLOGY BOXSET
24CD DISTORTION: 1989-2019 & 8LP DISTORTION: 1989-1995 BOXES RELEASED OCT 2nd 2020 ON DEMON MUSIC GROUP
WATCH A LIVE VERSION OF “COULD YOU BE THE ONE?” AT THE 9:30 CLUB IN OCT 2005

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b41w5nKFxE

THREE FURTHER VINYL BOXES TO ARRIVE IN 2021

WATCH DISTORTION BOX SET TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrccqvXhJlw

On October 2nd, 2020, Demon Music Group will release Distortion: 1989-2019, a chronicle of the solo career of Bob Mould and his band Sugar. This massive anthology compiles for the first time the entirety of Mould’s recorded work from 1989 onwards: 18 studio albums, plus four live albums and two albums of rarities and collaborations. Assembled with Bob Mould’s full involvement and featuring new sleeve notes from legendary UK music critic Keith Cameron plus exclusive new artwork, this is the definitive portrayal of an American rock icon.

“It’s called Distortion because it describes the music and it fits the world we live in,” says Mould himself. “In this new age, everybody shares their life in real time. But I’m not done yet. If I didn't have a constantly active career, this anthology might feel like the proverbial dirt landing on top of my coffin — though somehow I seem to be able to crawl my way out of the dirt every time!”

Today’s news comes accompanied by audio and video of Mould performing ‘Could You Be the One?’ – a latter Hüsker Dü classic, drawn from the trio’s 1987 swansong Warehouse: Songs and Stories – at Washington D.C.‘s 9:30 Club in October 2005, in the process bringing it back to dynamic, electric life. It features on the CD anthology’s Distortion Plus: 1989-2019 rarities and collaborations discs alongside other highlights from the show.

Speaking of the show, Mould offers: “For years, I didn’t play Hüsker Dü material with my subsequent touring bands.” He continues: “This was the first time my longtime friend and colleague Jason Narducy (bass) played in my touring band. Rich Morel (keys) was my work partner for 11 years in BLOWOFF, and the 9:30 Club was home for our monthly dance party. Brendan Canty (drums) nudged me out of my self-imposed ‘rock retirement’ after the 1998 Last Dog and Pony Show tour (which is also chronicled in the box set). Brendan's company Trixie Productions filmed and edited the show.”

As Mould’s musical trajectory enters its fifth decade, now is the perfect moment to reflect on the journey so far. Distortion’s 24-CD box set edition features 295 tracks, mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston, and includes every solo album from 1989’s Workbook to 2019’s Sunshine Rock, the entire Sugar catalogue, Mould’s long out-of-print electronica projects LoudBomb and Blowoff, and four live albums spanning the period 1989-2008. Also included is Distortion Plus: 1989-2019, a new and exclusive collection of rarities and collaborations, featuring such highlights as ‘Dear Rosemary’, Mould’s 2011 collaboration with Foo Fighters, his fabled Golden Palominos contribution ‘Dying From The Inside Out’, plus a previously unreleased demo version of ‘Dog On Fire’, his theme tune for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

Beautiful new artwork has been created by illustrator Simon Marchner, while the 72-page booklet features sleeve notes by Cameron, new interviews with Bob, a foreword by writer and actor Fred Armisen, testimonials by Richard Thompson, Shirley Manson and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, plus lyrics and unseen memorabilia. A 1,000-limited edition includes an exclusive print hand-signed by Bob himself.

http://recordstoreday.com/Photo/418463920142

Also released on October 2nd is the first in a series of four vinyl box sets spanning the same 30-year period. Distortion: 1989-1995 contains eight-LPs, beginning with Workbook through to the final Sugar studio album File Under: Easy Listening, plus Besides, Sugar’s compilation of B-sides and non-album tracks and Distortion Plus: 1989-1995 a new and exclusive collection of rarities and collaborations. Each album is mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice and features new Simon Marchner artwork; the 28-page companion booklet features new sleeve notes plus lyrics and memorabilia, while a 750-limited edition includes a 12”x12” screen print of the new Copper Blue artwork, hand-signed by Marchner and Mould.

http://recordstoreday.com/Photo/418463920179

The 24CD Distortion: 1989-2019 and 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995 boxsets are released Oct 2nd, 2020, via Demon Music Group. Keep your eyes peeled for three further vinyl boxsets in 2021.

testimonials by Richard Thompson

Nice touch, knowing how deeply Mould is hit by Thompson's work.

That seems like a lot of Bob Mould solo!

24 CDs of Bob Mould soloing.

Wow, that is an absurdly thorough box set that I have somehow heard most of. I'm due for some re-listening, but right now my instincts tell me

Modulate > Life & Times > Workbook > Last Dog & Pony Show > s/t > Beauty & Ruin > Black Sheets of Rain > Body of Song > Sunshine Rock > District Line > Silver Age > Patch the Sky

I'm unlikely to buy this box, but I will say that this coming out reminded me that his self titled album exists. For whatever reason, it's not on Apple Music so I'm going to blame that. I bought that CD when it was released in 96 or so and loved it, but my life was at peak chaos that year and I completely forgot that it existed; even a few years back when I went and rediscovered the whole stretch from District Line through Silver Age, I forgot to listen to it, since it wasn't in my library (mp3s were all on another hard drive; I'd sold the CD years and years ago). I went back and gave that a listen and fuck me if I don't think it's his greatest album. For those interested it got a standalone vinyl reissue in the EU earlier this year apparently.

and district line -> patch the sky or sunshine rock or whatever it is, that's a pretty amazing run of albums, even though they're a bit samey sounding.

also, I hate this new artwork (for both the albums, and the artwork on the boxes). so cheap looking. I don't know why he didn't use the originals, which were amazing up to s/t anyway.

Because depending on the licensing agreements he'd probably have to pay for them again.

I went back and gave that a listen and fuck me if I don't think it's his greatest album.

It's a great record. Anymore Time Between is his greatest break-up song (maybe tied with Can't Fight It)

I'm partial to Copper Blue myself.

i remember liking silver age a ton

Man, I gave up after Last Dog And Pony realizing it was just going to be more of the same from then on and I was getting tired of his scab picking and mid tempo rock. For about 10 years (88-98) his music meant the world to me, but then I aged out of adolescent navel gazing (I still like Workbook though).

Grant's solo albums are all fantastic to me, though, right to the end.

The albums after Dog and Pony are 'more of the same' in so far as they have a consistent aesthetic and approach, but they aren't anything like Dog and Pony; like I said up above, they're all like 'pretty good Sugar albums'.

If I had to rank post-husker, I'd do it this way:

1. Copper Blue
2. Bob Mould
3. Workbook
4. Black Sheets of Rain
5. Beaster
then basically everything else tied for 6th place (I haven't gone back to Dog and Pony or the electronic side projects)

I'ill also stan for Copper Blue.

i dug “last dog and pony show” a fair amount when it came out, would like to listen to it again. haven’t heard any other solo mould.

No reason to stan for Copper Blue -- it's one of the decade's best albums.

and, yeah, Workbook, I'll argue, was acoustic and strange like Automatic for the People was but four and a half years early.

I bought Mould albums through the eponymous 1996 albums.

I've only ever gotten into Beaster and Copper Blue. Everything else has had its moments but has fallen short of my high expectations.

Workbook > Copper Blue > everything else

(for me)

(and omitting Husker Du / Grant solo from the ranking)

I often think HD had to happen to produce two recordings as piledriing, subtle, and beautiful as Copper Blue and Beaster.

Oh yeah, if I'd included Sugar in my list they'd all come first of course. With File Under first among firsts.

Beaster >>>>>

Most of Mould’s post-eponymous album seem like the work of a confused middle aged man who no longer knows what to do with himself. Dog & Pony was supposed to be his MCCARTNEY or something, and it’s extremely weak. MODULATE is embarrassing. Didn’t he start DJ’ing in Berlin or do something ridiculous along those lines?

Grant Hart’s catalog is straight-up wonderful from beginning to end, and I hope his final recordings get released

that's hardly 'most' of his work. yeah he did some electronic stuff but he has seven guitar-heavy (some really heavy) albums that came after that, with an 8th coming out soon.

But even his guitar-centered stuff in the 21st century sounds dull and uninspired for the most part

eh, disagree. Those albums are as good as FUEL IMO.

he had a dj residency in San Francisco, I believe

Don't want to dox him but I occasionally see him in the park walking his dog. He's absolutely nondescript and blends in like a regular joe. I keep meaning to ask his thoughts re: my pet theory on how he invented shoegaze* but I wouldn't want to "out" him/creep him out, and most of the time I'm running after my kid.

*HÜSKER PÖLL: Warehouse - Songs and Stories

I don't think he'd have any issues talking to you about things, I've heard he's perfectly friendly. I didn't realize he was still living here.

eh, disagree. Those albums are as good as FUEL IMO

Imo (and I think this quite a common opinion) FUEL was his weakest album to that point in his career. I felt he was treading water, sonically and, to an extent, in the songwriting. Like, that point in the late 90s where he talks of being sick of loud guitars, *that* album always sounded like he was ready to hang it up (even though it happened a few years later)

Tbh I hear quite a bit of that album in the recent stuff, guitar tone included; it feels like stuff he could do in his sleep; some of it is great, but I feel myself paying more attention when he changes things up in a more dynamic sense - Workbook after the Husker split, Beaster after Copper Blue, even Modulate (even if we knew at the time that changes were afoot)

Even Copper Blue - although it kept the guitars - was tonally a 180 from the relative murk of Black Sheets of Rain

Bob profiled by Stevie.

Interesting interview. I still haven't listened to Blue Hearts yet though

Oh, Guardian interview above with its discussion of the reconciliation with Grant discussed on Husker Du thread

Husker Du : Classic or Dud, Search and Destroy.

parts of the new album sound quite superchunk, which probably isn't too surprising considering he's using their rhythm section and he's an obvious inspiration

dude is prolific as hell. also he's gonna turn 60 in a couple weeks, which i am perhaps not ready to contemplate

WTF at that Bad Brains note.

New album is terrific. That and the new PE made a righteous angry 1-2 playing them back to back.

Bad Brains were notorious homophobes, it’s been written about a lot; AFAIK they’ve renounced that stance and behaviour of the time in recent years, which is something.

I didn’t know that Mould visited Hart before he died; that brought more than a tear to my eye.

Not sure which thread I posted it on but...

There's a pretty big free concert here every early autumn that's folk/bluegrass-focused but also draws in artists from all sorts of genres/pockets of music.

In 2017 shortly after Grant died, Bob Mould was playing one of the 5 stages and while we were walking by (we hadn't committed to watching anything as we had a young babby with us), he opened his set with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cejMKLwT-Y

bob mould turns 60 today

happy birthday to bob!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA_pPgwguR8

These are his important years

Compositions For The Young And Old

Heh

I need to listen some more, but at least for my tastes, Sunshine Rock may be his most enjoyable album since Sugar. I never got into the work he put out after Sugar and before his current trio - it wasn't necessarily bad, but it never clicked with me. Silver Age and its two darker follow-ups were the first Mould albums I kind of enjoyed in a long time, but as mentioned above, they don't break any new ground, musically speaking. I get the feeling most people think Sunshine Rock is more of the same, but I think the songs are fundamentally better - better tunes, better hooks, better production. It's not an enormous difference, but it's enough that it's emerging as a real standout for me.

(FWIW, as much as I like Sugar, the stuff I play most is Hüsker Dü - one of my very favorite bands.)