Bob Mould

Bob Mould – The Ocean (World Cafe Session) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 10:29 minutes | 236 MB | Genre: Rock, Acoustic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records

Originally broadcast on October 30, 2020, this session was recorded at Granary Music, San Francisco CA, for World Cafe.
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Bob Mould – Sunshine Rock (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:39 minutes | 807 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records

The cliché that circulated after the 2016 election foretold a new artistic golden age: Artists would transform their anger and anxiety into era-defining works of dissent in the face of authoritarianism. Yet Bob Mould calls his new album Sunshine Rock. It’s not because Mould -whose face belongs on the Mount Rushmore of alternative music—likes the current administration. His decision to “write to the sunshine,” as he describes it, comes from a more personal place – a place found in Berlin, Germany, where he’s spent the majority of the last three years. Here Mould would draw inspiration from the new environments. “Almost four years ago, I made plans for an extended break,” Mould explains. “I started spending time in Berlin in 2015, found an apartment in 2016, and became a resident in 2017. My time in Berlin has been a life changing experience. The winter days are long and dark, but when the sun comes back, all spirits lift.” These three years in Berlin would quite literally shed new light on Mould’s everyday mindset. “To go from [2011 autobiography] See a Little Light to the last three albums, two of which were informed by loss of each parent, respectively, at some point I had to put a Post-It note on my work station and say, ‘Try to think about good things.’ Otherwise I could really go down a long, dark hole,” he says. “I’m trying to keep things brighter these days as a way to stay alive.” That makes Sunshine Rock as logical a product of the current climate as any rage-fuelled agit-rock. Variations on the word “sun” appear 27 times in five different songs over the course of the album’s 37 minutes. To hear Mould tell it, the theme developed early. “Sunshine Rock is one hell of a way to wrap up the busiest decade of my career,” he shares. “The autobiography, the Disney Hall tribute show, reissues of several albums from my catalogue, three current rock band albums, several world tours, and now this new album — I’m humbled and grateful to still be making new music while celebrating my lifetime songbook.”
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Bob Mould – Blue Hearts (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 35:39 minutes | 783 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records

In 2019, Bob Mould went a little off the rails with Sunshine Rock, a brighter album despite sociopolitical engagement remaining firmly on the agenda. The ex-frontman of Hüsker Dü and Sugar surprised us with a weighty and more personal series of works including Silver Age (2012) which followed on from his autobiography in which he explains at length his coming out as a gay man. Beauty & Ruin (2014) dwelled on the death of his father and Patch the Sky (2016) on that of his mother… A few weeks shy of his sixtieth birthday, Mould dives once into the fires of his past struggles with the raging Blue Hearts. His dismay at the turbulent state of the United States fuels his new agenda. Tracks such as Next Generation, Forecast of Rain and Racing to the End leave no doubt regarding the inspiration behind the songs on this 14th solo album. The direction ofthis irascible bridge between punk and American hardcore is all the more clear on the high-powered single American Crisis. “After my last tour and seeing the state of the country, I needed to express myself.” Upon listening, there is still this fascinating capacity to magnify strong melodies under a tsunami of electric guitars and muscular rhythms like on American Crisis and When You Left. We have not heard such virulence from Bob Mould for years. – Marc Zisman
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