Bob Mould returns with a new one, Hey Mr. Grey, from his forthcoming album Beauty & Ruin (due June 3 on Merge Records in North America, available for pre-order now). Wow, Mould sure is giving us what we want after a period of shying away from the noisy sweetness he is so good at conjuring.
Of course, Bob Mould is backed by regular bass player Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster. And you know that they are both on the new Split Single record, along with Spoon's Britt Daniel, right? Narducy is the songwriter/singer, and if you're quick (like today) you can download the tune Waiting For the Sun here.
Hey Mr. Grey
See a Little Light
Star Machine - Cuz how many videos for classy rock songs feature Jon Wurster puking on kids' pictures?
Since today is Bob Mould's birthday and Scruffy's back to reminding you about artists with Minneapolis connections, here's another reminder about his amazing new album, Silver Age, which you can listen to in its entirety here. Now that I have heard the whole thing, it's in my top albums of this year. It seems even sweeter because I seem to remember Mould saying that when Last Dog And Pony Show tour came around, it would be the last electric band tour. Now with this recent Sugar-y record, a loud electric show might still come your way.
Warning. The following video features Mould in a sensible suit. For some reason, it really messed with my image of the guy.
Here's a nice vid with Mould and Dave Grohl.
You can download Mould's live versions of three Sugar copper Blue tunes by giving up your email address. Go here.
Bob Mould has released The Descent from his upcoming album Silver age (out September 4 on Merge Records). You can buy The Descent here. It is without a doubt one of my favourite tunes he has put out in a long, long while. I do not know if playing all of those Sugar songs on tour has
brought him back to the straightforward hooky rock he excels at, but I will take it anyway it comes.
Today I woke up and listened to Husker Du's Celebrated Summer. Just finished reading Hüsker Dü : the Story of the Noise-pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock by Andrew Earles. It's a pretty straightforward account from a writer who spoke to Grant Hart and Greg Norton but never interviewed Bob Mould, probably because he was writing his own book. As you might guess from the title of the book, the author spends a lot of his words making the argument that Husker Du was indirectly and indirectly responsible for shaping modern rock/college rock/alternative rock as we know it. I think he makes his point pretty clearly. It's not a gossipy, scandalous, rumour-mongering account, Earles has worked hard to try to stay away from sensationalism and focus on reality. For a guy who was too young to see the band live, Earle has created an edifying, entertaining piece of quality rock journalism.
I just finished racing through Bob Mould's autobiography, See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. I was not surprised to find it was well-written, but I was happily surprised to find that Mould put the auto in autobiography; not that it was done on auto-pilot, but it was an intensely personal account. Mould isn't your typical rock star, so we aren't treated to numerous accounts of groupies and hotel-room destruction, but we are given peeks into going through punk rock as a gay man, working in the pro wrestling business, and struggling through a myriad of problems most of us never encounter. I wish he would have expanded on accounts of certain aspects of his life (such as the break-up of Husker Du), but overall, a quality read.
Pop Dose recently threw up their list of the top 50 guitar players of all time. I was surprised by some of the omissions and decided to create a post or two to respond, then I noticed that Pop Dose's list was actually created in response to the LA Times magazine's top 50. Okay, so a number of the players missing on one list can be found somewhere on the other. One list skips the Edge, Robert Fripp, Angus Young and Randy Rhoads, but then we see Eddie Hazel, John Mayer, Charlie Hunter, Neal Schon and John Frusciante. Huh? Of course, there are always complaints about lists like these, who got snubbed, who is wrongly placed at the top or bottom, and so on. Sometimes I think the choices are coloured by how much a guitarist sticks out, especially to other musicians or guitar god wannabes (Yngwie Malmsteen, anyone?)So, since I'm a non-guitarist (no musical ability whatsoever, actually) I've compiled a short list of stringbenders I like without any thought to how technically proficient they are, how difficult their music may be to play, or how wizardly they wield their axes. They might not be flashy, might just be rhythm players, but they've made some noises I like and they're not always included on favourite guitar player lists.
Wherever possible, I've tried to include live videos so you can see guitar grandeur without studio trickery.
Jamie West-Oram has made his career with The Fixx, a band some might mistakenly characterize as a synth band because they were lumped in with new wave bands of the 80's. But I always loved his quirky contributions, and he never overplayed or tried to be a rock god, just propelled or served the song.
Saved by Zero
Tom Verlaine has never reached mainstream acceptance and never really attempted to do so. He's been acclaimed by indie rock guitar geeks and critics, mostly for his work with Television. But the TV-love, to me, is part and parcel of his guitar tandem work with Richard Lloyd, with guitar lines intertwining, separating, snaking together again, clashing, and endlessly building ascending and spiralling soundscapes. Verlaine's solo work is not always so dense, but it does contain a similar unique glory.
A Town Called Walker
Elliot Easton's work with The Cars always included tasty licks and and sturdy rhythm to complement Ric Ocasek's more straightforward lines.
Candy-O
Robyn Hitchcock could make my list on his own, and if you've seen him play a solo show, you know what I mean. However, when Hitchcock plays with a foil, such as he does nowadays with Peter Buck in the Venus 3, he seems to be spurred on to different levels. Kimberly Rew in The Soft Boys is another fellow who lifts Hitchcock up to such great heights.
Queen of Eyes
Bob Mould, especially with Husker Du and Sugar, created blisteringly beautiful walls of sound, waves of melodic distortion, and curtains of metallic noisy pop.
Makes No Sense At all/ Love is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Theme)
mp3s will be posted for a limited time and are for promotional purposes only. If you like it, buy the albums, go to the shows, buy the t-shirts - support the artist so they can keep on keepin' on. Artists - if you would like an mp3 or video removed, please contact me directly at chrisyakchart@hotmail.com.
If you've got something Scruffy should hear, same email. Snail mail is cool too.
Scruffy the Yak 34 Allenby Cres Winnipeg Mb R2C 3J4
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