This last weekend, flipping through channels, I hit Austin City Limits. ACL is great. Sometimes hit and miss based on musicians I like, etc. But this Saturday, I changed to it and immediately recognized the band… or specifically the individual. We’re talking Bob Mould!
I remember being a Junior in High School listening to Husker Du. Can’t remember which album (doesn’t matter.. they’re all great). I remember it was on vinyl and one of my older friends ‘educating’ me on some music. Great education. But it was years later, when Bob blew my mind. It was the early 90s and I was super into his solo stuff. Black Sheets of Rain and Workbook on cassette. I remember Workbook was completely worn. You couldn’t read any writing on the tape. Was constantly rolling in my car in those days. His lyrics and capture of ‘mood’ was stellar and really hit the spot for me. Not too long after Sugar came out. Going back to some heavier, louder stuff again hit the spot for me. Sadly, I stopped listening to Mould after Copper Blue. I have no idea why.
Occasionally, I would hear a song or two on the radio or at friends, and every time, it made me think of good times. I really enjoy his music, and damn it, it’s time to re-explore. I was super stoked to see him on ACL.
Just like when Arcade Fire played on ACL, their blog showed their gear, and I was very stoked to see the pedals that Bob was using for that performance! Please check out Austin City Limit’s blog (I personally love following this blog).
photo taken by Kevin Chochran
So we’re talking the following for pedals:
Aphex Punch Factory (older style)
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
TC Electronic Flashback Delay
MXR M104 Distortion+
Boss TU-2 Tuner (Possible TU-3)
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
Voodoo Lab ISO5 Power
Here is the Bob Mould performance. Give it a watch!
Watch Bob Mould / Delta Spirit on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.
So what do you think of Bob Mould? Husker Du? Solo stuff? Sugar? Comment below!
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10 years ago
Cool stuff. Great musician. I was really into Copper Blue and thought the guitar was so big and thick sounding, yet articulate. I’ve always wondered what he was using to get that sound. I also listened to it all the time then one day stopped. Not sure why, like you had mentioned. Sign of the times, I suppose. I was going through a musical soul searching at the time. When I look back, it was a rather odd time in music in general. Kind of a transition time.
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10 years ago
I first started listening to Husker Du in the late ’80s–Candy Apple Grey was my first tape of theirs. I’ve never really stopped even if I haven’t loved every one of his solo albums since 2000 or so equally. I was pretty over-dependent on the Distortion + for a long time, all because of my obsession with Mould’s guitar sound. I just finished building a DIY Dist + clone, and I tweaked the diode selection to make sound a bit Mouldier! I don’t have his selection of amps, hence the experimentation. Thanks for sharing this performance!
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5 years ago
Big fan of Bob Mould. Saw him play a show in Vancouver, and the band was sick, so he played the whole show solo and really rocked the place. I couldn’t say for sure the sounds that were used on Warehouse songs and stories, but from what I’ve been reading lately, his pedalboard hasn’t really changed since the early days, and he had always used the MXR Distortion + through a big speaker unit to get that sound. One of my favourite album openers ever – love it when that album hits the turntable or disc player – instantly takes me home.
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