Apologies for neglecting my blog. I will try to find time to recap the past three weeks. The advance interest in Life And Times is overwhelming, and I am appreciative. I would strongly suggest everyone join the Bob Mould Artist page at Facebook, for the latest professional news and media coverage.

BLOWOFF this Saturday, at 9:30 Club, 815 V Street NW, Washington DC. 11:30 PM to 3:30 AM. Excellent art by Linas.



New T-shirts for sale as well! Visit the BLOWOFF Facebook group for more information on all things BLOWOFF.

One of my daily blog stops. This post is a great entry point, if you've never been.

Marshall McLuhan.
Read it.
I did.

Last weekend's double BLOWOFF was good fun. NYC was packed on Friday, and DC on Saturday was good as always. This Saturday (14), Slim's in SF, to coincide with IBR.

Lots of activity coming up in the next few weeks. Noise Pop at the end of February. I will be part of the Industry Noise Keynote, and will also be performing a solo acoustic set on Saturday, February 28. Monday, March 2, a solo performance at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Saturday, March 7, I will be spinning music at Paris Bar of National Arts Club, in conjunction with The Armory Show. Wednesday, March 11, I am performing at Carnegie Hall, as part of the Music of R.E.M. tribute.

Friday night, Highline Ballroom, NYC. Saturday night, 9:30 Club, WDC.

More great art by Pat.

Bob Mould Band will be performing at Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, on Saturday, April 18. Festival information can be found here.

...what the fuck, what kicked up all this dust / you're taking me back to the places I left behind...I know we're at the end, it's a lonely road beyond conclusion...driving away from you / someday I'll be back to find you...hoping for a better ending / choice you made, the one depending...stand aloof in front of me / we ignore each other so perfectly...early cloudy Sunday morning / a somber letter I did write...wrapped in wet blankets / and heavy sedation...nobody writes a song about you / nobody pays much attention to you...I tried to heal you, I tried to fix you / I tried to show you compassion...the clouds move between / you and me and New York City...

A nice mention of the upcoming April 7 album at Magnet. Another mention at Billboard.

A nice mention of the upcoming autobiography, still on schedule for fall 2010 release, at P4K.

A nice mention in the 2008 wrapup at Southern Voice.

A mention of "The Music of R.E.M." show at Carnegie Hall on March 11, courtesy Rolling Stone.

BLOWOFF DC next Saturday, coinciding with MAL. Great poster by Linas.

O, dear blog, why have I forsaken you? Well, it's been a busy year.

January, I was in LA for most of a week, and Europe for a week, setting up District Line. End of January through Mid-February, US press tour. March, rehearsing and touring the band in North America. April, finishing up the writing of 2009 album. Mid-May through early June, Europe band tour. Mid-June, tracking drums for 2009 album. Vacation for a week in mid-July. August, detailing and mixing of 2009 album. September and October, travel and interviews for book research. Initial mastering of album, remixing. Marketing and strategy meetings for 2009 campaign. Halloween vacation. November and December, final mastering and artwork for 2009 album, and commencement of heavy writing of autobiography.

BLOWOFF is now a full-time endeavor. 10 events in DC. 5 events in Manhattan. We launched 2 events in SF, 2 events in Provincetown, and 1 in Brooklyn. There were solo shows scattered through the year in LA, NYC, London, and others.

Compared to recent years past, 2008 was medium busy. Less performing than usual, but more DJing. Press coverage was steady and favorable. BLOWOFF made great gains. The book deal was a professional highlight. The TIAA-CREF commercial got lots of prime time network and cable TV play. Shepard Fairey's artistic rendition meant a lot to me.

I met a lot of new people, particularly in NYC and SF, who have added joy to my life. Almost all of my core group of friends in DC remained intact. No major health issues; I am in decent shape for a 48 year old man. The house and yards are in good condition.

In looking at my planner, 2009 is shaping up to be my busiest year since 2002. More months of work on the autobiography. Press junkets. The album is set for release in Europe on April 6, and North America on April 7. There are 15 BLOWOFF events between mid-January and mid-July. There will be a band tour. There will be solo shows. There will be festivals.

Thanks to everyone who sent along well wishes throughout 2008. Have a joyous holiday season, and a happy and prosperous 2009!

ALBUMS

Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
Fucked Up: The Chemistry Of Common Life
Jaytech: Everything Is OK
MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
No Age: Nouns

SONGS

Engineers, Sometimes I Realize
Gotye, Heart's A Mess (Ocelot Remix)
Hercules And Love Affair, Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
The Presets, This Boy's In Love (KIM Remix)
Starfucker, German Love

PERFORMANCES

BMB, Great American Music Hall, SF, Mar 26
BMB, Doug Fir, Portland OR, Mar 28
BMB, Primavera Festival, Barcelona ES, May 30
Solo, Maxwell's, Hoboken NJ, Jul 23
BMB, ATP, Monticello NY, Sep 21

BLOWOFF

DC, Jun 14
NYC, Jun 28
Provincetown, Jul 15
SF, Sep 6
BK, Nov 22

BOOKMARKS

App Store
BigMuscleBears
Hipster Runoff
Spiegel Online
Wrestling Observer / Figure4 Online

RESTAURANTS

Frjtz, SF
Jimmy's Hideaway, Provincetown
Osteria Mozza, LA
Relish, Provincetown
Water Bar, SF

ACCOMMODATIONS

Axel, Barcelona
Beck's Motor Lodge, SF
Jupiter, Portland
Scandotel Castor, Berlin
Silver Cloud, Seattle

A small sample of tracks I've been spinning lately. Enjoy!

(Mixwit R.I.P.)

What a night! We had a small gathering at the house last night: a modest pork roast and pumpkin spice cake, watching the election results unfold. At 10:59 PM ET, CNN projected Virginia for Obama. Unreal. Then, seconds later, at the top of the 11 PM ET hour, the polls closed on the West Coast, and Obama was projected to be the President-elect. I started the DVR, and we all headed out the door to join the ever-increasing noise. Little did we know that U Street would turn into an enormous, spontaneous celebration! Hours of joy. The people of America made the wise choice.

Emotional day ends in jubilation for some, stoicism for others.

U Street jubilation.

Street party at 14th and U.

Obama party continues at 12th and U.

DC's Obama celebrations in videos.

DC celebrates Obama victory well into the morning.

President Obama and the world.

The poetic symmetry of history.

I have a reasonably short list of hopes this morning.

For the last two hours, I was voting. The lines at my polling place were long; from start to finish, the process took 80 minutes. Totally organized. On the walk to and from the polling place, I could sense a change. It feels as if a weight is about to be lifted off of DC, off the people of DC, off the people of the country, off the people off the world. The past eight years have been difficult. We were (successfully) attacked by extremists, we watched the divide between rich and poor become painfully evident, and some of our Constitutional rights were compromised. We lost face and standing with our allies round the world. The past few months, it is as if the richest have been loading up their ox carts, filling them with ill-gotten treasures, as they head for the exits.

I hope people can be a little friendlier each day. I hope people can relearn the art of respectful disagreement. I hope people can be more understanding of cultural differences. I hope the new leaders of our country are able to include the voices of opposition in a constructive manner.

I hope we are able to begin rebuilding America first. I hope that we are able to move forward with new energy sources. I hope we are able to provide health care for everyone.

DC can be a cold town. This morning, it felt a little bit warmer.

Video.

Good morning. And good night.

So much has been going on, and so little of it has been blogging. Let's start with October 11, and the back-to-back BLOWOFF weekend. Saturday in DC was fun as always, and Columbus Eve Sunday in NYC was a blast. NYC pictures here, courtesy Jeff.

Monday and Tuesday, work in the NYC area. Wednesday, a quiet night in DC visiting a couple of buds for a lovely home cooked meal. Thursday, the official birthday dinner at Sticky Rice. Friday, Magnetic Morning and Springhouse played at Rock And Roll Hotel. Fun sets, and it was good to spend some rock time with Mitch, Jack, Adam, and Sam. Play "Motorway" and "Moving Van".

Saturday, Shepard Fairey was in DC for an opening at Irvine Contemporary. Lots of art and hope all over the neighborhood. I found it fitting that an "Obama HOPE" image was affixed to one of the buildings at 14th and U, forty years after the DC riots.

Later that evening, up to Columbia MD for a pal's 40th brthday party; it was a much bigger production than mine! I walked in for the closing minutes of Varla Jean Merman, followed by bears and cubs in the outdoor pool (and hot tub). Sorry, no pictures. Yet.

Last Monday through Wednesday, meetings galore in LA. Some fancy dining, including Mozza and Blair's. I also spotted a bottle of fat free water at a coffee shop in Santa Monica.

Thursday through Sunday, home recovery. Picked up a head cold before leaving for LA, and the two flights made it exponentially worse. The most excitement I could muster was a slew of slow cooker meals, lots of HGTV, and some front yard planting and transplanting. The pressure in my ears (and now sinuses) is sending me to the doctor's office this afternoon. I have to fly again on Thursday. Ugh.

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Provincetown BLOWOFF this Friday.

I waited two months for this? Not for me. I can replace my previous model (destroyed by fat free milk) for 550 bucks less. It is scheduled to arrive today!

I am digging the new Fucked Up album. A performance video from MTV Canada, and a music video for Black Albino Bones.

One of my favorite small airports is about to close. I am looking forward to the new BBI, however. The promotional videos are fun.

The fall of a legend.

BLOWOFF this weekend. Bearotic gives us a nice mention, as does gay.com.

Saturday, 11:30 PM, 9:30 Club. Advance tickets here.
Sunday, 11:59 PM, Highline Ballroom, NYC. Advance tickets here.

99 Matters, as mentioned at P4K.

A little reading, in preparation for the end of this month.

A solo exhibition by photographer Blake Little, at Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art, Brooklyn NY. I was pleasantly surprised to find some familiar faces in the show.

D.C. residents demand action on hate crimes.

Finally back home, after many days on the road. Madison was a fun duo show with Jason. BLOWOFF DC was good times, great to see all my local buds back under one roof. ATP was a special night. My Bloody Valentine were everything I expected, and then some. Met a bunch of new pals at the gig.

NYC for four days of book work. An exhausting process. Off to Atlanta and Athens for more book work and socializing.

Home is noisy, due to the crew of workers in the basement. The end result will be well worth the disturbance.

BLOWOFF next weekend in DC (Sat 11), and NYC (Sun 12).

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America loses its dominant economic role.

My favorite song of this past summer. It reminds me of the ocean. Jaytech at MySpace.

Friday 19, solo / duo performance at Forward Fest, Madison WI. Stage time is 6 PM.

Saturday 20, BLOWOFF at 9:30 Club, WDC. Doors open at 11:30 PM.

Sunday 21, band performance at ATP NY. Stage time is 9:15 PM.

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A very nice write-up of BLOWOFF SF at Bearotic.

Speaking of, there are bears everywhere in DC. WaPo. DCist twice. Wooster Collective.

My city, at gay.com.

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MOREL "The Death Of The Paperboy" is available at iTunes. Great album. Buy it.

AMERICAN PUNK HERO BOB MOULD TO PUBLISH HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY

September 12, 2008, NEW YORK – Michael Pietsch, Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today that rock legend Bob Mould, founder of the pioneering American punk band Hüsker Dü, will write his memoir for publication in autumn 2010. Michael Azerrad, author of the bestselling Our Band Could Be Your Life and Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana will collaborate with Mould to tell the full story of his blazing, era-defining life and career.

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Bob Mould founded the trio Hüsker Dü in Minneapolis in 1979, powerfully reshaping America’s rock scene. Hüsker Dü LPs like Zen Arcade and New Day Rising won over critics and fans by welding melodicism, tenderness, and literary seriousness to punk’s rage, volume, and speed. Influenced by the Ramones, the Beatles, and classics like “Eight Miles High,” their cover of which was a college radio hit, Hüsker Dü created new classics of rage and alienation like “Celebrated Summer,” “Makes No Sense At All,” and “Hardly Getting Over It.” Determined to create music that mattered both artistically and politically, they released eight albums in seven years and toured relentlessly before drug addictions, a suicide, and artistic and personal differences led to the band’s implosion in 1988.

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 ’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.”

“The gorgeous rage of Bob Mould’s music seemed like the best possible response to the Reagan ’80s for many music-loving young Americans,” says Michael Pietsch. “To hear firsthand what it was like to make that music, and to build the indie rock world that eventually brought us REM, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Green Day, and much of modern rock, is something that music lovers have awaited for years.”

Bob Mould was represented in the negotiation by his lawyer, Josh Grier of Dreier LLP, and by literary agent Dave Dunton of the Harvey Klinger Agency. Michael Azerrad was represented by agent Lydia Wills of the Paradigm Agency.

Little, Brown and Company, founded in 1837, has long been committed to publishing fiction of the highest quality and nonfiction of lasting significance. It has published many serious books about popular music, including Peter Guralnick’s two-volume Elvis Presley biography, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, Bob Spitz’s The Beatles, Joe Nick Patoski’s Willie Nelson, and memoirs by Marianne Faithfull and Phil Lesh, and it will publish a forthcoming memoir by Keith Richards. Little, Brown is a division of Hachette Book Group, a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second-largest book publisher in the world.

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day. Mine was all work, but very rewarding. A new privacy fence for my back deck. Pictures soon.

The next album is done. I'll talk more about it as it gets closer to March 2009. Right now, I want to take a break from the last four weeks of work.

What is a great way to take a break from the studio? BLOWOFF in SF, this Saturday night. I played a solo show at Slim's in 1991, and we are looking forward to a cool time this weekend. More great art by Linas.

I hope everyone is having a pleasant summer. Mine has been pretty good. As much as I would like to be vacationing in Berlin or Barcelona (or even Rehoboth), I am on the home stretch of mixing the new album. It sounds good.

Yes, it is a guitar album.
Yes, it will be released by Anti- in the US.
Yes, it is set for a February 2009 release.
Yes, there will be band touring next spring.

In the meantime, some fun links.

A nice BLOWOFF article at Advocate.com. The beard is getting bushy.

La Quiete will give you a reason not to write off modern punk.

Ringo Deathstarr and Honey Thief. Shoegaze.

GOOD: Oil Addiction, set to "Genesis" by Justice.

The TIAA-CREF campaign rolls on. I thought seeing the ad every 10 minutes during NCAA Final Four weekend was crazy. They are continuing use of the re-recording of "See A Little Light".