How ironic that after years fronting the hugely influential but desperately overlooked Hnsker Dn, Bob Mould's first project with new band Sugar, 1992's Copper Blue, would become the most commercially successful project of his career. Of course, it was released just as the seeds sown by his former band were bearing bountiful fruits in the post-Nirvana alternative nation, which provided ample explanation for its phenomenal success. But Sugar were well deserving of their success, regardless o   [ read more ]

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Given Bob Mould's reputation for searing electric rock & roll, it may be easy to think that the title of File Under: Easy Listening is ironic, and it is to a certain extent. But beneath the loud guitars lie the friendliest, most relaxed pop songs Mould had ever written. "Your Favorite Thing" and "Can't Help You Anymore" are two of Mould's most direct, pop-oriented songs, driven by instantly memorable melodies and hooks; they are also the most conventional songs on the record. The    [ read more ]

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Few bands released as many smokin' B-sides as Sugar, and here are 12 of those songs, plus some of the live versions and solo versions that also appeared on the EPs. If you've never heard such ashen cuts as "Mind Is an Island," "And You Tell Me," the live cover of the Who's "Armenia City in the Sky," and Barbe's "Anyone," you have them all served up on a single platter for you. It's fair to consider this a fourth Sugar LP, as without a doubt it is commensurate with the quality and gre   [ read more ]

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Sugar's Beaster is actually outtakes from their previous dynamite album, Copper Blue. It comes off as some kind of deranged, ugly sister of that sparking album, a yin to Copper's yang, a violent, angry, and seething wall of aggression with (this time) little concession to Bob Mould's pop prowess. Perhaps the most densely recorded, heavy trip the man has produced since Hnsker Dn's Metal Circus in 1983, Beaster is what you might get if Mould had been in the mood to construct a fu   [ read more ]

CD $9.48