Body of Song is the sixth solo album from punk/indie/alternative rock veteran Bob Mould. It is his first studio album under his own name since 2002's controversial Modulate.
Album history
Originally meant to be a semi-acoustic record as part of an informal trilogy that included Modulate and the electronic dance album Long Playing Grooves, the project was initially recorded in Athens, GA with former Sugar bassist David Barbe playing bass and engineering, and Mould's 1998 tour band drummer Matt Hammon, at Barbe's Chase Park Transduction studio. After recording the initial version of the album, Mould decided to put the project aside temporarily. After settling into a new home in Washington, DC and furthering his interest in club music by forming the monthly Blowoff event with friend and dance music artist Richard Morel, Mould began writing new guitar-based material in 2004, often trying out new songs on audiences when giving solo vocal-and-guitar performances in clubs all over the United States. After reviving four of the recordings from the 2002 album sessions, Mould began writing and recording material in his home studio setup in his DC home, then went into DC's venerated Inner Ear Studio in March 2005 with Fugazi drummer/Garland Of Hours multi-instrumentalist Brendan Canty and Inner Ear's owner/engineer Don Zientara and cut several new songs. Canty's occasional Fugazi collaborator and Garland Of Hours bandmate Amy Domingues was tapped to contribute cello to two songs on the album. Body of Song contained much of the electronic influence of its predecessor Modulate, but Mould's trademark guitar work, which had been buried in the former album's mix, was brought back to the forefront. Mould's club music explorations also influenced two of Body of Song's tracks, " Light Love Hope" and "I Am Vision, I Am Sound", and featured Mould treating his voice with a vocoder-style digital effect. Mould released Body of Song through a label other than directly through his own Granary Music imprint for the first time since leaving Rykodisc after the release of The Last Dog and Pony Show, signing a deal with Chapel Hill, NC-based independent labelYep Roc Records to distribute the album. Body of Song began garnering much positive press attention in the weeks leading up to the release. An advance digital single release on iTunes of the song "Paralyzed" became an immediate hit, and a specially packaged limited edition versionsold out most of its pressing through direct advance orders from Yep Roc's web site. In conjunction with the release of the album, Mould formed his first live touring band since 1998, with Canty on drums, Morel on keyboards and vocals, and Jason Narducy on bass, ending a "semi-retirement" from full-band performance.
Track listing
All songs written by Bob Mould and 2005 Granary Music.
