Blowoff

After helping define the sound of alternative-rock with Hüsker Dü in the '80s, fronting the power-pop band Sugar in the ‘90s and fusing hard-rock and heavy electronica in his last solo release, Body of Song, in 2005, Bob Mould is now redefining pop music with Blowoff, his collaboration with producer/remixer extraordinaire Richard Morel. Blowoff, named after the deciding fight in a pro wrestling match, fuses together Mould's angry, angular power-pop tendencies with Morel's hazy, house-fueled electronica. Since Sugar, Mould has delved heavily into electronica, remixing and producing under the name Loudbomb and working with bands such as Interpol and VHS or Beta. Just before he moved from Manhattan to Washington, D.C. several years ago, a clerk at Mould’s favorite record store turned him on to the progressive house mixes of Richard Morel. In short order, these two singer-songwriters, each legendary in their own right, began collaborating together under the “Blowoff” moniker. Blowoff marks the first project in which both Mould and Morel have taken equal turns in writing, playing the guitar and keyboards, creating rhythm tracks and breathing into the mike. And as listeners will hear from the album’s very first track, “Hormone Love”, Blowoff is a merger between two highly independent musicians whose individual virtuosity is unparalleled and whose musical roots span rock, punk, funk, pop, electronica and deep house. Morel is perhaps best known for his remixes for Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Killers, Pretenders and Seal and many others, along with his enduring collaborations with Deep Dish, the celebrated D.C.-based producers. He’s had five tracks hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Club Dance Play charts and had many others (including “True”, “Cabaret” and “Funny Car” off of 2002’s Queen Of The Highway) reach the Top 20 while igniting dance floors from New York to Ibiza to Tokyo. Morel has also co-written, co-produced, recorded and sung on two of Deep Dish's studio albums and has helped produce many of the duo's mix compilations released on their Yoshitoshi label. He has also worked on several of Deep Dish's most famous mixes, including the Grammy-winning remix of Dido's "Thank You." With Blowoff, Mould and Morel produce music that isn’t like anything you’d expect. Although Blowoff features hard-charging rock tunes ("Here and Now") as well as blazing dance tracks ("Tag It"), the album's chief distinction is a poignant, compelling pop intensity that blends powerful songwriting and gorgeous melodies. After the Blowoff album's release in September 2006, Mould and Morel began taking their famed Blowoff party, held once a month at D.C.’s famed 9:30 Club, on the road. Featuring both men DJing, as well as performing a live set of Blowoff songs, the Blowoff parties attract a wide cross-section of people from all walks of life, providing a rare meeting ground for everyone from music-loving hipsters to beer-drinking men's men to dance music enthusiasts to leather daddies to the muscle men featured in Blowoff's signature artwork.