Mould deepens search on ‘Sky’ – Taylor spills Duran Duran secrets

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Bob Mould says “Patch the Sky” is the darkest and catchiest album he’s made recently (“Silver Age” and “Beauty & Ruin” are the others in this cycle) and he’s right on both counts.

“The words make you remember, the music makes you forget,” Mould says about the adversity he’s gone through, including “more death, relationships ending, life getting shorter.”

Without sounding forced, the happy/sad contrast between melodies and lyrics puts a roll cage around the listener and makes it possible to survive sentiments like “It’s the end of things, the end of everything” on “The End of Things” and “A complicated grief, I need to find relief” on “Hands Are Tied,” and avoid getting crushed through the record’s 42 minutes.

Joined again by drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy, Mould expertly layers the guitar distortion into a heaviness which would sound convincing even unplugged. Still, it’s an appreciated respite when Mould eases back on “Losing Sleep,” whose intensity is more Echo & the Bunnymen than Husker Du or Sugar. A couple more like that would have been welcome.

As it is, Mould is a pioneer of self-exploration and “Patch the Sky” is a rewarding listen if you are able to withstand the intensity of the search.

Various artists, “I Saw the Light (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Sony Legacy)

Because Hank Williams’ mark on country music is as indelible as a two-stepper in a honky tonk, it’s shocking to be reminded that he lived just 29 years — and died more than half a century ago. British actor Tom Hiddleston resurrects the legend 63 years later in the new biopic “I Saw the Light” and everything about the accompanying soundtrack sounds straight out of Williams’ heyday. Except Hiddleston’s voice, but that doesn’t matter because the actor can sing.

Hiddleston wisely avoids trying to mimic Williams’ unmistakable nasal twang. With an upbeat tenor that bears no trace of his roots, Hiddleston creates a sanitized but pleasant Hank, lacking the rough edges that make Williams sound right at home on a dive bar jukebox. It’s a version that might go better with a couple of craft beers.

Assist

He gets a top-shelf assist from the Saddle Spring Boys, a crack backup band that includes alt-Nashville veteran Rodney Crowell, guitarist Richard Bennett, bluegrass fiddler Stuart Duncan, Mickey Raphael on harmonica and Chris Scruggs — Earl’s grandson — on steel guitar and vocals. The sweet moan of that guitar lends a trademark sound to “Move It On Over,” ‘’Hey Good Lookin’” and other featured Williams’ classics.

The 13-track album is sprinkled with other hits from the era — The Delmore Brothers’ “Field Hand Man,” Eddy Arnold on “Anytime” and Jo Stafford’s silky version of “The Tennessee Waltz” — that make this an atmospheric visit to another time.

John Taylor is an only child, but if he’s ever experienced anything like a family road trip, it’s been while on tour with Duran Duran.

The British rockers are about to get that old family feeling again as they head out for a North American tour with dates scheduled through summer. The “Paper …. Tour,” which kicks off Friday, is split into two monthlong legs: the first covers the east coast from Canada’s Niagara Falls to San Juan, Puerto Rico; the second launches July 6 in Nashville, Tennessee, and wraps in Glendale, Arizona.

Sitting in a sunny room at Warner Bros. Records recently, Taylor, 55, shared a few secrets about himself and the musical family he calls Duran.

* Touring now is not like it was in the 1980s: “When people say how’s it like now compared to how it was, they’re probably thinking of the ‘80s, the crazy ‘80s — particularly the early ‘80s, where the band sort of cruised at a very high altitude for a couple of years. Well, I wouldn’t want to work like that again … I think when fame hits you — we were quite young, we’d only been in the business for like two years really when it started taking off. We weren’t really — well I wasn’t really ready for it. It’s like being given your first car — and it’s a Ferrari. So now we’re in a Buick. It’s a very sedate Buick, but it gets around into all the sightseeing trips. It’s good.”

* Duran Duran reinvents itself with every album: “It’s like a restyling excercise always. And I think that’s the blessing and the curse of being in Duran, which is a band whose blueprint was really based on being modern. We weren’t like the Stones, who are really rooted in R&B. We just had this thing, and it’s essentially kind of a good thing, because it allows us to change and morph.”

* The band never knew what lead singer Simon LeBon was talking about in some of their early songs: “In the ‘80s, Simon had very specific way of writing lyrics — which was amazing — and half the time I had no idea what he was singing about. And none of us really did. But it didn’t matter, because the pictures he was making were extraordinary.”

* Taylor was disappointed the “Paper ….” album didn’t get a Grammy nod: “That was just something that was driving me through the second year of the making of ‘Paper ….’ I was like, ‘This is why I’m doing it.’ None of the rest of the band could care less, but it was driving me.”

* He regrets that the Internet has made music so easy to “burn through”: “All art, whether it’s music or painting or cinema, it’s got a shelf life. It doesn’t matter how good you like it, you’re going to burn through it. And there’s something about delayed gratification. And certainly to me, some of my favorite music, it took me a long time to get hold of it and when I got it, was precious. I knew every note, every beat of those songs. And now, music’s almost too accessible. It’s too easy to get a hold of … Now I almost want music to be harder to get. I want the experience to be a little bit harder. I need to appreciate it. I need to work for it. And that way I will appreciate it more.” (AP)

By Pablo Gorondi

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