Thoughts On Bob Dylan

Let me begin by saying that I have not heard Together Through Life. I did stream the first single, Beyond Here Lies Nothin', and although it is-- typical of '00s Bob Dylan-- yet another 12 bar blues, it sounds awesome.

I've been reading some of the reviews, which are by-and-large positive, but they also tend to describe the record along the lines of "light", "breezy", and "impersonal." While that sounds like it adds up to something fun, it also illuminates what I believe is a valid criticism of most of Dylan's work:

That would be that Dylan shows so little of his true self in most of his songs. He is so gifted when it comes to inventing characters and telling their stories, but sometimes I think he uses that as a mask/crutch to avoid exposing his true psyche to the public.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I don't think that I, placed in his shoes, could really become a heart-on-sleeve balladeer who shares a little bit of my soul with each public release. I completely understand Bob Dylan's emotional reticence in that regard.

But what strikes me is that Dylan's '60s contemporaries who remain relevant in 2009-- and the two names that spring to mind first are Neil Young and Joni Mitchell-- have built careers around songs that really do expose their beliefs and emotions. Each of the three have faced peaks and valleys in their careers-- most notable in that all 3 sucked ass for nearly all of the '80s.

But think about Bob Dylan specifically, and his career trajectory. He began as a protest singer. Politics and social justice formed the first shield between him and his public. He even affected his voice (you can hear him singing in pure form on Nashville Skyline) both to distinguish himself from other folk singers, but also (I'd argue) to keep the real Bob Dylan a little removed from what the public saw.

On Another Side of Bob Dylan, we saw... well, just that. Songs like "My Back Pages" revealed the man's psyche (at least a little piece of it) and the public and critical response was tremendous. But just as quickly, Dylan started building new veneers to protect his inner self from his listening audience. Humor helped in this regard. "Maggie's Farm" and "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" are great songs, highly entertaining, and ultimately tell you nothing about the man singing them. Perhaps parts of the lyrics are true; perhaps no part of them is. We don't know, and admittedly, the mystery therein is a huge part of Bob Dylan's appeal.

As Dylan plugged in, he started using his swagger and star persona as his shield. Songs like "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Like a Rolling Stone," and "Ballad of a Thin Man" taught the likes of David Bowie and Lou Reed how to be rock stars (even if Bowie would later lash out at Dylan), but they didn't show us anything we could prove was a reflection of the man singing them.

I can't go through every era in Bob Dylan's career-- he's released 46 albums for crying out loud-- but consider the other things he's hidden his true self behind: genre (Nashville Skyline), storytelling (John Wesley Harding), Christianity (Slow Train Coming) and olde tyme cowboy blues (past decade).

Interestingly enough, the albums where Dylan has let down his guard-- Blood on the Tracks, Desire, Time Out of Mind-- have been some of the best received of his career. But even those are only partly confessional. While Blood on the Tracks has "If You See Her, Say Hello," it also has the yarn-spinning of "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts." While Desire has "Sara", it also has tall tales like "Isis" and a return to politics on "Hurricane." Modern Times, for what it's worth, was pretty "confessional" by Dylan standards. And you know what? I'd credit that, in part, for the tremendous reception it received.

So am I somehow suggesting Bob Dylan is inferior to more heart-on-sleeve '60s survivors like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell? Hell no! I love every non-personal twist Bob Dylan has taken over his 46 albums. (Well I don't know about the Christian stuff, but honestly I haven't heard much of it.)

More than anything, I guess I'm remarking on the unusual circumstance of a folk-based singer thriving through 5 decades with so little of his true personal self revealed. I wouldn't change it for the world-- I'm not one to try to "improve" a 98% perfect product. Really this is just my observation and, hopefully, a discussion starter.

Attention New York Kittybrains

A quick detour from the musical arts to the theatrical ones.

I highly encourage you to go see this production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" by August Wilson. I got to see it out here in CA over Thanksgiving (different production) and was really blown away by the play. This got a great review, so if you can afford the ticket, go see it.

One of the best pieces of contemporary theater I've had the privilege of seeing.

Good god! Could she really be this strapped for cash after Yes Man?!?!

90's Indie Thrift Store Bounty!

As I've long said, the whole "Death of the CD" is great for people who, like me, are stubbornly hanging on out of some neurotic attachment to the medium on which they were raised. Before, people sold CDs used that they didn't like (it was always baffling when you'd see something like Abbey Road in a used shop-- who could listen to that and say, "meh-- I'd rather have three bucks!"). Now, people get rid of entire high quality collections that they've transferred to their hard drive! Score!

I've found that the stoop sale/thrift shop scene is particularly helpful for filling in gaps in my collection of 90s albums, since I spent most of that time checked out from contemporary music (until I got to college). My local thrift shop has a rack of CDs that, while dominated by complete crap, occassionally has some real gems. Evidently someone with taste remarkably similar to our own Drischord's just got rid of a bunch of CDs, because yesterday I picked up the following, all for two bucks each:

-Fugazi - 13 Songs
-Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
-PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
-PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?
-Sonic Youth - Dirty
-Camper Van Beethoven - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
-Pavement - Westing (By Musket and Sextant)

Considered but left behind (let me know if I've made a huge mistake): Jesus Lizard - Goat; Dinosaur Jr. - Where You Been; Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star.

You can talk all you want about the "warmth of vinyl" or the fact that CDs are a "waste of space" and "totally unnecessary when you can download high quality digital mp3s for cheap from such music vendors as emusic or for free from bittorrent" but (a) 2 bucks per album is cheaper than even the best emusic deal, and (b) unlike, say, Steely Dan or Neil Young, this shit is from the peak of the CD era, and is absolutely made to be heard on little silver discs, Pearl Jam's early-adopter vinyl revival notwithstanding.

New Dirty Projectors single

The band that put out my favorite album of 2007 is about to release their new one. You can get the first single for free here
C'mon, Q. I know they look like filthy hipsters, but give them a chance!

The Boxmasters put out a new CD!!!!

Guys! Have you guys heard that new Boxmasters that everybody is talking about?? You know, those guys playing a variety of Cosmic American Music that nobody else has been able to touch in like 30 years??

You haven't??

Then Billy Bob Thornton has some words for you, my friends. He is NOT amused, and he will go so far as to generally insult all Canadian music audiences on Canadian radio to get his point across.

This gets more and more unbelievable as it goes along. Take a listen.

UPDATE
Actually, I just discovered you can watch the whole this on YouTube, and it's even more of a fascinating train wreck:

Genius Child Drummer

Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled for this video, but for God's sake, watch this 4-year-old TEAR IT UP on the drums to "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Oh. My. God.

CLICK HERE NOW.

On the off chance you were already thinking about it...

The reissue of Pearl Jam's Ten has some pretty decent remixes on it. They've really cleaned it up and they hard panned the guitars opposite each other, so you can actually hear each guitarist individually for the first time.
Also, you can hear how much wah pedal Mike McCready uses. I'll give you a hint: it's a lot of wah pedal.
worth a hear if you're a closet Pearl Jam fan like myself.

Wading in Further...

So after everyone's enthusiastic recommendations during the Best of 2008 days, I finally picked up Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Lay Down in the Light, and it's gorgeous. I can't stop listening to it. So thanks.

It's actually my first Will Oldham purchase. Just hadn't gotten around to it before this. So my question is, where to next? Keep in mind I'm not that interested in particularly tuneless lo-fi mumbly stuff (so I'm probably looking more at B"P"B and not Palace stuff right?). How is the new one?

The Purdie Shuffle Is Profiled in the New York Times!

I mention this because you can hear the "Purdie Shuffle" in the "Mother of All Funk Chords" video that Eric posted a few weeks back. Also if anyone has seen the video: "Classic Albums: The Making of Steely Dan's Aja" you can hear Bernard "Pretty" Purdie waxing eloquent about his signature beat, which is heard on that magnum opus of an album.

Anyway, check it out.

Vic Chesnutt Sends Chills Down My Spine

I've put Vic Chesnutt in a few Top 10 lists or praised him in passing or whatever, but have you guys ever really listened to him? Guy gives me chills. Honestly.

This is from the deluxe edition of Drunk, which everyone should own.

Why Pitchfork and I Agree on the New Animal Collective

Pitchfork and I are are in rare agreement: The new Animal Collective record is the best album to come out in the first 3 months of 2009.

Here's why they like it:

1. It maintains the kind of folk-period Beach Boys glow that so many of their favorite records exhibit. (Think Fleet Foxes, Of Montreal, earlier Animal Collective, etc.)

2. Despite all the musical "adventures" the album sets off in, these guys still aren't trained, chops-style performers, which is a Pitchfork essential. If you can really play, Pitchfork marks you down. (BTW, I'm not claiming that many of my favorite bands or even I personally can really play; I'm just pointing out that Pitchfork tends to favor those with more rough-hewn performance skills.)

3. They named Panda Bear's solo album as the single best record of 2007, so a gushing review was necessary here to save face.



Now here's why I like it:

1. It's experimental without being self-indulgent. Animal Collective has always had at least 5 or 6 really great songs on their albums, and then they slap their fans in the face with absolutely dead-awful masturbatory noise pieces, such as "The Bees" on Feels. What a "fuck you" to the people who pay your salary. Anyway, on this album, they don't pull any of that. Every song is worthy of their lofty reputation. I really appreciate their doing that this time.

2. Their lack of traditional "chops" has no bearing on the fact that these 3 guys really are very musical. They might not know the names of the chords they are playing-- or even that they are changing keys when they do-- but they know how to play and they let their relative ignorance guide them into new, exciting directions. It's like when John Lennon read an academic article analyzing a Beatles chord progression. He had no understanding of the author's terminology or the academic theory behind what he wrote, but that didn't change the fact that he had written the song. The knowledge was innate.

3. Their album cover is delightfully trippy. Just stare at a big, blown up version for a couple of seconds and enjoy...

Pitchfork got it totally right. Best of the year so far.

Wilco + Feist???

What the hell?

Wilco has confirmed rumors that Feist will appear on its next album, a still untitled set due for a late June release.

In a posting Friday (March 27) on the band's website (http://wilcoworld.net/news/), the alternative rock band says that singer-songwriter Feist lends vocals to the track "You and I" on the Nonesuch release.

The first order of business is getting excited that we're getting a new Wilco album in June! (With Dinosaur Jr and Sunset Rubdown already slated for that month, it's going to be one to remember.)

But Feist? This is an artist that I do not "get." I'll grant you I know almost nothing about her beyond that iPod song. A lot of my friends like that track, some even like the whole album it comes from. For me personally, it does nothing at all.

That said, if Wilco's involved, I'm at least curious.

Something is happening to me...

I can't keep up with the new music this year. I haven't bought any new releases, and I can't even summon the faintest interest in the latest incarnation of Animal Collective. I suppose I'm planning to buy a few things by artists I wouldn't miss (Bob Dylan, Mos Def, Steve Earle) but for the most part I'm neck deep in Mozart operas and violin concertos, and the occasional Miles Davis fusion experiment. I'm daunted at trying to write about any of that stuff, as I'd feel too completely out of my depth and am sure I'd lack the ability to say anything very insightful.

But seriously, look at the dragon costume! The way they stage the dragon's death is kind of lame, but think of the directorial possibilities...

New Dinosaur Jr Will Be Awesome

If Pitchfork just posted videos like these all day, they'd be my favorite website.




Also, J Mascis looks so hilariously old with his long white hair, but he's only 43.

Anyway, I've loved this band since I was 13, which is over half my lifetime ago (terrifying), and I'm thrilled they're still at it.

oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow

Top 5 Albums of the first quarter of 2009

2009 is looking pretty good so far....

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Vetiver - Tight Knit
4. Dark Was The Night - charity compilation
5. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight At The Movies

Honorable Mention: Neko Case, DM Stith, Beirut, Phospherescent, A.C. Newman

List your picks in the comments....i will be surprised if I like anything this year better than that Grizzly Bear album. Wowzers!

An Unprecedented Hip Hop Post from Eric!!

This may well singlehandedly justify the entire existence of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (or at least The Roots' participation in same):

Watchmen: Summing It All Up

Chris Cornell Hits Rock Bottom

It's almost tragic that the man who brought us Badmotorfinger and Superunknown is now making shitty James Bond-style trip hop with Timbaland, who sounds trapped in 2001.

Chris Cornell has gotten progressively worse since breaking up Soundgarden. First came his unspeakably boring solo albums. Then, the shit show that was Audioslave. Now this utter stinking turd of a record.

Awful Awful Awful.

Here's a link to the AV Club review, which has a stream of one of the songs. Which, bad though it is, was actually cited by the LA Times as the best track on the album! Makes me never want to hear the rest.

And how about that joke of a glamour shot? By my math, Cornell should be pushing 50 by now. Botox can be the only explanation for that look he's sporting. Either that, or they cast him in wax which, given his ego, wouldn't surprise me.

Can't believe this is the same guy who rocked my world at my first real rock concert in the 8th grade.

Chris Cornell, RIP. You officially suck balls.