What are you listening to right now?

[pophead2k]

Am rediscovering opera, a fleeting passion for a few years and one that I've ignored for the last ten or so. For $2.99 USD I got '100 Essential Opera Moments' from Amazon and am excited for it to reintroduce me to particular faves.

[Jack of All Parades]

Pophead- an area of music I am woefully deficient in understanding or appreciating. Like many I will sing along with a particular aria when I think no one is looking or listening but it is never regularly on my musical radar. Have to say it made for some funny moments in the latest Woody Allen movie, especially when the singer is on the stage at La Scalla going full on in his solo clothed in nothing but his shower stall. A great metaphor for my opera experience. Best of luck on your re-explorations of favorites and new pieces.

[Jack of All Parades]

NPR release of "Duquesne Whistle" off of Dylan's new record, Tempest, set to be released on 9/11/12:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/ ... w&cc=share

God, I am on that train with him- could not be more pleased.

[Poor Deportee]

NPR release of "Duquesne Whistle" off of Dylan's new record, Tempest, set to be released on 9/11/12:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/ ... w&cc=share

God, I am on that train with him- could not be more pleased.

Yup, I love that track and have been defending it on 'Expecting Rain' against the usual doom and gloomers. It's just a wonderful slice of toe-tapping old-timey Bob and it's got me pretty stoked for the new album. Thanks for the link, Chris.

[Jack of All Parades]

Yesiree, You and I are on that train and Bob is the engineer. I love that guitar sound he gets towards the end- the sound of the train's whistle. Have to love that 'ancient' fade in and then the rush of the arrival of the song full bore with his band. And if I had any concern about the voice it has been exploded. I love his channeling of Louis Armstrong. And that line 'the lights of my homeland are glowing, wonder if they will know me this time around?'. I am stoked!!!!!!!!!

[Jack of All Parades]

http://youtu.be/7aysNlCeW50

Been enjoying the sounds of my niece, Shaye Cohn, on piano in this video, and her band Tuba Skinny as they hold forth at their home base , The Spotted Cat in New Orleans, earlier this year. She and the band are going to be in Woodstock,NY this Sunday at the Colony Cafe performing on 9/2 at 8pm. I am looking forward to attending. Recommend the show if you are in the area.

[Kevin Davis]

NPR release of "Duquesne Whistle" off of Dylan's new record, Tempest, set to be released on 9/11/12:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2012/ ... w&cc=share

God, I am on that train with him- could not be more pleased.

Yup, I love that track and have been defending it on 'Expecting Rain' against the usual doom and gloomers. It's just a wonderful slice of toe-tapping old-timey Bob and it's got me pretty stoked for the new album. Thanks for the link, Chris.

I'm wondering what it is about this track that has you guys feeling excited for it. I've been a pretty big defender of Dylan's recent stuff, but by now this random copy-and-paste writing method is beyond tiresome, and I've always disliked this group of musicians. Compare them to the band on "Love and Theft," a different group of musicians playing similar styles of music, and these guys barely sound like they have a pulse. But hey, at least this is better than "Early Roman Kings."

I used to post with a handful of the folks on Expecting Rain at the (now defunct) Dylan Pool.

[Jack of All Parades]

Will not presume to speak for PD[but I think I know where he will be coming from should he respond] but for myself there is plenty to like. Maybe I can start with your statement that it is better than "Early Roman Kings". True, true, true- that one is a laborious repeat for the thousandth time of that Bo Diddley lick that has long worn out its welcome.

This one however has a bumptious life to it. It is enjoyable simply for its approach and lyric line and perhaps breaks no new ground but yet has a joy in its execution that I find infectious. I am quite taken by that opening segment which seems to be channeling the old western swing sound and then the whoosh of the modern day band as they kick into the melody propelling the music forward into today only again to have it fade out into the musical landscape that the train is traveling through at the end. I even find myself wondering if that beginning fade in is not that 'wild mercurial sound' that he has stated he heard in his head all those years ago.

I also am taken by the line about the lights of his home land glowing and the singer wondering if his hometown will still recognize him this time around. It is inspired, I think, his channeling of Louis Armstrong's vocal styling to accommodate the exhaustion and ravages to be heard in his own voice.

I am not tired of his 'pastiche' style. I enjoy his ability to roam the musical landscape at will for inspiration and for the strong underpinning such 'borrowing' gives to his newer songs.

Anyway, I like it. It works for me and I have gladly taken a seat on that train with Bob.

[Kevin Davis]

I don't especially dislike it; it does have a nice chug to it. It all just feels so predictable at this point. Perhaps by chance, Dylan has finally managed to find the voice that he heard in his head when he was playing folk and blues tunes at the Gaslight and Cafe Wha all those years ago, and he's basking in it like a kid in a candy store. There's a beauty to that, and he's certainly come up with no shortage of fine songs in the past 10-15 years. But it's a routine nonetheless.

[Jack of All Parades]

Kevin, this piece from a blog on "Duquesne Whistle" says better than I can how I feel about the song:

http://williamhenryprince.wordpress.com ... le-review/

[Kevin Davis]

Thanks for that link, Jack. I think the length makes it difficult for me to view the song as having the same lightweight ambitions as "New Morning" or "Watching the River Flow," as the author reasonably suggests. It's been a recurring theme in Dylan's later work, actually, the tendency to drag what at shorter lengths would have been much stronger songs out to 6-7 minutes while introducing no new musical or lyrical ideas. "Modern Times" is probably the most notable offender--cut the two weakest verses out of every one of those songs (and, in a perfect world, give the band a little jolt) and you've got a much stronger album. When Dylan's wit is working at full amplitude, his songs can go ten minutes and I find myself disappointed when they end. And if I'm honest, the sharpest lines in "Duquesne Whiste" don't rank with the weakest moments in those songs.

That said, it does have a charming get-up-and-go to it, and if the album is solid I'll ultimately have no objections to it. But between this and "Early Roman Kings," my optimism is cautious. "Together Through Life" was enjoyable, kind of a cross between "New Morning" and "Under the Red Sky," the kind of record all artists are entitled to release every once in a while. But it was clearly not the man operating at the peak of his powers, even by contemporary standards, and I'm not encouraged by the fact that he needs Robert Hunter to co-write these fairly pedestrian copy-and-paste jobs. The other night EC's take on "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" came on, and I found myself thinking, "Jeez, what I wouldn't give to hear Dylan write another line as lucid but as simple as 'Flowers on the hillside bloomin' crazy/Crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme.'"

Dylan is in the same tier as EC for me, in that I generally end up coming to enjoy everything he releases in some capacity, regardless of whatever barbs it may suffer at the expense of my e-pen. I feel like a lot of my written criticism of these artists is less an attempt to put the work in its place and more a sorting out of what's happening in the music, which typically leads to some kind appreciation of the work for what it is. But I wonder if "Love and Theft" didn't spoil me a bit--it proved that his latter-day Americana revue could be just as vibrant, as sensational, as funny as some of my favorite works from the 1960's and '70's, and I keep hoping he's going to return with that same command of his art. However much I've ended up liking the stuff from his last few records, I can never get past this feeling that he's just up there singing whatever random rhyming couplet comes into his mind. That may have been his trick all along, but never before have I had so much trouble believing that he knows something we don't about it.

[Jack of All Parades]

Kevin- very much in agreement with you on the need for stronger editing and I think we can agree that the song from a sonic standpoint merits repeated listens. Never would I argue that the lyrics to the tune are eventful and I agree it is a sad statement that Robert Hunter has to be brought in for lyrical support. That said though I do not find myself wanting to turn this song off when I hear it on the radio- and yes it is getting radio airplay in my area.

I like your reference to the lyrical strength of a song like "Lonesome"- I would add my favorite "relationships have all been bad/Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud". That one hits me every time I hear that song.

There appear to be several songs of length on the new one. I am eager to hear how he controls them. If they are of the quality of "Ain't Talkin" or "Thunder on the Mountain" then I will be a happy listener. And yes L&T has spoiled me, too. Tough act to live up to!

[Kevin Davis]

Hey, what do you know, three more songs leaked:

Narrow Way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysk5yrF- ... e=youtu.be

Pay In Blood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndXoaqMJ ... e=youtu.be

Scarlet Town:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFOjhW- ... e=youtu.be

[Jack of All Parades]

Thank you for that-unfortunately they are all "Narrow Way". Here I found "Paid in Blood"-

http://youtu.be/_FN5HkGfG94

I also found "Scarlet Town"

http://youtu.be/UGFOjhW-gR0 Multiple listens needed before I comment. But initial I love 2 out of three- Narrow Way is too simple a blues riff for my taste.

[Kevin Davis]

Oops, my mistake. They should be fixed now.

I'm loving "Pay in Blood." I've heard a couple people say it sounds like Warren Zevon and that feels spot on. "I'll pay in blood/But not my own." Now that's the Dylan I know and love.

[Jack of All Parades]

I am in listening heaven- thank you- do lean to Paid In Blood- even am using it as I write- witness

I Pay in Blood but it's not my Own"

Paul Krugman’s column in the New York Times on Friday, 8/31/12 should be required reading for all and particularly for seniors. If you have not read it, here it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/opinion/Krugman.html

It lays bare the lies perpetrated by Paul Ryan and his Republican minions as they relate to Medicare and our nation’s vision of health care for its citizens. My anger at him and my congresswoman, Nan Hayworth, is palpable. As Mr. Krugman baldly states “But Mr. Ryan’s big lie- and, yes, it deserves that designation- was his claim that a ‘Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare.’ Actually, it would kill the program.”

This piece needs to read by everyone. It succinctly and truthfully lays out the Republican agenda as it relates to Health Care. It is not inflammatory. It is truthful and it hurts. As Mr. Krugman states ‘The question now is whether voters will understand what’s really going on.” What is really at stake in November. This new song by Bob Dylan, “Paid in Blood”, speaks to the issue and may have provided a theme song:

http://youtu.be/_FN5HkGfG94

“I’ve paid in blood, but its not my own” will be the refrain.

It comes from my blog on Tumblerp Personal Observations What Should I Know

It is my new theme song!!!!!!!! Could not be more excited for a new record.

[Poor Deportee]

I liked Kevin's critique of latter-day Dylan. I think the charge that he seems to be stringing together 'random' couplets may be valid; the difference between us being, perhaps, that I always found some of this in his work. In fact, I think Dylan's craft is actually rather stronger, not weaker, in his late career work. By this I mean that (a) he no longer allows himself the luxury of undisciplined surrealism - just throwing together oddball images without necessarily a great deal of focused intent - a failing even in his heyday; and (b) these days he always seems to be in command of what the song is actually about. The rhyming, meanwhile, remains as tight as ever. That being said, his ambition and vision nowadays are significantly scaled-down. Maybe the best-ever critique of Dylan at his peak was written by Clive James: 'he dreams great buildings, even if the walls remain untimbered and the roofs are open to the sky.' Of later Dylan, it seems to me, it can't be so readily said that 'never has so much abritrary stressing met so much melodic angularity in so many awkward marriages;' but far fewer of those later songs will brand themselves upon your imagination in so permanent a fashion, precisely because the dreams are more modest. One thing the later songs have, to my ears anyway, is a richer and more organic musicality. In some ways I see Dylan as having traded some of his lyrical precocity for a more generous sonic palette.

Beyond this, at this stage of his career, I don't demand of Dylan that he blaze new terrain or find new syntheses. What counts, for me, is that this new music seems very alive and, whatever its intrinsic sorrows or ruefulness, at root very joyful. This is not the sound of a man playing out the string, but rather a man finding new joys in what he does. Or so it seems to me.

I also think that his late songs are in fact full of sharp couplets of the sort cited in the posts above. (One off-the-cuff faveL 'I got new eyes...everything looks far away,' which turns the banalities of aging nearsightedness into something borderline metaphysical). And in Bob's defence, his younger self probably could not have written songs as rigorous as 'Cross the Green Mountain' or 'Ain't Talkin.' That seems to take a different skill-set. Of course, it's been a while since he did work of that calibre, but it remains an open question whether this album gives us some (or just a satisfying bunch of fine songs and ear-candy - which would be really just fine by me).

Lastly: unlike Kevin, I don't put Dylan at the same level as EC. I put Dylan in a category onto himself. Perhaps I overrate the man, but I honestly feel that of all popular musicians of the past half-century, he and (for quite different reasons) The Beatles likely have the greatest claim to immortality. EC is great, but I don't think his body of work puts him quite in that league. Time will tell, of course

[Kevin Davis]

Lastly: unlike Kevin, I don't put Dylan at the same level as EC. I put Dylan in a category onto himself. Perhaps I overrate the man, but I honestly feel that of all popular musicians of the past half-century, he and (for quite different reasons) The Beatles likely have the greatest claim to immortality.

He does belong in a category of his own. EC is his musical superior in a number of ways, I think, but there's no doubt in my mind whose work has had and will continue to have the more lasting impression. I was speaking more in terms of what their music means to me personally, how I process it and ultimately come to appreciate it. I do think EC has generally been more consistent than Dylan, though, and much more lucidly in command of his music throughout his career, Dylan having had a few 3-5 year stretches of floundering that EC has thankfully managed to avoid. In fact, you could probably make a case that Dylan was more or less lost from "Street-Legal" up through "Time Out of Mind," where he seems to have finally caught back up with some kind of coherent vision for his art (which may also explain why that's the beginning of his albums taking on a kind of well-earned but workmanlike consistency in terms of sonics). Some fantastic songs were written during that period from 1978-1997, and one of my all-time favorite albums recorded ("World Gone Wrong"), but overall those years do have a sort of "wild goose chase" feel to them. I've never really felt that with EC.

For what it's worth, I don't think I expect the modern Dylan to blaze any new trails, either--what trails are left to blaze in Dylan's arena anyway? To me "Love and Theft" is the apotheosis of his current style, basically his young wits matched with the wisdom and experience of his later years, all done well within the confines of this kind of Americana revue that's become his calling card. Those songs were brimming with detail, concrete images, and vibrant humor, and most of them were five minutes long or shorter; conversely, much of what has come since feels like it runs twice as long and has half as much to say. I sort of get the impression that Dylan has come around to this thinking that long songs are supposed to be "his thing," for lack of a better way of describing it--like how, when "Modern Times" came out, all the reviews were so hung up on "the album closer 'Ain't Talkin',' a ten-minute epic with apocalyptic overtones"; now, it's "the fourteen-minute long title track about the sinking of the Titanic." Sometimes I just really get the sense that, despite what he says, he's a bigger believer than anyone in his own myth, that he's come to buy into this sophomoric artistic notion that a song becomes epic simply by virtue of being long. In the '60's, Dylan's long songs sounded barely able to contain everything they were trying to express; you get the impression that there was so much to report in a song like "Stuck Inside of Mobile" that he was actually doing very well to edit it down to six minutes. I do think he's still writing well, his lyrics of late working in deceptively simpler ways than the surrealist writing from his glory days, but I also think he runs a lot of good songs aground by failing to recognize that what he's saying now just doesn't have the same cinematic grip of his most famous work, even if he's achieved a greater mastery over the music. Even "Roman Kings," for example, would have been serviceable filler at 2.5 minutes, working the same way some of the "Under the Red Sky" material does. But as it stands it's just a slough.

Back when "Modern Times" came out someone I know described "Ain't Talkin'" as sounding as though it was being sung by an old man in the dark with a flashlight under his chin. That image really struck a chord with me. I like that song, and that album, but sometimes that line between "in command" and "self-conscious" is pretty thin. But I suppose Dylan's always more or less rode that line pretty closely.

[Poor Deportee]

Great post. For what it's worth, I do agree with your critique. The difference, if there is one, is the weight accorded to these weaknesses. Dylan's tendency to let his songs bloat on Modern Times is indeed a blemish, but not one that really compromised my enjoyment. All I do is skip the disastrous 'Beyond the Horizon,' which needs to be half the length it is, and the execrable 'Levee Gonna Break,' which was a terrible idea from the start. As for the rest, even when my brain might be telling me that song X really should be shorter, I find myself still enjoying the feeling of it, still grooving. So far, then, it's amounted to a minor weakness, I feel. (Note that Together Through Life avoided this failing. Which is a mercy, because that album would be terrible otherwise). Who knows, maybe Tempest will push things over the edge.

So, you know, it's a matter of emphasis. By and large I see his strengths far outweighing the failings.

It likely helps, also, that I have no problem at all with the theatricity of songs like 'Ain't Talkin.' In fact, I frankly love that particular track, regarding it as one of Dylan's most rigorous and sustained pieces, a masterpiece of craft and atmosphere as well as argument. But that theatrical quality does turn some people off - and I could see where this would be particularly so for a certain segement of Dylan's constituency, i.e., those who emphasize his more confessional and (putatively) 'personal' material and are suspicious of artifice. But I love the imagery of Dylan as this pilgrim in a God-abandoned world.

You're right that EC has never made a sustained fool of himself in the way that Dylan did in the 1980s. I do, however, tend to see the period from about 1995 to 2002 as a 'strained' era in Elvis's career. His craft in this period only really failed him once or twice (on ATUB and then, catastrophically, on WIWC), but there was something unsatisfactory about his work in that period: too much strained oversinging, too much subsuming of his distinctive lyrical voice. That's nothing, though, compared to the epic fail of Dylan's sequence of bombs after Infidels. I've always been bewildered that such a brilliant artist could lose the plot so cataclysmically...but that's another story.

[Kevin Davis]

So, you know, it's a matter of emphasis. By and large I see his strengths far outweighing the failings.

Yeah, you know, I do too. I'm not sure why my relationship with Dylan's post-"L&T" material is so dubious. Probably too much time spent hanging around the internet with overly analytical Dylan dorks like myself. Either way it's nice to learn I'm not the only one who likes "Spirit on the Water" and "When the Deal Goes Down."

You're right that EC has never made a sustained fool of himself in the way that Dylan did in the 1980s. I do, however, tend to see the period from about 1995 to 2002 as a 'strained' era in Elvis's career. His craft in this period only really failed him once or twice (on ATUB and then, catastrophically, on WIWC), but there was something unsatisfactory about his work in that period: too much strained oversinging, too much subsuming of his distinctive lyrical voice. That's nothing, though, compared to the epic fail of Dylan's sequence of bombs after Infidels. I've always been bewildered that such a brilliant artist could lose the plot so cataclysmically...but that's another story.

Hey, at least we got "Dark Eyes" and "Brownsville Girl" out of the deal, as well as a few songs that would have been damn near okay if they weren't produced so atrociously. Have you ever heard the Supper Club '93 version of "Tight Connection To My Heart"?

[Jack of All Parades]

The new Dylan album-"Tempest". The radio stations in my area are playing this with regularity and not just one song but most of them, even the Titanic epic. No need to fear the 'voice'. He is in good form. This album at first listens is Modern Times to the next level. The "Midnight" song has given great pleasure as Bob channels a soulful groove and I cannot get enough of "Paid in Blood" with its righteous anger and old time fire. I also am quite enamored of "Scarlet Town", his reworking of Barbara Allen. If the Obama campaign does not seek permission to use this song during its campaign this fall- they are foolish. I really think Bob is going to move some discs- good on him!!!!!!!!!!

[Who Shot Sam?]

Ordered the new Bob Mould album. Also got the latest Richard Hawley disc - finally. Intrigued by the reviews of Cat Power and the David Byrne/St. Vincent collaboration.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I think the Richard Hawley is excellent, though would vote for Truelove's Gutter over it, and the immaculate Cole's Corner. I like that he's gone for a bit of a guitar workout on it, he does it well. Fopp are selling his back catalogue for £3 a piece (and all the Roxy albums too), so I got Lady's Bridge, which I missed on at the time. Sounds good, but not at the same level as the above three.

I too am intrigued/keen to hear by the proposition of the new Cat Power (with her post-bankruptcy and cleaning up cropped hair on the cover) and especially the Byrne/Clarke collab. Was listening today to Marry Me (which you sent me, WSS!), and thinking how good it was. Haven't heard her last two though.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Checked out the first three of each of the above on Spotify. Dylan: yeah, sounds worth listening to properly. Cat: love the sound and the songs. Always liked her voice, and she sounds on form here. Not as stunning as the opening songs on The Greatest, but very good. Byrne/St V, hmmm, very 'hey, we're kooky New York experimentalists'. nice use of brass, does well in conveying both of their styles, sounds like it might be a little too far up its own arse to want to hear much. Any one digging it?

I'm on a steady diet of Dexys (the new one and the old ones, all great), and also the next band I'm to see, Lambchop.

[Kevin Davis]

I was curious about the Byrne/St. Vincent record. Doesn't sound promising from what you're saying. How would you say it compares to "Strange Mercy" in the head-up-ass department? I felt like "Mercy" had just the right amount of it...