13 posts tagged “bob dylan”

With the recent announcement that Bryan Singer has signed on to direct the movie adaption of Battlestar Galactica, fans and science fiction nerds have taken an interest in BSG once again. 

Let me remind you that in 2004 when the show first aired on then-named Sci-Fi Channel, people were poo-pooing the series. "Starbuck is now a girl?" they cried in anger. But they were soon won over by the great writing team, special effects, and production. This clearly wasn't the campy late-70s show, this was a whole new thing - yet the characters and story remained strangely true to their origin.

I think part of the fun and excitement each week was trying to figure out all the mysteries*. For instant, who were the human Cylons ? Characters you knew and love, suddenly were Cylons. Why were the robots programmed to believe in God ? Were the war between humans and Cylons simply a metaphor for "real life" with Americans and Talibans ? And what's this got to do with time travel and the underlying message and theme of "it's happened before and it'll happen again"? Like all great stories, they evoke a lot of questions. Sadly, the series ended.

The last season (Season 4) was full of twists and turns and you are never quite sure how conflicts would resolve. Characters you knew and love died (and remain dead!) and although I was sort of disappointed in the very last episode, the show was certainly the best Sci-Fi television could offer at the time.

So, while you wait for the movie version of Battlestar Galactica, you should check out the DVD (version 4.0 and 4.5 is already out), and if you're rich enough, the $200+ bluray complete set. The only way to watch action and sci-fi is on high definition, my friend.

If you're already a convert, might I also suggest the BSG soundtracks? Season 1-4 as well as the spinoff Caprica were are all composed by Bear McCreary and features music from the television show. Having to review nearly 40 soundtracks, I can tell you that most soundtracks are meant to either be repetitive or just "background" music. Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Soundtrack is quite bold, as far as soundtracks goes. Compared to Season 3, I feel like this season's soundtrack has a lot more Gaelic/Irish music to it. You can certainly hear its influence on "Gaeta's Lament", "The Cult of Baltar", "Farewell Apollo" (bagpipes!), "Assault on the Colony", etc.

When it's not Celtic, the music is often orchestral, sweeping violins, tribal drumming and lifting choirs. You can find all that, plus or minus, and so much more on my song choice, "The Signal". The song is reminiscent of the "Main Title" song all the way back from the start of Season 1.

What I would've love to see are more guest vocalists. Alessandro Juliani, who plays Felix Gaeta in the show, offers a sad rendition of writer Michael Angeli's lyrics from the episode "Guess What's Coming to Dinner". I knew Juliani could sing, as during the progress of the show, he ends up losing a leg and would often sing, what they refer to as "the stump serenade", to ease his mind.

What makes this release of Season 4 Soundtrack so special is that it is the 100^th release from La La Land Records. As a bonus, you're also given a second CD filled with most of the soundtrack for the finale episode "Daybreak" (parts 1 & 2). That's not all, the 20 page booklet offers comments from the entire cast, talking about the music. Reading the quotes, you can see that the actors and directors and writers see the music as a very important - no essential to the show. After all, the plot for season 3 and 4 revolves around "All Along the Watchtower" song.

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 is available now from La La Land Records, whose specialty is television and movie soundtracks. The album is currently at a special offer of $15.98 if you order Season 4 and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold Limited Edition CD.

* I don't know if this is a spoiler, but I think enough time have passed that I can talk about it (hey that kid sees dead people in The Sixth Sense). This isn't a major spoiler, but when I discovered that the crew of Battlestar Galactica actually was lost and they basically were trying to find their way home to Earth - that just blew me away. I never really thought about what they were doing in space anyway.

It must be hard to be Jakob Dylan, always underneath the shadow of his father. Jakob is the youngest among the four children born of Bob Dylan and Sara Lownds. Unlike his other siblings, Jakob decided to follow in his father's footstep of music.

When The Wallflowers first appeared in the early 90s, the conversation was always about his relation to his dad. I was sort of relieved that he doesn't exactly sounds like his father, but more like Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty - at least vocally. However, the one thing he might have gotten from his father is his gift for writing great personal lyrics.

While the band maybe both gained and suffered from the Dylan association, producer T-Bone Burnett disputes why they were successful:

As far as Jakob is concerned, I can't imagine having larger footsteps to follow in. But Jakob's character is clearly defined and he handles success with grace, which also says a lot about Bob as a father... I don't think Jakob sold a single record because he is Bob's son. I think he sold a lot of records because "One Headlight" is a very good song. I wonder how many Wallflowers fans even know who Bob Dylan is.

Interscope Records have collected a few of the band's best-known tracks into a compilation called Collected: 1996-2005. Why those years you might ask? Well, those are the Interscope years, prior to '96, they were signed to Virgin Records. Which, let's face it, didn't exactly set the charts on fire with their debut self-titled.

The band's debut single was "6th Avenue Heartache", which did OK on charts, but it would be "One Headlight" that would be the band's biggest hit song to date. I'm pretty sure, for a time anyway, that "One Headlight" was being played on all modern rock stations across the US every few hours. Even if you wanted to get away from the song, you couldn't because MTV was playing it all the time too! It's a good song, but maybe in small doses.

The Wallflowers have always been kind of Americana-pop music to me, a little mellow, you know? The most rockiest song on the compilation is "The Difference" from their Interscope debut Bringing Down the Horse (followed closely by their massive hit song, "Sleepwalker"). Many of their songs rely on this background ambient soundtrack, like "the quietest whisper".

Whoever put together this album did a pretty good job with compiling four or five songs from each of their four Interscope albums. However, I will have to point out that Rebel, Sweetheart kind of got the shaft as there are only two songs represented here. "The Beautiful Side of Somewhere", from Rebel, is actually one of the best Wallflowers song, although it failed to chart (as most of their songs in the later years).

The good news is that if you've already own all the albums and know all the songs by heart, you'll be happy to know that this new compilation contain two previously unreleased songs: "Eat You Sleeping" and "God Says Nothing Back". I thought "Eat You Sleeping" is pretty good, there's an entro of violins, but it sounds to me as if Dylan is saying "ain't you sleeping" for some reason. "God Says Nothing Back" is a multi-acoustic song, which I feel might be better if it remain this like this demo: stripped down with just one instrument and Dylan's vocals.

Since the band took a break post-2005, Jakob Dylan did release a solo album called Seeing Things last year. His solo tour consists of his new band, Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels. However, you'll be happy to know that The Wallflowers are back together and currently on tour.

So, hey, relive your favorite modern rock childhood with The Wallflowers when you see them live - and while you're at it, bust out your Toad The Wet Sprocket, Michael Penn, and The Spin Doctors albums. Collected: 1996-2005 is out now at most music store. Hardcore fans may want track down the version with bonus DVD, which is available from third party sellers on amazon.

I really like Science Fiction movies and television, especially when they start messing around with time-travel. So below are some television shows that I think you should check out if you're into time-travel and sci-fi.

If you don't like spoilers, please stop reading.

LOST
This show started off with a plane crash on an island. Pretty normal stuff, except for a man in a wheel chair walking again (Locke) and that smoke monster and polar bears... Pretty mysterious, but I didn't really get into the show until season 2, when I watched a season 1 wrap up with one of my friend.

Currently, season 5 is pretty awesome! Although I have confessed that knowing too much about the Darma Initiative was lame, I do like the time-travel aspect of the show. You have to realize that the show didn't start off like this, it's evolved into science fiction.

I just love the time-travel aspect, and I think a lot of people will agree with me. I have already have my own theory on how the show is going to end (the show is ending next year).

As far as music is concern, despite being lost and isolated on an island, you do get the occassional Patsy Cline. My favorite was spotting Oasis' "Wonderwall" as performed by Charlie Pace on a street corner. Charlie, as you know, is the singer in the fictional band Drive Shaft, who had brief fame before crashing on Flight 815.

For further music information, check out Lostpedia. In all of their database, they didn't at all mention the band Previously on Lost.

Previously on Lost should be one of the worst band name ever. Their only gimmick is songs recaping Lost episodes. Previously no relationship with the show, for the last season (season six), ABC.com have hired them to do a musical recap of Season 5 (I can't wait to see what they rhyme with "Jacob" and "four-toed foot statue").

I did request their latest album The Tale of Season Four and the Oceanic Six, and I can tell you the band is as silly (and witty) (and nerdy) as I imagine the band to be. The first recap song "We're Goin' Home" will take you back to the Jack vs his beard fiasco and introduced the catchy chant "we are the oceanic six". It does get a little boring when you realize all the songs are about episodes from Lost. You start to think, didn't I just watch this ? With one exception, "Ballad Of Sayid Jarrah", is much better than the actual episode. It pretty much sums up what Sayid is all about: armed to the teeth secret agent with a list... and with good hair gel.

The Brooklyn band is currently on tour:

06/06/09 Public Assembly LIONSHARE and Ninjasonik Brooklyn, New York*
06/09/09 The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA*+
06/10/09 AS220 Providence, Rhode Island+
06/11/09 Maxwells Hoboken, New Jersey*
06/12/09 Nightcat Cafe Easton, Maryland*
06/13/09 Danger Danger Gallery Philadelphia, Pennsylvania*

* with Anamanaguchi
+ with Harry and the Potters

My only concern for the band is that it's a novelty. I mean, will we still hear about them a year or two after the show's gone off air? Where will they get their inspirations for new songs ?

Their debut album, The Tale of Season Four and the Oceanic Six, can be bought via paypal to wearepol at gmail.com or iTunes.

JOURNEYMAN
I really like this show, I spent the better part of some weekend watching all thirteen episode of Journeyman on Hulu. The 2007 time travel television show feels like a modern age Quantum Leap (another show that I loved when I was younger). The show was created for 20^th Century Fox, but ultimately ended up airing on NBC.

The show is quite modern, I mean, after all, it was only two years ago, but seeing the iPhone on the show is kind of cool.

My problem is that Dan Vasser disappear in modern time (2007) whenever he does the time travel thing - often at unconvenient times. I mean, wouldn't people sort of noticed this bright light and a man disappearing? Also, since it's time travel, why doesn't he just return at the same time he left?

My favorite part about the show is the Journeyman theme song by Amanda Ghost and The Rural. The song was never official released on any record, but if you're interested in buying her 2008 download-only album, Blood On The Line, it is available here.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Am I the only person that was disappointed with the very last episode of the new Battlestar Galactica ? I mean, huh? Prior to the final episode, the writing and story was top-notch! I love the time stuff, and it's more of a human story (everything from racisms to religion). The idea of the machines believing in God (read: not man), is a strange idea.

While the show was a rollercoaster ride, there were a few episodes that sort of went nowhere - but it's still a very excellent show. At one point, I thought it was my favorite show ever because they were killing off all your favorite (and not-so-favorite) characters.

Music was a main plot point when Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" (as played by Jimi Hendrix) caused the Final Five to unite and discover each other as Cylons. The Battlestar Galactica version from Bear McCreary is available on the soundtrack to Season 3.

I attended a Bob Dylan (official/myspace) tribute event last night at the Red Stag Supper Club, in Minneapolis. The event was also a listening party for Dylan's 33rd studio album, Together Through Life (released today, April 28^th on Columbia Records). The turnout was pretty good (although I will confess most of the people there - they were there to eat dinner), and a few W♥M locals turned up: Brody, Carl, Kate (not to be confused with new Kate), and Lara.

As the name of the 'venue' suggest, this is a restaurant - so the sound of people chattering and eating is really not ideal for a show (especially when the majority of the acts are singer/songwriter acoustic sets). I don't know what the noise ordinance was for that area, but everyone agreed that they should've turned up the mic and sound system and really blast it.

Local musicians turned up to do Dylan covers, including Martin Devaney (myspace) , Sam Cassidy from At Any Speed and Shoreline (official/myspace), Andy Ulseth (myspace) and Derek Helland from Victory Ship (myspace).

We have previously mentioned two of the band on the bill, Victory Ship and Andy Ulseth - so be sure to check out our previous articles.

Incidentally, lady luck must've been shining on me last night because I ended up winning one of the contest: a book by Bob Dylan and Barry Feinstein called Hollywood Foto-Retoric and an EP called Things Have Changed. The book is a Dylan poetry book, with Feinstein photos. Some of the pairings are questionable, like the Charlie Chapin photo with "Madness" by Dylan. I wish the photos were printed on larger pages (it's such a rare glimpse into the lives of Hollywood stars and I wish the black and white images are in greater details). Either way, I am very happy with my winnings, and am very glad I showed up.

As for Dylan's album, Together Through Life, I do have a copy here and listening to the first few tracks, you'll notice one thing: Dylan's voice have dramatically gotten more and more rustier (in a good whiskey-hearing way). Check out the new single "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" to know what I mean. If you like the song, head over to beyondhereliesnothin.com to use the lyrics of the song to create a portrait.

Songs from the album seems to be Dylan love songs, reminiscent of his semi-recent albums Modern Times and Love and Theft, so if you enjoyed those albums, you will love the direction this album is heading in.

The album comes in four major formats: a standard CD (all original Dylan songs), a 2CD/1DVD set (the second CD includes songs written by other people), digital MP3s (c'mon, just pay a little more and get the CD), and 180 gram vinyl - for the old school fans. As usual, I would recommend the 3 disc set, for even casual fans.

Starting in July, Bob Dylan and His Band, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson, are going on a national "Minor League Baseball Park" tour. You can either buy tickets for field tickets or a seated bleacher (which I will suggest you bring binoculars).

It should be loads of fun, and children under the age of 14 can get in free with an adult. Tickets doesn't officially go on sale until May, but I believe fans signed up for his email list gets first dibs on pre-sale tickets.

ALSO: Out today is The Black Crowes' Warpaint Live album on Eagle Rock Entertainment. The live album are live songs of every song (in the correct order) from the Crowes' previous studio album Warpaint. The album also comes with a bonus live CD, you can read more details on our news.weheartmusic.com website.

All right.  I’ll just put this out there:  Joe’s a friend of mine.  You may think this makes me biased when it comes to reviewing something that he’s created, but it really doesn’t, for two reasons:  1).  I’m always honest when it comes to art, and 2).  I’m not nice.

When I first saw Joe perform solo, I remember thinking “okay, okay, good lyrics, good songs, but…” and that ‘but’ wasn’t even defined until later, while listening to some sad-sack acoustic whatever at home and deciding that most men and their guitars need more friends—friends with basses and drum kits.  Unless you’re Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Dylan, or Jesus it’s unlikely that you’re capable of sitting alone on stage and convincing the audience that your pain is their pain (and lest we forget that all three of those artists plugged it in/turned it up at some point during their careers (Jesus too.  Would it be tasteless to call him the original “rock revivalist?”).  Most musicians require something…meaty—a guttural oomph, a pathetically somber guitar twang, even a steady, explicit beat.  I’m sorry that I have to say this; in a dream world a man and his guitar could (and would) be enough—enough to convey the emotion behind a simple prose verse.  But before words there was sound, and I feel comfortable emphasizing the importance of having a full, distinct sound.  Basically, I’m just tired of the “singer-songwriter,” which is a horrible descriptor, because all singers should also be songwriters (and yes, I realize the naïveté of that statement.  Let’s move on).

Joe’s sound is one that requires a bit of concentration; he mumbles sometimes, and occasionally pulls back from the microphone.  It’s as engaging as it is frustrating (as someone who writes about music), since there were a few moments where I felt tempted to yell something socially inept, like “Can you please repeat that line, I forgot to take notes!”  While he doesn’t have the voice to satisfy Belle and Sebastian fans, I’m so tearfully grateful that his style fails to suggest a twee wet dream about to flood (there’s a time and place for sedate little ponderings about cute girls at the coffee shop, like at the coffee shop).  He’s not obscure at all, and I might even describe what he’s doing as obvious, but with the trickiness of semantics, I don’t want our readers to think I’m calling his music trite or played out.  The contrary, actually, I use ‘obvious’ in the same way that someone might say “I understand what you’re doing because I feel the same.” 

It’s also obvious that Joe is interested in the technical side of music-making; listen to his covers—“Bennie and the Jets” is no longer a showy, middle-age foot stomper (bless Elton John), instead he performs it understated, stripped of flamboyance; there’s even a slight bucolic quality (its sparse rhythm lends itself to late-night country driving).  Isaac Hayes’s “Shaft” theme (you heard me) is similarly made-under as a cool, semi-serious/still-funny, semi-foxy/still-funny tribute to the greatest, self-proclaimed sex machine (intermixed with Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By”; admittedly, I didn’t recognize this at first, or it didn’t register; a testament to Joe’s musical reupholstering?).  Besides the covers, Joe reserved ample time for original songs, most of which, I’d assume, are candidates for his upcoming record.  “Oh Lilly” is catchy enough, an anti-weepy reflection on heartache and heartbreak that ends with the question no girl ever wants to hear (“You know I want you / but do I need you?”).  “Keep it Together,” one of my faves from earlier shows, resonated better with the addition of the band; other songs were played solo and sounded fine, if not slightly incomplete.  Perhaps this feeling was amplified by how awkwardly everyone repositioned themselves/left the stage; I thought maybe they were practicing for the encore “fake-out.”  Awkwardness notwithstanding (and let’s be real here, who doesn’t appreciate a few minutes of uncomfortable silence to buy more beer?), I thoroughly enjoyed the music and thoroughly recommend it, and yes, my biases are showing.  I don’t care, go support the rock.

Joe and his guitar are playing every Thursday this month at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis.  He’s joined on stage by John Taillon (bass) and Dave Mehling (drums).  For more information:  Myspace and 400 Bar.

 10/28/2008 01:17:56  ♥ written by vu ()

I watch a lot of movies, recently loving the Target Bluray exclusives (the Iron Man mask packaging and Indiana Jones photo book), so I am hoping the industry moves to high definition soon before my vision goes bad with old age.

I am kind of a big nerd when it comes to categorizing and collecting rather obsessively! Please check out my Dragon Dynasty and Tokyo Shock's Shaw Brothers Enhanced Editions to see what I've been doing with my free time.

To celebrate, we have two DVDs I have received for review. Reviewing movies is so much different than audio CDs as you really need to basically pay attention visually and audiolly (that's not a word) so it's much tougher than music CDs.

Hanson Brothers-Stick Boy Hanson Brothers HANSON BROTHERS hansonbrothers.net ♥ myspace.com/hansonbrotherscanada The information I have on this It's a Living CD/DVD release is that it will be available sometime in November. At first glance, I thought those "Mmmbop" kids did not age very well. As it turns out, this is yet another long line of confusing 'Hanson' band names. However, since they are Canadians, I wonder sometimes if their name wasn't inspired by that hockey movie? What's nice about this release is that the CD and DVD are on the same disc, but holding the disc can be tricky since you don't want to touch the data surface. My DVD player had a bit of a problem reading the DVD side, but it eventually worked out. There are no menus; it's pretty much a direct VHS transfer. The show was recorded at the Coaldale Motor Inn in Alberta, Canada and shows off how punky and fun they are. Songs like "We're Bad" come off sounding really great (love that oui oui thrown in there). The song that I think the record label is using as promotion is "Stick Boy", which sounds like a late 70's UK song. When the bassline kicks in, it's the only sound you hear, except for the audience screaming. Like typical punk songs, most of these songs are straight under three minutes... so they can squeeze in 27 tracks - all under an hour. It's obvious to me these guys are into the 70's garage punk that the Ramones made famous, but tend to lean toward the Sex Pistols as well. Plus, they seem to have a love of all things hockey and cabbage. Fans of 70's punk with humor should definitely give this band a chance. I thought I should also mention that the DVD video is called "All Grain Brewing with Johnny Hanson". It was overall enjoyable and it made brewing fun and easy. Even with the cheesy/corny self-aware "acting" from Johnny Hanson this production was well thought out and actually looks like some work was done in production! By the way, I especially liked their Ramones cover, re-titled appropriately as "Blitzkrieg Hops" with such catchy lines as Hey you! Let's brew!. It's obvious to me that these guys take their beer seriously, yet do not take themselves too seriously as demonstrated by their humor. Good news is that they will be doing the touring thing: 11/27/2008 The Anza Club - Vancouver, BC 11/28/2008 King Cobra - Seattle, WA 11/29/2008 Berbati's Pan - Portland, OR 11/30/2008 Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA 12/02/2008 Harlow's - Sacramento, CA 12/03/2008 Echo - Los Angeles, CA 12/05/2008 Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA 12/06/2008 Hollywood Alley - Mesa, AZ 12/07/2008 Launch Pad - Albuquerque, NM 12/09/2008 Red 7 - Austin, TX 12/11/2008 Mojo's - Columbia, MO 12/12/2008 Reggie's - Chicago, IL 12/13/2008 High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI 12/14/2008 Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN 12/15/2008 The Aquarium - Fargo, ND 12/17/2008 The Bandlander - Missoula, MT 12/18/2008 Ray's Golden Lion - Richmond, WA 12/19/2008 Hell's Kitchen - Tacoma, WA 12/20/2008 Sugar Nightclub - Victoria, BC It's a Living is available from the band's own label, Wrong Records (this is a myspace page because my antivirus tells me their official site is infected with a worm).

Highway 61 Revisited - Hallelujah, I'm Ready Highway 61 Revisited BOB DYLAN bobdylan.com ♥ bobdylanjesus.com Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years: Busy Being Born Again (10/28/08) W♥M readers will have noted that I'm a big Bob Dylan fan and so I was pretty interested in the release of Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years: Busy Being Born... Again! DVD that's being released today, October 28th. Just for background purposes, fans who've followed Dylan's career would've noticed Dylan becoming all religious on them in the late 70's. This time period is better known as "The Jesus Years" and saw two albums of Christian gospel-inspired albums, Slow Train Coming (1979) and Saved (1980). Director Joel Gilbert tries to answer how a Jewish folk singer from Minnesota ends up finding Jesus through various interviews and theories. Some people think it's because Dylan was always searching for something or seeking truth; he needed help in the struggle of his life's problems (this theory might be moot since I think at this point in his life, Dylan was pretty successful and well-known). Some speculated that Dylan went through a religious/supernatural experience. There's a lot to like about this documentary. First of all, its vision and direction and pacing comes from mega-superfan Gilbert, who previously did at least four other Dylan documentaries - including Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 and Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974 Though the Camera of Barry Feinstein. He definitely knows what he's doing with his latest documentary. I also liked the editing style, which is filled with background music (so there aren't any awkward silences) and transitional relocations (such as driving) are done in a way that's interesting. There are things I didn't like - but these are very minor complaints. Some of the interviews I felt could've been dropped - especially if it's not of or relating to Bob Dylan. I didn't like seeing the director in many of the frames (sorry Joel!), I feel that the director should be behind the camera, not on camera... My main complaint is that their main subject, Bob Dylan, does not make an appearance. It's like tip-toeing around the answer, you know? There are obviously many reasons for this; I'm certain Dylan does not want any part of this to begin with. Despite my minor complaints, the documentary was put together quite professionally, features some great editing, is watchable, and definitely worth your time if you're a Bob Dylan fan. Bonus features on the DVD include new interview footage, interviews with the late producer Jerry Wexler and pastor Bill Dwyer, and the full movie soundtrack in MP3 format by Dylan tribute band Highway 61 Revisited. You can pick up the DVD (with bonus MP3s on the disc) at bobdylanjesus.com

 10/12/2008 09:41:24  ♥ written by vu ()

Undoubtedly, the most influential folk singer/songwriter is non other than Bob Dylan. And what a great time to be a Dylan fan, he's just released his latest Bootleg series, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006, last Tuesday, and in a few weeks a (fan?) documentary Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years: Busy Being Born Again also comes out.

Where they last left off in the long-running so-called bootleg series, #7, those recording were rare and unreleased tracks from 1961 and 1966 (which included his very first recorded song, "When I Got Troubles"). I'm pleased to see that #8 focuses more on his recent material, from his No Mercy (1989) to Modern Times (2006). It's compelling because it would seem that only his last three releases (Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times) seems to be in the public's eye because they charted in the top 10 on the US charts.

Anyway, although there's no credit(s) on whoever compiled these tracks, it's evident to me that Larry "Ratso" Sloman must've had a hand in suggestions: not only did he write the introduction in the 60-page booklet, but he also painstakingly wrote notes for each of the 27 songs. I'm glad that Columbia Records is letting this massive fan put together the series, because only Dylan's hardcore fans/completist can truly make this worthwhile.

The Sloman essay details about his first GWW (Great White Wonder) bootleg to more recent quotes about his 2006 album, Modern Times. I suggest that anyone picking up this album to read it, as I suspect the majority of fans won't take the time to read the liner notes.

I had to dig out his last album, Modern Times to compare some of the tracks, to see what the differences are: and they are far apart. The alternative version of "Ain't Talkin'" is a little more upbeat, his vocals seems a little faster-paced. The version that did made it on Modern Times has more space in the song. When it comes down to it, both version of the song is amazing, but I felt the Modern Times version ultimately fit the album.

Obviously the blatant example that people will note is the three very different version of "Mississippi". We're given two unreleased version of the song on the Bootleg CDs, but the version that appeared on Tell Tale Signs is nothing like stripped acoustic version #1 or the what sounds like an evening verision #2. What a rare glimpse into Bob Dylan's brilliant mind.

Also, one interesting thing that I've observed is that as Dylan ages, his voice becomes more and more bluesy, so songs like "Marchin' to the City" (unreleased) and "Lonesome Day Blues" (live) sounds even better as he's gotten older!

Columbia Records did the smart thing and released this as a stripped down CD (retails $10), but I would recommend paying an extra $5 to get the 2-disc edition with slipcase and a 60-page booklet... which I think most people are going to get. Super hardcore Dylan fans might want to check out the deluxe version of The Bootleg Series #8, as it comes with a bonus 12-track CD, a slipcase, a hardbound book (150 pages). The price is pretty steep: over $100, you know you're worth it.

Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 is out now and you can find this at any record store. Still not convince? Download a free song from this album through Amazon.com.

   ♥ written by vu ()

Hey, hey, hey! You might have noticed my low-output these last few weeks. You know how it is. Busy, busy, and stuff.

All the news below have appeared on news.weheartmusic.com, so be sure to bookmark the website if you are a music junkie. So let's get to it:

[1] BELLE & SEBASTIAN: THE BBC SESSIONS
www.belleandsebastian.com ♥ myspace.com/thebandbelleandsebastian
Fans waiting for brand spanking new tracks will have to wait a few years. Jeepster (UK) and Matador (US) will be releasing this compilation on November 17^th.

Of course, as already a long-time fan, I will tell you that I already have a (crappy) recording of the over-the-air broadcast. I'm obviously still going to get a copy (particularly the limited double-CD version), just in time for Christmas, I suppose.

Highlight from the compilation is alternative version of "Lazy Line Painter Jane", which I'm quite curious about.

I'm definitely glad I will be able to replace my bootleg copy for this (assumingly remastered) version. In the meantime, enjoy their cover version of The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun", this track will be available on the 2^nd bonus CD if you get the limited edition.

[2] BOB DYLAN'S "MISSISSIPPI" AVAILABLE FREE ON AMAZON.COM
www.bobdylan.com ♥ myspace.com/bobdylan
Columbia Records announced that for a limited time, you can download this song on www.amazon.com/mp3, in promotion for Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs - The Bootleg Series Vol 8. I don't know how long the song is available for free, so you might as well download it while you can. I am assuming the promotion will end when the Bootleg #8 is officially released on October 7^th, but that's only an assumption.

The story behind this song was that it was originally recorded for the 1997 album (Tell Tale Signs), but a very different version of "Mississippi" eventually made it out on 2001's Love and Theft.

This version actually is more stripped down. Bob Dylan's 8th installment in his so-called Bootleg Series will be available in a two-disc format and a three-disc deluxe format. Hardcore fan will want the 3-disc format, of course.

[3] SUPERDRAG'S NEW ALBUM OUT IN 2009
www.superdrag.com ♥ myspace.com/superdragofficial
Details about the 'drag's new album is kind of sketchy. I'm told that they're still in the process of recording a yet-untitled new album pending for release in early 2009.

What is exciting about this new album is that it will feature the original line from 1998's Headtrip In Every Key. The one song that I was sent to preview is "Filthy And Afraid (Stealth Mix D)", which I'll have to admit is pretty rockin'.

Fans will note that it has that "Sucked Out" vibe to it.

 06/03/2008 00:03:00  ♥ written by vu ()