Last time I posted about Bob's new album I did it in the middle of another thread and got told off by T&A for not giving such cataclysmic news a thread of it's own, so here it is :




DYLAN RECORDS SURPRISE 'MODERN TIMES' FOLLOW-UP

Dark new disc with a bluesy border-town feel arrives in April
By David Fricke

I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver/And I'm reading James Joyce/Some people tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice," Bob Dylan sings in a leathery growl, capturing the essence of his forthcoming studio album - raw-country love songs, sly wordplay and the wounded state of the nation - in "I Feel a Change Coming On," one of the record's 10 new originals.

Set for late April,the as-yet-untitled album arrives a few months after Dylan's outtakes collection Tell Tale Signs nad it "came as a surprise," says a source close to Dylan's camp. Last year, filmmaker Olivier Dahan, who directed the 2007 Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie en Rose, approached Dylan about writing songs for his next feature. Dylan responded with "Life Is Hard," a bleak ballad with mandolin, pedal steel and him singing in a dark, crystal clear voice, "The evening winds are still/I've lost the way and will." (The song appears in the film My Own Love Song, starring Renee Zellweger.)

Inspired, Dylan kept writing and recording songs with his road band and guests, with Los Lobos' David Hidalgo rumored on the accordion. Dylan produced the album under his usual pseudonym, Jack Frost.

The disc has the live-in-the-studio feel of Dylan's last two studio records, 2001's Love & Theft and 2006's Modern Times, but with the seductive border-cafe feel (courtesy of the accordion on every track) and an emphasis on struggling-love songs. The effect - in the opening shuffle, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," the Texas-dance-hall jump of "If You Ever Go To Houston" and the waltz "This Dream of You" - is a gnarly turn on early-1970's records like New Morning and Planet Waves.

Dylan makes references to the national chaos, as on the viciously funny slow blues "My Wife's Home Town" ("State gone broke, the county's dry/Don't be lookin' at me with that evil eye"), culminating in the deceptive rolling rock of "It's All Good." Against East L.A. accordion and a snake's nest of guitars, Dylan tells you how bad things are - "Brick by brick they tear you down/A teacup of water is enough to drown" - then ices each verse with the title line, a pithy shot of sneering irony and calming promise. "You would never expect the record after Modern Times to sound like this", the source says. "Bob takes all of those disparate elements you hear and puts them into a track. But you can't put your finger on it - 'It sounds exactly like that.' That's why he's so original."

- Rolling Stone

spooky - that smiley just appeared immediately after the words 'evil eye'...

anyway, word has it that we should know the full details of the new record by mid March and the release date is rumoured to be April 27, during Bob's UK tour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-03-04 14:34 by Gazza.

Good news. Hope he'll be playing a couple of new ones when I'll be seeing him late this month.


[BTW the smiley thing happens when there's no space between the ')' and the letter in front of it]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-03-04 14:45 by Sohoe.

This is excellent news!

...if a new album from His Bobness can't cheer me up, then nothing can.

excellent news

Good news,thanks for posting it here,Gazza.

Great news and thanks. New Morning gets a mention. I think its underated (Dylan was a bit out of favour by then) but some of the tracks are personal favorites.
After the tour I hope he finds time to complete Chronicles 2.
Bob's The Man!

I love surprises like these!!!! And that guy seems to always come with new ones...

Thanks Gazza!

- Doxa

Neil and Bob releasing new stuff... that's excellent. thanks!

This is what you get from a guy born in 1941 who NEVER stops working (constant touring with ever-evolving performances, a radio show PLUS new songs).
Imho the current lack of steam from the Stones comes from their laziness...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-03-04 15:42 by dcba.

Great news! Thanks for posting this, Gazza.

Wow, I can't wait to download that one. Bob Dylan is still the king.

And The Rolling Stones continue to do NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS.
DYLAN INSPIRATION CONTINUES.

thanks, Gazza - hopefully this will shut down the naysayers on dylan boards who claim all this new bob album biz is a hoax....

I wonder what the critical response will be this time... IMO Modern Times was somewhat overrated. If the majority among the seas of Dylan critics feel the same way, they might compensate on this one and tear this one down preemptively. Plus this messes with the nonsensical "trilogy" idea that amused them so.

from the lyrics, it doesn't sound like bob's getting any cheerier, does it?

according to dylan himself, this is the third album of the trilogy...toom wasn't apart of the proceedings...

Well I can't wait. Love and Theft and Modern Times were both excellent. And full of humour. This is good news.I'm gonna grab my trombone and blow.

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cc
I wonder what the critical response will be this time... IMO Modern Times was somewhat overrated. If the majority among the seas of Dylan critics feel the same way, they might compensate on this one and tear this one down preemptively. Plus this messes with the nonsensical "trilogy" idea that amused them so.

from the lyrics, it doesn't sound like bob's getting any cheerier, does it?

you don't hear alot of cheery songs emanating from the last depression, either...what gives?

Great news. That's one album I'm going to buy in March/April.

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dcba
This is what you get from a guy born in 1941 who NEVER stops working (constant touring with ever-evolving performances, a radio show PLUS new songs).
Imho the current lack of steam from the Stones comes from their laziness...

I doubt that its simply laziness...theyve lost their inspiration and direction over the years...like Dylan in the 80s...but he managed to come out of his creative hole...well see if the Stones can do it too.

But theres a difference - Dylan obviously has no problems to play smaller venues, whereas the Stones judge their success by ever-increasing tour income.

good points, alimente - also - it's easier for a solo act - no politics and coordination issues involved with rallying the troops, etc...

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T&A
good points, alimente - also - it's easier for a solo act - no politics and coordination issues involved with rallying the troops, etc...

too true, T&A, too true. a group like the Stones requires that their main protagonists speak to each other, at least from time to time...

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T&A
thanks, Gazza - hopefully this will shut down the naysayers on dylan boards who claim all this new bob album biz is a hoax....

It hasnt. On the same board where I found it, there's still some knuckleheads who refuse to believe it, even though the article was written by a respected veteran journalist and is published in the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

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Gazza

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T&A
thanks, Gazza - hopefully this will shut down the naysayers on dylan boards who claim all this new bob album biz is a hoax....

It hasnt. On the same board where I found it, there's still some knuckleheads who refuse to believe it, even though the article was written by a respected veteran journalist and is published in the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

somebody will have the last laugh. there are respected dylan scholars who indicated a couple of weeks ago that they had heard it, too.

- "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver/And I'm reading James Joyce/Some people tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice,"

That's got to be the year's most pompous, self-satisfied sentence. Almost as bad as "She opened a book of poem... written by an Italian poet of the 13th century" and "your loyalty is not to me but to the stars above". Dear, dear. That's what Dylan lost way back in 67 in his motorbike accident: his sense of humour and self mockery. The old croaking prophet should lighten up a bit about his glorious self. That been said, since he has devoted followers...

Can't wait to hear it!

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otonneau
- "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver/And I'm reading James Joyce/Some people tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice,"

That's got to be the year's most pompous, self-satisfied sentence. Almost as bad as "She opened a book of poem... written by an Italian poet of the 13th century" and "your loyalty is not to me but to the stars above". Dear, dear. That's what Dylan lost way back in 67 in his motorbike accident: his sense of humour and self mockery. The old croaking prophet should lighten up a bit about his glorious self. That been said, since he has devoted followers...

what exactly is self-satisfied about it? For one thing, it's "some people" who tell the speaker this; he doesn't say it first (though he does say it, as the speaker of the line), and he doesn't say he credits them when they say it. For another, what is "the blood of the land"--I sure don't know: is it a good thing?--and how would claiming to have it in your voice reflect pompously on you? For another--alluding to Billy Joe Shaver is pompous?... Finally, this is one line--absurd to draw a 40-year distinction from one line--and it's detached from the musical context. If he sang this over the backing of "Rainy Day Women," would it still strike you as pompous?

Saying "I'm reading James Joyce" is snobbish name-dropping, which I find annoying anywhere. In a way, I'd rather he discreetly inserted a quote; a least there would be a real relation to Joyce and not just the name of the elite's favourite writer.

That with mention of Billy Joe Shaver makes a mixture of "I got roots and culture too" which has been the essence of Dylan's self-image this many years.

To have the blood on the land on your voice makes you into the depository of people's sufferings, your voice becomes a symbol etc. All that because his voice has indeed bled to death and is a mere croak.

"Some people", sure, he doesn't say it himself. You know, some girls tell me I'm the best lover they ever had. Not all, and I'm not saying it myself, so sure you don't think I'm boasting as i tell you this, right?

I'm not drawing a 40 year distinction from one line. I'm a big Dylan fan (used to be a bigger one, though) and very familiar with all his work. One line has reminded me of a 40 year distinction, which is different. And that is not to say Dylan has not written good songs since 40 years; but the exhilarating, joyous absurdist vein of his early works (which was what I liked most about them) has long been lost. Hope that's an opinion you can accept!