The calm before the storm...next week promises to be a much more interesting release date with new releases from Arcade Fire, !!! and Air amongst others. The Dylan DVD is the most interesting thing out this week.
Top Five Most Interesting New Releases:
Dean and Britta: Back Numbers (Rounder) – The former Luna frontman releases his second album with his wife. Amazon compares it to Lee Hazlewood (who they cover here) and Nancy Sinatra, which is alright in my book. I need to hear this. See them live at the Getty on 4/6 and the Silent Movie Theatre on 4/7.
Do Make Say Think: You You’re a History in Rust (Constellation) – Instrumental post-rock band from Toronto. Similar to Godspeed You Black Emperor. See them live at the Troubadour on 3/10.
Dr. Dog: We All Belong (Park the Van Records) – I've been curious about these guys for a while. A lot of very talented musicians are huge Dr. Dog fans. They’re an indie pop band from Philadelphia. See them live at the Troubadour on 3/14.
Money Mark: Brand New By Tomorrow (Brushfire Records) – More easy, breezy keyboard jams from the “unofficial fourth Beastie Boy.” See him live at Amoeba tonight at 7:00PM.
Winterpills: The Light Divides (Signature Sounds) – The All Music Guide compares these guys to Low, Stars and Elliott Smith. What I’ve heard sounds good.
Other Noteworthy Releases:
Dalek: Abandoned Language (Ipecac) – Progressive hip-hop.
Willard Grant Conspiracy: Let It Roll (Reincarnate) – Roots/Americana from Boston. Download “Crush” and “Dance with Me”
DVD:
Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back – 1965 Tour Deluxe Version (Docurama) - Instead of going out last night, I stayed in and spent some time with this excellent, deluxe edition of the classic Dylan documentary. My college had an arts requirement, so all the frat boys and sorority girls naturally took the introduction to film course. Those of us who were legitimately interested in film had to sit in an auditorium with a bunch of obnoxious kids chewing tobacco and showing up to class wasted. All this lead to a lot of interruptions, as these kids would spit tobacco into their aluminum cans and constantly get up to use the restroom. It was under these, less than ideal, conditions that I first saw this film.
My film professor was so passionate about this documentary but the other students weren’t having it. A grainy, black and white documentary with a bunch of hippies? At least 70% of the class got up and left during the screening. At the time I was listening to a lot of Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, and not all that interested in Dylan’s music. I remember being a little surprised that INXS had ripped off the beginning of the film for their video for “Mediate.” I’ve always been curious about counterculture and had already gone through a beat phase, so I was excited to see Allen Ginsberg on film. I also remember thinking that the musical performances weren’t that great.
Do Make Say Think: You You’re a History in Rust (Constellation) – Instrumental post-rock band from Toronto. Similar to Godspeed You Black Emperor. See them live at the Troubadour on 3/10.
Dr. Dog: We All Belong (Park the Van Records) – I've been curious about these guys for a while. A lot of very talented musicians are huge Dr. Dog fans. They’re an indie pop band from Philadelphia. See them live at the Troubadour on 3/14.
Money Mark: Brand New By Tomorrow (Brushfire Records) – More easy, breezy keyboard jams from the “unofficial fourth Beastie Boy.” See him live at Amoeba tonight at 7:00PM.
Winterpills: The Light Divides (Signature Sounds) – The All Music Guide compares these guys to Low, Stars and Elliott Smith. What I’ve heard sounds good.
Other Noteworthy Releases:
Dalek: Abandoned Language (Ipecac) – Progressive hip-hop.
Willard Grant Conspiracy: Let It Roll (Reincarnate) – Roots/Americana from Boston. Download “Crush” and “Dance with Me”
DVD:
Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back – 1965 Tour Deluxe Version (Docurama) - Instead of going out last night, I stayed in and spent some time with this excellent, deluxe edition of the classic Dylan documentary. My college had an arts requirement, so all the frat boys and sorority girls naturally took the introduction to film course. Those of us who were legitimately interested in film had to sit in an auditorium with a bunch of obnoxious kids chewing tobacco and showing up to class wasted. All this lead to a lot of interruptions, as these kids would spit tobacco into their aluminum cans and constantly get up to use the restroom. It was under these, less than ideal, conditions that I first saw this film.
My film professor was so passionate about this documentary but the other students weren’t having it. A grainy, black and white documentary with a bunch of hippies? At least 70% of the class got up and left during the screening. At the time I was listening to a lot of Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, and not all that interested in Dylan’s music. I remember being a little surprised that INXS had ripped off the beginning of the film for their video for “Mediate.” I’ve always been curious about counterculture and had already gone through a beat phase, so I was excited to see Allen Ginsberg on film. I also remember thinking that the musical performances weren’t that great.
Needless to say, looking at it last night as a fan of Dylan and with a lot more perspective on Dylan’s place in music history was a much more pleasurable experience. The film basically follows Dylan on his three week tour of England in 1965. He’s 23 at the time and already released several folk records (right before he went electric and released my two favorites, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde). It’s fascinating to watch him deal with the press, hang out with Ginsberg and Joan Baez and trade songs with Donovan.
This is definitely the edition you’ll want to pick up and spend some serious time with. It adds a bonus disc of over an hour of newly compiled footage (by original filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker) from about 20 hours of unused footage from the original shoot. I only glanced through that, but Nico shows up at one point and seems like the budding ice queen you’d expect. There’s also interesting commentary on both discs from Pennebaker and tour road manager Bob Neuworth. The collection also features a 168 page mini-book with a complete transcription of the film and a cool, tiny flipbook of the “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video. This would make a great gift for any serious music fan.
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