Consequence of Sound » Bob Dylan

Check Out: The Chieftains feat. The Decemberists – “When the Ship Comes In” (Bob Dylan cover)

Alex Young — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:51:45 +0000

Legendary celtic outfit The Chieftains return on February 21st with their 50th anniversary album, Voice of Ages, via Hear/Concord. It features a ton of guests, like Bon Iver, The Low Anthem, and The Civil Wars. The Decemberists appear, too, contributing to a cover of Bob Dylan’s “When the Ship Comes In”, which you can currently stream at RollingStone.com.

Below, you can find streams for Bon Iver and The Civil Wars’ tracks, followed by the tracklist.

Voice of Ages Tracklist:
01. Carolina Rua (feat. Imelda May)
02. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (feat. Pistol Annies)
03. Pretty Little Girl (feat. Carolina Chocolate Drops)
04. Down in the Willow Garden (feat. Bon Iver)
05. Lily Love (feat. The Civil Wars)
06. The Lark in the Clean Air / Olam Punch (feat. Punch Brothers)
07. My Lagan Love (feat. Lisa Hannigan)
08. When the Ship Comes In (feat. The Decemeberists)
09. School Days Over (feat. The Low Anthem)
10. The Frost is All Over (feat. Punch Brothers)
11. Peggy Gordon (feat. The Secret Sisters)
12. Hard Times Come Again No More (Paolo Nutini)
13. The Chieftains
14. The Chieftains in Orbit with Nasa Astronaut (feat. Candy Coleman)
15. Lundu (feat. Carlos Nunez)

Album Review: Various Artists – Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan

Mike Madden — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:50 +0000

For nearly as long as there have been Bob Dylan songs, there have been Bob Dylan covers. The first notable example came in 1963, when folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary took to the top of the pops with their harmonized rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Then came The Byrds’ electric “Mr. Tambourine Man”, another number-one hit, which replaced Dylan‘s simple strumming with jangling 12-string riffs. Since then, so many artists have covered Dylan songs that the act itself has become a serious undertaking and art form.

The Amnesty International-benefiting Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan (of no relation to Bruce Springsteen’s similarly titled 1988 live EP, also released in conjunction with Amnesty) comes on the heels of Dylan tribute comps like The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration and the I’m Not There OST, but this one’s far and away more comprehensive than both of those combined. The cause? Its mammoth size: four CDS, 75 songs (one per artist), five hours. The effect? It covers the entirety of Dylan’s half-century-plus career fairly evenly. And with its all-star lineup – featuring everyone from baby-boomers Patti Smith and Jackson Browne to twenty-somethings Adele and Ke$ha – it’s a project in which few people won’t find something appealing.

That said, it’s no surprise that there are a few real gems here. First and foremost might be Mark Knopfler’s hushed “Restless Farewell”, which expands Dylan‘s 1964 original via lush arrangements while Knopfler delivers the melody with the sincerity it deserves. My Morning Jacket’s bare “You’re a Big Girl Now” finds a softly soaring Jim James vocal bringing an intimacy that even Dylan didn’t quite muster when he released the song on 1975’s Blood on the Tracks. On her “Property of Jesus”, lifelong Roman Catholic Sinéad O’Connor hands one of Dylan’s few Christian-period treats a lively, gorgeous fleshing out. And while, in theory, Miley Cyrus’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” should have flopped, its tenderly finger-picked guitar and on-the-screws singing make the track surprisingly cozy. (Sign of the apocalypse?) These tracks bring to mind the best Dylan covers ever– Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”, The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man”, and Them’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”– because the classics all sound like natural extensions of their progenitors, as does each of the other aforementioned renderings. (Also worthy of shout-outs: Tom Morello’s “Blind Willie McTell”, Bettye LaVette’s “Most of the Time”, and Lucinda Williams’s “Tryin‘ to Get to Heaven”.)

Still, plenty of versions here simply don‘t quite get the job done. Rise Against, as is their nature, crank it up to 11 on their “Ballad of Hollis Brown”, and while the song’s lyrics demand contempt via vocals, frontman Tim McIlrath overcooks it. (However, Bad Religion goes for a similar balls-to-the-wall approach on their “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, and it goes over markedly better for them.) Cage the Elephant and Jack’s Mannequin get a little too cutesy on “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”, respectively, not allowing the words sufficient breathing room. Similarly, Sussan Deyhim’s “All I Really Want to Do” somehow evokes Laurie Anderson rather than Dylan, as its five minutes focus on out-there sonic groundwork instead of the playful delivery of the original song. At the end of the day, though, these versions aren’t disappointing because they tweak things too much – Dylan himself tends to not play his songs the same way twice – but because they lack the indescribable yet absolutely there particulars the best Dylan songs all have.

At the end of it all is, fittingly enough, Dylan’s own “Chimes of Freedom”, one of his earliest surreal epics, which functions as the mystifying end-credits to these oft-cinematic songs. But as plenty of these versions lack firepower, the success of the album is ultimately dependent on the listener’s familiarity with the original songs. For Dylan diehards, none of these will touch the originals – it‘s as simple as that. But new fans, or fans of any of the artists here, could be hipped to Dylan’s seemingly never-ending wellspring of timeless songs through this tribute. And on those grounds, Chimes could wind up being a satisfying listen for anyone who comes across it.

Essential Tracks: Mark Knopfler‘s “Restless Farewell”, Sinéad O‘Connor‘s “Property of Jesus”, and My Morning Jacket‘s “You’re a Big Girl Now”

Video: Silversun Pickups – “Not Dark Yet” (Bob Dylan cover) (CoS Premiere)

Harley Brown — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:39:41 +0000

As previously reported, Amnesty International’s megalithic Bob Dylan tribute album, Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, drops this week via Fontana Distribution. Spanning 75 tracks, the compilation comprises new or previously unreleased Dylan covers from Adele, My Morning Jacket, Queens of the Stone Age, Silversun Pickups, The Gaslight Anthem, Patti Smith, and more.

We’ve already seen The Avett Brothers perform their version of “One Too Many Mornings”. Now, witness a mini-documentary chronicling the Silversun Pickups’ process behind recording Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet”. Their dreamy, thoughtful cover soundtracks footage of the band in studio and speaking on the subject of Amnesty International, in addition to the subject of the song itself. Watch the video below.

When you’re done, head over to Amnesty International’s Facebook page, where you can stream all 75 of the set’s tracks.

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Raphael Saadiq – Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
02. Patti Smith – Drifter’s Escape
03. Rise Against – Ballad of Hollis Brown
04. Tom Morello The Nightwatchman – Blind Willie McTell
05. Pete Townshend – Corrina, Corrina
06. Bettye LaVette – Most of the Time
07. Charlie Winston – This Wheel’s On Fire
08. Diana Krall – Simple Twist of Fate
09. Brett Dennen – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
10. Mariachi El Bronx – Love Sick
11. Ziggy Marley – Blowin’ in the Wind
12. The Gaslight Anthem – Changing of the Guards
13. Silversun Pickups – Not Dark Yet
14. My Morning Jacket – You’re A Big Girl Now
15. The Airborne Toxic Event – Boots of Spanish Leather
16. Sting – Girl from the North Country
17. Mark Knopfler – Restless Farewell

Disc 2
01. Queens Of The Stone Age – Outlaw Blues
02. Lenny Kravitz – Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35
03. Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli – One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
04. Blake Mills – Heart Of Mine
05. Miley Cyrus – You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
06. Billy Bragg – Lay Down Your Weary Tune
07. Elvis Costello – License to Kill
08. Angelique Kidjo – Lay, Lady, Lay
09. Natasha Bedingfield – Ring Them Bells
10. Jackson Browne – Love Minus Zero/No Limit
11. Joan Baez – Seven Curses (Live)
12. The Belle Brigade – No Time To Think
13. Sugarland – Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (Live)
14. Jack’s Mannequin – Mr. Tambourine Man
15. Oren Lavie – 4th Time Around
16. Sussan Deyhim – All I Really Want To Do
17. Adele – Make You Feel My Love (Recorded Live at WXPN)

Disc 3
01. K’NAAN – With God On Our Side
02. Ximena Sariñana – I Want You
03. Neil Finn with Pajama Club – She Belongs to Me
04. Bryan Ferry – Bob Dylan’s Dream
05. Zee Avi – Tomorrow Is A Long Time
06. Carly Simon – Just Like a Woman
07. Flogging Molly – The Times They Are A-Changin’
08. Fistful Of Mercy – Buckets Of Rain
09. Joe Perry – Man Of Peace
10. Bad Religion – It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
11. My Chemical Romance – Desolation Row (Live)
12. RedOne featuring Nabil Khayat – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
13. Paul Rodgers & Nils Lofgren – Abandoned Love
14. Darren Criss featuring Chuck Criss and Freelance Whales – New Morning
15. Cage the Elephant – The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
16. Band of Skulls – It Ain’t Me, Babe
17. Sinéad O’Connor – Property of Jesus
18. Ed Roland and The Sweet Tea Project – Shelter From The Storm
19. Ke$ha – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
20. Kronos Quartet – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Disc 4
01. Maroon 5 – I Shall Be Released
02. Carolina Chocolate Drops – Political World
03. Seal & Jeff Beck – Like A Rolling Stone
04. Taj Mahal – Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
05. Dierks Bentley – Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) (Live)
06. Mick Hucknall – One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
07. Thea Gilmore – I’ll Remember You
08. State Radio – John Brown
09. Dave Matthews Band – All Along the Watchtower (Live)
10. Michael Franti – Subterranean Homesick Blues
11. We Are Augustines – Mama, You Been On My Mind
12. Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
13. Kris Kristofferson – Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
14. Eric Burdon – Gotta Serve Somebody
15. Evan Rachel Wood – I’d Have You Anytime
16. Marianne Faithfull – Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Live)
17. Pete Seeger – Forever Young
18. Bob Dylan – Chimes Of Freedom

Video: The Avett Brothers cover Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” on Fallon

Michael Roffman — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:22:51 +0000

To support the January 24th release of Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International - the awe-inspiring 75-track, four disc set benefiting Amnesty International – The Avett Brothers stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to knock out their own rendition of Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings”. Although originally released on Dylan’s 1964 LP, The Times They Are a-Changin, the song developed its own storied history throughout the years following. For context’s sake here, check out the track’s version featuring both Dylan and Johnny Cash together, recorded during Dylan’s Nashville Skyline-era – so, roughly 1969.

If you’re thinking 6 Degrees of Rick Rubin here, you’re a smart cookie. Rubin, who’s producing The Avett Brothers next LP, recorded the Avett’s cover for the Amnesty effort, working off of the same 1969 recording you’re about to hear. If you’re familiar with Cash’s American Recordings work, then you’ll know Rubin and the country folk legend were sort of an item. Strange stories, huh? Shortly after your brief history lesson, check out The Avett Brothers’ terse yet sweet performance below, courtesy of The Audio Perv.

As aforementioned, The Avett Brothers’ highly-anticipated followup to 2009′s I and Love and You is due out this Spring. As Rolling Stone reports, the band “recorded more than 20 tunes in Asheville, NC, last year.” Stay tuned as this story develops, and in the meantime, pick up a copy of Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International on January 24th. It’s for charity, man.

Video: Bob Dylan serenades Martin Scorcese at Critics’ Choice Awards

Chris Coplan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:24:29 +0000

At last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards, legendary director Martin Scorcese was presented with the Music + Film Award for his music documentary work. Scorcese was also serenaded with a performance by Bob Dylan (who was the subject of Scorcese’s 2005 documentary No Direction Home). His first television performance in nearly a year, Dylan delivered a powerful rendition of the Infidels b-side “Blind Willie McTell”. Check out the replay below (via TwentyFourBit).

Stream: Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International

Alex Young — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:24:52 +0000

As previously reported, Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International is the name of Amnesty International’s 75-track, 4-disc Bob Dylan tribute album, comprised of new or previously unreleased Dylan covers from Adele, My Morning Jacket, Queens of the Stone Age, Silversun Pickups, The Gaslight Anthem, Patti Smith, Dave Matthews Band, Sting, Joan Baez, Bryan Ferry, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Sinéad O’Connor, Elvis Costello, Pete Seeger, Fistful of Mercy, Bad Religion, Mark Knopfler, Cage the Elephant, and, of course, Miley Cyrus and Ke$ha.

The collection will be released in North America on January 24th via Fontana Distribution and elsewhere on January 30th via Fontana International. Right now, however, you can stream all 75 tracks on Amnesty International’s Facebook page.

All profits from the sale of the album will benefit Amnesty International. Check out the tracklist below.

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Raphael Saadiq – Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
02. Patti Smith – Drifter’s Escape
03. Rise Against – Ballad of Hollis Brown
04. Tom Morello The Nightwatchman – Blind Willie McTell
05. Pete Townshend – Corrina, Corrina
06. Bettye LaVette – Most of the Time
07. Charlie Winston – This Wheel’s On Fire
08. Diana Krall – Simple Twist of Fate
09. Brett Dennen – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
10. Mariachi El Bronx – Love Sick
11. Ziggy Marley – Blowin’ in the Wind
12. The Gaslight Anthem – Changing of the Guards
13. Silversun Pickups – Not Dark Yet
14. My Morning Jacket – You’re A Big Girl Now
15. The Airborne Toxic Event – Boots of Spanish Leather
16. Sting – Girl from the North Country
17. Mark Knopfler – Restless Farewell

Album Review: Jimmy Cliff – Sacred Fire EP

Katjusa Cisar — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:00:50 +0000

Bob Marley will forever remain the ubiquitous face of reggae, but Jimmy Cliff came before to inspire generations of musicians and introduce the world to the genre he and fellow Jamaicans called simply “makin’ music.” On his latest release, Sacred Fire, Cliff turns around to give a reverent nod to songs he originally influenced — looping the sequence of influence full circle. He also covers some early Bob Dylan and unveils a new song of his own. Produced by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and recorded on vintage equipment, the five-song EP is a buildup to a full-length anticipated next year. It’s the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s first release since 2004′s Black Magic.

Back in 1979 when he wrote “Guns of Brixton”, Clash bassist Paul Simonon name-checked Cliff’s character Ivan from the classic Jamaican film The Harder They Come (which turns 40 next year). Cliff gives “Guns of Brixton” a crisp and traditional rendition, bouncing horn riffs above the driving beat. The song bookends the EP. Cliff dusts it off again for the final track, loosening the joints and giving it a dub treatment. Again, on his cover of Rancid’s “Ruby Soho”, Cliff rubs off the harder, murkier aspects of the original and allows the sunny reggae underneath to shine through. This isn’t really a surprise: The reggae beat, directly inspired by Cliff, lurked under there all along anyway.

Much more intriguing, in terms of covers, is Cliff’s take on Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”. He unpacks Dylan’s nasal delivery and cryptic Q&A-style lyrics to find a song that keeps Dylan’s brilliant hypnosis but transcends it in warmth and urgency. The song soars.

Cliff said in recent interviews that the “sacred fire” of the EP’s title is his own revived creativity, sparked by the collaboration with Armstrong, an avowed Cliff superfan. “Ship Is Sailing”, the only original on the album, doesn’t break molds lyrically, but it has a winsome lilt that is wholly infectious. It just plain feels good to hear the elder statesman of reggae stay this playful and open to inspiration.

Essential Tracks: “Ship Is Sailing” and “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”

Here’s your post-Thanksgiving Recap

CoS Staff — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:01:12 +0000

“Big weekend,” so says the guy at the water cooler today. This time, he’s right – and not because he piled on fourths at Thanksgiving dinner, or nabbed a 32″ television for $25. A lot happened. Simply put, music never sleeps. Just take a gander at what went down in our news feeds between Wednesday and Sunday. The Weeknd released his first-ever video, Florence and the Machine covered Drake, Lupe Fiasco dropped a new mixtape, and David Bowie didn’t sanction a British musical. Somewhere in there Yo La Tengo decided to get political and The Flaming Lips nailed its NYE plans. Check it all out below…

– Watch Beyoncé’s new video for “Dance For You”.

– Florence and the Machine covered Drake’s “Take Care”.

– Watch The Weeknd’s first-ever music video for “The Knowing”.

– Reports of a David Bowie-sanctioned musical are inaccurate, according to David Bowie.

– Watch Ryan Adams and Laura Marling duet on “Oh My Sweet Carolina”.

– Black Star revealed the first taste from their Aretha Franklin-inspired mixtape.

– Download Lupe Fiasco’s new mixtape Friend of the People, featuring samples of M83, Justice, and Ellie Goulding.

– Devo, Yo La Tengo, and Ladytron are among the artists contributing to the benefit compilation Occupy This Album.

– Watch Björk, Noel Gallagher, and Red Hot Chili Peppers wrap up the season finale of Later… with Jools Holland.

– The Flaming Lips detailed their fifth annual New Year’s Freakout, with Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band serving as the special guest.

Bob Dylan tribute album Chimes of Freedom reveals insane tracklist

Alex Young — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:30:23 +0000

Last month we told you of an upcoming Bob Dylan tribute album being put together in celebration of Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary. At the time, My Morning Jacket, Adele, David Matthews Band, and Ke$ha were among the confirmed participants. Now, the set’s entire tracklist has been revealed, and Ke$ha’s cover of ”Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” is just the beginning of the insanity.

Spanning four discs and 75 tracks (!!!), Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International packages together new or previously unreleased Dylan covers from artist of all different genres and generations. Obvious highlights include covers of “You’re A Big Girl Now” by MMJ, “Outlaw Blues” by Queens of the Stone Age, ”Not Dark Yet” by Silversun Pickups, “Drifter’s Escape” by Patti Smith, and “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” by Billy Bragg.

Other notable contributors include The Who’s Pete Townshend (“Corrina, Corrina”), Sting (“Girl from the North Country”), Bryan Ferry (“Bob Dylan’s Dream”), The Gaslight Anthem (“Changing of the Guards”), Elvis Costello (“License to Kill”), Mark Knopfler (“Restless Farewell”), Sinéad O’Connor (“Property of Jesus”), Joan Baez (“Seven Curses (Live)”), Fistful Of Mercy (“Buckets Of Rain”), Bad Religion (“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”), Cage the Elephant (“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”), and Pete Seeger (“Forever Young”). Dylan himself contributes the album’s namesake.

And just because, Ms. “On Melancholy Hill” (aka Miley Cyrus) takes on “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” and Maroon 5 tackles “ I Shall Be Released”. Also, Seal and Jeff Beck randomly team up for a reworking of “Like A Rolling Stone” and actress Evan Rachel Wood contributes her cover of “I’d Have You Anytime”.

The collection is scheduled for physical and digital release in North America on January 24th, 2012 via Fontana Distribution. It will then be distributed internationally through Fontana International on January 30th. All profits will go to benefit Amnesty International.

Jimmy Cliff details new EP: Sacred Fire

Ben Kaye — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:45:31 +0000

News of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff working with Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong first appeared back in August. With a full-length record promised in early 2012, an EP was mentioned for November. Now word comes that the EP Sacred Fire will come at us two ways: as a regular release and a Record Store Day “Black Friday” special edition release.

On November 25th, a limited edition 12-inch colored vinyl will be available exclusively for the RSD faithful. Braving the brisk, late fall weather will reap reward, though, as the song “World Upside Down” will only be included on this special, six-track RSD BF version.

Both editions of the album, however, feature a trio of covers: Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, Armstrong’s own “Ruby Soho” from Rancid, and the previously released version of The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton”. Filling out the tracklist are two new, original Cliff cuts, which a press release says will keep with Cliff’s history of social justice, “addressing issues such as war, economical instability, and political hypocrisy.”

“Tim has such a great foothold in the tradition [of reggae],” Cliff said of the seemingly unlikely pairing. “He woke me up to a lot of the thing I had forgotten.” Below, you can get a titillating first-listen in the form of the “Guns of Brixton” cover, followed by the EP’s tracklistings. Collective Sounds will handle both releases.

Jimmy Cliff will also be headlining Los Angeles’ KCRW’s Are Friends Eclectic benefit concert at The Orpheum on December 2nd.

Jimmy Cliff – “Guns of Brixton” (prod. Tim Armstrong)

Sacred Fire EP Special RSD Edition Tracklist:
Side 1:
01. Guns of Brixton (The Clash cover)
02. World Upside Down
03. Ruby Soho (Rancid cover)

Side 2:
04. Ship Is Sailing
05. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan cover)
06. Brixton Version

Sacred Fire EP Tracklist:
01. Guns of Brixton (The Clash cover)
02. Ruby Soho (Rancid cover)
03. Ship Is Sailing
04. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan cover)
05. Brixton Version

Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit receives webcast, nationwide screenings, and CD/DVD releases

Chris Coplan — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:39:34 +0000

Since 1985, Neil Young has hosted his annual Bridge School Benefit, bringing together an assortment of artists for a two-day festival that supports the Hillsborough, CA-based school, which assists children with severe speech and physical impairments. This year’s inclusion, set to take place this weekend at The Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 22-23rd, marks the event’s 25th anniversary, and to celebrate Young has tagged the likes of Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. However, unlike previous years, the organizers are ensuring millions witness the event.

To start, Saturday’s festivities will be webcast online for the first-time ever. Thanks to Facebook and YouTube, fans will be able to watch the surefire spectacle from the comfort of their own home. A special landing page has been designed by Facebook that allows users to interact while experiencing the event. In fact, those actually in attendance at the show will be able to upload content and messages to share amongst those watching from home. Visit the respective pages at Facebook or YouTube for more information, and peep the trailer for the event below. An exact webcast schedule is still to be announced.

Then, on October 24th, there’s the CD/DVD release of The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition. This collection digs deep into the benefit’s history, featuring appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, Band of Horses, Thom Yorke, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and many, many more musical elite. You can pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here. NPR Music is streaming the two-disc album portion in its entirety until next Tuesday.

And while your puny 32″ flat-screen and sub-par sound system may be enough to enjoy the all-star footage, the organizers are offering one better: on the day of the CD/DVD release (once again, 10/24), movie theaters across the nation will air the effort’s concert film. Check out the entire listing of cities and locations below; all showings kick off at 7 p.m. For more information on tickets, head here. The trailer for the release is also available below.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition Theater Locations:
Atlanta, GA @ Midtown
Austin, TX @ Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek
Boston, MA @ Kendall
Chicago, IL @ Century
Dallas, TX @ TBC
Denver, CO @ Mayan
Los Angeles, CA @ The Laemmle Santa Monica
Madison, WI @ Sundance
Milwaukee, WI @ Oriental
Minneapolis, MN @ Edina
New York City, NY @ Sunshine
Philadelphia, PA @ Ritz Bourse
Pleasantville, NY @ Jacob Burns
Portland, ME @ Nickelodeon
Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theatre
San Diego, CA @ Hillcrest
San Francisco, CA @ Embarcadero
Santa Cruz, CA @ Nickelodeon
Santa Rosa, CA @ Summerfield
Seattle, WA @ Harvard Exit
Silver Spring, MD @ AFI Silver Theatre
Washington, DC @ E Street

My Morning Jacket, Adele, Patti Smith contribute to Bob Dylan tribute album

Alex Young — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:46:16 +0000

In honor of Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary, a number of musical heavyweights are coming together for a new Bob Dylan cover albums. According to AceShowBiz, the compilation, aptly titled Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, will pack covers of “You’re a Big Girl Now” by My Morning Jacket, “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele, and “Drifter’s Escape” by Patti Smith. Other contributing artists include Dave Matthews Band, Sting, Rise Against, and even Ke$sha, who reportedly covers Dylan’s 1963 classic, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

According to Rolling Stone, the album will be released on November 22nd, with all proceeds benefiting Amnesty International. We don’t have exact tracklist yet, but we’ll let you know once we do. Below, you can Adele’s take on “Make You Feel My Love”.

Adele – “Make You Feel My Love”

Check Out: Bob Dylan, Jack White finish unreleased Hank Williams songs

Alex Young — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:24:20 +0000

Speaking of Bob Dylan, the next project from the legendary singer-songwriter comes in the form of The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams. As previously reported, the 12-track effort sees Dylan, Jack White, Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, and Sheryl Crow, among others, finishing unreleased lyrics and song ideas found in the late country star’s ‘lost notebooks’. The end result will be unveiled this coming Tuesday, October 4th via Columbia.

Right now, you can stream Dylan and Jones’ contributions, titled “The Love That Faded” and “How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart?”, respectively, at NPR.org. 30-second samples for the album’s other 10 nine tracks are up for grabs at Amazon.com. Update: You can now hear the full-length recording of White’s track, “You Know That I Know”, at RollingStone.com.

The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams Tracklist:
01. Alan Jackson – You’ve Been Lonesome, Too
02. Bob Dylan – The Love That Faded
03. Norah Jones – How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart?
04. Jack White – You Know That I Know
05. Lucinda Williams – I’m So Happy I Found You
06. Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell – I Hope You Shed a Million Tears
07. Patty Loveless – You’re Through Fooling Me
08. Levon Helm – You’ll Never Again Be Mine
09. Holly Williams – Blue Is My Heart
10. Jakob Dylan – Oh, Mama, Come Home
11. Sheryl Crow – Angel Mine
12. Merle Haggard – The Sermon on the Mount

Check Out: Bon Iver covers Bob Dylan

Alex Young — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:57:49 +0000

TwentyFourBit points us to the latest bit of awesomeness from one Justin Vernon. Below, you can hear Bon Iver take on Bob Dylan’s Times They Are A-Changin’ cut ”With God on Our Side” during a show in Portland on September 24th. The rendition actually sounds less like the original and more like the version Dylan recorded for MTV Unplugged in 1995, with Vernon’s mind-scrapping vocals backed by a twangy instrumentation. Check it out below.

For context sake, here’s what the original sounded like:

And the MTV Unplugged version:

Neil Young’s Bridge School Concert announces 25th anniversary DVD, CD sets

Chris Coplan — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:15:42 +0000

Each year, Neil Young opens up his Rolodex (and it’s a mighty impressive one) and calls on all his rock star friends to play his charity concert, the Bridge School Benefit. With the shindig celebrating its 25th anniversary this October, Young and the folks behind the event have compiled the concert’s best moments in three-DVD and two-CD sets aptly titled The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition.

The DVD release includes performances from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Fleet Foxes, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Devendra Banhart, and a plethora of other big-name acts. The third disc also includes documentaries on the concert’s history along with a bonus feature on the Bridge School.

The two-CD set features even more classic performances from the concert’s past 25 years. Artists include Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Thom Yorke, Metallica, Band of Horses, R.E.M. featuring Young, and much, much more.

The two releases, which also benefit the Bridge School, are in stores on October 24th. Check out a video trailer for both sets below and pre-order the DVD set here and the CD set here.

This year’s Bridge School concert goes down October 22-23rd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. Acts scheduled to appear include Beck, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, and many more. Tickets are available via LiveNation right now.

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition DVD Tracklsit:

DVD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Patti Smith – People Have the Power
Pearl Jam – Better Man
David Bowie – Heroes
Ben Harper – There Will Be a Light
Bob Dylan – Girl From the North Country
R.E.M – Country Feedback
Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller – Love Hurts
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Devendra Banhart – At the Hope
Bonnie Raitt – The Road Is My Middle Name
Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

DVD 2
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
The Pretenders – Sense of Purpose
James Taylor – Fire and Rain
Simon and Garfunkel – America
Tom Petty – Shadow of a Doubt
Dave Matthews – Too Much
Neil Young – Crime in the City
Tom Waits – 16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

DVD 3
Backstage at the Bridge School Benefit Concert
The Bridge School Story

The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition CD Tracklist:

CD 1
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
Dave Matthews – Too Much
No Doubt – Magic’s in the Makeup
Jack Johnson – Gone
Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Love and Only Love
Sonic Youth – Rain on Tin
Pearl Jam – Better Man
Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
R.E.M & Neil Young – Country Feedback
Willie Nelson – The Great Divide
Nils Lofgrin – Cry Just a Little

CD 2
Sarah McLachlan – Elsewhere
Paul McCartney – Get Back
Elton John & Leon Russell – A Dream Come True
Band of Horses – Marry Song
Metallica – Disposable Heroes
Thom Yorke – After the Gold Rush
Sheryl Crow – The Difficult Kind
Tony Bennett – Maybe This Time
CSNY – Deja Vu
Norah Jones – Jesus – Etc.
Jonathan Richman – I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
Brian Wilson – Surfin’ USA.
The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again

Consequence of Sound Turns Four

CoS Staff — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:02:03 +0000

Four isn’t five, but it’s also not three. One is the loneliest number, yet two is for hipsters. Seven is considered lucky, while six is the result of dividing 666 by 111. We’re okay with four — at least for now. This week — check it, September 15th, 2011 — marked the fourth anniversary of Consequence of Sound. Back in 2007, on one lazy Saturday afternoon in New York, Alex Young decided to start a blog. What you see here today is the ongoing result.

But it’s not the result that’s mind-boggling. It’s the journey. Covering four years of every major music festival — from the barbecue-laced heartburn in SXSW to the muddy confines of Bonnaroo to the concrete jungle that is Lollapalooza — or chopping out block after block of news stories or checking off each season’s album release schedule or… you get the picture. The steps count. The turns matter. The articles entertain.

Since its inception in 2007, Consequence of Sound has published nearly 17,000 articles. We’ve worked with over 100 different writers, editors, and photographers. We’ve been to almost every state in America, and elsewhere. Like we said, it’s the journey that’s mind-boggling.

And that’s why we’re okay with four — simply because we’ll be at five, six, and seven in no time. For now, though, let’s have some fun with the number, starting with four thoughts from our CEO/Publisher Alex Young and President/Editor-in-Chief Michael Roffman…

Four Thoughts From Alex Young…

4. My dream of a collaborative album between Jay-Z and Kanye West came to fruition this year.

3. My dream of a collaborative album between Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Jack White remains just that — a dream.

2. We Listen For You’s Soundcast is the best thing to hit the Internet in 2011.

1. Sorry, Chuck, but The Wire is the greatest television show ever.

Four Thoughts From Michael Roffman…

4. I’ve fallen in love with four women over the past four years: Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast), Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Lykke Li, and Heather Kaplan (CoS photographer). No particular order there. Just kidding.

3. I still subscribe to Rolling Stone. Though, when it comes to print, the best writing is in Vanity Fair or Playboy. No lie.

2. My ideal article remains to be written: Paul Westerberg announces fall tour.

1. Regardless of all the music I’ve discovered over the past four years, I still haven’t found a better song to sing along to in the shower than Toto’s “Africa”. I am open to suggestions.

Four Most Influential 4th Movements

By: Jake Cohen

4. “Mahler, Symphony No. 5, fourth movement, Adagietto”

Mahler’s output is full of stunning and painfully delicate strains. But the slow movement of his fifth symphony, purportedly written as a love letter to his new wife, may be his most sublime melody. He approaches a very classical melody with modern sound colors: A low harp accompanies low strings, which carry the tune. Mahler’s ability to express the entire emotional spectrum in his music appears in this short movement, as he traffics with joy, heartbreak, hope, pathos, and love.

3. Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique, fourth movement, “March to the Scaffold”

How could anyone write a symphony after what Beethoven did in his ninth? Well, for starters, you could give your symphony a story: A love-struck artist is ultimately rebuked by the woman he loves, takes a massive amount of opium to kill himself, but instead, he just trips his face off and watches his own execution by guillotine. Berlioz was writing a perfectly nice symphony until he fell down the rabbit hole in the fourth movement, with martial drums, bone-rattling violins, celebratory crowds, and one last isolated thought of his beloved before the guillotine offs with his head. Romanticism, indeed.

2. Schoenberg, String Quartet No. 2, fourth movement

Arguably, this is the moment when classical music lost its grasp on tonality, the harmonic system that had endured for more than two centuries and on which our modern pop music is still based. Schoenberg took Wagner’s progressive harmonic language and went even further, shattering the system of keys. A soprano voice, itself an anomaly for a string quartet, sings the German words “I feel the air of another planet.” It was, quite literally, the opening to a new world of musical opportunities.

1. Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 “Choral”, fourth movement

Beethoven mind-fucked the entire 19th century when he inserted a chorus singing Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” in the final movement of his final symphony. All hyperbole aside, it’s the moment when everything changed for every composer who came later. Turning his simple tune into a fugue, a Turkish march, and a solemn chorale, Beethoven proclaimed the brotherhood of all humanity in one sweeping 25-minute masterpiece.

Four Best Songs Suited for the Fantastic Four

By: Ben Kaye

4. Genesis - “Invisible Touch” (Invisible Woman)

Sue Storm has always deceived casual FF fans who just see a sexy blonde chick in skintight spandex. The truth is that she’s probably the most powerful member on the team. While Collins was speaking figuratively, Invisible Woman literally could “[reach] in and [grab] right hold of your heart.” And squeeze it ’til it popped. Her invisible force fields have almost limitless applications, and even the space gods known as Celestials have “fallen, fallen for her.” Sue used to be called “Invisible Girl”, but she adopted the “Woman” right around the time this song came out. Her massive power could really “mess up your life” and more than warrants the change.

3. Queen – “We Will Rock You” (The Thing)

A classic fight song for a classic brawler. Queen unwittingly wrote a mini-biography for Ben Grimm with this track. Growing up a poor Jewish kid in New York’s Lower East Side, Grimm was made a “hard man” at an early age by the gang murder of his older brother. After gaining his rocky visage, he turned the anger over his monstrous form into the fuel to “take on the world” as the FF’s heavy hitter. Yet still, even after decades of adventuring and super-heroing, even after time as an Avenger, deep down, The Thing just wants a bit of “peace some day” and to be regular Ben Grimm again. Until then, though, it’s clobberin’ time.

2. Boysetsfire - “Rocket Man” (Elton John cover) (Mr. Fantastic)

As it was his own theories, stubbornness, and rocket that got the team cosmically irradiated on that “timeless flight,” Reed Richards has always carried a self-alienating, lonely weight of guilt. Occasional attempts to “cure” his teammates and a preoccupation with bettering the world through science frequently ostracize his wife, Sue, and put his children, Franklin and Valeria, at great risk. Add on the family’s adventuring lifestyle, and there’s practically been “no one there to raise” the kids. In the end, Richards’ greatest flaw is his need to “[burn] out his fuse up here alone,” despite being surrounded by a loving, capable family. So why the cover version? It drives far harder than the original, and he’s still a superhero who can pack a (very enlarged) punch, after all.

James Taylor – “Fire and Rain” (Human Torch)

In memoriam: Johnny Storm, November 1965 – January 2011. The Human Torch met his death recently in Fantastic Four #587 at the hands of Annihilus and his hordes of Negative Zone aliens, marking the end of an era and the end of the team. At his own request, Torch was replaced by Spider-Man on what is now the Future Foundation. Though odds are he’ll rise from the ashes (see what happened there?) in typical comic book fashion before too long, may he rest in peace for now. This one’s for you, Johnny. Just change “Suzanne” and picture it sung in The Thing’s craggily voice.

Four Best Quartets of the Last Four Years

By: Dan Caffrey

4. Wild Flag

This may be a tad unfair in that Wild Flag is more or less a super-group consisting of Riot Grrrl matriarchs, but the all-female quartet is bar-none one of the most exciting quartets of late. With one LP, Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, Mary Timony, and Rebecca Cole culled the best parts of their time from the alt-90′s and blended them into the catchiest rock record of 2011. Wild Flag never sound lazy or indulgent as many supergroups do. Their 2011 debut showed a band working together and highlighting the best in each other’s work to form a professionally balanced album with succulent rock bombs.

3. Surfer Blood

Randy Newman’s ode to Los Angeles “I Love L.A.” works so well because it embraces the City of Angels as much as it satirizes it. Surfer Blood must view Florida in the same way. With a beach bag full of catchy guitar riffage and alienated lyrics, the West Palm Beach natives clearly don’t fit in with the inherent hip-hop and death metal in the southern region of the Sunshine State, but they also can’t deny the appeal of bright harmonies and nautical imagery, which swirl all over their stellar debut, Astro Coast. In a way, perhaps they’re the most Floridian band of all, celebrating the state’s environment while sonically breaking through the cliches of its music scene.

2. Bon Iver

The locked-in-a-cabin mythology of Justin Vernon’s debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, has since been decried by its creator, who insists his recording environment wasn’t as secluded and destitute as people believe. He did, after all, have the entire series of Northern Exposure with him on DVD, which led to the Bon Iver moniker. With his second full-length, Vernon seemed determined to debunk any misconceptions, expanding his lineup to a proper four-piece and drenching the record in a lovelorn wall of sound teeming with complex traditional orchestration and even maudlin synthesizers on the closing track, which has no right to work but somehow does. The subject matter may be the same, but make no mistake: These guys are a band.

1. Vampire Weekend

With afro-percussion, a singer with a fake Spanish accent, and lyrics about the joys of Ivy League, Vampire Weekend looked destined to fail when they arrived on the scene in 2008. But they haven’t. After a whimsical yet surprisingly deep debut, the quartet of Columbia alumni avoided the sophomore slump by a landslide with their second album, Contra, shrugging off the bad vibes of their detractors by continuing to crank out thoughtful pop with sincerity, whimsy, and a lack of pretension, regardless of their backgrounds. Bonus points for rhyming horchata with balaclava.

Four Best Four-Track Recordings

By: Michael Roffman

4. Daniel Johnston – “Worried Shoes”

You can’t talk about four-track recordings without mentioning Daniel Johnston. He’s the heir to the process. To date, the bipolar songwriter has written 18 full-length albums, in addition to hundreds of songs he’s recorded solely on the four-track recorder. It’s quite a chore to listen to each one, but one particular album comes to mind: 1983′s Yip/Jump Music, namely because it’s drawn so much attention. But with good reason. It contains one of Johnston’s most iconic songs in his exhaustive back catalogue: “Worried Shoes”. It’s rough. Really rough. Some might consider it grating, but they’d be missing the point. What separates Johnston from most artists is his inherent need to do this. And with “Worried Shoes”, the melody and the lurching chord organ feel as if Johnston’s wringing out his soul. You’ve probably cried to it, but most likely when Karen O sang it for the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack. Still…

3. The Beatles – “Strawberry Fields Forever”

Chills. Just sugar-laced chills. Believe it or not, but the Fab Four actually recorded on a four-track, and for one of their most landmark releases: 1967′s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Okay, so technically they taped over a few four-track recorders, but nonetheless, they were four-tracks. Now, some might argue that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” would be a more fitting selection, especially since it contains a 4/4 beat. However, the encapsulating (and always stuffy) “Strawberry Fields Forever” shines more — at least in this particular format. The layers, the amount of scruffy detail, and its lo-fi psychedelia just coat the ceiling, man. When the cello hits during the chorus, it sounds like it was recorded in the bow of a sinking ship. And Paul McCartney’s introduction on the Mellotron! It still feels like it was carved out on some bedroom floor one soggy, foggy morning — November 24, 1966, to be exact.

2. Bruce Springsteen – “Atlantic City”

As Bruce Springsteen wrote on the liner notes of his Greatest Hits release, “Atlantic City” ran The Boss’s bill up to “…..$1050 (the cost of the 4 track Tascam recorder), mixed through an old Gibson guitar unit to a beat box.” To this day, it still feels like that. (And what do you know, it’s also four minutes long, too! Double-hitter.) Though the song tells the tale of a man’s inevitable death through organized crime, the images this track conjure up hardly bring that story to mind. Blame it on its album’s iconic production. In 1982, the great Jersey bard locked himself away in his home, where he carved out the eight tracks that would make up 1982′s Nebraska. Shortly after, he tried re-recording the album with the E Street band in a studio, but even the producers understood its raw, intimate power. Take one listen to “Atlantic City”, and you will, too. If you get a chance, though, pick it up on vinyl. There’s nothing like it. If anything, you’ll be forever haunted by the eerie black-and-white photo of Springsteen standing alone in his hallway.

1. Elliott Smith – “No Name #3″

Elliott Smith’s 1994 debut, Roman Candle, was recorded on a four-track in his basement. With the exception of a couple of tracks, it’s really just Smith alone to himself, and that’s what the end result sounded like. It’s hard to listen to Smith nowadays, not only because his tragic suicide lingers around every chord progression and Lennon-like melody, but because his music just hurts. It’s filled with aching pain, it feels isolated. So many artists attempt to commit their hearts to tape day after day, but Smith figured it out on his first attempt. “No Name #3″ acts as the dark, lonely tunnel. The tender songwriter croons so lightly that at times it’s easier to just listen to the grainy chords. It stings. It taps at the eyes. It sours the tear ducts. And if it weren’t for its lo-fi nature, it just wouldn’t work. Smith just wouldn’t be the same. In some ways, his recordings felt more human than the man himself. Very tragic.

Four Best Songs Containing the Word “Four”

By: Chris Coplan

4. Led Zeppelin – “Four Sticks”

For whatever reason, becoming a fan of Led Zeppelin is some kind of unspoken rite of passage into manhood for boys the world over. Perhaps some of us missed out on that train to chest hair and adult-sized worries. Even those people, brave souls with equally valid music tastes that they are, can still enjoy a track like “Four Sticks”. It’s the very sound even the most proud non-fan conjures up when thinking of the Zep (that’s a nickname, right?): a grand, rollicking fury that is as sonically diverse as it is prog-ish and nerdy. Thank you, rock gods, for this offering, though we never have worshipped you.

3. CAKE – “Friend Is a Four Letter Word”

CAKE have made a career out of being weird. But they drop all the goofy, borderline comical pretenses entirely on “Friend Is a Four Letter Word”. Mysterious and aloof, the track is missing on some crucial details (like, all of them) of the friendship being portrayed. Even still, it’s as powerful and stirring as any other demonstration of betrayal ever outlined in pop music format. They’ve got a great talent for illustrating painful emotional concepts, but this one takes the band’s name for most effective and haunting. Plus, who didn’t try to figure which specific four-letter word the band was referring to? My money is on, and will always be on, “shit.”

2. Feist – “1234″

Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist knows the power of simplicity. Shortening her stage name to simply Feist, she made a hugely popular song simply by counting. And she didn’t even need to go into double digits! “1234″ is elegant in its minimalism, simple enough to be on Sesame Street. Call it Feist’s voice, the strummy nature of the whole effort, the grandiose chorus, or some magic combination of each, but the track is mesmerizing despite how very little was heaped together to make it. That may speak to some greater truth about songs with numbers in them: They’re basic because, at least sometimes, that core essence and bare-bones approach is all you need in a truly great song.

1. The Beatles – “When I’m Sixty-Four”

Love is a truly beautiful and wonderful thing. It’s also scary, confusing, and, at times, violent. We all want to know if we have it or not and whether or not it’ll be here to stay with us for good. In aiding folks in that eternal struggle, the Beatles laid out the perfect thought experiment for lovers everywhere to pose to one another: Will you still be with me when I’m an old fart, needing 24-hour care and support? It’s the ultimate litmus test of romance and devotion, arguably expressed in the most bubbly, fun-loving pop song the Fab Four ever crafted. As far as Beatles songs go, it’s one of the more popular of all the popular ones (and there are a lot of ‘em), but it deserves its distinction not only for its catchy-ness but for how truly succinct it is. Vera, Chuck, and Dave would be proud for sure.

Four Best LPs With Four Tracks

By: Paul de Revere

4. Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music

“Anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am,” Lou Reed famously snarked about this 1975 release. Which means it’s a prank and a cathartic “fuck you” to his label at the time RCA… right? If so, it’s the most accidentally significant prank in experimental music history. The careers of gritty New York experimental mavens Suicide and Glenn Branca, Steve Albini’s Big Black, and every young-and-restless noise band ever owes pretty much everything to Metal Machine Music. Personally, I side with dean of American rock critics Robert Christgau on this one. “For white noise,” Christgau said. “I’ll still take ‘Sister Ray’.”

3. Can – Future Days

Krautrock milestone makers Can don’t get enough credit for being, essentially, a funk band. Sure, Future Days and Can’s four peak-era releases with vocalist Damo Suzuki are better known as antecedents to Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Flaming Lips, and any number of indie, electronica, post-rock, shoegaze, and post-punk bands preceding them. But “Moonshake” stands up to all of the well-produced ‘70s funk from American bands. It’s just a lot more subtle. But a jittery, improvisational German “funk” band with a Japanese vocalist whispering and muttering barely comprehensible lyrics doesn’t really sell in the States. But Future Days is funk — weird, lo-fi funk. It was Suzuki’s fourth and final record with the band, which came to a more minimalist sound than ever before. After leaving the band soon after the recording of Future Days, Suzuki took a wife, a German Jehovah’s Witness, and married into her faith. Though, I’m not sure that’s any weirder than the whispered, barely comprehensible lyrics “You hide behind a borrowed chase/For the sake of future days” off the album’s title track. Play weird, live weird, I guess.

2. Tangerine Dream – Phaedra

On 1974’s Phaedra, Tangerine Dream pioneered virtually every cool electronica sound effect with Moogs and Mellotrons we take for granted today, perhaps most notably of all: some of electronica’s first arpeggiation melodies over washes of synth, which almost every electronica act since 1980 has done. And Tangerine did this in the early ‘70s! But the band is German (Berliners, no less), so, you know, it’s not that unusual. The band started in 1970, but Phaedra, Tangerine’s fifth album, defined its sound, defying the standard Krautrock motorik of its day, leaving ambient space in its Terry Reilly-esque staid melodies. Truly, when this came out, everyone from Brian Eno (who released two classics, Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), in the same year Phaedra was released) to Robert Fripp to Giorgio Moroder perked their ears up and listened carefully.

1. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

I’m 26 years old, and I’ve written about Lift Yr Skinny Fists.. at least a dozen different ways and listened to it dozens more. It’s been a soundtrack to key points in my life over the last decade. It’s somehow both personal to me and bigger than myself and my own personal interpretation. I’ve proselytized to friends (okay, and strangers) about how amazing it is if you just “give it a chance, man.” I’ve used the words “bruising,” “cathartic,” “maudlin,” “washes of sound”, and so on to describe its dystopic, aural beauty. But it must be listened to, nay experienced (ideally with eyes closed, good headphones, a comfortable resting place, and an uninterrupted 1:27:22), to be understood. The martial first movement of the first disc’s first track, “Storm”, is a triumphant, hopeful, and gorgeous open salvo to a black-and-white feature film never made: somewhere in the creative ether between Gillo Pontecorvo’s Battle of Algiers (and its rickety-clack score by Ennio Morricone) and Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows. In a word: bleak. Godspeed You! Black Emperor may never cut another record again, but Lift Yr Skinny Fists will influence decades of not just post-rock but all epic music to come. Count on it.

Four Fourth Tracks From Each of the Top Four Selling Albums of All Time (In Order of Sales, from Lowest to Highest)

By: Joe Marvilli

4. Whitney Houston – “Run To You” from The Bodyguard (44 million)

Surprised yet? That’s right, Whitney Houston’s soundtrack for 1992’s The Bodyguard is the fourth best-selling album of all time. A good portion of those sales were carried on the mega-success of “I Will Always Love You”. But there’s more to this soundtrack than one smash hit. The fourth song of this album, “Run To You”, fits Houston’s style wonderfully. Originally written as a breakup song, it was transformed by the movie’s production into a love ballad instead. True, those swelling strings may seem somewhat cheesy by today’s standards, but Houston’s passionate performance is a saving grace.

3. Pink Floyd – “Time” from The Dark Side of the Moon (45 million)

While many songs can be considered Pink Floyd’s magnum opus, “Time” has a lot going in its favor. It’s the centerpiece of The Dark Side of the Moon, it’s the only song on the album credited to all four band members, and it features vocals from David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Roger Waters. That’s before we even dive into the music. It starts with an introductory passage of chiming clocks, recorded by engineer Alan Parsons, and a two-minute drum solo by Nick Mason. Gilmour’s defiant vocals follow, channeling Waters’ refusal to succumb to time or be led by destiny. Oh, and then there’s the astoundingly powerful guitar solo that seems made to rip through time itself. While the band would run into plenty of issues down the line, this effort is the work of Pink Floyd as a whole.

2. AC/DC – “Given the Dog a Bone” from Back in Black (49 million)

Back in Black is a musical miracle when you think about it. How many bands have been forced to replace their frontman and keep their previous level of success? AC/DC not only met their past heights but greatly surpassed them with this album. There are so many classic hard rock hits here that the other tracks get overlooked. Some may think of “Given the Dog a Bone” as one of those songs after “Shoot to Thrill” and before “Back in Black”. But it’s pretty damn enjoyable when you stop and listen to it. Angus Young’s dirty guitar riff is worthy of head-banging and Brian Johnson’s vocals alternate between an elated shout and a nasty growl. How can you go wrong with a song like that?

1. Michael Jackson – “Thriller” from Thriller (110 million)

While some albums on this list may come as a surprise, Thriller definitely isn’t one of them. The sixth studio album from Michael Jackson is one of the most legendary releases in modern history. Everyone knows about it and everyone has heard at least one song from it. The record has permeated our culture in a way that few other pieces of art ever do. So what better song to look at than the title track? “Thriller” is the song that sets off the string of hits on Jackson’s masterpiece, as it’s followed by “Beat It” and “Billie Jean”. There’s not a stronger trilogy in pop music. The track itself combines a slippery bass with explosive horns and Jackson’s playful, almost dangerous vocals. Then there’s the 14-minute short film that passes as the song’s music video, proving that these promotional tools could be an art form as well. The peak of success? Yeah, it deserves this title.

Four Best Studio Guitar Solos Over Four Minutes Long

By: David Buchanan

4. The Smashing Pumpkins – “Starla”

Rarely do the Smashing Pumpkins get much credit in the lengthy solo department, especially given the lack of popularity such a technique really had during the early ’90s alternative era. This squelching Pisces Iscariot B-side leads on the first six minutes in standard melancholy before clawing steel nails on chalkboard come the last five–a certifiable audio nutshell of the band’s best phase, according to some.

3. Stevie Ray Vaughan – “Little Wing” (Jimi Hendrix cover)

When Jimi Hendrix covers a song, he expertly makes it his own to soaring applause; when a Hendrix song is covered by a late Texas bluesman, the lyrics disappear and we receive something akin to stringed instrument serenity. Heavenly harps never sounded this pleasant.

2. Santana – “Samba Pa Ti”

Carlos Santana, believe it or not, was once a highly respected and revered Latin-American guitarist. Before the shameful plugging and collaboration-weighted Supernatural, Santana made a mark via the soulful dance of “Samba Pa Ti”, and people could practically find God behind these chords (or a little black magic).

1. Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”

An in-joke at other artists’ expense is to mockingly shout out a request for “Free Bird” at any given concert performance. Despite having lost its humorous luster in recent years, this almost irritatingly popular cut from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut LP gets name-dropped on many lists for many reasons – soloing is one.

Four Best Albums Named Primarily “Four”

By: Jeremy D. Larson

4. Blues Traveler - four

If you only know the Blues Traveler singles, you may think the only thing that separated Blues Traveler from those other 90’s bands who all may or may not have written the theme song for Friends, is John Popper and his harmonica. Lead single “Run Around” does actually sound like “Roll To Me” does actually sound like “Two Princes” does actually sound like a plasticine fart. But four [stylized as such] is more than the honkey pop that Spin Doctor Hazel Del Amitri trafficked in. Part blues stomp, part post-hippie jam band, and part radio-pop, Blues Traveler turn in a solid fourth (yup) album of their career with a fun album to drink beer in a barn to. “Hook” remains a staple of advance karaoke artists to this day.

3. Foreigner – 4

Speaking of karaoke, Foreigner’s 4 locks in at least three singles for the memories, but its Mick Jones (not of The Clash fame) whose compositional chops are on display. The frayed, acid-washed rock and roll on 4 that blasted out of Dodge Chargers everywhere in 1981 is a timepiece for one of the better AOR albums, and that’s not just indulgent riffs couched inside of greeting-card choruses. OK, there’s some of that here, but those moments are especially justified on the way-better-than-any-Bon-Jovi-rock-and-roll-dream-song “Juke Box Hero” and a precursor to new wave rock with the groovy “Urgent” which features Junior Walker sax and none other than Thomas Dolby on synths!

2. Scott Walker – Scott 4

Scott Walker still sits proudly high atop the Brit-pop family tree. Walker’s hyper-literate baroque and chamber pop still plumes through the speakers like fine London tobacco. The Smiths, Pulp, Belle & Sebastian, The Divine Comedy, and so many others are all cut from this velvet. His fourth album from 1969, Scott 4 , is Walker at his most dark, personal, and forthcoming — and still includes a song about Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” backed by spaghetti western strings. After all these years, his burgundy baritone on “Duchess” as he sings at the very end “I’m lying, she’s crying” is a good litmus test to see if your heart works properly. (Neko Case does a fantastic cover it as well.)

1. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

In spades. I’m not entirely sure Zeppelin IV is even an album anymore — it’s an epoch unto itself. It’s a symbol of something personal for me and historical for music. Its legendary status as the best rock album of all time has grown so absurdly out of proportion that the album itself has become immune to any sort of glib take-down essays or contrarian think-pieces. It’s a fortress of rock & roll that after years of sieges still stands as powerful as the day it was built. Plus it’s even got “Four Sticks” on it just to really nail it home.

Four Historic Fourth Albums

By: Mike Madden

4. Bob Dylan – Another Side of Bob Dylan

“There aren’t any finger-pointing songs here,” Bob Dylan once said of Another Side. Yup: There’s a surreal, romantic quality to nearly every track here, contrasting the accusative nature of some of Dylan’s first three albums. A lot of people complained about that, but they shouldn’t have – this is one of Dylan’s best and most underappreciated efforts. Though certainly not by artists. Following its release, Johnny Cash, The Turtles, and The Byrds all took stabs at the album’s songs, proving that there really is no side to Dylan that anyone’s opposed to – which only makes him that much more sacred.

3. Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town

Follow ups can be difficult. Carving out something after an album like Born to Run is an exercise of the mind, body, and soul – a thousand times over. Due to some legal mumbo jumbo between The Boss and his sometime manager and producer Mike Appel, Darkness on the Edge of Town arrived a long three years after its ambitious, head-turning predecessor. In that time, the band took on a different approach to writing and recording. Many of the songs were captured with the full band together, and at times immediately after Springsteen had finished writing them. Blame it on the surrounding support, but the New Jersey legend didn’t just follow up Born to Run, he delivered an LP that gave its predecessor’s title a new meaning. To this day, fans continue debating on which album is better. Springsteen certainly made it difficult for them, what with “Badlands”, “Racing in the Street”, and “Candy’s Room” to chew on. And to think, that’s hardly scratching the album’s surface, too.

2. Outkast – Stankonia

Sonically falling somewhere between raw Dixie rap and the playfulness of, say, The Pharcyde, Stankonia was Outkast’s grandest breakthrough. It also remains their most focused and ambitious effort to date. Singles “Ms. Jackson”, “B.O.B.”, and “So Fresh, So Clean” were three of the most ubiquitous radio hits of the early aughts. In addition to the cosmic, genre-bending production, this 73-minute album found Big Boi and André 3000 rhyming with unheard of charisma, versatility, and technical deftness if not from the genre, then definitely in their career. It’s arguable that this sort of breakthrough creativity cracked them – given that they’ve never truly delivered a proper, concrete follow up that didn’t feel like a solo-album-titled-something-else – yet nevertheless their influence here is paramount. History schmistory, Stankonia is the sound of rap realizing its creative potential. Break!

1. The Replacements – Tim

Tim was The Mats’ major-label debut, and also their most frenetic, at least structurally-speaking. It would be the last album fans would hear from the original line up, as lead guitarist Bob Stinson would be kicked out the following year. And while that happened following the album’s release, those sort of “bad vibes”, if you will, carried onto the album. But it didn’t stunt it. In fact, it made for a better LP, especially one to follow up the group’s diamond LP, 1984′s Let It Be. There are two angst-ridden anthems (“Left of the Dial”, “Bastards of Young”), two drunken shakedowns (“I’ll Buy”, “Dose of Thunder”), two cynical portraits of one’s heart on a sleeve (“Hold My Life”, “Kiss Me on the Bus”), two lonely melodies (“Swingin’ Party”, “Little Mascara”), one mandatory road-rock crooner (“Lay It Down Clown”), one “You bastard!” inclusion (“Waitress in the Sky”), and one final goodbye (“Here Comes a Regular”). Similar to how early Hold Steady records sound to our generation today, Tim acts a framed portait of the band at play. It just probably could have benefited from some less-than-tidier production, and yeah, this album’s version of “Can’t Hardly Wait” is still the best.

Four Strings: Four Unbelievable Bass Solos

By: Winston Robbins

4. Rush – “YYZ”

When you write a song without any lyrics and still get stadiums full of people to sing along with you, that’s usually a pretty good indicator that you’ve written quite a piece of music. Geddy Lee’s bass extravaganza on “YYZ” is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The man shreds with such speed it’s nearly impossible for your ears to keep up. Unless you know Morse code, that is.

3. Led Zeppelin – “The Lemon Song”

Here’s how good John Paul Jones is at plucking the bass: We literally could have chosen any one of three dozen songs and made a well-founded argument as to why it’s his best. But we went with “The Lemon Song”, because, well, have you heard it? It’s a song completely surrounded by Jones’ mind-numbing bass. Heaps of adoration are given to Bonham, Plant, and Page, deservedly so, but Jones was the unsung hero of Led Zeppelin. See: the last minute of this song where he goes out of his mind shredding up and down that fretboard.

2. Metallica – “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”

Cliff Burton was an active member of Metallica for only four years due to his tragic and untimely death, but his legacy is long from forgotten because of early pieces such as this. Burton was as talented a bassist as rock and roll has ever seen, and “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”, was written for the express purpose of showcasing that fact.

1. The Beatles – “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

Paul McCartney is all too often overlooked when it comes to fundamentally great bassists. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is a reminder of why that shouldn’t ever happen. In essence, the song is just eight minutes of Macca doing whatever the hell he wants on his bass while the song goes on behind him, and never does it once fall anything short of superb.

Four Best Performances at the Big Four Festivals

By: Harley Brown

Coachella

Daft Punk (2006) – It’s Daft Punk, come on. This appearance marked their first performance on American soil in almost 10 years, and the French duo proved that they’re more than Human After All (I couldn’t help myself, I’m still dehydrated from dancing to “Around the World”). But seriously, no encore?

Rage Against the Machine (2007) – The year before Bush was ousted in a legendary election, Rage Against the Machine reunited at Coachella for the first time since the festival’s beginning in 1999. Frontman Zach de la Rocha proclaimed that the current political environment needed them, and boy, were they right.

Roger Waters (2008) – Pink Floyd’s founding member played Dark Side Of the Moon in its entirety. ‘Nuff said. (Well, it should probably also be said that he performed other Floyd hits like “Mother”, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, and “Wish You Were Here” with the aid of a giant, Democratic inflatable pig and a dazzling pyrotechnic display.)

Paul McCartney (2009) – Participants in 2009’s Coachella were encouraged to “take comfort in knowing… there’s a Beatle here.” And when you can’t have the whole band, Paul McCartney proved himself a more than acceptable, sporting substitute, playing a handful of Beatles songs and more than a few encores.

Bonnaroo

Photo by Max Blau

Neil Young (2003) – Almost 70 years old, Neil Young proved he’s still more than willing and able to rock the free worlds of 80,000 people in the middle of a hot-as-expletive Tennessee summer under a full moon, playing half-hour versions of hits like “Cinnamon Girl” and “Cortez the Killer” for three hours.

Radiohead (2006) – Radiohead probably could have stopped after the opening drum rolls of “There There (The Boney King Of Nowhere)” and still have put on one of the best, if not the best, shows I’ve ever seen. You just had to be there (there).

My Morning Jacket (2008) – “It feels awesome to be bathed in beautiful golden rain.” Well-said, Jim James. Bonnaroo stalwarts My Morning Jacket played for four hours in intermittent rain in the wee hours of the morning, making up for the wet, late set with an Erykah Badu cover and a guest appearance by Zach Galifianakis.

Phish (2009) – This one’s a toss-up between their official set with Bruce Springsteen and their late-night jam session. Never-ending experiential music arguments aside, Phish’s reunion, after years of solo appearances at Bonnaroo by Trey Anastasio and other members, warranted both outstanding sets.

Lollapalooza

Photo by Ashley Garmon

Pearl Jam (1992) – It’s almost cliché how Pearl Jam is the quintessential band to see live: helping avoid Lolla’s sophomore slump, Pearl Jam’s band members smashed guitars Pete-Townsend style, jumped off monitors, and stage dived. The audience got in on the action, too, jumping onstage and throwing mud.

Billy Idol (2005) – What better way to ring in Lolla’s first year in Grant Park but with Billy Idol? Even though it rained again (that’s the thing about summer thunderstorms) during Idol’s set, “Rebel Yell” managed to get everyone riled up. It’s Billy fucking Idol, baby!

Arcade Fire (2010) – Riding high after The Suburbs’ release earlier in the week, Arcade Fire was “Ready To Start” (again, it was just too easy). Their spectacular show finished with thousands of concertgoers—hell, maybe even some pedestrians – singing “Wake Up” at the top of their lungs in the streets of Chicago.

Foo Fighters (2011) – A universal CoS fave, Foo Fighters played for three hours on Saturday night at the Metro in addition to their official set the next day. Like Phish at Bonnaroo, it’s hard to pick just one as the better performance. Dave “I don’t give a fuck if it’s raining tonight!” Grohl gives it his all each and every time.

Austin City Limits

Ween (2002) - Gene and Dean Ween cemented their status as Austin City Limits perennials at the festival’s inauguration in 2002, with their always dependably weird, spectacular performance helping to keep jam bands represented at future ACL’s.

R.E.M. (2003) – With Michael Stipe’s famous words, “We’re R.E.M., and this is what we do,” the threesome proceeded to rip through two hours of hits and obscurities dedicated to Ben Harper and Johnny and June Carter Cash. With an inexplicable blue stripe painted across Stipe’s face.

Elvis Costello (2009) – Even though he had just released Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane, Elvis Costello pleasantly surprised listeners with more than a few songs from his debut My Aim Is True. And on a few songs from his newest album, Costello sang duets with country maven Patty Griffin, bowling over an audience already impressed with his warm persona and talented musicianship.

Muse (2010) – I would say Muse were brown-nosing when they declared Texas their favorite state, but after seamlessly moving from the national anthem to “Hysteria” to The Doors’ “House of the Rising Sun” as an opener, they pretty much schooled those other American bands in the ways of British arena rock.

St. Vincent’s Best Cover Songs

Austin Trunick — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:02:34 +0000

Feature Artwork by Cap Blackard

While Annie Clark has earned a lot of well-deserved acclaim as a songwriter and guitarist, she’s also a brilliant reinterpreter of other artists’ songs. From Big Black and INXS to Tom Waits and Dolly Parton, Clark has put her own distinct brand on everything from classic tracks to beloved obscurities since she burst onto the indie rock scene five years ago.

To hold us over until the release of the new St. Vincent record, Strange Mercy, here are several of Clark’s best cover songs from over the years.

The Beatles – “Dig a Pony”

What: The Beatles’ “Dig a Pony”, from 1970′s Let It Be

When: Regularly while touring behind Marry Me and Actor. This version is from her performance at All Points West in Jersey City, New Jersey, on August 1st, 2009.

As far as St. Vincent cover songs go, this is where it all begins. Clark’s version of one of the best tracks from The Beatles’ final album was a staple of her setlist as early as 2007, and she’s offered up several different variations of her own rendition over the years. In most, Clark takes advantage of her own guitar chops and rockabilly-s up the main riff, muting her chords while singing John Lennon’s mostly nonsensical lyrics. She utilizes the breaks between verses to issue some real noise from her guitar, which makes the sudden transitions to her soft voice that much sweeter.

Big Black – “Bad Penny” and “Kerosene”

What: Big Black’s “Bad Penny” and “Kerosene”, from 1987′s Songs About Fucking and 1986′s Atomizer

When: At the Our Band Could Be Your Life 10^th Anniversary Show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 22nd, 2011

On a night that included Ted Leo performing as Minor Threat, Dan Deacon as the Butthole Surfers, and Tune-Yards as Sonic Youth, author Michael Azzerrad’s greatest display of curatorial prowess was in selecting the doe-faced Annie Clark to play the harsh, intentionally ugly noise rock of Steve Albini’s Big Black. Clark doesn’t back down in the least, taking the songs as an opportunity to spit, scream, and downright shred her guitar in tribute to Big Black’s buzz saw assault. When the lyrics to “Bad Penny” come from Clark’s lips, they seem every bit as threatening as Albini intended them to be. This one’s stunning.

Nico – “These Days”

What: Nico’s “These Days”, from 1967′s Chelsea Girl

Where: On tour as early as 2007. This version is live in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 11th, 2010.

Like “Dig a Pony”, Clark’s cover of the Jackson Browne-penned song “These Days” has long been part of her live repertoire and was even included as a bonus track on the Japanese release of Marry Me. The St. Vincent version is a pretty, acoustic rendition featuring excellent fingerpicking work that falls somewhere between Nico’s softly sung version and Gregg Allman’s more countrified approach.

Tom Waits – “Big Black Mariah” and “Tango Til They’re Sore”

What: Tom Waits’ “Big Black Mariah” and “Tango Til They’re Sore”, from 1985′s Rain Dogs

When: During the Rain Dogs Revisited show in London, England, on July 13th, 2011.

Last July, an assortment of musicians gathered at London’s Barbican to cover Tom Waits’ classic 1985 album, Rain Dogs. Clark was on hand to give her take on Waits’ “Big Black Mariah” and “Tango Til They’re Sore”. For the former, Clark cranks up the already-pounding percussion present in Waits’ original and smothers the song in dissonant guitar noise and orchestral squeals, her voice alternating between shouted growls and hushed whispers. Clark hits all the right marks in the song but makes it distinctly her own; it’s a cover of which I feel Waits might even approve.

Clark’s cover of “Tango Til They’re Sore” sticks closer to the source material, dropping the jazzy piano in favor of stop-stutter guitar work and muted trumpet wails. The star of the song is Clark’s voice, which really gets a chance to belt out several of the lyrics here. With all of the praise that’s heaped upon her for her guitar playing, it’s sometimes possible to forget that she’s also a great singer.

The Magnetic Fields – “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!” (with John Vanderslice)

What: The Magnetic Fields’ “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!”, from 1999′s 69 Love Songs

When: On tour with John Vanderslice in 2007. This version is from the last stop of the tour on May 10th, 2007, in Los Angeles, California.

Annie Clark and John Vanderslice’s take on this 69 Love Songs track is actually softer and less noisy than The Magnetic Fields’ original version. Trading off verses, Clark and Vanderslice give a heartfelt rendition with only minimal acoustic accompaniment.

Bob Dylan – “Oh Sister” (with Andrew Bird)

What: Bob Dylan’s “Oh Sister”, from 1976′s Desire

When: Regularly during encores when touring with Andrew Bird in 2009. This version is from the Columbus, Ohio, date of the tour on October 19th, 2009.

For their duet, Annie Clark takes the role that had been filled by Emmylou Harris on Dylan’s original recording. Here, the harmonica fills have been replaced by whistling, making the song a step more upbeat, with additional instrumentation coming in as the song moves along.

INXS – “Need You Tonight” and “Never Tear Us Apart” (with Beck)

What: INXS’s “Need You Tonight” and “Never Tear Us Apart”, from 1987′s Kick

When: On March 3rd, 2010, at Beck’s house.

On March 3^rd, 2010, a group of musicians including Annie Clark gathered at Beck’s home studio to lay down the fourth installment of his Record Club project: a full-album cover of INXS’s Kick. Other musicians included were Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross of Liars, Sergio Dias of Os Mutantes, and Brian LeBarton and Daniel Hart of St. Vincent. Video of the jam session was later released in installments on Beck’s website.

Annie Clark takes the lead vocals on “Need You Tonight”, which has the clear touch of Beck’s techier work, with electronic beeps and drum machine beats leading the instrumentation. This version of “Never Tear Us Apart” could almost pass as a cut from St. Vincent’s own Actor, with Clark singing over lush strings and light piano playing, giving it a very orchestral feel. It’s really astounding that this arrangement came together in less than a day.

Readers with any interest should definitely check out the full session on Beck’s Record Club website; Annie Clark’s role isn’t as center stage on the rest of the album, but their take on tracks like “Kick” and “Sensation” are rather brilliant.

Neil Young – “Harvest Moon” (with Bon Iver)

What: Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”, from 1992′s Harvest Moon

When: Bowery Presents and Brooklyn Vegan’s A Night of Comedy and Music to Benefit Haiti at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, on January 23rd, 2010. (See also: the Dolly Parton cover below.)

Annie Clark and Justin Vernon divide up the lyrics to the title track from Neil Young’s pseudo-sequel to Harvest. Vernon pulls off a rather close Young impression with his part, while Clark channels her inner Loretta Lynn on her verses.

Dolly Parton – “Jolene” (with Bon Iver)

What: Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, from 1974′s Jolene

When: Bowery Presents and Brooklyn Vegan’s A Night of Comedy and Music to Benefit Haiti at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, on January 23rd, 2010. (This is the same show as the Neil Young cover above.)

Dolly Parton’s tale of a housewife confronting her husband’s mistress was covered by Annie Clark and Justin Vernon at a Haiti benefit in 2010. It’s a song that’s been redone almost as many times as Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, but the pair put their own individual stamps on the song by taking turns with the verses on this darkened version.

The National – “Mistaken for Strangers” (with members of The National)

What: The National’s “Mistaken for Strangers”, from 2007′s Boxer

When: On tour in 2010. This version is from the July 13th, 2010, show in Lyon, France, with The National.

Solo versions exist of Clark’s cover of “Mistaken for Strangers”, as well as cuts where she performs the song with members of The National. This particular rendition falls into the latter category and features Annie Clark singing a duet with Matt Berninger. The cover is not far off base from the original at all, but the results are quite beautiful.

Crooked Fingers – “Sleep All Summer” (with The National)

What: Crooked Fingers’ “Sleep All Summer”, from 2005′s Dignity and Shame

When: On SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers, released in 2009

To celebrate their 20^th anniversary, Merge curated a collection of music that featured contemporary artists covering classic songs from the Merge catalog. Annie Clark and The National’s Matt Berninger teamed up again to record Crooked Fingers’ heartbreaking “Sleep All Summer”, taking a soft approach backed by a beautiful horn accompaniment.

Copies of SCORE! are still available from Merge, and proceeds from the compilation benefit select charities.

Jack White, Bob Dylan featured on Hank Williams tribute

Alex Young — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:42:18 +0000

A half decade ago, Bob Dylan acquired the notebooks of the late, great Hank Williams. In them contained many unfinished lyrics and song ideas. Since then, he’s been working on a star-studded tribute album that sees himself, Jack White, Sheryl Crowe, Norah Jones, and more completing said lyrics and turning them into full-fledged songs. According to Rolling Stone, the end result of their efforts will finally see release on October 4th via Dylan’s imprint Egyptian Records.

Titled The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, the tribute album features 13 tracks in all. Rolling Stone also reports that the full story of Williams’ notebooks will be told in the album’s liner notes, which were penned by Michael McCall of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Below, we have the tracklist.

Bob Dylan announces summer tour

Alex Young — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:43:34 +0000

The only thing more impressive than Bob Dylan‘s actual “Never Ending Tour” is the tour’s Wikipedia page — I bow to whoever updates the thing. That being said, the page is now in need of some editing as good ol’ Bobby has tacked on another round of U.S. tour dates for this summer. The leg, which follows an early summer trek through the UK and Europe, begins in Santa Barbra, CA on July 14th. Find all of the scheduled tour dates below, and hit Dylan’s website for pre-sale ticket codes. “applebees” for Pensacola, FL? “mustard” for Cleveland, OH? Seriously, can this guy do no wrong?

No, he cannot:

Bob Dylan 2011 Tour Dates:
06/16 – Cork, IE @ Live at the Marquee
06/18 – London, UK @ Finsbury Park
06/20 – Tel Aviv, IR @ Ramat Gan Stadium
06/22 – Milan, IT @ Alcatraz
06/24 – Sursee, CH @ Summer Sound
06/25 – Mainz, DE @ Volkspark
06/26 – Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark Freilichtbühne
06/27 – Odense, DK @ Funen Village
06/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergenhus Festning — Koengen
06/30 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
07/02 – Borlänge, SE @ Peace and Love Festival
07/14 – Santa Barbra, CA @ Santa Barbra Bowl
07/15 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Pacific Amphitheatre
07/16 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl
07/18 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre
07/19 – Tucson, AZ @ Anselmo Valencia Tori Amphitheatre
07/21 – Albuquerque, NM @ The Pavilion
07/23 – Thackerville, OK @ WinStar World Casino
07/24 – New Braunfels, TX @ Whitewater Amphitheater
07/26 – New Orleans, LA @ UNO Lakefront Arena
07/27 – Pensacola, FL @ Pensacola Civic Center
07/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheater
07/30 – Memphis, TN @ Mud Island Amphitheatre
08/01 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
08/02 – Evansville, IN @ Roberts Stadium
08/03 – Toledo, OH @ Toledo Zoo Amphitheater
08/05 – Kettering, OH @ Fraze Pavilion
08/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
08/07 – Rochester Hills, MI @ Meadow Brook
08/09 – Canandaigua, NY @ Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands PAC
08/10 – Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion
08/12 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
08/19 – Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
08/20 – Bangor, ME @ Bangor Waterfront Pavilion

CoS on Film: Easy Rider (1969)

Len Comaratta — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:00:59 +0000

Filmed in the early part of 1968 and released in the summer of 1969, Easy Rider was a surprise box-office hit, pulling in over $19 million dollars (~111 million in 2010 dollars) in its initial run. Unafraid of stepping on the toes of conventionality, Dennis Hopper’s directorial debut certainly helped usher in a new approach to filmmaking. Much has been written about the film Easy Rider and its subsequent effect on Hollywood; however, little has been written on the film’s groundbreaking soundtrack. According to Hopper, Easy Rider was the first film to forgo the use of a traditional score. In eschewing a traditional film score, the film’s creators were able to musically narrate their film in a creative new way, opening a door to an entirely new method of scoring and music supervising films, while at the same time maintaining a tradition extending back to the earliest days of cinema.

Prior to the release of the Easy Rider soundtrack in 1970, the soundtrack genre could be neatly categorized into two types: musicals which concentrated mainly on the songs, such as Chicago, Singin’ In the Rain, and Rodgers and Hammerstein productions, and film scores showcasing the incidental and background music from non-musical films like Gone With the Wind, Star Wars, and The Godfather. Following the soundtrack’s release, a third category of soundtrack was developed – a collection of pop songs heard in the background of non-musicals that may or may not have been written specifically for the film. In other words, what we think of today when the term soundtrack is mentioned.

When modernist composers began incorporating musical elements from popular culture, including jazz (the pop music before rhythm & blues and rock & roll) and blues, audiences were able to make a connection to the films they were watching that was not necessarily present in the days of the more traditionally “classical sounding” scores. When rock & roll emerged in the early 1950s, many forward-thinking film and music makers sought for ways to use the new, popular and often controversial style in their films and scores. The first film to do so, 1955’s Blackboard Jungle, added legitimacy to the genre with its inclusion of Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock”. Haley had been struggling for over a year to gain any attention with the track, but after its presence in the film (featured four times in three different arrangements), the song shot to number one on the charts, demonstrating the effectiveness of film as a marketing tool for song (Elvis, anyone?). The door was now open for rock & roll pop songs to find their way into films and onto soundtracks.

When Fonda and Hopper set out to make Easy Rider, the last thing on their mind was probably the soundtrack. It seems likely that they were much too concerned about completing the project with the $365,000 that Columbia Pictures gave them to worry about the film’s score. In the early stages of editing, film editor Donn Cambern began playing with some of the film. “He assembled the riding footage and he put music over it. All the contemporary hit songs,” said Hopper. As Hopper and Cambern edited the film, the idea for a soundtrack began to take form. “It was his record collection and some of mine. That’s what it was,” said Fonda.

The role of a music supervisor may be broad; however, a good one takes care to choose the right songs for the right moments. In this sense, Hopper excelled in the role, saying, “I used music that best reflected the movie. It gave a literary commentary on what was happening while we were doing the rides.” Conscientious of rock’s lyrical power and storytelling potential, Hopper chose specific songs that would not only enhance his story but also help tell it.

As with the majority of soundtracks to musicals and stage plays, the songs on the Easy Rider soundtrack are track listed in the order that they are heard in the film (with the exception of “Wasn’t Born to Follow”, which is heard in two separate scenes but once on the album). This is notable because as with musicals, the songs in Easy Rider tell a complete story, but in this case not necessarily mirroring the film. Musicals have the advantage of the songs being specifically written for the story, whereas with Easy Rider the songs used by Hopper, with the exception of the final song, the pseudo-title track “The Ballad of Easy Rider”, were written independent of his story. As such, most of the songs chosen were done so for thematic purposes rather than literal interpretations of the visual.

Barring the initial set up and introduction of the two main characters, Easy Rider begins in earnest when Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher” begins to play upon the closing of a drug deal. The film’s targeted audience may have applauded him as a hero, making the big score, living the dream, while others may have found Fonda’s character morally corrupt and nothing more than a petty drug dealer. As the scene progresses, Steppenwolf’s song contributes to both sentiments, musically almost glorifying Fonda’s Captain America while at the same time lyrically condemning him.

As “The Pusher” ends and the two characters ready for travel, the sound of motorcycles revving kicks off “Born to Be Wild”, Steppenwolf’s second contribution to the film (and the only version with the motorcycle intro). Originally written as a ballad by proto-Steppenwolf band Sparrow, the rearranged song along with “The Pusher” found their way onto Steppenwolf’s 1968 self-titled debut. Released a full year before Easy Rider, the song was already a hit for the band, peaking at number 2; however, its use in the film helped elevate the song from simple roaring rock anthem to timeless rock classic. As the song plays, the film’s opening credits begin to role, and we are treated to a series of gorgeous landscape shots as Fonda and Hopper ride on. The ambiguity of sentiment in the earlier scene with “The Pusher” is not found here. Both the song’s lyrics and the film’s imagery are meant to infer a sense of independence and freedom, revolt and rebellion. Regardless, as the scene progresses, the question of the character’s morality is no longer an issue, and instead we find ourselves wanting to be on that open road with our own theme song playing.

Originally released on The Notorious Byrd Brothers, “Wasn’t Born to Follow” is a sweetly played song that beautifully blends American country songwriting with hippie sentimentality. In line with that, Hopper uses the song to cap two separate scenes, the first involving a farmer successfully living off the land, away from society and whose character Fonda’s Wyatt commends saying, “You’re doing your own thing in your own time. You should be proud.” Hopper uses the song a second time after meeting a commune of young hippies trying to do the same as the farmer, but effectively failing. This time, however, the song does not necessarily praise the individual spirit as it did with the farmer but rather speaks more to the carefree spirit stereotypically associated with hippie ideology.

Sandwiched between the Byrds, Hopper uses “The Weight” by the Band. “The Weight” has always had a sense of spirituality associated with it, despite no direct or literal reference to such in the song. Channeling that message, Hopper’s placement of the song references the scene through metaphor as the song is musically demonstrative of Wyatt’s and a hitchhiker’s mutual understanding, innate trustworthiness, and willingness to help each other out.

The song heard in the film is the original version as done by the Band and originally released on the album Music From Big Pink. On the soundtrack, however, the version recorded is by a band called Smith. When the decision was made to produce a soundtrack, most of the artists/labels agreed to license their material to ABC/Dunhill Records. Capitol Records, however, did not agree to license the Band’s material and as such ABC/Dunhill turned to Smith. A one-hit wonder with a cover of “Baby It’s You”, Smith was effectively an ABC house band consigned to record the song for the soundtrack.

The goofiness in the Holy Modal Rounders cosmic folk song “If You Want To Be a Bird” is reflected in the silliness of Jack Nicholson’s George providing for one of the few truly comic moments in the film. Despite literal allusions as Nicholson flapping his wings in a bird-like fashion, the song once again is a beautifully used metaphor representing the true freedom that Nicholson’s character is experiencing for the first time, a freedom broadened with his introduction to marijuana. As the three ride down the road on the wake of a cool buzz, the scene is bedded with the Fraternity of Man’s “Don’t Bogart Me”. Hopper’s placement of these songs around this set of scenes nicely encapsulates a moment of levity prior to the film’s dark turn.

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The sweet silliness of “Don’t Bogart Me” is immediately cut short when the soundtrack suddenly blasts forth with the trudging aggression of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “If 6 Was 9”. An acid fueled blues rocker, Hendrix’s tune is a literal reference to the underlying problems facing the counter-culture vs. the establishment. Lyrically, the song screams of independence and freedom and solidifies the freewheeling image we have of Wyatt and Billy. It also helps to establish an arc when the counter-culture comes crashing head on with the local establishment.

The Electric Prunes are most famous for their nugget “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night”, a fuzz-toned lo-fi garage rocking psychedelic hit; however, on the band’s third album Mass in F Minor, the band set out to produce an extremely elaborate concept album. A religion-based rock opera, Mass in F Minor was written and arranged by David Axelrod, who, along with the band’s manager, felt that this album would propel the Electric Prunes into the stratosphere. Unable to handle the complexities of Axelrod’s compositions, studio musicians were brought in to complete the album and the original band dissolved.

“Kyrie” opens Mass in F Minor with distorted electric guitars, eerie tremolo, and a cosmic vibe resulting in a very creepy rendition of “Kyrie Eleison”. The psychedelic darkness inherent in the track helps to establish the direction the film is now taking. The religious nature of the song links the characters and audience with the death of George, while the psychedelic aspect prepares us for the extremely bad acid trip that the characters have in a New Orleans cemetery. The use of this track may also represent one of the truer modernist moments on the soundtrack.

The final two songs on the soundtrack are sung by Roger McGuinn, lead singer of the Byrds. The first, “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” is a Bob Dylan song. The second, “The Ballad of Easy Rider” is the only song written specifically for the film. The story behind these two songs is almost as entertaining as the movie itself.

If there was one song that Peter Fonda wanted in the film, it was Bob Dylan’s “It’s Alright Ma”. Fonda felt the song’s violence and tragedy paralleled his own personal tragedy of his mother’s suicide, and its use would be perfect for the scene. It was up to Fonda and Hopper to get the song. “In those days, because no one had ever used found music, all you had to do was ask the artist for permission. You didn’t have to pay the record company or anybody. It was amazing,” said Hopper when describing making the soundtrack.

Dylan was very reluctant to let Hopper and Fonda use his song. At first, he made excuses, like he didn’t like the way the harmonica sounded. For everything Fonda said to convince him, Dylan had another list of reasons why not to do it. Finally Fonda opened up and got personal. Fonda described the scene in the film where Wyatt is having a bad acid trip. During the scene, Wyatt begins to yell and cry about his dead mother, a behavior encouraged by the film’s director (much to the embarrassment of its star). As the actors were indeed on psychedelics during the scene, the emotion Fonda expressed was entirely real. This confession moved Dylan to give Hopper and Fonda his song, but only if McGuinn sang it.

When asked to pen the film’s theme “The Ballad of Easy Rider”, Dylan was once again hesitant. He was very much against the ending of the film. Upset that the main characters die, Dylan suggested re-shooting the end to have Wyatt ride his motorcycle into the villainous rednecks, killing them in an act of revenge. According to Hopper, Dylan “didn’t get it.” At the end of the discussion Dylan asked Fonda, “What does the end of the movie mean to you?”

As the camera pulls away from the two crashed motorcycles and rises above the scene, the road is shown to run alongside a river. With this in mind, Fonda answered Dylan, “The shot has a road, the road that man built; and a river, the road that God built. And you see what happens on the road that man built, so…” With this in mind, Dylan scribbled onto a napkin, “The river flows to the sea, wherever that river goes, that’s where I want to be…Flow, river flow.” He handed the napkin to Fonda and said, “Give this to McGuinn. He’ll know what to do with it.” Those became the opening lines to “The Ballad of Easy Rider”. When Dylan saw that he had been credited with co-writing the song with McGuinn he asked to have his name removed, for reasons that Dylan himself may only truly know.

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Easy Rider was the first movie to express a reality of the ’60s that had been neglected by contemporary cinema. The style and direction of the film would contribute greatly to filmmaking in the following decade, including creatively designed soundtracks. Easy Rider may have been the first film to scrap the use of a score in lieu of rock songs; however, as rebellious as the film’s creators were, a traditional score of sorts had been planned. One argument used against the creation of a film score was that the filmmakers would not have been able to afford it; however, Fonda and Hopper had planned to use Crosby, Stills and Nash, friends of the filmmakers. An agreement could have easily been reached between the musicians and filmmakers.

A more plausible reason comes from an interview with Fonda. He described bringing in CS&N to view the film. He gave them the option to watch the film with or without the music, which up to this point was being used more as placeholders than actual elements of the soundtrack. The band chose to hear the film with the music on. After the film completed, the three emerged and Stephen Stills said, “We can’t beat that. We can’t even get near that, we’re lost.”

However, Lee Hill, in an essay on the film, alluded that the score had already been commissioned and perhaps even completed when Hopper convinced his collaborators to drop the score. This might be true if you take into account Hopper’s point of view. Hopper stated that he was riding in a limousine with some of the members of CS&N when he stopped and looked over at them and said, “This isn’t gonna work. This isn’t gonna work because I’ve never been in a limo before, man, and anyone who drives in a limo can’t understand my movie. You understand what I’m saying?” At which point he violently exited the car.

No one will ever be able to say if a score would have been better than what was delivered, but regardless of what is true or not, the film benefits from the use of found music. The carefully chosen songs are intentionally coupled with specific scenes elevating the entire experience. Easy Rider was obviously not the first film to feature rock & roll or rock music, but it was the first to feature non-diegetic rock music in place of a score. Hopper proved that found music, and rock specifically, could be used as effectively to convey emotion as well as an entire orchestra.

With the success of the film, Columbia Pictures made the decision to release the music as an official soundtrack to the film. The album quickly shot to the top of the charts, ending the year as one of the highest selling albums. The success of the Easy Rider soundtrack demonstrated the lucrative nature behind the repackaging of catalog material, opening the way for an entirely new business surrounding music in cinema. Ironically, the success of the album made its arrival on compact disc a bit of a problem. The original licensing for the soundtrack was around $1 million (three times the film’s budget); however, by the arrival of the compact disc era, the cost had gone up dramatically. The labels were not so eager to license their material, and the album was allowed to go out of print, with the exception of an overseas release in 1993. In the summer of 2000, MCA successfully licensed and reissued Easy Rider on compact disc.

Bob Dylan refutes China ban in online letter

Michael Roffman — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:26:30 +0000

This morning, the King of Folk himself, Mr. Bob Dylan, addressed his “fans and followers” on his website about the much discussed “China controversy”, where it was said he was banned from performing there. Dylan immediately extinguishes any fires, writing, “First of all, we were never denied permission to play in China,” laying blame to a promoter, who “was trying to get [him] to come there after playing Japan and Korea.” He goes on to explain that he and his band had no intentions of playing there, and when this happened, he believes “the promoter had to save face by issuing statements that the Chinese Ministry had refused permission for [him] to play there to get himself off the hook.”

But, that’s all moot because Dylan did end up performing in China this year — last month, to be exact. However, he also addresses recent statements by Mojo magazine, which reported the concerts were attended namely by “ex-pats” with a lot of “empty seats.” Dylan explains, “If anybody wants to check with any of the concert-goers they will see that it was mostly Chinese young people that came. Very few ex-pats if any. The ex-pats were mostly in Hong Kong not Beijing. Out of 13,000 seats we sold about 12,000 of them, and the rest of the tickets were given away to orphanages.”

There was some controversy over his setlists. Dylan dishes on what went on behind-the-scenes, adding, “As far as censorship goes, the Chinese government had asked for the names of the songs that I would be playing. There’s no logical answer to that, so we sent them the set lists from the previous 3 months. If there were any songs, verses or lines censored, nobody ever told me about it and we played all the songs that we intended to play.”

The old bard digresses on more thoughts — including an inspirational closing note to any aspiring Dylan biographers out there — but you’ll have to go read it for yourself. Either way, China loves the ol’ Tambourine Man. Case dismissed.

Check Out: The Rolling Stones cover Bob Dylan’s “Watching the River Flow”

Jackson McGrew — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:48:21 +0000

Cool musicians covering cool music is always a cool thing, but when the artists in the equation happen to be two of the most influential artists of all time, things get extraordinary. As previously reported, The Rolling Stones are heavily featured on a tribute album to Ian Stewart, the former pianist, tour manager, and oft called “Sixth Stone”, due for release on April 19th.

In addition to previously revealed “Rooming House Boogie”, the compilation includes the Stones covering the 1971 Bob Dylan single “Watching the River Flow”. The five-minute track features a honky tonk piano curating a parade of 12-bar blues while Mick howls his way through the classic Dylan lyrics. Via TwentyFourBit, stream the track below.

The cover also marks the first time former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has played with the group in 19 years. Although he contributed to rest of the album, the Dylan cover is the only track that finds him playing collectively with the rest of the Stones.

Boogie 4 Stu is set for release on April 19th via Eagle Rock. You pre-order the album at Amazon.com, where a portion of the proceeds will go to the British Heart Foundation, a group that provides quality health care for those living with heart problems.

R.I.P. Suze Rotolo

Alex Young — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 22:13:18 +0000

Suze Rotolo, an East Village, New York-based artist and writer who was perhaps best known as the former girlfriend of Bob Dylan, died Thursday, February 24th after a long illness, reports Rolling Stone. She was 67.

Rotolo began dating Dylan shortly after his arrival to New York City in 1961, and appeared on his shoulder in the now iconic cover of his 1963 classic, The Freehweelin’ Bob Dylan. In addition, she was the inspiration of many of Dylan’s early love songs, including “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Boots of Spanish Leather”, which he wrote during Rotolo’s summer in Italy. Their break-up in 1963 resulted in another of Dylan’s most notable works, “Ballad In Plain D”.

She was also credited for Dylan’s political awakening, and was said to have inspired Dylan’s writing of “The Death of Emmett Till” after telling him the story of 1955 murder of Emmett Till.

Rotolo married her husband of 40 years, Italian film editor Enzo Bartoccioli, in 1970, and would dedicate her life to artistry and teaching. In 2009, she published her memoir, A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties.

Early Bob Dylan concert album to be released

Chris Coplan — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:55:36 +0000

As if the Bootleg Series, a rare, newly released cover by Jimi Hendrix, and a book deal weren’t enough material to to give you the in’s and out’s of early Bob Dylan, then how’s this for unearthing a real gem: via AUX.TV, Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph Gleason recently unearthed a 1963 Dylan concert recording that will be released on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download on April 12th. Now we just need some baby photos and we’re all set.

The preserved performance occurred on May 10th, 1963 at Brandeis University’s First Annual Folk Festival, in Waltham, MA. If you’re not a history buff, that’d be two weeks before Dylan released his Freewheelin’ sophomore album. Dylan scholar Michael Gray (how do we get that job?) described the recording as “the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star”, and that the performance captures a time from “…way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn’t yet reached America, wasn’t even on fans’ radar … It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period: repertoire from an ordinary working day.”

Although no tracklist is yet available, songs that made the album’s final cut include “Ballad Of Hollis Brown”, “Bob Dylan’s Dream”, “Masters of War”, and “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” Update: Check out the tracklist below. The concert album is available beginning April 12th, via Columbia/Legacy.

Bob Dylan In Concert – Brandeis University 1963 Tracklist:
01. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance (Incomplete)
02. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
03. Ballad of Hollis Brown
04. Masters of War
05. Talkin’ World War III Blues
06. Bob Dylan’s Dream
07. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

Report: Bob Dylan to perform at 2011 Grammys

Alex Young — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:56:07 +0000

Update: Dylan and Dr. Dre’s appearances have been confirmed.

The 2011 Grammys already promise a hodgepodge of performers ranging from Arcade Fire and Mick Jagger to Eminem and maybe Dr. Dre. But the Los Angeles Times reports that organizers aren’t done finalizing this year’s lineup and may be on the verge of wooing one of music’s all-time greats.

Bob Dylan will reportedly make his fifth Grammys performance Sunday when he teams up with rising folk acts Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers. The Times reports that producer Ken Ehrlich plans to have Dylan perform during a three-song set, with each act taking turns playing one of their songs.

“I don’t think either of these bands would be on a stage if it wasn’t for the music of Bob Dylan,” Ehrlich said. “I think for the harmonies alone it should be something special. You don’t know what you’ve got, what the blend is, until you see it, but I think it could be fantastic.”

Ehrlich did add, however, that the entire plan is “all subject to a certain person’s approval.” While we wait for official confirmation, watch one of Dylan’s most memorable Grammy performance — SOY BOMB! — below.

Along with the aforementioned, the 2011 Grammys will also feature performances by Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Muse, Raphael Saadiq, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine.

The festivities go down this Sunday at 8pm EST on CBS. Our Content Director, Jeremy D. Larson, will be live blogging the event. Stay tuned for more details.

Bob Dylan signs six-book deal with Simon & Schuster

Chris Coplan — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:15:43 +0000

While the trend of rock stars writing books (Zakk Wylde is doing one for kids and Jimmy Page is schlepping one for $691) is nothing new, the mere prospect of Bob Dylan writing more books blasts those other literary works right out of the proverbial water. So, good news: According to RollingStone.com, Dylan has signed a six-book deal with Simon & Schuster for a potential eight-figure sum. We’re totally going to start actually reading now.

Two out of the six books will be sequels to his 2004 memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, while another will be a book of dialogue based on Dylan’s Sirius/XM radio show Theme Time Radio Hour (the last three books’ focus have yet to be revealed.) In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2006, Dylan said that Chronicles: Volume 2 could see the singer look back as far as his legendary Blonde on Blonde album before moving forward with the tale of his career.

As always, stay tuned for more info on the upcoming books as they’re announced.

Remix Bob Dylan for a chance to go to South by Southwest

Ben Kaye — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:50:58 +0000

Everyone loves a good remix. Hell, some artists make careers out of them. But if there was one artist whose name seemed incongruous in the realm of remixes, it would have to be Bob Dylan. A mumbling folk icon being remixed just didn’t seem to add up. That was until a few weeks ago, when Sony, via Facebook, announced a new contest in which you could remix the classic Dylan track “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. That contest is now online.

Giving it all the remarkably uninspired name The Remix Project, Sony is providing you the chance to use Dylan’s basic track segments (guitar, drums, bass, etc…) to create your own version of the song. What’s more, indie pop darlings The Ting Tings and newcomers 2AM Club supply their own takes on certain elements, such as the bass and a synth line. Musicians can also upload their own tracks, and entrants can pick and choose their favorites to fill four verses.

Yes, remixing Bob Dylan might border on blasphemy. But, what if we told you the prize for the top voted version was an all-expense-paid trip to the South by Southwest music festival? Suddenly the idea seems a lot less ungodly, doesn’t it? Though none of the artists involved in the contest will be at SXSW (as far as we know), the winner will. Those musicians featured in the winning remix will receive Dylan’s The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 and The Original Mono Recordings box set.

If the prizes clean the bad taste of remixing an icon from your mouth, then head over to the contest’s website to enter. Sony will reveal their top 10 remixes on Facebook on January 24th, at which point fans will vote for the winner.

Stream: Robyn Hitchcock covers Bowie, Dylan, Nick Drake

Alex Young — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:50:00 +0000

Robyn Hitchcock‘s Christmas gift to the Internet comes in the form of a 12-track compilation featuring covers of David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Nick Drake, Johnny Cash, and George Harrison. Per Slicing Up Eyeballs, the set includes live renditions of four tracks off Bowie’s 1971 album Hunky Dory, as well as studio outtakes featuring covers of Dylan’s “Copper Kettle”, Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone”, and Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, which features Nick Lowe on lead vocals. If that weren’t enough, the former Soft Boys frontman also offers his take on Harrison’s “Be Here Now”, Drake’s classic “Pink Moon”, and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Wang Dang Doodle”.

Interested parties can stream all 12 covers here.

Robyn Hitchcock Covers:
01. Be Here Now (George Harrison; studio outtake)
02. Blue Moon of Kentucky (Bill Monroe; ‘Propellor Time’ session, lead vocal Nick Lowe)
03. Candyman (Grateful Dead; Nashville with the Tennessee Crawdads)
04. Changes (David Bowie; 3 Kings Halloween 2010 MSF Benefit)
05. Copper Kettle (Bob Dylan; ‘Propellor Time’ session)
06. I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash; ‘Propellor Time’ session, vocal Scott McCaughey)
07. Life on Mars (David Bowie; 3 Kings Halloween 2010 MSF Benefit)
08. Pink Moon in C (Nick Drake; studio outtake)
09. Quicksand (David Bowie; 3 Kings Halloween 2010 MSF Benefit)
10. Song for Bob Dylan (David Bowie; 3 Kings Halloween 2010 MSF Benefit)
11. Very Cellular Song (Incredible String Band; vocal Mike Heron, live at Pestival 2009)
12. Wang Dang Doodle (Willie Dixon; ‘Propellor Time’ session)

Check Out: Wanda Jackson & Jack White cover Dylan’s “Thunder on the Mountain”

Alex Young — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:45:40 +0000

Minus opening an eBay account, Jack White has spent most of his recent time behind the soundboard working with the likes of Laura Marling, Dungen, and Reggie Watts. He’s also producing Wanda Jackson’s new album, The Party Ain’t Over, which Third Man Records will release on January 25th. As previously reported, Third Man offered us an early taste of what happens when White and Jackson join forces with the November 23rd release of a 7″ single featuring covers of Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. For the latter, Jackson and White chose to cover “Thunder on the Mountain”, off Dylan’s 2006 album Modern Times, and thanks to Cover Me, you can hear a recording of the cover below.

Neil Young, Devo, Regina Spektor contribute to Christmas album

Chris Coplan — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:20:56 +0000

Despite their jolly nature, standard holiday tunes like “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” or “Jingle Bells” often leave some folk wanting to deck the halls with their strung-up corpse. Well, before you go and ruin little Sally’s Xmas, here’s some updated tunes that will keep you fa-la-la-ing in the form of an all-star holiday album featuring Neil Young, Regina Spektor, The Flaming Lips, Oasis, Everest, Tegan & Sara, Devo, and many more (via TwentyFourBit).

Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In will feature several originals and, of course, those beloved classics re-imagined. Among the more notable tracks are originals by Devo (“Merry Something To You”) and Spektor (“December”). And despite the fact that you may have heard these since you wanted an Atari for Xmas, covers of “Little Drummer Boy” by The Flaming Lips, Neil and Pegi Young guesting on Ben Keith’s “Les Trois Cloches”, “and Marvin Gaye’s “Christmas in the City” by Everest should rejuvenate the holiday spirit. Plus, you can never go wrong with “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” as performed by Tegan & Sara, which you can enjoy right now with a warm mug of cocoa.

Check out the entire tracklist below. Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In is available now through several major digital musical retailers.

Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In Tracklist:
01. Cavo – “Home For Christmas”
02. Ben Keith (feat. Neil Young and Pegi Young) – “Les Trois Cloches”
03. Oasis – “Merry Christmas Everybody”
04. American Bang – “Christmas Song”
05. Jason Reeves and Kara DioGuardi – “New York In Wintertime”
06. Tegan And Sara – “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)”
07. Regina Spektor – “December”
08. Devo – “Merry Something To You”
09. David Foster – “Carol Of The Bells” (instrumental)
10. The Ready Set – “Wonderful Christmastime”
11. Foxy Shazam – “Heaven On Their Minds”
12. The Goo Goo Dolls – “Better Days” (acoustic)
13. Rachael Yamagata – “Baby Come Find Me At Christmas”
14. Everest – “Christmas In The City”
15. The Dirt Drifters – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
16. The Spill Canvas – “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
17. Stardeath And The White Dwarfs – “Last Christmas”
18. House Of Heroes – “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
19. The Flaming Lips – “Little Drummer Boy” (live)
20. Franklin – “Hanukkah, Oh Channukah” (bonus track)
21. The Red Elephant – “Brooklyn Sleigh Ride” (bonus track)