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Bob Dylan's Wind Blows
2006-08-31 06:06
by Scott Long

So Bob Dylan thinks that there hasn't been anything good recorded in the past 20 years, ever since LP's bit the dust. I'm old enough to remember records and I have still kept over 200 of them, as they hold sentimental value to me. I would agree to a certain extent that there is a crispness in sound that comes out of the needle hitting the groove, but CD's didn't scratch and were a lot more portable. Major technological leap. Now MP3's have made it even easier to access music.

I find it sad that Mr. Tamborine Man, who was a spokesman for a new generation in the 1960's, a generation that embraced a new way of doing things is now just a cranky old man who can only see the past. Hey Bob, I'll give you this. I haven't heard anything from you in well-over 20 years that I would want to listen to. (Yeah, that includes the one's that have won you Grammy's) So go ahead and put on a scratchy copy of Blonde on Blonde, as it was never your sound that made people want to listen, it was your words. Now your words are that of a cranky old man. Stay Off of My Lawn Talking Blues.

*************

On more let's slap Bob Dylan to the curb news, his XM satellite radio show sucks. I enjoy some of his selections, but the whole Dylan as DJ doesn't work, as his speaking voice is pretty ridiculous. What is most irritating is how the promo commercial for his show constantly airs on XM Extreme, Channel 202. This is the channel that airs Opie and Anthony and the best show in radio, Ron and Fez. Between having Major League Baseball and Ron and Fez is enough for me to choose XM over Sirius. With all the acquisitions lately by Sirius, though, the gap is smaller between which is the better product.

*************

I wasn't sold initially on if Rock Star on CBS would be as good as last year. Well, I was wrong, as the show is vastly superior to the 2005 edition. The singers seem to be a bit older and are much more developed in their style and substance. From the first show, I mentioned that Dilana, Lukas, and Toby were the 3 to beat and I don't see anything to change this. I was pretty shocked that Ryan, last night, was booted, as he had probably produced 4 of the 10 best performances of the year. By not choosing him, it really demonstrates that Supernovaa is not looking to be a real hard rock band, but something a little more eclectic. If you haven't been watching Rockstar Supernova, you've missed the best reality show of the year. I thought this was the best season of American Idol, but the talent and stories behind the performers on Rockstar once again blow away the pop sheen of AI. It really comes down to would you rather listen to covers of Nirvana and Radiohead or would you rather hear covers of Celine Dion and Brian McKnight?

Comments
2006-08-31 07:07:58
1.   Smed
Yes, it's easier to access music, but Bob IS right, sonically, some stuff sounds much better on vinyl. And some of the stuff from the past sounds bad on MP3.
2006-08-31 08:51:21
2.   onetimer
You're full of crap. Modern Times is good stuff.
2006-08-31 09:54:18
3.   jonm
Wow, it's refreshing to see idiocy so crisply expressed. First, Long misunderstands Dylan's criticism of recording technology as criticism of playback technology. Then, he cranks out the old Dylan as "spokesman for a generation" trope and makes an unsupported assertion that people listened to Dylan for the words rather than the musical sound. He criticizes the excellent radio show because for the entirely unconvincing reason he doesn't like Dylan's speaking voice.

What exactly is the point of this entry? Am I, a lifelong Dylan fan, supposed to be persuaded? I guess it only is meant to reflect the mindset of someone who would actually link to Blender magazine.

See you later, Scott Long. You crisply provided prima facie evidence that nothing you write about anything is worth reading.

2006-08-31 11:12:59
4.   Xeifrank
In a sense I agree with Mr Dylan that the quantity of quality music has slowed down to a trickle. Yes, there is some good stuff being made but not very much. Today's music and to a much higher degree today's Hollywood movies and tv has gone to berkeley in a handbasket. Too much cookie cutter productions. I am not sure if it's the lack of talented writers or the fact that you are easily able to make a buck off of the public without doing the hard work, without being creative, therefore just put out the cookie cutter crupola and cash your check. I think the TV and Movie industry are better examples, but the music industry is taking a slower dive down the long and windy mundane road. Unfortunately, to a large degree...
Television = Reality TV
Hollywood movies = Special effects, blow'em up.
Music = Chillingly cookie cutter.

I can't think of one new (out in the last 2-3 months) that I would care to download off the internet (through legal means of course) and I'm not even old enough to be considered a grumpy ole man. :)
vr, Xei

2006-08-31 11:30:22
5.   Eric Stephen
I like the "Stay of My Lawn Talking Blues" line.
2006-08-31 11:59:29
6.   Scott Long
jonb thanks for your comments. they were what I was trying to elicit. while I respect the dylan catalogue, I am not someone who gives anyone a free ride for the rest of their life. dylan has been touring for years performing one mediocre to bad show after another. his fans who consider him like some folk rock pope go along with the sham. one of the few mantras that I live by is kill your heroes. let me suggest you consider this idea, because it has been a long time since maggies farm or along the watchtower. (these are two of the greatest tunes in music history, I will agree) to the blender magazine shot, I will give you credit for mortally wounding me with that one. I would say it has a few reviews that I like, but overall it is kind of like the vh1 of rock magazines. pop culture candy. I hate to lose readers over one article, but at the same time, I want to challenge common wisdom on certain subjects, so I guess that is the price to pay. oh and note, I am sorry about the way I wrote this, but I am getting used to my new handheld. mister tired thumbs scott
2006-08-31 12:13:13
7.   misterjohnny
I have been watching RS: Supernova all season. While before the elimination show I expected Storm Large (where do they come up with these names?) to get the boot, after Ryan screamed through Baba O'Reilly I thought he was more likely to go. I never expected Supernova to pick him as their lead singer, but he was having excellent performances and yesterday's elimination performance was (in my opinion) not that good. It gave S. an opportunity to kick him off, while keeping the eye candy (who can sing too) and the favorite.

I'm just wondering if the whole Dilana blow up was all staged.

I'd rather see the House Band tour though. They bring it on every song.

2006-08-31 13:21:14
8.   Scott Long
great analysis of rockstar, misterjohnny. storm large is an exquisitely fine looking woman. cross between lindsay lohan at her best and clint black's wife, lisa hartman. the house band is awesome. got to be the most versatile cover band I have ever heard, who at the same time always are pitch perfect. here is my solution. have them go out on tour with the runner ups. all the songs are covers of bob dylan tunes.
2006-08-31 14:24:04
9.   Schteeve
Mp3s sound like shit, and because there aren't standards for conversion the range of shittiness is pretty big.

Dylan was expressing his opinion forgive the man for having one. Also, when we are Dylan's age I'll bet you anything there will be certian topics about which web will sound like cranky old dorks.

The whole, 'vinyl sounds better than CD' thing is bullshit. CDs have a much wider dynamic range, they are exactly as good sounding as what is put on them. If you want some mythological "analog warmth," mix it that way and that's what you'll hear by the time you get to the CD.

2006-08-31 14:40:46
10.   Schteeve
And I'm not killing Derek Jeter.
2006-08-31 16:29:36
11.   chris in illinois
Pardon me for being a 'technology relativist', but isn't the best musical format the one that sounds best to you?? My IPod sounds damn good to me, but clearly some find it lacking. Who cares?

If Dylan said nothing good has been recorded in the last 20 years (what was the last 'good' album anyway?? The Travelling Wilbury's??), well he's a moron. I'm 37 and probably 9 out of my 10 favorite albums ever are from the last 10 years.

As far as Derek Jeter, a groundball will take care of him soon enough...

2006-08-31 17:21:11
12.   misterjohnny
I haven't joined the downloading revolution, mainly because I do find the MP3 sound quality lacking. MP3 was developed because you could have small files that stored easily and downloaded quickly. Now that we've got Gigabytes of storage for cheap, and everyone has broadband, is there going to be a iPod-like device that stores songs in a CD quality format? And a place to download them from?
2006-08-31 18:47:52
13.   deadteddy8
Weighing in on the mp3-quality discussion... For some people, only the best in clarity and depth will do, but for the vast majority of kids I know, they simply don't care because they consume their music incidentally, meaning it's just background noise, when they're walking down the street with the iPod, or in the car, or when it's coming out of the cpu. The experience of sitting and concentrating on a recording and listening to its details is a novelty. Nobody I know treats pop music that way, so they're completely content trading some insignificant level of quality (to them) for the convenience of bringing ALL their music wherever they go. If you want to download in AIFF or WAV, I seem to recall someone offering only those formats, but they could only offer obscurities. Also, in case you good folks haven't discovered the Live Music Archive... http://www.archive.org/details/etree

--David

2006-08-31 19:32:01
14.   Bluebleeder87
Great read once again Scott, i feel you brotha!
2006-08-31 19:45:10
15.   Bluebleeder87
13

Vinyl just has that "feel at home" about it.

2006-08-31 23:44:18
16.   Jimi Shelter
Dylan didn't say that no good music has been recorded in the past 20 years. His complaints were about the recording process- the overuse of compression, the use of pitch correction and beat correction. He has referenced many acts that he likes that are recent artists, for example, Alicia Keys.

As far as you not liking his recent efforts, I suppose the question needs to be asked- have you heard any of it? Song such as "Not Dark Yet", "Cold Irons Bound", or "Mississippi"? These songs are arguably among the finest he's written. I say arguably because it would not be hard to find a large number of music listeners or critics to agree. It is, naturally, purely a matter of opinion. I'm just curious if you formed your opinion by actually hearing these, and the many other fine songs, on his last three albums?

Finally, I have a large circle of friends that record the XM shows and discuss the at length. Rather than think his show sucks, we eagerly look forward to each one. His song selections are great and, frankly, he cracks me up. I think he's hilarious.

You are, of course, entitled to your own point of view, however ineloquently you choose to state it.

2006-09-01 07:48:16
17.   Norm
I don't know who Supernova is going to choose, but I suggest they pick the best songwriter. The three new tracks they've performed are pretty bad. The second one, that Toby sang, was particularly horrible.
2006-09-01 07:58:59
18.   BobbyBaseBall
As for the whole XM vs. Sirius debate, the R&F show alone is the reason to go with XM. Throw in the MLB package, and it seems to be a no-brainer. Granted, XM does need to pick up more exclusive original content. However, baseball is one of the only sports that translates well to radio, and I'm sure tons of people check out the Dylan show, if for no other reason than its Dylan. Throw in Oprah, and they have a pretty diversified target audience.

But, as stated above, Ron and Fez is the greatest thing going.

2006-09-02 13:17:10
19.   Bluebleeder87
18

sirius for Howard vs XM for baseball, if i had a ton of money i'd have both.

2006-09-05 13:02:25
20.   Benaiah
I don't have XM, is there a place where you can download Dylan's show? I would pay for it, it is just that XM doesn't really make any sense for me (I don't ever listen to the radio).

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