Bob Dylan - Tempest, Sept. 11, 2012

Another time I saw him, in the early 90s, he was more into playing than singing, lots of fine complex folkie picking and some screaming solos, from him and steel guitarist, especially in "Highway 61" and "Tombstone Blues." "All Along The Watchtower" kept witholding the expected guitarpocalypse, more of a band=laidback Roadrunner, people all along the watchtower and in our mountain amphitheater seats=Wile E. Coyote. It was diabolical, and finally/suddenly we were in the middle of another song.

that highwater is great.

tim heidecker pre-covers Titanic: http://vimeo.com/46246490

haaaaaaa

early, not terribly revealing, report from uncut.

Tempest seemed to find Dylan on unquestionably formidable form. Its ten tracks run over a total playing time of around 75 minutes, the title track alone taking up a fair chunk of that, with verse following verse in a manner that might remind you of “Desolation Row”. There was a lot, therefore, to take in on a single encounter, especially with note-taking discouraged. There was no track listing forthcoming, either, not that this matters at the moment since I am obliged to not go into premature detail ahead of the album’s September 10 release.
I think I can say without punitive consequences, though, that if you’re trying to imagine what Tempest sounds like you may want to think less perhaps of the rambunctious roadhouse blues that was central to most of Together Through Life and parts of Modern Times, although this is a recent signature sound that hasn’t been entirely abandoned.
Neither are there too many of the jazzy riverboat shuffles of “Love And Theft” in evidence here as much as there are echoes of a folk tradition that was manifest on, say, “High Water (For Charley Patton)” and also “Nettie Moore”, from Modern Times. You may also want to keep in mind as a point of reference “Mississippi” from “Love And Theft” and something like “Red River Shore”, recorded for Time Out Of Mind, but not released until 2009, when it appeared on the Tell Tale Signs three-CD set, where also lurked “’Cross The Green Mountain”, the epic civil war song Dylan wrote for the soundtrack to the 2003 film, Gods And Generals. Hardly anyone heard it when it originally came out, but it came several times to mind as Tempest unspooled spectacularly a few weeks ago, concluding with a song that will probably be much-talked about, although not here, right now.

that Tim Heidecker cover is excellent. i would guess he got pretty close.

"Red River Shore" and "'Cross the Green Mountain" are great, now I'm really anticipating.

"Red River Shore" and "Cross The Green Mountain" were faves in 2008.

the 10-song album is 68 minutes long

oh nooo

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i need to excelsior this

haha.
also haha, this heidecker thing! "The director Cameron on the set of true lies..."

oh titanic - how could you let us down
oh titanic - you're lying on the bottom of the water just waiting to be found

If I were Dylan, I would cover this and insist it be amended to the album.

"Red River Shore" and "'Cross the Green Mountain" are great, now I'm really anticipating.

Almost wish I didn't read this. Expectations are v high now

oh yeahhhhh.
of course it should be kept in mind that the dude writing this heard the album once and was not allowed to take notes.

And was writing for a British nostalgia-mining mag.

if you can't trust British nostalgia-mining mags who can you trust

And if the nostalgia mining company won't come to my rescue
If the nostalgia mining company won't save me
Who's gonna save me?

I get the reference, but I still file it under esoteric.

ez snappin w/a deep cut

tbh i love mojo and uncut

first single out next week!!! EARLY ROMAN KINGS. a late "jam of the summer" contender?!

Bob Dylan on His Dark New Album, 'Tempest'
Dylan breaks down his apocalyptic (and sometimes sweet) 35th studio LP

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-on-his-dark-new-album-tempest-20120801#ixzz22JVe2zAY

even Leonardo DiCaprio appears. ("Yeah, Leo," says Dylan. "I don't think the song would be the same without him. Or the movie.")

^ this lp's alicia keys

It's like people who read Shakespeare plays, but they never see a Shakespeare play. I think they just use his name."

haha

excited to see Charlie Sexton back in the band, I think he adds a bit of fire that was missing from MT and TTL (though I do really like MT and TTL is decent too)

yeah interested to hear what his touring band brings to this album. minus sexton it'll be the same people from modern times, but when they recorded that the guitarists had only been playing with dylan for a little while.

Shakespeare's last play was called The Tempest. It wasn't called just plain Tempest. The name of my record is just plain Tempest. It's two different titles.

Maybe I'm missing it, but it doesn't seem as if anyone linked to this:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/okay_this_is_awesome.php?ref=fpblg

Lawsuit from Muddy Waters' estate pending.

Oh dammit, Bob still thinks he's a bluesman.

"thinks"?

That track sounds p. good, but I'm more intrigued by the references above to "High Water" and "Nettie Moore."

Sounds good!

”sluggers and muggers
wearin' fancy gold rings
All the women go crazy
For early Roman kings”

ha, well doesn't sound like a huge departure or anything, but it sounds good!

I'm not sure I'm willing to see him again live. I've seen him great once or twice, terrible three or more times. Once (or twice?) I actually fell asleep. Weird how in Chicago he only bothers playing an arena once in a while. Wonder how he decides?

"Hey, can we play a club in October?"

"Sorry, Bob, all booked."

"What about a theater?"

"Nope, sorry."

"So is anything free? Minor league park? Circus tent?"

"Nope, just the hockey arena."

"Oh, OK. Let's play that, then."

Are those exact quotes or did you make those up?

I wish I had access to a transcript of every banal conversation Bob Dylan has ever had.

"What is for breakfast?"

"Eggs."

"Eggs without bacon are like the sky without blood."

"What does that mean?

"It means the day ain't done until the night goes swimming."

"But what does that mean?"

"It means get me some bacon, dammit."

"Oh, OK."

"The fool does not see the fork until it is stuck in his eye."

lol

early review from billboard. DEATH!

Death, whether it be the legacy of John Lennon, the sinking of the Titanic or a trio of cheating lovers, is a dominant subject on "Tempest," Bob Dylan's 35th studio album that is scheduled for release on Sept. 11.

The album marks a return to straight-forward, story-driven songwriting for Dylan. The 10 tracks are more in line with 1997's "Time Out of Mind," '76's "Desire" and '64's "Another Side of Bob Dylan"; a darkness has replaced the instrumental interludes, buoyancy and lightness of his last three albums.

"Early Roman Kings," a 12-bar blues that features David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on accordion, is featured in a music video that HBO and Cinemax began airing today (Aug. 2) in conjunction will the Cinemax series "Strike Back." Another song from the new album, "Scarlet Town" will play over the end credits of the first two episodes, which air Aug. 17. "Scarlet Town," rooted in English folk with banjo, acoustic guitar, fiddle and drums providing the accompaniment, plays out as a tale of doom, fate and potential redemption.

The song that will get the most attention though is the nearly 14-minute title track track. "Tempest," 45 verses written in accentual-syllabic verse with no chorus, is set aboard the Titanic, with characters ranging from an artist named Leo -- DiCaprio, one might assume -- to Jim Dandy, who hands over a chance at survival to youngster.

Besides Hidalgo, Dylan is backed by his touring band of guitarists Charlie Sexton and Stu Kimball, steel guitarist Donnie Herron, bassist Tony Garnier and drummer George G. Receli. Song structures are largely rooted in folk styles, though a few tunes veer into other rootsy areas.

"Soon After Midnight" is a bluesy doo-wop that echoes the Rays' "Silhouettes" and a bit of Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk" in an instrumental break; "Narrow Way" is a seven and a half minute riff-driven tune that straddles country and blues; and the bite of Warren Zevon comes out in "Pay in Blood," the chorus of which ends with the gripping line "I pay in blood/but not my own."

The album's final track is a tribute to John Lennon, "Roll on John." In one verse Dylan references the Beatles songs "Come Together," Ballad of John and Yoko" and "Slow Down"; elsewhere on the ballad he combines the metaphysical with the historical.

accentual-syllabic verse, well my my

i know, someone at billboard dropping heavy english major science!

The 10 tracks are more in line with 1997's "Time Out of Mind," '76's "Desire" and '64's "Another Side of Bob Dylan"

"The album is more in line with three albums that sound nothing like each other and have completely different songwriting"

Like Jim Dandy from Black Oak Arksanas?

xp haha yeah. not sure if you could pick three more different dylan albums. also like this helpful bit: "Song structures are largely rooted in folk styles, though a few tunes veer into other rootsy areas."

THE METAPHYSICAL

the secret inspiration behind TEMPEST
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_msHZhK8UVUE/SEw_L5bR-FI/AAAAAAAAAGg/D0cTBIXX1MA/s400/jim+dandy.jpg

Dylan should add Jim Dandy on electric washboard to his touring band for this album.

We live in a world where Lou Reed made an album with Metallica. Jim Dandy jamming with Dylan is basically fated to happen at this point.

Junior Dandy

i know, someone at billboard dropping heavy english major science!

And: "Tempest," Bob Dylan's 35th studio album that is scheduled for release on Sept. 11.

So the guy's releasing 35 albums on the same day? Ace! It's a record record.

noticed this tour billed as Bob Dylan w/ Mark Knopfler (!). getting tix to see him @ the greek in berkeley and i think that's a great place to see him

yo my numbers are always the tightest and my lines scan like nobody's business and if I don't get some "accentual-syllabic" love in the next cycle after this I'm gonna be pissed off, once you open that door Billboard you gotta start respecting the real

The Guardian newspaper reckons this is Dylan's "strongest album since Love And Theft"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/aug/06/bob-dylan-tempest-first-listen?intcmp=ILCMUSTXT9387

it'll have to be amazing to knock Christmas In The Heart from that place on the pedestal.

Admittedly -- that is a bit like saying "it's his best album since his last one". But still, I find it oddly encouraging since my expectations were/are rather low.