Bob Dylan: Tempest (2012)

Metacritic's aggregation of reviews of Bob Dylan's more recent albums:

Love & Theft = 93%
Modern Times = 89%
Together Through Life = 76%
Christmas in the Heart = 62%
Tempest = 84%

When reading about new Dylan albums, it may be best to lop off at least 10% of the average reviewer's rating to account for respect, awe and a fear of blacklisting by the Dylan camp. That said, Tempest proves that the blood is still dancing in Dylan`s veins. Sure, this isn't exactly Jack Palance dropping and giving the Academy twenty one-handed push-ups but it`s still more vigorous then we`ve any right to expect, especially after the not-as-bad-as-we`d-feared Christmas in the Heart and the worse-than-we`d-feared Together Through Life.  For a late career album,  Tempest, solidly engineered by Scott Litt, is a piece of some heft, akin to Modern Times (overpraised upon its release but undervalued now) though it may not be a match for the wit and fire of `Love and Theft`.
                  
                   
                   
                   
``Duquesne Whistle`` is the first new Dylan composition worthy of his name since the highlights of Modern Times. `Narrow Way`is a nice reminder that Dylan can still roll out some nice lines (``I can`t work up to you - you`ll surely have to work down to to me someday`) while recycling the blues. We do get some of that romantic crooner material, like `Soon After Midnight`` but that`s counterbalanced by the re-emergence of the angry Dylan here in fire-spiting songs like, `Pay in Blood` (`I pay in blood but not my own``) and ``The Angel`` (`He`s a gutless ape with a worthless mind`). The oft-discussed Titanic-themed song `Tempest`, while intriguing is just too damn long at forty-five chorus-less verses in just over fourteen minutes to not drag the album down a little. The other historical song, `Roll on, John` just seems to be mashing up words and ideas about John Lennon to limited effect. The last two tracks aside, Dylan`s delivered an album that adds to his body of work





It might be a bit generous but a 74% and a ``recommended for mid-level Dylan-ites`` seems fitting.


Let us know what you think of the latest Dylan work in the COMMENTS section.


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George Romney: The Original Anti-Romney?

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GEORGE ROMNEY: I've been poor. I worked from the time I was 12. My parents were driven out of old Mexico when I was only 5. My people were revolutionary refugees. They had to be fed by the United States government and housed by the United States government. I know what poverty is. I've been up through it. 

From the archives: Mitt Romney’s father defends his success A sidewalk encounter with George Romney from 1967. NBC’s Brian Williams reports.

George Romney was a Mexican immigrant whose family used welfare relief from the US Government to help them get on their feet. Later, as a businessman, he re-built The American Motors Co. by building fuel-efficient cars. As a politician he not only set the standard for transparency by releasing twelve years of his tax returns but he actually got re-elected twice in the state he governed. Plus he opposed Barry Goldwater's extremism and the war in Vietnam while supporting civil rights. They don't make Republicans like that any more, do they? The more I know about Mitt, the more I admire George.



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Run DNC

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Between back-to-school and my need to watch a chunk of the Democratic National Convention live the blog is running a bit slow. I only saw bits and pieces of the RNC: Marco Rubio seemed pretty good, Susana Martinez (who I missed) got good reviews, Mitt surpassed my exceedingly low expectation (meaning he got about a 1/10 in my book where I was expecting a 0/10). Ann Romney did what she was supposed to do (give her three Oprahs out of five) but her pretending that her and Mitt were one upon a time starving students ("We...ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish") was a loathsome and despicable  lie. Speaking of liars, marathon man Paul Ryan really knocked the stuffing out of his puffed-up reputation for seriousness all by his lonesome. And Eastood? As Jamelle Bouie said, "This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama."

As for the DNC, we saw some weak speeches (none come to mind but there were plenty), some middling ones (thanks, Costco guy), some strong ones (Elizabeth Warren, Julian Castro, Deval Patrick) and, unlike RNC we've actually seen history-making speeches, Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama. The RNC had some successes at their convention but, all biases aside, the DNC are blowing them out of the water. When I say, all biases aside, I really mean it. If the RNC had fulfilled their mission, I would gladly give the the devil his due but thus far the victor is indisputable for the simple reason that the Democrats are proud of the man atop their ticket and the Republicans are not.

What's your take on the conventions up till now?

What Did You Buy This Week? (09/03/12)

Programming Notes:

1) This irregular "whad'ya buy?" series (more HERE) have been generating lots of positive feedback - please keep us up to speed on your purchases in the COMMENTS section!

2) Speaking of irregular series; the Helen Love (which is in jeopardy as of now), The Vapors (shortly) the political tirades (sorry but not really) and The Fastbacks (coming up!) will be rolling out but in a bit more spread out manner.


Did I promise to cut down this week?

Well, actually despite the strange array of ephemera pictured above, I only spent $4.00 on music this week.

The Mercy River (country-gospel with a few sharp covers alongside some more dire originals) and The Dire Straits Brothers in Arms CD's (three strong hits to open, three filler songs to drag the middle down and the band's three best songs for the climax) were the 'big ticket' items, amounting to four-and change at the local thrift Store. Neither of them will get much play on my stereo (or on this blog!) but they might make decent Glove Box albums (see HERE) or get sold.


The  Deja Voodoo sticker (for a show that I saw!), the 1959 cash-in edition of  Allan Ginsberg's Howl (with the introduction by Willaim Carlos Williams) was a gift from the friend I helped move this weeekend, both of which he slipped into a plastic comic bag with the re-print of The Freak Brotheres which is...god I HATE the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and and the vapid stoner culture they helped codify!

On a happier note, he also gave me two J Church (more HERE) CD-EP's Yellow, Blue and Green and Tide of Fate (more on those at some point). That same friend passed me The Mangees Rocket To You CD-R and an altogether different friend gave The Dinks, Dawn of The Dinks CD. "Hallelujah, It's Raining Pop-Punk!"

So, please tell us what music you've bought recently in the COMMENTS section (and fell free to leave a link, if you're so inclined).

The Vapors: Peel Session (1979)

A remembered conversation from 1982.

INFLUENTIAL FRIEND: Yeah you'd like the first Vapors album.

JEFFEN: The Vapors? (wrinkles nose) Like, as in, "Turning Japanese"?


INFLUENTIAL FRIEND: Yeah that's the worst song on the album; the rest is fucking brilliant!
Jeffen: No way.

Now, my late friend was not entirely correct. "Turning Japanese" (mini-doc here) is a clever, catchy construction, which has proved lasting due to its utter brilliance. But true devotees of The Vapors will occasionally go to desperate lengths to attempt to lessen the song's over-shadowing of leader David Fenton's magnificent song-writing. Lyrically, Fenton mined both a new wavish Cold War paranoia and a Ray Davies-ish eye for the quiet desperation of British life which he set to stirring tunes that the band (Edward Bazalgette: lead guitar, Steve Smith: bass, vocals, Howard Smith: drums) meted out with tightly-controlled power-pop-punk drive. It turned out I was wrong about a lot of things in 1982; country music didn't suck, a nuclear war was not inevitable and The Vapors were not one-hit wonders - they were, in fact, fucking brilliant!





Peel Session (1979-07-04)

    V1) Turning Japanese
    V2) Trains
    V3) Cold War
    V4) Waiting For the Weekend

So, where do yo stand on The Vapors and "Turning Japanese"?
We await your word in the COMMENTS section!

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