Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Bob in Rolling Stone Dylan cover story in Rolling Stone. AWA at the Pool pastes in a fascinating excerpt: "The records I used to listen to and still love, you can't make a record that sounds that way," he explains. It is as if having taken his new material down to the crossroads of the recording studio Dylan isn't wholly sure the deal struck with the devil there was worth it. "Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn't make his records if you had a hundred tracks today. We all like records that are played on record players, but let's face it, those days are gon-n-n-e. You do the best you can, you fight that technology in all kinds of ways, but I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really. You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like -- static. Even these songs probably sounded ten times better in the studio when we recorded 'em. CDs are small. There's no stature to it. I remember when that Napster guy came up across, it was like, 'Everybody's gettin' music for free.' I was like, 'Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway.' ". . . I've been too busy, and there's been too much chaos at Chez Michel (house painting going on) to give Modern Times its due. Still fewer than a dozen listenings, and my feelings have been all over the map. On the iPod today, though, walking home from work, a lot of it finally started to reach me. I'll try to write more, though the home chaos continues. For that matter, there's a lot of Dylan-related stuff I have a lot of notes about: a couple fine books and Theme Time Radio Hour to name two. And some fine recent DVDs. 10:19:41 PM    comment []

Bob in Rolling Stone Dylan cover story in Rolling Stone. AWA at the Pool pastes in a fascinating excerpt: "The records I used to listen to and still love, you can't make a record that sounds that way," he explains. It is as if having taken his new material down to the crossroads of the recording studio Dylan isn't wholly sure the deal struck with the devil there was worth it. "Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn't make his records if you had a hundred tracks today. We all like records that are played on record players, but let's face it, those days are gon-n-n-e. You do the best you can, you fight that technology in all kinds of ways, but I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really. You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like -- static. Even these songs probably sounded ten times better in the studio when we recorded 'em. CDs are small. There's no stature to it. I remember when that Napster guy came up across, it was like, 'Everybody's gettin' music for free.' I was like, 'Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway.' ". . . I've been too busy, and there's been too much chaos at Chez Michel (house painting going on) to give Modern Times its due. Still fewer than a dozen listenings, and my feelings have been all over the map. On the iPod today, though, walking home from work, a lot of it finally started to reach me. I'll try to write more, though the home chaos continues. 10:17:15 PM    comment []

Out Past Where the Buses Run Nice piece about the strange Louvin Brothers, harmonists extraordinaire, and subject of two little Dylan stories on Theme Time Radio Hour. (Via Expecting Rain.) 8:27:16 AM    comment []

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