The 6149

If you read my recent post where I gave a "meview" on Neil Young's new album, "Fork in the Road", you know what's coming next.  If you don't know the score, have a quick glance at that post for the lowdown. 

Bob Dylan just released his thirty-third studio album, "Together Through Life".  This one has had a polarising effect on die-hards, casual fans and critics alike.  Me, I'm a die-hard. I listen to each record without prejudice or hangovers from past albums whether they are classics or clunkers.  I like to hear where Bob is at today.  This album is a bit of a paradox...it is the most recent Bob, but he is playing a collection of sounds that have been around a long, long time.

So here it is...my Meview of "Together Through LIfe".  Remember, what I said last time: album reviews are nothing more than weather reports. Instead of a review I give you a Me-view. As always, I give it to you in less than one hundred words and subjective as all hell.

Bob Dylan: Together Through LIfe

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues.  This is Bob Dylan: Chess blues, desperate border-town serenades and backyard hillbilly stomps.  It is a wanton, textured, dirtroad sound that shimmies and wobbles along side the the rusty-gate squelch of Bob's weathered but wise voice. His voice sounds fragile.  Not like a porcelain ballerina, but like at any moment it might cave in.  It is the album. It gives the songs a singular character, compeling you to listen to its stories filled with an almost pragmatic optimism. This album isn't for beginners, but it is an alluring place to start.

Front Burner Songs:  Jolene, Shake Shake Mama, I Feel A Change Comin' On

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Had some feedback the "Less Than 50" from some friends. They confirmed what I was thinking...49 words won't do.

I attempted to write an album review in fifty words or less.  I didn't get but four sentences into it until I ran out of road to drive. I think that for the time being that I am going to expand the Less Than 50 to the Less Than 100.  I don't just want to talk shop on the goods and bads, I want to be able to tell a story and give an (my) angle.  Reviews are nothing more than weather reports anyhow.  Can we get rid  the word review when it comes to records? Maybe we should call it the me-view. I like that.  The album meview.  It is a subjective exercise already. 

Ok then...the meview.  I stil think I need more than fifty words to give the style of meview that I want to give.  For the time being I am going to double it: Less than 100.  I'm a fool for cheeky names and I'm not sold on the Less than 100.  I'm going use one of Wilson Pickett's chart toppers as the lead in for my meviews: Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do).  (This song was wrtten by the Wicked Pickett himself, with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd and can be found on the "Exciting Wilson Pickett" album).  I'll alter it a bit and call it the "99 and a Half".
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The other day I trotted out the Less Than 50 and showcased Neil Young's most recent, "Fork in the Road".  Let's give ' it the Ol' 99 and a Half treatment:

Neil is exercising some freeway existentialism on "FITR".  Neil seems to think the US is in a state of economic and self-awareness chaos. He's just taking us on a long drive to try and make sense of it all.  Car themes aside, this album is about choices, walking the talk and filled with rough riffs and sincere, wobbly melodies. The music doesn't meet the mystique...and that's ok.  He didn't have to work hard to make these songs, but it feels like he had fun doing so. Like any great roadtrip, its the ride, not the road that matters.

Choice Songs: Fork in the Road, Off the Road, Just Singing a Song, Light a Candle.

Choice Words: "It's all about my girl. It's all about my dream and my machine. It's all about my world"

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I am not as good a writer as I would like to be.  The only way to get better is to practise.  Did you know that Hunter S. Thompson used to retype entire works of the likes of Hemingway?  He did it, he said, just to get the feel, the  flow of what it would be like to write like that. I don't intend to retype "F&L in Vegas" but I do need to practise more often. 

To keep the practise purposeful and engaging, I have come up with an idea that we can all benefit from. I am going to start a new piece: "Less Than 50".  I am going to attempt to write album reviews in less than 50 words.  I'm sick with a fever for listening and learning about music, particularly Blues and all of its derivatives. In fact, here is my Music Manifesto statement and how I classify music:

I do not believe in conventional genres. Genres are used to sell records.  I believe in music that is deeply engraved in the background of the music makers; all of of whom are connected by a shared experience that links them inextricably; music with a message and a literal truth.  Everything else is a product of the record labels.

The Expereinces: Blues, Country, Gospel  (The Trinity of Music Truth...it all comes from here)
The Derivatives: Folk, Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Cosmic American Music (nod to GP), Reggae, Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, World (relatively speaking)
The Transcendents: Originators, DNA, All One Song (ode to Neil), Innovators

Back to the Less Than 50.  I figure that by writing about music will help me stay focused and interested.  Writing reviews in less than fifty words will allow me to work on the brevity of my messages...both written and verbal. It is good to keep honing these skills.  Communication is King and those that do it well, in all its forms, rule.

I have almost 1,400 albums in my collection ; I will not be short of material.

First up on the Less than 50: Neil Young, "Fork in the Road"

Neil is exercising some freeway existentialism on "FITR".  Neil seems to think the US is in a state of economic and self-awareness chaos. He's just taking us on a long drive to try and make sense of it all.  Car themes aside, this album is about choices.
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OK, that right there is 48 words.  I really don't think anyone can get a good idea about the sound of the album from what I wrote. Less than fifty may not be enough...especially if I take a narrative approach.  I either have to change my approach to be less narrative and more rat-tat-tat, or change the amount of words. Let's chalk that first one up to "learning the game" (Buddy Holly reference alert!).  Bring on the comments...as many words as you like.

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