Bob Dylan's Tempest

[Jack of All Parades]

Two of my daughters love the Apple cd.

Maybe fawning but I can honestly say that the most enjoyable cds, and few they were, came from old dinosaurs this year and Dylan leads the way. No matter what he may sound like live these days he still has the 'goods' on his latest record. Three months in and I am not in the least tired of playing it or digesting it. Let the body count grow!!!!!

Neil Young's "Psychedelic Pill" has been a guilty pleasure over the last two months- I found it for $7.99 at a local used shop and pounced. It is a melange of swirling guitar noise and elementary lyrics that fills my ears when I play it. The opening track "Driftin' Back" is all over the place with its musical references- it is almost the song equivalent of his recent memoir. The real keeper is "Walk Like a Giant" where Neil giddily equates himself as a living dinosaur who still wants to bestride the rock landscape as he gleefully unleashes stomping chords that thud from the speakers in elemental waves of aural pleasure. It is a keeper and should be performed in concert as long as he desires to bestride the stage. Urge the records acquisition Otis- PD not so certain it meets your taste.

[Poor Deportee]

Er, just to be clear, I don't hate Neil Young! Far from it. It's more that he just never cracked my personal canon of musical heroes and on some level, I don't quite grasp all the adulation. But I listened to his Decade compilation and bought and mostly enjoyed Sleeps with Angles and Freedom back in my salad days. Clearly he's got tons of good music to his credit, just not a 'must hear' for me

[Otis Westinghouse]

Sleeps With Angels (a less geometric title!) is an absolute cracker. I have it on tape somewhere. Must rectify. Yeah, need Driftin Back etc. thundering through the house.

[Kevin Davis]

And where the hell are they going with Mumford and Sons? U2 with banjos is their verdict. Great. And then some US act with a very retro photo gets praised as being the USs answer to the Mumfords. WTF? Why does the US need an answer to some godawful bunch of bearded twats who think that shaking and sweating a lot whilst playing the most obvious and boring form of folk music is somehow meant to impress? I despair of this sort of drivel.

I'm no fan of these kinds of bands either.