Rock Fans Outraged As Bob Dylan Goes Electronica
July 12, 2010 | ISSUE 46•28

NEWPORT, RI—Audience members at the Newport Rock Festival were “outraged” Monday when rock icon Bob Dylan followed up such classic hits as “Like A Rolling Stone” and “Maggie’s Farm” with an electronica set composed of atonal drones, hyperactive drumbeats, and the repeated mechanized lyric “Dance to the club life!” “We came here to see the authentic Dylan, the one with the Stratocaster guitar and signature wild blues-rock band behind him,” audience member Robert Hochschild said. “Then he walks out with these puffy headphones, some turntables, and a laptop? The guy’s a Judas.” When asked later about his musical transformation by reporters, Dylan said he had nothing to say about the beats he programs, he just programs them.

Thanks for passing on, Joe.

One of the reasons I stopped was because of the schizophrenic nature of such a playlist jumping from one tune to a completely disparate one. As much as I tout my multi-genre appreciation, trying to hear order in an orderless list — even if the common denominator is that it begins with “Everybody”– is tough. Things do pop out though. Putting on a full album while working usually brings me to eventually tune out a lot if my mind is on something else rendering it background music. This list is a jarring punch in the face at times. It wakes me up — ex. European Son by Velvet Underground into European Trip from Woody Allen’s Standup Comic album.

I have found so many hidden gems in my library. Tunes I didn’t know where there or had never even heard or heard of making me wonder how they even got on my computer. Pieces in the Steve Reich boxset that I hadn’t gone all the way through popped out immediately. Guitar instrumentals by the fuzz guitar inventor Link Wray. And tunes from my past, things I hadn’t listened to since high school or college. How interesting it is to know that after almost 8 years, I can still sing all the words to Asleep On A Sunbeam by Belle and Sebastian. It’s crazy sometimes what the mind retains.

On the other side, I have deleted 30 to 40 albums. I mentioned a Metallica album (note: I kept all albums before the Black Album). Other deletions: songs and albums without complete ID3 info, mislabeled Faces albums, some of The Frogs catalog, some later AC/DC albums sans Bon Scott, Roky Erikson & The Aliens, etc etc. I could name more, but I don’t want to start a fight. I feel like deleting as I go helps the list move along. And it’s making room for new purchases and vinyl rips.

Anyway, onwards and downwards through the list. Here’s what I have to look forward to as I finish with the E’s…

The project? Listening to all the songs in my library in alphabetical order.

I started at the beginning yesterday: “¶ª” from the Trap Door International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (special characters are sorted first). I made it all the way through “Achilles Last Stand” by Led Zeppelin. Today, I started with “Acorda amor” from Joyce’s killer Passarinho Urbano album, and while I write, I went from “Adagio for Strings, Op 11″ to Springsteen’s “Adam Raised A Cain.” Next up: “Adam’s Apple.”

Given the diversity of my library, some of the transitions are pretty rough — the aforementioned Barber to Springsteen is a great example of that. But I am discovering and rediscovering some great tunes from people that have been lost in the massiveness of the library.

I pointed to an interview for the New Yorker awhile back in which Jonny Greenwood said:

SFJ: What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of the MP3 age?

JG: The downside is that people are encouraged to own far more music than they can ever give their full attention to. People will have MP3s of every Miles Davis’ record but never think of hearing any of them twice in a row—there’s just too much to get through. You’re thinking, “I’ve got ‘Sketches of Spain and ‘Bitches Brew’—let’s zip through those while I’m finishing that e-mail.” That abundance can push any music into background music, furniture music.

Read more.

I will admit, I fall into that a lot. I own far more than I can digest. That’s one reason why I like vinyl. 20 minutes, switch, 20 minutes, done. That’s also one reason why I’m doing this. I want at least 1 legitimate play count on every tune, and I want to delete the things I don’t like. Not that play counts are proof I digested everything, but it’s a start in dealing with my library.

It will take me 88 days, 18 hours, 16 minutes, and 56 seconds to get through this. Wish me luck.

Early Bird Special: Old and Busted: Songbirds. New Hotness: Avant-noise birds.

Thanks Graham.

From NY Mag:
The music industry took another tumble in 2009, with CD sales down 12.7 percent from 2008. But the shadier, shadowy side of the business has been equally decimated. At one time, as many as 75 unofficial bootleg “companies” existed, illegally cranking out LPs and then CDs of hard-to-find studio and soundboard-jacked live recordings by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Phish, Pearl Jam, and other rock icons. Some, like the multidisc Dylan Ten of Swords box, are considered classics. Although it’s impossible to gauge exactly how profitable this quasi-industry was, the four-decade-old bootlegging biz generated millions of dollars globally. But now, this old-school method of illegal music distribution — one of rock’s most illustrious if illicit traditions — is being destroyed right along with the legit CD, all by the new-school method: the Internet.

I remember back in the day paying $40 for a “rare” Pink Floyd bootleg set. Hard to imagine doing that for burned CD-Rs now.

Also, at the GreenleafMusicHQ YouTube page, we’ve made a new playlist compiling all the Brass Ecstasy videos — the live Tiny Desk Concert, this montage, as well as the in-studio videos from the DVD part of Spirit Moves.

Enjoy.

The Dog:

The Solution:

Best unintentional singer: Katie Couric [01:20]