Bob Dylan is the most-cited musician in judicial opinions with 26 quoted lines, according to an article on the uses and misuses of popular music in legal writing by Alex B. Long. More »
In what I see as a pretty unsurprising development but the Times Of London sees as something that “contains much symbolic significance,” Bob Dylan has endorsed Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. “Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval,” he told the Times. More »
In what I see as a pretty unsurprising development but the Times Of London sees as something that “contains much symbolic significance,” Bob Dylan has endorsed Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. “Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval,” he told the Times. More »
The latest entrant in the filled-to-the-brim summer festival lineup: The New American Music Union, an American Eagle-sponsored, Anthony Kiedis-curated show taking place in Pittsburgh on Aug. 8 and 9. The lineup is split between summer-fest stalwarts like Bob Dylan, Spoon, the Roots, and Black Mountain and a “battle of the bands” between 15 acts representing universities around the country. The winning band gets a whole day in a recording studio on AE’s dime, which I guess we’re supposed to take as a sign that their “cheaper than Abercrombie” aesthetic isn’t really pulling in the shoppers as much as it did during the housing boom. (I’m happy to see that my alma mater is representing with The French Horn Rebellion, who sound kind of like a grimier Pulsars and who have a remix of Shannon’s “Let The Music Play” (!!!) on their MySpace page. Go Cats!) Full lineup after the jump.
Poor Vines. All they wanted to do was entertain the good people with some nonsensical rockers and dreamy psychedelic bubblegum, and all they got was shit because Asperger’s poster boy Craig Nicholls wasn’t the new Kurt Cobain. This article uses them as the prime example of how excessive hype can crush a perfectly charming band (or Gay Dad) almost before they’re out of the gate. In a last-ditch attempt to gain some sympathy for the Australian mushmouths, I’m going to compare their plight to a musician who suffered a similar excess of expectation before people wised up to his sillier, but still genuine pleasures: Donovan!
This isn’t the first time we’ve ragged on I’m Not There, Todd Haynes’ all-star rumination on all things Dylan, but as it’s just been released on DVD and I haven’t seen much of a critical backlash, I figured its nose deserves another tweak. The New York Times felt Haynes threw “a Molotov cocktail through the facade of the Hollywood biopic factory” by willfully screwing with the specifics Dylan’s career, but fictionalizing the life of a pop star for your own purposes is nothing new. In fact, there’s a TV movie from the ’70s that equally reveled in ’60s iconography, while revealing a little more about the music itself and throwing in a bunch of jokes to boot. Maybe not taking their marvelous meta seriously is why The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash doesn’t get the same boot-licking treatment I’m Not There is enjoying.
Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and The Stooges have been added to the line-up for Baltimore’s Virgin Fest, to be held on August 9-10. The Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots have already been announced as headliners, so it looks like new parents as well as new grandparents will have acts they enjoy. For the kids, there’s Paramore and Lil Wayne, and a dance tent featuring Moby, Underworld and Richie Hawtin! Actually, that dance tent’s probably for the parents too. Full line up after the jump.
“Forever Young,” Bob Dylan’s 25-year-old ode to his offspring, will be turned into a children’s book by illustrator Paul Rogers this fall. It’s a rather sappy and obvious choice, though I’m curious what image is going to go with “May you have a strong foundation, when the winds of changes shift.” While anything good enough for Jakob Dylan is good enough for anyone else’s kid, I’d be much more interested in Reading Rainbow getting their hands on a pictoral representation of “Ballad Of A Thin Man.”
Bob Dylan was awarded a “special citation” from the Pulitzer Prize committee today, only the 38th person to receive such an honor in the 92-year history of the prize. “With Dylan we are recognizing a body of work,” prize administrator Sig Gissler told the Columbia Spectator. More »
Ed. note: It’s time for another installment of “VHS Or Beta?”, where Andy Beta looks at the music behind the movies–from preserved-by-Criterion classics to completely inane summer blockbusters. In this installment, he checks out Todd Haynes’ look at Bob Dylan’s multiple personalities, I’m Not There.
