Best of the 00s: Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple & Gillian Welch
Best of the 00s: Gabe Joins the 21st Century
Part 15: Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple & Gillian Welch
Nada Co-founders Matt and Gabe are listening to 197 of the music press’s picks for “best albums of the 00s” for a series called Gabe Joins the 21st Century.
Bob Dylan – Love & Theft
#41 on Rolling Stone’s list
Matt: Part of the reason we’re delinquent in getting this review up is this: I hate it, and I think that makes me a terrible person. After all, Bob Dylan is an American icon and one of the most notable songwriters in the history of recorded music. He gave us Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited for crissake’s. Why, then, does this – widely considered a modern classic and among his best work – sound comically bad? The opening track, “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,” has a similar vibe as Dylan’s excellent Traveling Wilburies contribution “Tweeter and the Monkey Man,” but the album quickly degrades in to boring, adult contemporary schlock. With the mixture of genres – there’s a little blues a little rockabilly and a little old-timey balladry – one could almost hope Love & Theft is actually a parody, but Dylan’s unmatchable voice dashes those hopes. Grade: DNL.
Gabe: OK. Fine. I admit it. I do not enjoy Love and Theft either. I do not think it is a good album. I think Dylan is old and revered and he can poop on a plate and the editors of Rolling Stone will declare that the poop is deeply insightful and wryly humorous. On the plus side, the album does have a line that I used for a knock knock joke that cracks my kids up. The punch line: “Freddy or not, here I come.” Grade: DNL.
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Rolling Stone #49
Gabe: Fiona Apple performs intelligent, interesting piano-based pop songs with clever lyrics and powerful vocals. Sometimes she reminds me of Bob Dylan when she’s all arrogant and witty and mean at the same time. (i.e. “I opened my eyes while you were kissing me once/And you looked as sincere as a dog.”) But query whether I would enjoy the album as much absent the video loop of the “Criminal” video that runs in my mind whenever I listen to Extraordinary Machine. Aw hell, I probably love this album more than I care to admit. Grade: Like
Matt: I’m convinced Fiona’s the kind of girl who could have me eating out of her hand while simultaneously berating me and making me feel stupid, so it’s difficult to actually pay attention to her music without testing that assumption. She reinforces this belief with tough-girl lyrics designed to make male arm hairs stand on end: “You silly stupid passtime of mine / you always were good for a ride” and “…while I figure out how to kill what I cannot catch” and “better I break a window than him or her or me” to name just a few. Unfortunately, her music does not match the intensity of these lyrics, instead opting for pedestrian piano balladry. Title track “Extraordinary Machine” is lovely with a good message for the kids and an old timey feel, but otherwise this is just too forgettable, musically. Grade: DNL
Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
Paste’s #7
Gabe: Wowwee zowwee. I was vaguely aware of Gillian Welch from her work on O Brother Where Art Thou. But I sure couldn’t have picked her out if the country chanteuse police stuck her in a lineup with say Patty Griffin, Alison Krause, Neko Case and four random Nashville hopefuls. Now, after approximately 17 listens in the past 48 hours, the title track of Time (The Revelator), is, like Craig Finn would say, scratched into my soul. Welch’s songs are superficially traditional, in the old timey country, bluegrass, folk vein of O Brother. But instead of being a genre exercise, Welch’s songs are alive. They stalk a stark landscape, deliberately, like a Clint Eastwood character. I know that sounds like bullshit, but the way Welch sings and the way the acoustic strings are attacked on every note makes these songs feel punk and timeless. Grade: LOVE
Matt: Great songs and a gorgeous voice, but the soft folky delivery is a bit snoozy for my taste. I adore the sneak peak she gives us into the life of an unsigned touring band on “April The 14th Part 1,” but I’d like hear Gillian follow through on her plea in “I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll” and bring a bit more Patti Smith and a bit less Mary Travers. Grade: LIKE
More in this series:
- Part 28: Midlake, Missy Elliott & Modest Mouse
- Part 27: Luomo, Manu Chau & Microphones
- Part 26: Lil’ Wayne , Loretta Lynn & Los Halos
- Part 25: Klaxons, Les Savy Fav & The Libertines
- Part 24: Justin Timberlake, Kanye West & Kings of Leon
- Part 23: Johnny Cash, Josh Ritter & Justin Timberlake
- Part 22: Jens Lekman & Joanna Newsome
- Part 21: Iron & Wine, Jay-Z & The Jayhawks
- Part 20: Gentlemen Jesse, Grandaddy & The Hold Steady
- Part 19: Devin the Dude,the Deglados & the Fruit Bats
- Part 18: The Blood Brothers, The Coral & The Coup
- Part 17: Avett Brothers & Black Angels
- Part 16: Fennesz, Girl Talk & Grizzly Bear
- Part 14: Elbow, Exploding Hearts & Green Day
- Part 12: Dirty Projectors, Dizzee Rascal, & The Drive By Truckers
- Part 11: Damien Rice, Death Cab For Cutie & Deerhunter
- Part 10: Basement Jaxx, Cat Power & Clipse
- Part 9: Bruce Springsteen, Clinic & Crystal Castles
- Part 8: Bobby Bare Jr., Boredoms & Burial
- Part 7: 50 Cent, American Analog Set & Babyshambles
- Part 6: Boards of Canada, Brendan Benson & Bruce Springsteen
- Part 5: Bob Dylan, Bobby Bare Jr. & Bright Eyes
- Part 4: Animal Collective, Beck & Built to Spill
- Part 3: Basement Jaxx, Black Mountain & Blur
- Part 2: Animal Collective, Antony & the Johnsons and At the Drive In
- 00s in Review: Gabe Joins the 21st Century