by Bob Dylan
(Columbia)
I didn’t think Bob Dylan would make a great single-qua-single again,
especially in 2009. But the guy’s always been full of surprises.
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” isn’t a great song, necessarily—the
lyrics, cowritten with longtime Grateful Dead songwriting partner
Robert Hunter, are fairly clever but never knockout, which you’d have
reasonable expectation for given the two men’s pedigrees. But that
doesn’t matter nearly as much as the way this record swerves. It’s a
bluesy samba with skeletal trumpet and accordion making it slip and
slide even more. You can dance to it—and just as much to the
point, I bet the 68-year-old Dylan can, too.
by New York Dolls
(Atco)
David Johansen still has some moves himself, especially reteamed
with original Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain and a handful of younger
players. I hadn’t figured on caring at all about their new
album—the second since a 2005 reunion at Morrissey’s
behest—until I heard it, and it’s become an unexpected standby.
What’s most surprising is how natural it sounds, as if the Dolls had
stayed together, moving personnel around, instead of splitting in
1975—and more important, stayed good, or at least alert. The
album’s title track has some of the loud crunch that made them great to
begin with, and Johansen’s voice can still stomp as hard as the
beat.
by Sonic Youth
(Matador)
This opening track from new album The Eternal, leaked to
blogs last month, is brisk—two minutes, 11 seconds—and
basic. Not just because of the opening guitar clunks, but because once
past them, the band settle into a speedy groove that’s as instantly
familiar as the skronked-up six-strings. The reason they still sound so
good to me, especially in this mode, is that Steve Shelley’s drumming
still pushes and the guitars still sound ugly-beautiful.
by Raphael Saadiq
(Daytrotter.com)
Raphael Saadiq took his deeply pleasurable show to the Showbox at
the Market a while ago and is scheduled to play Bumbershoot this year,
so here’s a taste while we wait: four songs from last year’s The Way
I See It recorded sans overdubs or backing vocalists. Without the
expert production that marked Way, the songs still sound sturdy,
affectionate, and committed, and so does the band, especially on “Big
Easy” (no horns lets it breathe easier) and “100 Yard Dash,” where
ghostly out-front organ gives the elbowy groove some padding. 