Will the Real Bob Dylan Please Stand Up

I've heard bits and pieces about the new Todd Haynes picture, I'm Not There, and being a huge Dylan fan, I've been intrigued and excited. On Pitchfork today comes news of more musical contributors to the soundtrack, which looks to be shaping up pretty well.

For those who don't know Haynes's work, he's the director behind Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, which used Barbie dolls for all the parts, instead of actors. Another of his excellent films is SAFE, an underrated and really disturbing movie which is as much a tour-de-force for Julianne Moore as it is for Haynes's creepy antiseptic, almost Kubrickean direction. Haynes was also the guy behind the ersatz glam rock movie Velvet Goldmine, and the Oscar nominated Far From Heaven.

For the Dylan biopic, he's recruited several actors to play the part of His Bobness, including Cate Blanchett!! And this is really what's prompted this post today. I saw this clip of Blanchett (whom I absolutely adore, adore, adore) as Dylan, with David Cross as Allen Ginsberg, and I got incredibly excited about this movie. Blanchett is amazing in recreating Dylan's mannerisms. Even her voice is pretty good as Dylan (she is, after all, a woman).

Watch this clip of Dylan circa 1965, and compare it with this clip from Haynes's film. There's also this clip of Dylan and Lennon in a cab in London, drunk off their asses.

Ms. Blanchett has been doing her homework.

Various, Sundry

I saw my friend Matt Hohmann’s band Bully Pulpit play over the weekend at a crazy, ancient Czech restaurant in Cicero on Saturday at a show my friend Mark put together. Man, they were incredible. Once again, complete left turn for them. Three guitars + bass + soft & somewhat jazzy drums. Intricate fingerpicking on one lefthanded guitar upside down and Hohmann arpeggiating oddness and playing weird, sometimes atonal yet fitting chords, little distortion involved, so you could really hear the intervals. Kinda Californian sounding to me (someone, I’m not saying who, likes Slovenly). Mostly instrumental at first, then some softly sung vocals, then some shouted ones. Lots of personality, lots of originality. Me likes.

Poster Children also played. Rick and Rose are such interesting people. I saw Rick’s art since then, as I check up on everyone I meet on the Internet, to prove they have not suddenly become criminals. See this.

The new Lucinda Williams release, West, is incredible in my book. Her immediately previous effort didn’t ring so true to me. Lyrics and vocals and arrangements on West are all clearly superior. Come On and Wrap My Head Around That are my favorite tracks so far.

She also did an outstanding cover of Nothing on a Townes tribute record. Man. Crushing. Go find it. It’ll break your heart & spirit in two, and singularly pull together your attention and not let it go for a few minutes.

Slint plays Spiderland and Sonic Youth Daydream Nation and that’s a neat idea and all, but too bad you can’t buy the final final performance’s guitar on eBay, (I say sarcastically). Great piece on it in the SF Weekly by Michael Goldberg. They would’ve been better off without 2005 happening, what with the $55 hoodies and the eBay auctions and all. Reuniting to play Spiderland all the way through, once, and that’s it would’ve been a smarter move, but then, what do I know. I haven’t ripped them off in a couple of years, so I’m clearly out of the loop.

I’ve not watched TV much for the last few years, but coming back from Chicago two weeks ago I saw the drummer from Trenchmouth Fred on the TV at the rest stop on the gas pump TV monitor. That’s crazy and kinda cool. Trill has a DVD of Christopher Walken that has him on it, too. For the record, I never listened to Trenchmouth because I thought the name was stupid. That’s just how it works sometimes. I saw him later on in a salsa band, though, and he was a great drummer.

I wish I could find Fred’s SxSW video on the web. Poo. I can’t.

Ray LaMontagne has a CD at the Milwaukee Public Library called Till the Sun Turns Black and between the cover art and CD and song titles I decoded to give it a shot. Man, great stuff. Country meets Tim Buckley. Good lyrics and orchestration. But it all may be a matter of expectations. I was expecting crap, but it was a free listen and I was in a good mood. Funny how that works, eh?

~Arum
Currently listening to Joy Division, Transmission

SNL, Season 1

As some of you may already know, Saturday Night Live, season 1 is out on DVD. I watched the first episode last night, hosted by a young George Carlin. Back then, the show had more music and comedy than sketches, it was very interesting to see. One of the guests was Billy Preston, singing "Nothing from Nothing". They also had Janice Ian singing 2 songs, one was "Seventeen". I've heard that song before, but I never really 'listened' to it, until now. It was quite moving. I don't know much about her, except that she has a lot of albums out there :)


Janis Ian (1967) #29 US
For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1968) #179 US
The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968)
Who Really Cares (1969)
Present Company (1971)
Stars (1974) #83 US, #63 Japan (1976 release)
Between the Lines (1975) #1 US, #22 Japan
Aftertones (1976) #12 US, #1 Japan
Miracle Row (1977) #45 US, #26 Japan
Best of Janis Ian (collection) 1977 #5 Japan
Janis Ian II (1978) #120 US, #79 Japan
Remember (1978) #72 Japan
Night Rains (1979)
Restless Eyes (1981) #156 US
Uncle Wonderful (1983)
At Seventeen 1990
Up 'Til Now (1992)
Breaking Silence (1993)
Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1994)
Revenge (1995)
Live on the Test 1976 (1995)
Hunger (1997)
Unreleased 1: Mary's Eyes (1998)
The Bottom Line Encore collection (Live 1980) (1999)
Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners (2000)
god & the fbi (2000)
Unreleased 3: Society's Child (2001)
Lost Cuts 1 (2002)
Janis Ian Live: Working Without a Net (2003)
Souvenirs: Best of Janis Ian 1972-1981 (collection) (2004)
Billie's Bones (2004)
Folk is the New Black (2006)