Jakob Dylan Concert Broadcast

The good folks at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee will be broadcasting the Jakob Dylan concert from The Pabst Theater live tomorrow night, Wednesday, 28 April, from 8.00pm CDT. The emphasis will no doubt be on the new record Women + Country, produced by T-Bone Burnett. The show could be a keeper given the added presence of Neko Case and Kelly Hogan.

The Night Owl will have to catch the rebroadcast as we have a prior commitment a few blocks away at the Daytrotter Barnstorming Tour (watch for The Live Vault review later on this week), but we welcome your comments whether you are catching Dylan The Younger at the venue or via the airwaves.

Here's Jakob's recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Nothing But The Whole Wide World." TNOP likes the fact that Dylan's apparently been digging into his John Prine collection lately . . .

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . [Season 2, Episode 2]

The second episode of this season's Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . turned out to be a mixed bag. Talented songwriters were grouped on the same stage throughout, taking turns with some of their more famous compositions. The guests: Jesse Winchester, Ron Sexsmith, Neko Case and Sheryl Crow.

Jesse Winchester is one of the hidden gems in popular music. Born and raised in the southern United States, he attended college in Massachusetts and then defected to Canada in 1966 rather than serve in the military during the Vietnam War. From this self-imposed exile he recorded his first album, the eponymous Jesse Winchester, in 1970. Produced by Robbie Robertson, it was a highly influential work on par with the other solo major releases of that year by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Neil Young. Although he would continue to release solid records over the coming years, because he could not tour the United States until the general amnesty declared by President Carter in 1977, Winchester probably missed the initial window of opportunity for pop stardom.

This episode appropriately begins with a blistering cover of Winchester's "Payday," with Costello and the song's originator trading verses. The opening cut on that first album by Winchester, it is a song Costello include on his Kojack Variety release back in 1995. Unfortunately, the interview with Winchester is edited severely, and the viewer - without a solid history of the singer's past - can never hone in on the effect the decision to move had on his career or his toiling in the musical trenches for nearly 40 years. On the other hand, we are treated to two other performances: the memorable "The New Old Tennessee Waltz" (from 1976's Let The Rough Side Drag) and the lovely "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding" (from this past year's effort Love Filling Station).

The Canadian artist Ron Sexsmith was featured next. Another critical darling, Sexsmith has made no secret of his personal influences: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. His first effort on the show is a solo "Secret Heart," a Beatleesque ballad. He also shares a cover of Costello's "Everyday I Write The Book" and Dylan's "Ring Them Bells."

The young (for this stage) and talented Neko Case, another transplanted American who made her bones in Canada, delivers a grand spark to the show. Her charming performance of Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me" proves to be a wonderful moment. She also contributes her own "Prison Girls," but Case's presence on the show was too minimal for this viewer's taste.

The inclusion of Sheryl Crow is somewhat of a mystery on the panel. She just did not fit the tenor of styles presented; perhaps the need for a "popular name" held some sway with the producers of the episode. Her selections are predictable: "If It Makes You Happy" and "Leaving Las Vegas." We never learn of her musical influences, contrary to the basic premise of the program.

While the interviews were minimal, this second episode of the season did provide a change-up with the inclusion of more musical performances than usual. It was great television just watching the body language of the singers while they were not performing: the subtle keeping of time with a head or foot or finger, or gentle swaying back and forth while engrossed in the lyric. The most touching moment may have been the tear rolling down Case's cheek while listening to Winchester's "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding."

THE SET LIST (note video links)
1. "Payday" (Elvis Costello and Jesse Winchester, vocals)
2. "Secret Heart" (Ron Sexsmith, solo guitar)
3. "If It Makes You Happy" (Sheryl Crow, lead guitar; Costello and Sexsmith, acoustic guitars)
4. "Don't Forget Me" (Neko Case, vocal; Steve Nieve, piano)
5. "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding" (Winchester, solo guitar)
6. "Everyday I Write The Book" (Sexsmith & Costello, lead vocals; Winchester on harmony)
7. "Leaving Las Vegas" (Crow, vocal and acoustic guitar; Costello, electric guitar)
8. "The Brand New Tennessee Waltz" (Winchester, vocal and guitar; Costello, harmony)
9. "Prison Girls" (Case, vocal; Nieve, keyboards; Costello, electric guitar)
10. "Ring Them Bells" (Sexsmith, lead vocal; All, harmony; Nieve, keyboards )

TNOP's Best Albums of 2009

10. ST. VINCENT - Actor

After a so-so album debut a couple of years ago and the timid performance we witnessed as an opening act in 2007, this fine effort came out of the blue. Annie Clark a/k/a St. Vincent finds her voice on Actor, adapting a number of personalities in a varied collection of songs. And don't let the sweet voice fool you.

KEY TRACK: "Actor Out Of Work"
BONUS: "Oh Sister" (cover of Dylan song with Andrew Bird, Providence. RI, October 2009)

9. DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE - A Friend of A Friend

Previously known as the key co-writer and musician on so many fine works by Gillian Welch, out from the shadows steps Dave Rawlings and his superb band. The mix of originals and unique covers, assisted by Welch and proteges The Old Crow Medicine Show, are delivered in grand fashion.

KEY TRACK: "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High") (live at Grimey's Records, Nashville, TN, December 2009)
FURTHER READING: Alec Wilkinson's excellent New Yorker profile of Welch and Rawlings from 2004.

8. NEKO CASE - Middle Cyclone

A wonderful follow-up to Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, Neko Case takes on another natural disaster and triumphs.

KEY TRACK: "People Got A Lotta Nerve"
FURTHER READING: February 2009 profile of Neko Case from The New York Times Magazine.

7. BOB DYLAN - Together Through Life

In which the Patron Saint of TNOP interprets Chess Records blues with a Tex-Mex undertone. And it works, continuing the Bard's late-career renaissance. [Side note to long time fans: it's like Desire, except David Hidalgo's accordion replaces Scarlet Rivera's fiddle.]

KEY TRACK: "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"

FURTHER READING: Bill Flanagan interviews Dylan about the record.

6. DAN AUERBACH - Keep It Hid

First solo effort from The Black Keys' front man allows him to flesh out his sound. The record gets stronger with each listen, and shows that Auerbach is now a major player on the music scene. He's in a prolific stage, as evidenced by the BlakRoc project and the expected new Keys' release in 2010.

KEY TRACK #1: "My Last Mistake"

KEY TRACK #2: "Trouble Weighs A Ton" (with James Quine)

5. THE DECEMBERISTS - The Hazards of Love

America's least-likely rock stars continue their musical ascendancy, using little known folk tales as their narrative compass. We admit it took us a little longer to warm up to this effort than previous favorites like The Crane Wife and Picaresque, but this "Folk Opera" treats the listener to bombastic shapeshifters, ghostly kids and a psychotic queen. Too adventuresome? Pretentious prog rock gone bad? Some thought so. But head man Colin Meloy clearly believes in the album concept, and dares to push back at the iPod singles mentality. And it doesn't hurt that he sure knows how to pen a melody.

KEY TRACK: "The Rake's Song"

KEY TRACK #2: "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid" (with Shara Worden, Los Angeles, CA, May 2009)
FURTHER LISTENING: David Dye of The World Cafe interviews Colin Meloy.

4. U2 - No Line On The Horizon

After two albums of straight ahead rock cementing the familiar "U2 sound," the Dublin lads decide to step out of the box again. The result is their best studio record since Achtung Baby. Their massive stadium tour will continue into 2010, a sign of how much they believe in the new work.

KEY TRACK: "Moment of Surrender"

KEY TRACK #2: "Get On Your Boots" (live at the 2009 Grammy Awards)

FURTHER READING: Producer Brian Eno talks to The Telegraph about the recording of No Line On The Horizon.

3. WILCO - Wilco (The Album)

The top American band hits a solid groove from beginning to end in this self-titled (kind of) CD. Major fans of Wilco's experimental, atmospheric side will be disappointed to an extent, but the album brims with confidence from a line up of musicians who clearly listen to and love all shades of rock and roll - and learn from it.

KEY TRACK: "You Never Know"
KEY TRACK #2: "You And I" (with Leslie Feist on Late Night With David Letterman, July 2009)
KEY TRACK #3: "Wilco (The Song)" (The Colbert Report, October 2008)
FURTHER READING: Time talks to Jeff Tweedy about the album, the passing of Jay Bennett and a fellow Chicagoan.




2. PHOENIX - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Regular readers of TNOP know that we are suckers for the unadulterated joys of pop. After three promising tries, France's Phoenix stormed the U.S. shores this year with its sunny, percussion driven sound. We dare you not to like it.

KEY TRACK: "Lisztomania"
PERFORMANCE: "1901," "Lisztomania/One Time Too Many" and "Long Distance Call" (from La Blogotheque Take Away Show, December 2009)
FURTHER READING: "Phoenix Remains A Band Apart" from September 2009 issue of The Fader.




1. GRIZZLY BEAR - Veckatimest

The Beach Boys-like harmony and hollow bodied guitar sound - with production finished, appropriately enough, in a New York church - made this record by the Brooklyn quartet Grizzly Bear TNOP's most played record in the car and on the stereo and iPod during 2009. Although its production is sparse and tones often hushed, there is an unique and youthful exuberance about this work. It is a record that will be played for many years to come.

KEY TRACK: "Two Weeks"
KEY TRACK #2: "All We Ask" (Blue Ribbon Vision @ Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI, June 2009)

KEY TRACK #3: "While You Wait For The Others" (KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, February 2008)
INTERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE: Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, November 2009.

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