By 1983, Bob Dylan’s mid-70s creative peak of Blood on the Tracks and Desire seemed very small in the rear view mirror. Divorce, money troubles and a declining sense of artistic purpose led him to embrace a particularly strident strain of evangelical Christianity, and his resulting albums sold progressively worse while alienating more and more listeners. Whatever his spiritual convictions, his professional pride was sufficiently wounded to spur him into making something of a comeback. The result was Infidels. Produced […]
Posts tagged "Bob Dylan"
The Best Albums of 2012: Mike S.’s Top 10
Mike S. picks his favorites for the year, with a couple of bonuses he couldn’t bear to not talk about.
Popblerd’s 2013 Grammy Nominations Preview And Predictions
This year’s Grammy nominees are being announced tonight. We reveal who we think will come out on top in the major categories.
Popblerd’s New Release Report 9/11/12: Chillin’ Like Bob Dylan
This week’s list of new releases is wide and varied, encompassing acts as diverse as the XX, Dave Matthews Band, DMX, and the Bard himself, Bob Dylan.
Spin Cycle: The Tallest Man On Earth, There’s No Leaving Now
Beset by not-entirely-off-base Dylan comparisons since his debut dropped, Swedish folkie Kristian Matsson (stage name: The Tallest Man On Earth) is operating under the small-ish genre umbrella of indie folk, a lovely little haven where performers live and die by the strength of their songs, where rugged baritones and rambling napkin poetry are the order of the day, where boredom is uncomfortably easy to attain if you’re not careful. Fortunately for Matsson, he’s got the goods – “the goods”, in […]
Spin Cycle: Jimmy Fallon, Blow Your Pants Off
Late night host and musical comedian Jimmy Fallon’s second record, Blow Your Pants Off, collects memorable musical moments from his show. Check out our review to see how many laughs you’ll get from it.
Spin Cycle: “Listen Whitey!: The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974”
“Listen Whitey!” is a compilation that unearths gems from the Black Power era of the late Sixties and Seventies. Check out our review.
Spin Cycle: Counting Crows’ “Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation)”
The Counting Crows pay homage to Gram Parsons, Dawes, and Dylan on “Underwater Sunshine”, a covers album and their first record since 2008.
Spin Cycle: America’s “Back Pages”
Really, the concept of an artist, established or otherwise, churning out a covers record pretty much amounts to: “because I can, that’s why.” America is no exception – fourteen albums in, Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley clearly have acoustic-flecked, reedy-voiced, lite-rock MOR compositions to spare. Still, Back Pages pays tribute to songwriters both old and young – it’s twelve cover songs, essentially, and if the concept of twelve cover songs by America either excites or repulses you, well, there’s your review […]
Popblerd! Presents: Your 2011 Grammy Awards Live Blog (& Drinking Game)!
award shows / Country Music / hip-hop / Indie Rock / music / news / pop culture / Pop Music / rock music / soul music
Some folks go crazy over the Academy Awards. Some folks go nuts over the Super Bowl. For me, unless a New York City team is in the World Series or Super Bowl, my most exciting pop culture event has to be the Grammy Awards. It intrigued me as a kid-it was probably the first award show I ever saw. I believe it was the 1980 ceremony, and all I remember is that The Doobie Brothers were performing, I was watching […]
