Shelf Dusting (for the week of 7/27 - 8/2)

Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

This Is Dylan’s first plugged-in masterpiece. On Highway 61 Revisited he boldly reminds us of the power, the poetry, and the poise that often lies beneath the techni-color tapestry of an electric guitar. He also shows us why the quiet sedation of a single human voice and an acoustic guitar can be achingly poignant, even when the song lasts eleven minutes. Not to mention that the lyrics in every song are a carefully crafted practice in post-modernism.

Rediscover these Songs: “Like A Rolling Stone”, “Tombstone Blues”, “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry”, “Queen Jane Approximately”, “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, “Desolation Row”.

Ryan Adams
Heartbreaker (2000)

On Heartbreaker, Ryan Adams revealed a very complex, terribly damaged, and perpetually heartbroken man that continues to define his music even now eight years later. His voice aches with the boredom of disillusion and the unavoidable right of passage that is the agony of loss. As the CD spins and the music reverberates, you can almost smell the whiskey on Adams’ breath and the cigarette in his fingertips.

Rediscover these Songs: “To Be Young (is to be sad, is to be high)”, “My Winding Wheel”, “Oh My Sweet Carolina”, “Bartering Lines”, “Call Me On Your Way Home”, “Damn, Sam (I love a woman that rains)”, “Come Pick Me Up”, “Shakedown on 9^th Street”