iDidn’t iBuy an iPad…but I listened to the new iDylan…iJakob
I think the last time I listened to an entire record from start to finish was the one by Son Volt. Random play, better known on my iPod as Shuffle Songs, is how I usually roll now. I still acquire full albums but frankly I think it’s about as old fashioned as a rotary telephone. Remember them?
Yesterday Apple released the new iPad, and I think it’s fascinating that people all over the country stood in line for as long as twelve hours to be the first on the block to own a new device that can’t do anything different than they already do with the other devices that they already own. How did I missing buying stock in this company back in 1996 when most people figured they’d be toast by Y2K?
Actually, if you think about it, Apple is just replicating the old music business model. Make people buy the same thing over and over again…think: 78’s, 45’s, albums, eight tracks, cassettes, compact discs, DAT and MP3s. Package it differently, sell the sizzle and take the money.
Which brings me to T-Bone Burnett.
I didn’t look at the liner notes for Jakob’s new release this morning. I was on the run, so I uploaded it and ran. Was down near San Diego with the dog and we walked and I listened. From the first notes I was thinking…this is good. I like this. And it’s familiar. By the end of the last track I’m thinking…this is familiar because its exactly like the Plant/Krauss release. Produced by…oh yeah. Him.
So in a nutshell: well crafted songs, strong lyrics and voices, lots of bass and baritones, pedal steel and I think an interesting opportunity in comparing the work of two producers. Rick Rubin did Dylan’s first solo outing and the production compared to this one is, I think, more about the artist and songs and less about the producer. Because as much as I admire the body of work from T-Bone, I think he misses this one. Don’t get me wrong…I think I’m going to love the music when it comes up from time to time on Shuffle Songs mode, but I doubt I’ll ever listen to it again end to end.
End to end…albums.
It came to me again this morning that we are really close to the end of the album’s time. It just seems old and outdated…like that heavy laptop you carry around and that old rotary. Although I can’t figure out why I need an iPad, I want one. And for some strange reason, because its solely a mechanism for handling content and not creation, I’m thinking that along with the demise of ink and paper, it’ll also change how we listen and watch stuff in ways we don’t even know yet.