Mojo, December 2014: Difference between revisions
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The lyrics, with their gypsies and sailors, rambling men and disconcerting women, are Dylan's and it is certainly possible to hear aspects of his persona coming through in different performers. Giddens' antique shanty: to accompany "[[Spanish Mary]]" harks back to a seductive `trail arr' past, asking "is it a mystery to live or is it a mystery to die?"; Costello's "[[Married To My Hack]]," a punkish blast of wordplay, is a telling mix of the lustful and the uxorious. Goldsmith, meanwhile, plays the elegant country troubadour on the punchy cautionary tale of Card Shark and the wistful lost souls parade that is Liberty Street. | The lyrics, with their gypsies and sailors, rambling men and disconcerting women, are Dylan's and it is certainly possible to hear aspects of his persona coming through in different performers. Giddens' antique shanty: to accompany "[[Spanish Mary]]" harks back to a seductive `trail arr' past, asking "is it a mystery to live or is it a mystery to die?"; Costello's "[[Married To My Hack]]," a punkish blast of wordplay, is a telling mix of the lustful and the uxorious. Goldsmith, meanwhile, plays the elegant country troubadour on the punchy cautionary tale of Card Shark and the wistful lost souls parade that is Liberty Street. | ||
It would be a push, though, to say Dylan felt like a concrete presence on this record: it feels, mostly, like a group of accomplished songwriters plying their trade. And they are very accomplished. Jim James particularly has a great strike rate, coolly at home with both extremes of ''Basement''-era emotion, the dark and the light. Opening track "[[Down On The Bottom]]" — ''"No place to go but up"'' — is a song of desperation, the sound of somebody pulling themselves from the rushy tangled depths. "[[Nothing To It]]," meanwhile, might have ''"just contemplated killing a man"'' but it has an easy, brassy roll, knowing loucheness and jaunty baritone vocals — ''"You don't have to turn your pockets inside out / I'm sure you can give me something."'' On the jazzy slide of "[[Hidee Hidee Ho No. 11|Hidee Hidee Ho #11]]," James oozes lascivious laziness, just-controlled laughter straining his voice as he sings. Giddens, meanwhile, repeatedly chants "making love wherever we go" in the background, as if he might just have tripped and fallen awkwardly. | It would be a push, though, to say Dylan felt like a concrete presence on this record: it feels, mostly, like a group of accomplished songwriters plying their trade. And they are very accomplished. Jim James particularly has a great strike rate, coolly at home with both extremes of ''Basement''-era emotion, the dark and the light. Opening track "[[Down On The Bottom (Jim James version)|Down On The Bottom]]" — ''"No place to go but up"'' — is a song of desperation, the sound of somebody pulling themselves from the rushy tangled depths. "[[Nothing To It]]," meanwhile, might have ''"just contemplated killing a man"'' but it has an easy, brassy roll, knowing loucheness and jaunty baritone vocals — ''"You don't have to turn your pockets inside out / I'm sure you can give me something."'' On the jazzy slide of "[[Hidee Hidee Ho No. 11|Hidee Hidee Ho #11]]," James oozes lascivious laziness, just-controlled laughter straining his voice as he sings. Giddens, meanwhile, repeatedly chants "making love wherever we go" in the background, as if he might just have tripped and fallen awkwardly. | ||
James is not alone in revelling in the rowdier spirit of these songs: Mumford does a fine job with the innuendo of "[[Stranger]]" — ''"All of my intentions are exposed / Not hidden in my clothes"'' — a wild western song that cheerily mixes sex and death (there's also a "tombstone pearl-handled revolver" and a pale man "with a halo in his hair"). "[[Kansas City (song)|Kansas City]]," meanwhile, is one they "threw the kitchen sink at", according to Mumford. With Johnny Depp on guitar and Haim on backing vocals, it's blurring of fame-fatigue (''"just how long must I keep singing the same old song?"'') and romantic betrayal rising over the showbiz clutter. | James is not alone in revelling in the rowdier spirit of these songs: Mumford does a fine job with the innuendo of "[[Stranger]]" — ''"All of my intentions are exposed / Not hidden in my clothes"'' — a wild western song that cheerily mixes sex and death (there's also a "tombstone pearl-handled revolver" and a pale man "with a halo in his hair"). "[[Kansas City (song)|Kansas City]]," meanwhile, is one they "threw the kitchen sink at", according to Mumford. With Johnny Depp on guitar and Haim on backing vocals, it's blurring of fame-fatigue (''"just how long must I keep singing the same old song?"'') and romantic betrayal rising over the showbiz clutter. |
Revision as of 22:40, 6 March 2019
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