I finally got my hands on the soundtrack for I'm Not There and waaaaaaaaaaaaay down at the end of the sprawling two disc set is the track that makes it all worthwhile: Antony & the Johnsons' cover of  "Knocking on Heaven's Door". 



What impeccable song selection!  Antony's voice is so moving and completely unlike anyone else's.  He has an unmistakable style and this track is utter perfection.  His rich, deep voice adds a completely different, absorbingly evocative element to the song, creating an almost hymn like sound, and I'm always most pleased with Antony's work when he just accompanies himself with an acoustic piano.

It might be my favorite track of the year.

Antony's next album is supposedly being released this spring.  If you haven't heard his previous albums, please go get I Am A Bird Now! 

Check out this performance of "You Are My Sister" on Letterman:

 

Brad and I went to see I'm Not There this weekend and we loved it.  He covered the Todd Haynes territory in this blog he posted earlier this week, but I thought I should chime in a little since I'm a big Dylan fan.

The movie is very stream of consciousness, kinda like most Dylan songs.  If you have not seen it yet, please don't go to the theater expecting something easily followed, with a traditional narrative storyline, cause it's not like that at all.  In fact, that was one of the reasons I really liked the film-- it was different and unafraid to be so.  Throughout the film I wondered what others in the theater were making of the movie, and I wondered esp what those who may not be big fans of Dylan were thinking.  It seems like it would be pretty hard to follow if you didn't know much about him.  Dylan has always avoided being concretely characterized or pinned down by anyone or anything, and it was so cool to see someone as fantastic as Todd Haynes working within that fact and making it into something creative instead of trying to create a typical biopic.

There are 6 different actors each portraying a different aspect or period of Dylan's life.  Cate Blanchett has been getting all the press for this film it seems, and she deserves it-- she's brilliant!  All the details in the movie were just perfection-- it's obvious that Todd Haynes did a heck of a lot of homework to make this film happen.  I have to admit sometimes I thought it was weird to recreate scenes from his life or to take things that have happened and refashion them when this really is about a real person, but overall I was willing to suspend my belief and just go with the film as another piece of art.

What I find surprising about this year is that there have been tons of great releases out throughout the year. I have not liked this many albums in one year in a very long time. Yet there seems to be nothing coming out this holiday season. There are still tons and tons of great albums out there. Thousands of great albums from years past. But just not much new out right now. So I have been trying to use this time wisely. I have been going back in time lately and discovering old albums from decades past. But I have also been spending this extra time catching up on all the great albums that came out this year. I am obsessed with that new Sally Shapiro album "Disco Romance" right now. It is the funnest album out this year since Lily Allen. Sort of like a more modern version of Stacey Q. Like a mix of all the great and fun things about 80's electro and freestyle. But still sort of relevant and exciting. I also am a bit obsessed with Pelle Carlberg. His latest album "In A Nutshell" came out about six  months ago but I just found the time to give it a proper listen. And now I can't stop. It really is brilliant. Both Sally Shapiro and Pelle Carlberg are from Sweden. I guess it is just a coincidence. But maybe not. Two of my other favorite albums of the year also come from Sweden. "Night Falls Over Kortedala" by Jens Lekman and "West Coast" by Studio both come from the land of Sweden. Jose Gonzalez is also from Sweden and I am also in love with his album this year "In Our Nature." The Shout Out Louds are from Sweden as well. What is going on this year. Sweden is taking over my life. The Knife and Love Is All are also from Sweden and they both had two of my favorite albums from last year. And I always had a special place in my heart for ABBA. But I never really thought much about Sweden until this year when I started realizing all my favorite albums were from Sweden. So don't get too depressed if you don't think there are any good albums out this month. There are plenty of albums for you to catch up on. You can just spend a couple months getting to know all the great music coming out of Sweden alone. There are also two brilliant albums out recently on Italians Do It Better. Both "Night Drive" by the Chromatics and "Beatbox" by Glass Candy are absolutely fantastic. You will not be able to stop listening to them once you stop.

               INT. JOB'S APARTMENT - DAY

               JOB, (early 30's) sits at his computer, his head propped up
               by his left hand.

               He stares blankly at the screen.

               He types everything you just read.

               Then he types this.

               Then he sighs.

                                   JOB
                             (to camera)
                         I have an earache.
                             (beat)
                         I've never had an earache before. I
                         mean, this is going on one week.
                         And the last two days it's been
                         especially bad.
                             (beat)
                         It makes writing a blog especially
                         challenging, because the pain is
                         distracting me. Plus, pain is not
                         funny... usually.

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