Bob Dylan

Another day, another online album release. But this time, from a somewhat surprising artist: Bob Dylan. His two-CD album Tell Tale Signs is the eighth volume in the fascinatingly uneven 17-year-old Bootleg Series; it will be available from midnight tomorrow (Spet. 30) through at least Oct. 7 on NPR Music. The latest compilation will also be streamed fully on National Public Radio.

PaidContent reports that the full-album debut is a first for NPR Music and should provide a traffic boost to the site.

You can get a preview of Bob Dylan's album here.

 

Tickets for Oscar and Pulitzer winner Bob Dylan's Prospect Park concert tonight are going for upward of $565 each, according to Gowanus Lounge. Meanwhile, tomorrow's print Observer will have a story about a real estate deal that connects to Mr. Dylan.

Coincidence? 

Brooklyn Vegan reports that at 10 a.m. today, presale tickets go onsale for for an Aug. 12 Bob Dylan concert at the Prospect Park bandshell in Park Slope.

Only problem is you'll need one of those pesky pre-sale passwords to buy them, and even the all-knowing Brooklyn Vegan isn't sure what the password is, though he suggests trying "modern."

So far, Mr. Dylan's Park Slope performance is the only U.S. show listed on his summer tour itinerary.

Sony has come up with a creative way of generating revenue in the face of the industry-wide slump in music sales. The New York Times reports that executives at the company are tapping into the photo archives in the basement of its New York headquarters, and are expected today to announce a partnership with the Morrison Hotel Gallery—which showcases prominent music photographers—to sell off Sony's "gold mine" of classic rock images.

Apparently there are decades' worth of photos that were taken by staff photographers at Columbia Records, which Sony acquired in 1988. The images were more or less collecting dust until last year, when Sony started selling reproductions of them via its newly created boutique business, Icon Collectibles. Now, an exhibition of photos from Columbia’s 30th Street Studio is slated at the gallery for mid-July. "We're looking to take advantage of all the assets of the company, not just the audio recordings. We have the content, and we found a way to tap into it," John Ingrassia, president of Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s commercial music group, told The Times. Some of the hot ticket items include:  read more »

The soundtrack for NBC's popular superhero drama, Heroes, will hit stores on March 18, bringing fans 18 songs from the show that mix the old (Bob Dylan and David Bowie -- the Bowie track is "Heroes," obvs!), with the new (Wilco, Panic! at the Disco, and Imogen Heap), according to The Hollywood Reporter. More notably, the disc will also include a track by '80s fuzz-rockers the Jesus and Mary Chain, which is the duo's first new studio recording in a decade, as well as four songs -- including the Heroes theme song -- written by former Prince collaborators Wendy & Lisa. And for the die-hards, who are currently lamenting the show's hiatus, "executive producer/director Allan Arkush has crafted five music video montage podcasts -- featuring Heroes footage set to select tracks from the album." But for those, they'll have to hit up the Zune online store (the exclusive free download spot) or MSN, where they will be streaming.

Everybody needs to stop complaining about Chan Marshall. If I hear another person talk about how she has smoothed over the rough edges that made her so great and eradicated all the warts-and-all charm from her repertoire, I'm going to spit.

Just a year ago, after releasing the strongest album by far of her career, Ms. Marshall, or Cat Power as she's known, cancelled a tour due to a breakdown. Plenty reacted with smug I-coulda-called-it satisfaction given her reputation for stagefright and worse. Then, a few months later, Ms. Marshall emerged stronger, leaner, and meaner than ever, and has since been treating audiences (ever larger, ever more thrilled audiences) to some of the best performances of her life. One review of her new album actually praised her former "paranoid-but-pretty" style in contrast to the strength and poise she now exhibits. You'd think people wanted this woman dead.  read more »

Director Todd Haynes’ latest project, I’m Not There, an Indie about the life of Bob Dylan, has exceeded expectations at the box office. During its limited, five-day release, the film grossed over a million bucks, and the Oscar buzz has already begun. (Namely, industry insiders and critics have been alight over a winning performance from Cate Blanchett, who plays Mr. Dylan as “Jude.”) Mr. Haynes, 46, recently sat down with the Huffington Post and waxed on his $20 million flick.  read more »

Where’s Dylan in I’m Not There?  read more »

Todd Haynes' new film I'm Not There will have New York audiences seeing double in more ways than one.  read more »

Hassan Nemazee, the Democratic bundler chairing tonight's Hillary Clinton fund-raiser (featuring Bill) just told me that the event has raised $500,000 for the Senator's presidential campaign.

Nemazee, whose co-chairs tonight include the prominent fund-raisers Robert Zimmerman and Steve Robert, said that former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe called asking him to put the event together only two weeks ago.

About 100 people are expected to show at the event, each maxing out at $4,600. Enough no-shows sent in checks to hit the half million mark, Nemazee said.

Just like that.

--Jason Horowitz

A frosty week in mid-winter when nothing of any major importance is opening may be the perfect in-be  read more »

Robert Zimmerman, one of the last key uncommitted Democratic fund-raisers in New York, just told me has signed up with Hillary Clinton.

"We have an extraordinary field of candidates, but Hillary Clinton, without question, truly is the best candidate to bring us to victory and has the experience and knowledge to be an extraordinary president. It's a commitment from the heart and soul."

Zimmerman is a former Democratic National Committeeman who raised money for and argued the causes of Al Gore and John Kerry.

Zimmerman said he made the decision yesterday after meeting with one last candidate in the field, though he would not name that candidate.

As a notable aside, Zimmerman was long seen as a Gore loyalist, and his signing up with Clinton strongly suggests that Gore is indeed not running.

"I take Al Gore at his word," said Mr. Zimmerman.

He added, "With the nomination literally a year away, it was critical to make the decision now. The 2008 Presidential race is upon us. And we have to be ready."

--Jason Horowitz

• So much for the good old days in Greenwich Village. Bob Dylan and his brother have bought a Scottish mansion [above] in the Cairngorms National Park. If they had decided to rent, the place would have cost 3,000 Pounds (roughly $5,900) a night. [BBC News, via Luxist]
• The AIA Honor Awards have been announced, and four prizes have been handed out to local beauties: Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, the Modern, Bloomberg's HQ, and the New York Stock Exchange and Financial District's Streetscapes + Security. [Architectural Record News]
• Clinton Hill's decrepit Broken Angel has gotten a lot of attention (it even has its own Wikipedia page). And now that it's being renovated into condos, there'll even be a "reno blog." [Brownstoner]
• "Prime real estate and the city's seedy underbelly" go together like a horse and carriage, especially when "shady" landlords and prostitutes in patent leather are involved. [The Real Deal, via Gawker]
- Max Abelson
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