The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Wednesday January 14, 2015
Bob Dylan brings a studio to tears, Mo Williams brings the Indiana Pacers to tears, The Beatles bring squares to tears
The chairman of the board
Yesterday I made some initial comments about Bob Dylan’s new album Shadows in the Night, a collection of mostly obscure Sinatra covers. If this was a novelty move I wouldn’t be for it. But Dylan is about as much a fan of Sinatra as he is of Woody Guthrie or Elvis Presley so it’s perfectly legitimate.
Wonderful music blog Something Else! released an article yesterday describing some of the sessions for the album that have me even more excited for its February release. The 40-piece big band arrangements were stripped down to his 5-piece touring band and they played everything live, supposedly over 30 songs. It’s reported that Dylan’s performances were so convincing that people in the studio began to weep. In this cynical age that comes off as a bit over the top, but with the material and the man performing them I don’t doubt it.
His live show this fall including a stunning show closing “Stay with Me,” a song from the sessions. It was by far the best vocal performance he had each night, so it’s not surprising that Dylan thinks this album has his best singing of all time. Check out his haunting cover of “Full Moon and Empty Arms” to get as excited about the release of Shadows in the Night as I am.
Timberwolves records are broken...just not the ones some expected
As I predicted, the Timberwolves didn’t lose a team record setting 19 games straight. Nobody could have predicted, though, that their 15 game skid would end behind Mo Williams scoring an unprecedented 52 points. It was by far the most dominant performance in the NBA all season. From Mo Williams. He scored more points than anyone else has all season and broke the Timberwolves record for points in a game. It may not deaden the sting of how poorly the team is playing but at least it was fun to watch.
A little bit older and a little bit slower
When I realized that this was the ninth edition of the Weekday Ramble one thing went through my mind: “Number nine, number nine, number nine…” This happens more often than not when I come across the number.
I’m referring, of course, to “Revolution 9,” the Beatles most interesting song (or least interesting, depending on whose side you’re on). When I was a kid I never had the patience for it but I appreciated it more as I got older. I’d rather hear a great pop song but the 8+ minute sound collage is still an interesting mind fuck.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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