August sees the vinyl re-release of Bob Dylan’s 1989 album, “Oh Mercy.” Written mostly while healing from a hand injury in ’87, the whole work took Dylan some time to come together, but when it was finally released in September ’89 the critics were pleased. After almost unanimously negative reviews of his two previous albums, Dylan teamed up with Daniel Lanois, producer of “The Joshua Tree” and two other Grammy winning albums and put together a group of diverse songs that help highlight Dylan’s best sides, and find him coming to terms with his age. The best example of his self-assessment is in “What Good Am I.”
It is here we find Dylan calmly questioning the morality of his daily actions; this is something a younger Dylan would have left to others. Even a nearly 50-year-old Dylan finds room to rant in two highly political songs “Political World” and “Everything is Broken.”
Dylan’s best showing comes on “Man In A Long Black Coat,” a story song that Dylan nails with cryptic imagery. Critically, the album was a great success and helps us better understand a small part of Dylan’s life, but it does not stand up to the best in Dylan’s catalog.
****/*****
If you’ve never heard of Theophilus London, it’s now time. London is a Brooklyn MC who blends pop, new-electro and hip-hop with impressive ease. He released his first mixtape in 2008, but after releasing “This Charming Mixtape” in 2009 he garnered a lot of hype and a wider audience due to the heavy use of samples from Elvis Costello and The Smiths.
“Timez Are Weird These Dayz” is London’s debut album and though the sample-laden tracks are gone, London, along with TV on The Radio producer Dave Sitek and Santigold’s John Hill, put together a silky smooth hip-hop compilation that captures trends but stands apart. Sara Quin’s feature on “Why Even Try” is a great edition to a solid track that holds a little more depth than most of the more upbeat songs. Tracks to check out: “I Stand Alone,” “Wine and Chocolates,” and “All Around The World.”