IS BOB DYLAN THE ANTI-IDOLS?

Hi all!

What a week! New Orleans reduced to a swamp - American authorities stretched - hard to know how the people of New Orleans can move on with their lives after Katrina.

I interviewed Stephen Malkmus (ex-of Pavement) yesterday and asked him what he thought of the crises and how GW Bush would cope with the growing critisism. He answered me that whoever was in power would have struggled with the relief aid and the American media especially had it in for Bush after being cut out of Iraq and not given full access there. He said rightly they had reported New Orleans/Katrina as they saw it. However it was clear talking to Malkmus that the European media had covered the event much more criticly-and as Stephen mentioned to me-it was Mother Nature after all. Fair point-New Orleans could be the first city to go from Global Warming.

Stephen Malkmus's latest solo album "Face the Truth" (Domino) is his best yet-up there with his best Pavement work-if your looking for something melodic, interesting, weird and beautiful-check it out now.

Columbia Records has always been in many people's eyes the Artists label, Dylan, Johnny Cash, Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkle, Laura Nyro and many others. The cradle of nuturing great songwriting throughout the 60's and 70's. Anything with the famous Red label would be worth aquiring as a sign of quality. Of course times change, and the output of Columbia (not to mention the Red label), have moved with the times-just another major sub-label nowadays. One exception has been the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, a selection of unreleased or rare tracks, concerts, tours etc. the series has been ongoing since the mid 90's. The 7th in the series has just been released by Columbia (red label intact!), Bob Dylan "No Direction Home: The Soundtrack". The album covers Dylan from 1961 to the release of Blonde on Blonde in 1966. Lots of unreleased and different versions of Dylan classics are included-but most importantly-the album shows how popular music found it's voice, how it became a political and social phenomenom the world over-and if you like-why i'm writing this blog now! These are big claims-but ultimately pop music was lyricaly redundant pre Dylan abandoning his folk roots and picking up an electric guitar. "Bringing it All Back" (1965), "Highway 61" (66) & "Blonde On Blonde" (66), the latter a double album (we think bands are prolific these days!), reshaped Rock & Pop music forever. The Mercury Sound. as these trio of albums are referred to bleed with punkrock intensity, the greatest lyrics ever!-and songs that few artists have matched before or since. Tracks from these albums-albeit different versions (but just as great) are represented on "No Direction Home". A movie accompanying the release about Dylan in this period, Directed by Martin Scorsese, should hit Finnish screens soon-i hope! Bob Dylan's relevance is still pertinant-just check out "A Hard Rains Gonna Fall" in light of Hurricane Katrina.

Dylan is a timely reminder that there is a musical revolution going on as we speak. Bands and artists with credibility are releasing un-safe records and increasingly BECOMING the mainstream. The Killers, Franz ferdinand (both approaching 5 million sales for their debut albums), Coldplay, Keane,
Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, Scissor Sisters, Gorillaz, The Strokes, Death Cab For Cutie-the list goes on-are all million sellers. Inventive and original music is no longer in the indie getto-people want substance with there music.

Unfortunately, in Finland, this has'nt really been reflected-we are still living the walking talking Idols hang over-which increasingly the rest of the world has got over. As a new series of the "talent" show starts on Finnish TV, and the release of the original Idols' winner Hanna Pakarinen's "Stronger" album is released-i can't stomach this level of waste anymore. With so much good new talent coming out of Finland NOW, it's awful that the IDOLS rules the airwaves and our TV screens. I fell in love with David Bowie as a kid because he was a sexy, androgynous alien-not a fork lift driver!!! We don't want pop-stars you can meet on the street-we want larger than life personalities-who-most importantly can do things we cant-that's why they are special! If you believe that music should have a passion and reflect that passion for life, say something to you, not be contrived by THE MAN, move you to tears or joy, reflect the world you live in, make you feel sexy, sad, human, special and different-put a stop to this now, make that difference. It's up to you-buy good music!!!!

Nick Triani is a record producer, singer songwriter in the band Treeball and a dj on Radio Helsinki.