Bob Dylan/Mark Ronson - 'Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)' Reversion (Columbia, 2007)
Where to start with this one? It is the first time that Dylan has let a producer re-work an old song (although Dylan obsessives such as myself will point to a dance version of 'All Along the Watchtower' done by some Danish band and an Italian rap version of 'Like a Rolling Stone'). "But why?", I hear you cry. Well quite simply because Columbia are maximising their revenue from an artist who has recently been reappraised due to the commercial success of last year's Modern Times.
They saw what Junkie XL did to Elvis - literally brought him back from the dead to the young music consumers and thought let's get the trendiest producer to re-work Dylan. And there's none more trendy than über-trendy Mark Ronson who already has a track record of reworking ill-fitting songs ('Amy' by Ryan Adams turning from melancholy to dance-floor hit).
What he's done here is basically add a lot more horns - it is his trademark sound after all - and a louder beat. And all in all it works. It's not the most amazing reversion ever. It certainly isn't shit. And I guess it's not supposed to be. What it's supposed to do is get new people listening to Dylan and I think that it might work. They might even (gasp!) play it on a dance-floor of a trendy indie club. This release is tied to the new DYLAN compilation that has been marketed as a collection to inspire new fans to discover more of his output and it may help flog a few more copies of it.
B-sides are the original version of the song from Blonde on Blonde. Depending on which single is bought there are also live Dylan versions of 'High Water' and 'Down Along the Cove' from 2003 and 2004 respectively.
MySpace Site | Official Site | See the Video | Dylan live in Birmigham 2007 | Modern Times review
The Wombats - 'Let's dance to Joy Division' - (14th Floor, 2007)
Infectious indie-pop doesn't come much better than this. While following a formulaic indie-rock template, the song will remain on MTV 2, Xfm and on the stereo in the NME offices for months to come. Sly ironic undertones for this indie dance-floor hit is the key here. Expect to get completely bored of it in six months time, but until then, dance like a loon around your bedroom singing at the top of your voice, "Go ask for Joy Division, And celebrate the irony, Everything is going wrong, But we're so happy"
MySpace site | Official site | See the video here
Peter, Bjorn & John - 'Young Folks' (Witchita, 2006 & 2007)
Well a second release for this song....you think record labels would know better - but they don't. Sure, it's a catchy tune, sure it probably did deserve a better chance, but I've been listening to this song for so long now (since the end of 2005, I think?). Seems a little strange. Catchy indie-stchick is the motif du jour - a little bit kooky, but mainstream enough to appeal to students. Buy it, if you're not fed up with it by now or didn't the first time around.
MySpace site | Official site | See the video here