Aural Fixations

BOB DYLAN
Highway 61 Revisited
John Wesley Harding
Blood On the Tracks
(Columbia/Legacy)
Columbia's Legacy division has set about reissuing the vast catalog of Bob Dylan in the newfangled SACD format. Though I don't have a player that can deal with that format, the suits were smart enough to make the remastered albums hybrids that will play on regular disk machines as well. Since I have no Dylan on CD outside of a couple of volumes of the Bootleg Series, this is good news for me. I'm not the world's biggest Dylan fan; I don't feel the need to own everything featuring the man drawing breath. With the exception of Blond on Blonde, everything I need by ol' Bob is on the above trio. (more)

SIGMATROPIC
Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories
(Thirsty Ear)
Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories is one of the more unusual projects to cross my desk in some time. Greek musician Akis Boyatzis, who records under the name Sigmatropic, produced an album some time back that put the work of Greek poet and Nobel Laureate George Seferis to music. After a great deal of success in Greece, Boyatzis decided to record an international version, with Seferis' work translated to English and vocalized by a diverse group of indie rock and underground artists. (more)

SPIRIT CARAVAN
The Last Embrace
(MeteorCity)
THE HIDDEN HAND
Divine Propaganda
(MeteorCity)
PLACE OF SKULLS
With Vision
(Southern Lord)
Scott "Wino" Weinrich is one of the unsung heroes of the rock underground. His former bands the Obsessed and St. Vitus virtually invented what pundits now called stoner rock, with his guitar mastery, intelligent and heartfelt songs and gruff, soulful voice shining like beacons in an alleged genre far too many folks dismiss out of hand. More importantly, he's one of the few metal musicians to have expanded on the legacy of Black Sabbath, actually moving the style forward, instead of just enthusiastically emulating the pioneers. He's even been credited as an influence by such diverse artistes as the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and members of Fugazi. While the Obsessed hasn't existed in a decade and Wino's had to deal with the consequences of the usual rock excesses, he hasn't been idle. Indeed, he's already used up and spit out the power trio Spirit Caravan, formed another band called the Hidden Hand and become an erstwhile member of fellow travelers Place of Skulls. (more)

PAUL WESTERBERG
Come Feel Me Tremble
(Vagrant)
GRANDPA BOY
Dead Man Shake
(Fat Possum/Epitaph)
Continuing the low-key renaissance he began in 2002, Paul Westerberg (who will forever be known as "former leader of the Replacements," so he might as well get over it) once again drops two records, as if he's trying to make up for his 90s lethargy (not to mention his thus-far undistinguished solo career). Neither Come Feel Me Tremble nor Dead Man Shake (released under his inexplicable alias Grandpa Boy) are bad records, but neither stands up to his best work, though they're certainly better than his major label releases. (more)