Original Soundtrack - I'm Not There

Many people have covered Bob Dylan's songs over the years, but few quite like this. On the double-disc soundtrack that accompanies Todd Haynes' extremely confounding biopic of the already plenty confounding folk icon, we get the likes of Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, the Hold Steady, and Antony & The Johnsons doing their best Dylan impressions and often failing gloriously. Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus does a particularly fine job oozing his way through "Ballad of a Thin Man," while Wilco's Jeff Tweedy draws the moody beauty out of "Simple Twist of Fate," and Sufjan Stevens lends his typically baroque touch to "Ring Them Bells." Special credit has to go to the Million Dollar Bashers, the unofficial house band that includes Steve Shelley on drums, John Medeski on piano, and Tom Verlaine on guitar, along with other notable musicians. The generous track list and dynamic set of contributors promises that this album will provide plenty of awe long after the film itself has been forgotten. --Aidin Vaziri Amazon.com

Incredibly good

What a record!! The songs are not easy and perhaps many of them are not in my list, but the surprise is very good!!! Many blues much better than when performaed by own Dylan. Tombstone Blues with Ritchie Hevens is simply the best!! September 28, 2008

So I went to see the Gypsy.....

Masterful songs taken, borrowed, reworked and then transformed into refreshing pieces of work, that are not quite on a planar level with the originals, but nevertheless graceful and powerfull tributes to Dylan's musical artistry. It's not just who Dylan influenced, say Jeff Tweedy on "Simple Twist of Fate", but who influenced Dylan, like Ramblin' Jack Elliot's version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", that make this soundtrack trul one of the greatest in recent memory.

34 songs and not a bad one it. September 19, 2008

Fog, amphetamines and pearls

This soundtrack to I'm Not There is absolutely packed with music, featuring two CDs that are each 80 minutes long. I don't recall hearing many of these recordings in the movie itself, but that's not uncommon for a soundtrack these days. The songs were all written by Bob Dylan, as you are probably already aware. Most of these cover songs are quite good, although some are better than others. Of course, it's all a matter of personal preference, my favorites may be different from your favorites. Fittingly, Dylan himself gets the final word, with the previously unreleased title song (it was recorded at The Basement Tapes sessions). This is a fine collection of Dylan songs. August 24, 2008

Best collection of Dylan songs I have ever heard

The best collection of Dylan covers I have ever heard. From his most popular songs like "All Along the Watchtower" by the mega-popular Pearl Jam, to the unreleased and rare "I'm not there" by the not as popular Sonic Youth (unless you belong to their cult of loyal fans). There are some very cool and different versions of his songs on this CD. Overall, this is a can't miss if you are a Dylan fan. Richie Havens does a terrific job as does the young lad..the 13 year old kid from the movie, sorry...can't remember his name. These songs make you appreciate Dylan in a different way. For me, it made me go back and dust off my Dylan Lps and Cds to listen again to the original versions. Now I hear more nuances in Dylan's songs and am more appreciative of the the meter, the rythm, the math, the lyrics, the structure, the ideas, metaphors, themes, each word, each syllable, how they are pronounced, annunciated, etc. Everything starts to become even more clear and appreciated. It also makes me try to place myself in those times and realize how artists like Dylan and Hendrix for example must have sounded like they came from Mars considering the sounds and music that existed before they came along in the mid-60s. This reminds that the 60s went through a rapid time warp in so many ways not the least of which was the huge evolution of pop art and culture that has not been matched since. July 30, 2008

i'm not there ost

i was disappointed by this after highly anticipating it. to me, sufjan never fails and was as good as expected. liked mira bilotte's song here, as well. i like many of the other artists here, but would rather listen to dylan doing dylan than most of them doing dylan. you can have my copy of the album if you want it. July 27, 2008

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