On the menu

Well, here's some news. There's going to be another 2-disc set of Dylan coming out of the archives in his "The Bootleg Series;" Tell Tale Signs will be released on October 7 (after I've left the country--boo!). The set focuses on Dylan's more recent material, spanning the years from 1989 (the album Oh Mercy) to 2006. Many of the tracks are outtakes from the Time Out of Mind sessions, which suits me just fine. TOOM was the first Dylan album I ever listened to. I checked it out of the public library in Fargo, eventually purchased my own copy, which I proceeded to listen to incessantly for the next few years. I still think it's my favorite Dylan album.

Anyway, after mining his back catalog from the 1960s and 1970s for a while, I'm glad that Columbia is putting out some of his most recent stuff, and I'm especially looking forward to hearing the handful of live tracks that made it onto this release. As much as I like Dylan's studio albums, he really has the potential to be amazing when he performs live, as a recent review attests. The three times that I've seen him live in small venues, he was incredible, with his summer 2002 show at Neuman Outdoor Field in Fargo standing out in my mind as being particularly impressive. The band that he had for quite a while in the 1990s and early 2000s with Tony Garnier on bass and Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell on guitars is criminally under-appreciated. Tony had a great sense of humor and stage presence, and Larry and Charlie contributed great guitar work, as well as combining with Bob for three-part harmonies. (For example, see the version of "Blowin' in the Wind" that plays over the end credits of Masked and Anonymous.) Dylan once said that this was the best backing band that he ever had, including, well, The Band. And I'm inclined to agree. If Columbia would put out a well-recorded live set from, say, 1998, I would be much obliged.

I should also point out that Columbia is doing nonsense with various editions of Tell Tale Signs. There's a two-disc version for $18.99, a four-vinyl version for $99.99, and a "Limited Deluxe Collector's Edition" for $129.99, with the two regular CDs, an extra CD of material, a 7" vinyl, and a hardcover book which reproduces all of Dylan's single sleeves. Now, all I want would be the extra disc (indeed, what's the difference between the outtakes and live performances on the first two discs and the outtakes and live performances on the third disc?). So why do I have to pay another $110 to get this? It's bullocks. We can only hope that iTunes will eventually get all of the tracks.

In another bizarre similarity, and proof that Radiohead and Dylan have some link in places outside of my enfeebled head, Radiohead did the same thing with In Rainbows, putting out another disc of songs that was only available for those willing to fork over the big bucks (I think it was 40 British pounds, which at current exchange rates is something like a million dollars) for the box set. Observers of the airline industry are lamenting the rise of "a la carte" pricing, in which pillows, blankets, even checked baggage now require the payment of an additional fee. Me, I'm all for it, if it actually is a way of raising revenues to meet rising costs, and not just a way for the airlines to squeeze you for more money. If you're able to lower my fare because you're able to charge the guy who checks 6 suitcases and a set of golf clubs more, I couldn't be happier. I am also a supporter of "a la carte" pricing in the music industry. As with so many other things, online music stores (such as iTunes) are a huge influence in the resurgence of "a la carte" pricing in music. In a general sort of way, popular music switched from being sold by the single in the 1950s and 1960s to being sold by the album in the 1970s. This is the era, or at least when I became aware of it in the mid-1990s, of: "Why do I have to pay $15.99 if I only like one song?" Now, of course, you don't. "A la carte" pricing in the music industry is coming back. You can pay 99 cents on the iTunes music (or, if one is so inclined, download it for free from any number of services--not that I endorse such a practice). iTunes can also work the opposite way, especially in the case of "iTunes special addition" albums, which feature extra content that one can only access if one purchases the entire album from iTunes. So, our dutiful music fan who goes out to his local record store at midnight on Monday when the new albums are released to buy the CD of his favorite artist will be quite disappointed to wake up on Tuesday morning to discover that iTunes is selling a special edition with two bonus tracks and an alternate take of the first single. Our fan know doubt wants access to that material (he is dedicated, remember, and went to get the album at midnight), but unless he is willing to fork over another $9.99, in addition to the $14.99 for the actual physical copy of the CD he already bought, he's out of luck.

So, I like "a la carte" pricing. I like the idea of a lot of material being available and listeners being able to choose to purchase what they would like and not be forced into purchasing things they don't want because they are bundled with things that they do want. But I also understand the downsides involved. As someone who definitely grew up in the CD era, I do appreciate the idea of crafting a coherent set of songs. When I listen to music on my iPod, I always listen by albums, and I like that the album (definitely not an "a la carte" format) encourages artists to think about how the songs will be listened to together. Ultimately, I think that listening to a well-crafted album is a much more satisfying experience than listening to isolated songs, even really good isolated songs. But things like the iTunes music store may be encouraging artists and listeners to go back to the "a la carte" method, and in some ways I am disappointed by this. I am all for choice, but I hope that artists and listeners will still recognize the value of music that comes in units larger than a 3 and half minute single. What the iTunes music store would be great for is getting out bonus tracks, outtakes, and live performances quickly and cheaply, so that fans don't have to pay a premium for "collectors editions" or "deluxe boxed sets." But somehow I doubt that the music industry actually has its fans interests at heart.