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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 MUSIC REVIEW 
6

Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'

Even so, the 'beloved iconoclast' puts together an interesting collection

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(Newser) – With the announcement of Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart, “smirkers got smirkier”—you try picturing Dylan singing the lyric, “How’d ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?” without smirking—but in the end, the collection is interesting, if a bit silly; “a surreal and occasionally rousing collection of gooey holiday ballads,” writes Amanda Petrusich for Pitchfork.

It’s not clear how seriously we’re supposed to take the album—is Bob Dylan, who also recently appeared in an out-of-character Victoria’s Secret ad, deliberately railing against his canonization with a tongue-in-cheek collection of holiday tunes? Maybe—or “maybe, like zillions of red-blooded, religiously ambiguous American dudes, Bob Dylan just likes Christmastime and Adriana Lima. And we're stupid for presuming anything more.”

Bob Dylan's
Bob Dylan's "Christmas in the Heart" is shown.   (PRNewsFoto/Columbia Records)
In this Aug. 26, 2006 file photo, Bob Dylan performs as the opening act of the Pawtucket Arts Festival at McCoy Stadium, in Pawtucket, RI.
In this Aug. 26, 2006 file photo, Bob Dylan performs as the opening act of the Pawtucket Arts Festival at McCoy Stadium, in Pawtucket, RI.   (AP Photo/Stew Milne, File)
An undated photo provided by Sony BMG shows musician Bob Dylan.
An undated photo provided by Sony BMG shows musician Bob Dylan.   (AP Photo/Sony BMG, William Claxton, file)
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It's his unhinged vocals that make Christmas in the Heart interesting, and, in some ways, appropriate to its subject: In practice if not in theory, Christmas songs aren't about perfect pitch and studied harmonies.
- Amanda Petrusich

The goal of Christmas in the Heart is hardly reinvention. These are mostly traditional renderings, and even Dylan's craggy, get-off-my-lawn snarl—the inadvertent template for decades of idiosyncratic vocalists—is topped with a shiny red bow.
- Amanda Petrusich

Produced by Dylan-pseudonym Jack Frost (come on!) and featuring David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, it's a nice assortment of hymns and popular carols. - Amanda Petrusich

Dylan is fully committed: On 'O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis),' he crows the first few verses in Latin, and on the dizzying, Tom Waits-evoking 'Must Be Santa,' he chirps Santa Facts with frantic, seizure-inducing certainty.
- Amanda Petrusich

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6 comments
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Bambi
Oct 26, 09 11:35 AM CDT
Dylan was at the vortex of a profound, channeled gift for most of a decade, and if it came from a deal with the Devil, at some point, the Devil just revoked the gift instead of taking his life (like he proverbially did with Hendrix, et al). However, Dylan was never an intellectual visionary, nor even a political one (no answers, just questions and cynicisms where due), and when it comes to his post 1960's career choices, I think we should assume there is no relation to the channeling disciple of Woody Guthrie/Dylan Thomas, post-beatnik wunderkind we once knew. That person is all but gone, and unlike Brian Wilson (who WAS once there, then gone), Dylan was arguably never really 'there'. It seems he was more of a vessel for the muse to pass through, and not the source itself--he would probably be the first to admit he has no idea where it came from. There's no doubt that the holiday album is a light offering from Dylan who I'm sure does not relish the pressure with every modern gesture of having to live up to the ghost of his 'heavy' past. He was never really that heavy, it was us. Reply
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OG_Travis
Oct 26, 09 12:16 PM CDT
lol i love it bambi i guess on some level i always thought he just didn't wanna deal with it all. i think he WAS heavy but only wanted to say in the song. he didn't want to be quoted this way or that he didn't want to be looked to for answers. he says he didn't care what he sang but if you listened to those songs they say something more than he was willing to admit....or at least i want to believe that :)
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schmidtkoff
Oct 26, 09 12:29 PM CDT
@bambi - UH, sorry bambi dylan was more than there and I suspect that you were not. please try to be less cerebral for it is not warranted in regards to dylan. dylan was always a purveyor of visionary truths and please, don’t be so presumptuous. you need to read a little history on guthrie, dylan, wilson. and how did Hendrix come come into the mix? As far as your comment “there's no doubt that the holiday album is a light offering from dylan who i'm sure does not relish the pressure with every modern gesture of having to live up to the ghost of his 'heavy' past. he was never really that heavy, it was us.” no, it was you. dylan was dylan. not trying to be heavy nor esoteric nor anything but himself. like I said try not being so cerebral .
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Bambi
Oct 26, 09 12:45 PM CDT
I'm sure you have misunderstood me, for I believe we are in agreement. As you say, and I wholly agree, "Dylan was...not trying to be heavy nor esoteric nor anything but himself" That is my point. He was just being himself, but more is made of him as a quasi-prophet than is justified, and certainly much more than he would agree with. As such, one is over-analyzing, dare I say, 'over-intellectualizing' to look for profundity and symbolism in any of his deliberate gestures, such as his new holiday album. I think you and my words got a little tangled up (probably my fault). Hendrix was mentioned only in analogy as another artist that, like Dylan, turned a corner almost overnight from an ordinary talent into an almost super-natural creative force. Lastly, by saying Dylan wasn't 'there', I meant no derision--only that he seems to be a 'regular guy' that was as awed as anyone. His work is not 'masterminded', but channeled. Don't worry, I don't mean to degrade your attachment or sentimentality about Mr. Zimmerman--I'm not about that. I just don't go for idolatry, and it doesn't do anyone any good. People are people, and I'm advocating that Dylan is entitled to recreate himself for the moment as a bit doddering with his holiday album if he likes.
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Cprizzle
Oct 26, 09 1:42 PM CDT
I'm a true fan of Dylan's early work, but after seeing his live performance in Austin a couple of years ago, I think his best days as a musician are well behind him. Plus, he seems very distant and scorched from years of obvious drug use. It's sad really. Besides, he recent album was a utter disaster. Reply
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