"I'll respect any artist who is more engaged with the process of creation and distribution than they are engaged with the celebrity mode of, you know, being focused on what the press is after, or trying to calculate moves, or being Father John Misty, or that sort of thing."

-Will Toledo (Car Seat Headrest)

Completely cleared my iPod and built it back up from scratch, in preparation for a family road trip to the Outer Banks of NC.
The kids and wife don't need the dozen hours each of Aaron Dilloway, Pan Sonic, Alice Coltrane, etc.
But I also need to be aware of content and language. (For reference: kids are ages 6-14.5)

There was an article this week that Best Buy will stop selling CDs sometime this summer. I'm sure Spooky has good insider info on this but its no surprise, the CD section in BB has been shrinking for years. Quite the switch from maybe 10 years ago when there were aisles of CDs. It was the place to go to get a wide variety of music.

http://www.startribune.com/billboard-report-says-best-buy-will-stop-selling-cds-this-summer/472797583/

The article also stated that Target is still selling CDs but increasingly asking the label companies to provide the discs on consignment so that they aren't holding unsold music.

Do you still buy CDs? If so from where? If not, do you just stream or download music from iTunes, etc. Or have you have gone all vinyl? I'm a mix of buying CDs, streaming, and downloading. If I stream something enough, I typically go and a acquire it. I also still get music from the library as well.

Drop your lists.

Late 2017, the latest Bob Dylan bootleg series was released. This covered the “Christian” Dylan years of 1979-81. Is as usual with the Bootleg series, there is a large (in this case 13 CDs) release and a 2-CD “Best of.” I was always interested in this phase of Dylan but woefully uninformed, except for a couple of songs, specifically Gotta Serve Somebody. So I picked up the two CD set and was immediately blown away.

Most of the tracks are live renditions from this period, a time when Dylan’s band was excellent. Also the crowd’s were a little on edge as they wanted to hear the hits and let’s face it, Dylan always responds when the crowd’s on edge. Although not included on the 2-CD set, Dylan was actually testifying to the crowd during these shows. (some of these sermons are included on the 13 CD set or can be found on You Tube.) One particular incendiary song is Blessed is the Name, which I am pretty sure is a Psalm I’ve sung at Catholic Mass.

Anyway, if at all interested in this era of Dylan, I would strongly recommend picking up the 2 CD set. It’s a fascinating look at a fascinating phase of a fascinating artist.

Go forth and drop they lists.