In a "I'm Not There", a film that is purported to capture the essence of Bob Dylan - the singer/songwriter/poet -troubadour/husband and father/feckless lover and sarcastic sixties icon - without every mentioning the man by name and using a cast of characters, from an African-American pre-teen to Cate Blanchett to portray him, it's no surprise that the motion picture's soundtrack is just as enigmatic. Featuring a motley crew of artists - everyone from Eddie Vedder to Sufjan Stevens with a breezy dash by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Richie Havens for good measure, the overall effect is at times frustrating and at times brilliant - not unlike the man lurking behind it all.
Bob Dylan throws a long shadow for sure and, while no one decides to completely trample on his original work, a few of the artists do manage to slip in just enough of themselves and their sound to lift the soundtrack above the level of pure curiosity to something that strives to be a cultural experiment even as it falls just short. One of those artists more than up for the challenge is Thurston Moore who tackles "I'm Not There" and successfully seeks and finds the dark heart of Dylan and then charges the title track with some signature Sonic Youth fuzz. "Ring Them Bells" also gets a good, if gentle, makeover by Sufjan Stevens. The Hold Steady slide sideways into the meldoy of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" and then spruce up the production with crashing drums and plunking keys. One of the biggest surprises though has to be Mira Millotte, who spices up the lesser-known "As I Went Out One Morning" with a jaunty jazz delivery. Dylan contemporaries Richie Havens (a wonderfully herky jerky "Tombstone Blues") and Roger McGuinn (a stirring "One More Cup of Coffee with an assist from Calexico") also get a thumbs up .
For every artist who manages to come away from Mr. Bob Dylan unscathed, there are easily two or three who "sink like a stone". Karen O was invited to the soundtrack party and handed "Highway 61 Revisited". The fit is uncomfortable from the sonic meets techno intro but at least it's one of the more interesting failures. Mason Jennings is gifted with "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol" and "The TImes They Are A Changin" but nerves may have gotten the best of him. His by-the-book delivery sets him instantly up for comparison with the original and well . . . let's just say the battle was lost before it was ever begun. Stephen Malkmus tries his best to keep the paranoid vision of "Ballad Of A Thin Man" intact but he just doesn't have enough venom in him to sell the song. His "Maggie's Farm" also lacks passion and energy. Most surprising and disappointing though is Jeff Tweedy. The Wilco-frontman seemed to have the perfect pedigree to do something interesting with "Simple Twist of Fate" but the song seems to throw him from the get go and he never finds the right rhythm.
Bob Dylan, the man himself, makes an appearance at the end of this two-disc set singing "I'm Not There" accompanied by his musical soulmates The Band. It's a fuzzy bootleg version but if you listen closely, through the muffled sound of that track and many others since, he's there . . . hiding just below the surface. |