• Bob Dylan - John Welsey Harding. Most of Dylan's post Highway 61 records have taken a long time - years in some cases - to grow on me; a problem I have never found with his earlier stuff. So it's probably too soon for me to judge this one. Nonetheless, I shall judge: I'm not getting it. I liked some of the songs immediately, especially those I already knew from covers ("All Along The Watchtower", "Wicked Messenger", etc.). But overall it falls flat for me. I can see how it might have been a bit of a curiosity, coming out in the same year that Sgt Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, Are You Experienced, Disraeli Gears and Strange Days all came out. And maybe that made it more interesting at the time. But, frankly, I've heard better country-rock records. I'll check back next year.
• Big Star - Live In Memphis. It's the soundtrack to what is billed as the only professional video recording of a Big Star show (in Oct 1994). But only half of the original Big Star was present: Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens. Co-frontman Chris Bell died in the 70s, and bassist Andy Hummel didn't participate. So, two guys from The Posies took their spots. Still, it's nice to hear Alex and Jody singing and playing those songs (and one of the Posies guys singing a couple of the Chris Bell tunes, including "I Am The Cosmos"). The band was very loose; and whoever is doing the backup vocals had a hard time following Chilton's flexible timing; the mix is rough though far far better than the sound on the live album from '74 (which was Alex, Jody and a substitute bass player). Overall, like that earlier live record, it's not a great listen; but it is an interesting one if you're a big Big Star fan like I am.
• Robyn Hitchcock - The Man Upstairs. This is his third in a row with just ten songs. And on this one, half of these tunes are covers, including The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You", Roxy Music's "To Turn You On" and even The Doors' "The Crystal Ship". Most of it is acoustic guitar, piano, cello (?), and some whispery backup vocals; and it's all done with a sparse, delicate and airy vibe. The big exception, which wakes things up halfway through the record, is "Someone To Break Your Heart" - a quick and snappy electric guitar and harmonica tune. I like this record better than I've liked his past few records (solo or otherwise), and it's mostly due to the covers. He's always picked interesting covers live, and he always does them well (I even saw him do "Funkytown" once). So it's nice to have some of them well-recorded.

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