New Music Tuesday - "Dylanesque"

Roxy Music fans have much to like these days. The band are recording a new album, their first in years, release date unknown, and Bryan Ferry's new solo LP Dylanesque hits US shelves today. It is, as it's title implies, a collection of Bob Dylan covers. Now I'm not the biggest fan of Dylan the singer, but I do like a lot of the songs, especially when done by others. Bryan has done Dylan before, and is in fine form here for the most part. The album kicks off with a hard edged rendition of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. His distinctive croon works wonders on this tough mid tempo rocker, and he plays a pretty mean harmonica on it too. The album is produced by long time cohort Rhett Davies, and the band is littered with top talent - Guy Pratt, Chris Spedding, Paul Carrack and guitarist Robin Trower to name a few. Former band mate Brian Eno also lends a hand, credited with "electronics" on a lovely rendition of one of my fave Dylan songs, If Not For You. It's such a nice late period Roxy style remake. There are a couple of so-so tracks, but overall I'd give this a big thumbs up.