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Who are the Bob Dylans and Neil Youngs of today?


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(Or even the last 10 or 20 years??)

 

Okay this is kind of a stupid thread I just thought of (we need more stupid threads don't you think?)

 

I notice a lot of buzz about the new Dylan and Neil and Crazy Horse albums (and to a lesser degree David Byrne teaming with St. Vincent.) And such older artists at Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits put out some fairly strong albums out this year too. All of these guys are as old and in most cases older than I am, meaning that all came to artistic maturity when I was either a teen or in my early to mid 20s,

 

Is anyone putting out music today that someone will be interested in getting their mature work when I am long gone? It is kinda cool that people I liked as a mere lad are still exciting people today (even though none of these guys are really as good as they were then.) With the vagaries of the current music business and the quick turnover of music figures, is anyone going to last?

 

Sure 20 years form now some of you will still be excited about a new Jeff Tweedy solo album or a Wilco reunion album or whatever, but that's just us (you really, maybe I will still be around and maybe not.). But the universal regard for a Dylan or Young at their advancing ages is pretty striking and despite some young people not knowing or caring about these geezers, they still sell a fairl large number of albums to the youngsters.

 

Any ideas?

 

LouieB

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Josh Ritter has drawn comparisons to Dylan. I like a song he played live on the radio a few weeks ago, it's called "Galahad". Joe Pug has also been compared to Dylan.

 

The new Bob Dylan was at the top of the CD charts on amazon.com when I checked a couple of weeks ago.

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"Culture" is so disposable today, I have a hard time seeing anybody making enough of a lasting impression on a large-enough part of the population to really be considered a "new Dylan" or whatever.

But that said, I do think that Jeff Tweedy is about as close as we are going to get to that these days. At least from songwriting/development standpoint.

 

Maybe Jenny Lewis, from a purely artistic POV, without taking any cultural impact into consideration. That woman can write.

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Dylan=Tweedy

Young=Jay Farrar (Ryan Adams?)(Gillian Welch?)

Springsteen=Patterson Hood (Craig Finn?)

 

those are the only singer/songwriters that i can remotely get on board with these days. i think the reason these old dudes are still interesting is because of their legacy. they were the first ones and had a huge empty canvas to paint on. that canvas is pretty much full now. however, there's still new stuff coming out that sounds new, but there's so much of it. it's rare to have an artist that has a voice that tugs at your heart, poetry that does the same and memorable songs.

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Since I started this stupid thread I might as well say something additionally stupid. I was not refering to people who are dubbed the "new Dylan"; the past 40 years of singer/songwriters are littered with folks that have that title. I meant who would you be excited to hear from at 65 years old. Somehow I can't imagine anyone being interested in Joe Pug at 65 and I don't see a huge amount of interest in Josh Ritter now. Maybe Ryan Adams can sustain his interest for the next 20 years with his fan base, but he is still has a fairly narrow band of fans. Beck could do it I suppose, except I think he is already kind of boring.

 

We might just as well throw Paul McCartney on the pile of oldsters who garner a fair amount of intererest over the generations. Brian Wilson too., although except for rehashing old material I am not sure why. Certainly Springsteen, who is about my age, has aged reasonably well and each new album seems to generate a ton of interest from both fans and critics.

 

LouieB

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I doubt there are any artists around today who will be regarded as highly as Dylan and Neil Young, and few who will still be garnering interest when they are in their 60s if that even happens. I don't think a musical treasure trove time like the 60s and 70s will come around again for a long long time.

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well its been a much smaller audience all along, but a lot of guys from the 80s/early 90s still draw a lot of attention with their new stuff. guys/bands like thurston moore/sonic youth, stephen malkmus, bob mould, dinosaur jr. id throw beck in there too. if he ever gets back to recording regular solo albums, there will be interest. none of them were ever dylan/neil big, but theyre guys who have already had a few decades of steady fan and media attention with few signs of stopping.

 

then bands like pearl jam, metallica and the chili peppers still pack arenas after long careers, and that seems likely to continue.

 

so its hard to say exactly who they'll be (and mccartney/dylan and co will still be held up in high esteem long after theyre gone) but i think there will certainly be "new" artists of that stature in their older age eventually

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He has ever had the commercial appeal of either Dylan or Young, but artistically, well into his 50's, Nick Cave has amassed a helluva rich body of work that should stand the test of time. Is has, to date, some 30 years into his career.

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Not trying to be a wise ass, but Dylan and NY re-invent themselves often enough to be dubbed the "Bob Dylan and Neil Young" of today. Pretty amazing they can both put out listenable material, most of the time, after so many years.

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