Basement’s Best: ​New Basement Tapes

New Basement Tapes, same “old, weird Americana”

Masterminded by Americana champion and curator extraordinaire T Bone Burnett, the New Basement Tapes, an appropriately Traveling Wilbury-esque supergroup, shake the dust from lyrical scraps salvaged from Bob Dylan’s infamous 1967 Woodstock retreat. In the spirit of Billy Bragg and Wilco’s “Mermaid Avenue” records, the ensemble, comprised of Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Elvis Costello, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons), penned more than 40 original musical arrangements to update the “old, weird Americana” lyricism originally birthed in the basement of the Band’s Big Pink. Pared down by a half, the record’s cherry-picked readings glow with reverence and that same communal cellared spirit.

Coinciding with the official release of all 138 songs committed to tape by Dylan and the Band, “Lost on the River” is the perfect foil for its rough-hewn source material. Just as those first takes found the Woodstock exiles jukeboxing their way through America’s musical history in shades of gospel, blues, folk, country and jazz, the New Basement Tapes strain Dylan’s thick lyrics through those same folkways, with a fidelity surely unimagined by any of the original Great White Wonderers.

Rather than adopt a hokey, “everybody gets a verse” style of collaboration, the Tapes smartly pass the spotlight from one song to the next, allowing for each member to coax out the lyrics in their own nuanced forms. This, however, does not in the least bit mean that the songs’ sculptors are phoning it in. Mumford’s taut, bare-boned “When I Get My Hands on You” owes far more to minimalist hip-hop than the cascading folksy stomp that catapulted he and his Sons to love-‘em-or-leave-‘em fame. Remix-ready, the song is a standout that could make even the most ardent “Little Lion Man” loather press repeat.

As the songs were woodshedded individually before being brought before the whole band, some lyrics are recycled and result in drastically different takes on several songs. James’ coattailed burlesque “Hidee Hidee Ho” is several Golden Eras removed from the hymnal tradition of Giddens-led “Hidee Hidee Hidee Ho.” Costello’s signature sneer coats “Six Months in Kansas City (Liberty Street),” as the band behind howls like a million dollar bash, while Goldsmith’s mellow balladry dresses up the abbreviated “Liberty Street” in its Sunday’s finest.

More than a collection of “why not” pisstakes (which could actually describe a sizable chunk of the original basement tapes, according to Dylan himself) “Lost on the River” is an exquisitely executed excavation and a celebration of a legendary artist’s absurdly prolific (and prolifically absurd) creative period. 

KNDS Suggests

“Bored in the USA” – Father John Misty
Doing his best Harry Nilsson, J. Tillman’s alter ego announced his anticipated second album with a tender and unnervingly straight-faced ballad about the perilous mundaneness of adulthood. Never has a laugh track sounded so damn depressing.

“Mr Noah” – Panda Bear
Singing three steps forward, three steps back over a swampy, bubbling backbeat, the Animal Collective ringleader’s ode to apathy makes for a solid (pajama) party-starter.

“45” – Earl Sweatshirt“
I am not a child artist” sizzles the Odd Future alum over this scant Bollywood-tinged bump. With his uniquely arrhythmic delivery, Earl’s chest-beating should be well heeded.

"Picture You” – The Amazing
Sprawling and ethereal, the band’s zero-gravity music gives cred to its less-than-humble moniker. Caught somewhere between the astral atmosphere of Sigur Rós and the lysergic drive of Tame Impala, “Picture You” is an aural borealis.

“Walk Unafraid” – First Aid Kit
Plucked for the soundtrack of the upcoming backpacking flick, “Wild,” the angelic sister act give R.E.M.’s 1998 tune an aching chamber folk treatment that has rightfully become their trademark.