why dave bergman is neat

Well, I've made my first little steps into the land of downloading--I have yet to join the iPod nation, but the computer is working pretty well so far. I've been using the 'Musicmatch Jukebox' program, the basic version of which is free (but you have to pay to actually download songs and/or albums).

So here's the list of the first few things I've sampled:
*'Let it Ride' by Ryan Adams, from the album Cold Roses; this is one of my favorite Adams songs I've heard in a while.
*'Hallelujah', also by Ryan Adams, from the album Demolition, also very good.

I sort of think that Ryan Adams is a second-rate Bob Dylan (ignoring any generic boundaries (Dylan has made them rather fluid anyway, in my opinion), which I typically try to ignore when talking about pop music), whom Adams himself thinks of as a mythical figure--like Zeus, I believe he said (don't worry: nobody here is advocating thinking of him as a god). But perhaps history will prove me wrong; Adams certainly has the prolific aspect about him that was in evidence especially in Dylan's early career.

And speaking of Dylan, I downloaded his album Saved. It is fantastic. I say this, I think, not only because I am a Christian (though that inevitably will have something to do with it), but because as gospel music and as a piece of writing it is first-rate and full of throbbing energy. It has a freshness and passion about it that is not present in all Dylan albums. This is the first of the albums from his so-called 'Christian phase' that I have, but perhaps Slow Train Coming will be next on my list. I was disappointed that Dylan skipped this part of his life in the first part of his autobiography, but perhaps he will return to it in one of the coming volumes.

Finally, I downloaded an Emmylou Harris/Willie Nelson duet (from her album called Duets, shockingly enough) called 'Gulf Coast Highway' (originally a Nanci Griffith tune), beautiful and yearning.