Bob Dylan's new album is surprising, beguiling, and unusual. While many of the performances feel like first or second takes, this is one of Dylan's most MUSICALLY satisfying albums in many years. The overall feel is a mix of tex-mex and Cajun rhythms, leavened with a somber blues swing. Opener "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" sets the template. Perhaps the catchiest tune on the album, it's slinky tex-mex beat is accentuated by dirty lead guitar and captivating accordion passages. In addition, a far-away trumpet provides color as Dylan's band locks into a sublime groove and stretches out. "Life Is Hard" follows, it's title giving away the slow blues within, beautifully framed by harmonica, slide guitar, and an almost jazz-like melody. "My Wife's Home Town" recalls Muddy Waters (perhaps not surprising as Dylan gives blues great Willie Dixon co-authorship), but this is, again, blues through a tex-mex prism, with its accordion shadings and loping bassline. "If You Ever Go To Houston" is somewhat poppier in feel, while "Forgetful Heart" borrows the chord changes from the opener but slows them way down to forge a spectral presence. "This Dream Of You" changes things up with its waltz tempo, while "Shake Shake Mama" is a straightforward blues-rocker. "I Feel A Change Comin' On" is south-of-the-border folk, while "It's All Good" concludes things with a similarly located shuffle. But, you say, this is Dylan, so stop talking about the music and start talking about the lyrics. But when one turns to the lyrics (co-written with Robert Hunter), the most notable aspect is the surfeit of simple, plain-spoken verses and choruses. No long story-songs are present on "Together Through Life" (only one tune weighs in at more than five minutes). And while the occasional sharp couplets peek out here and there (e.g., "The door has closed forevermore/If indeed there ever was door;" "Put my tears in a bottle/Screw the top on tight"), the lyrics are predominantly rather traditional in their focus on love, loss, and regret. It is only on the last two songs that Dylan really shows his unique "Dylanesque" bent. In "I Feel A Change Comin' On," the words take on a more folk-like resonance, enlivened by Dylan's pop culture (and self-referential) observations (e.g., I'm listening to Billie Joe Shaver/And I'm reading James Joyce/Some people tell me/I've got the blood of the land in my voice"). And closer "It's All Good" plays off the cultural catch-phrase of the title as Dylan lays out a litany of woes (wives leaving husbands, lying politicians, sickness, death, misery, crumbling neighborhoods), ending each verse with the mantra-like invocation of "But it's all good." However, while the lyrics may be less remarkable overall than we might expect from a Dylan album, the voice is another matter altogether. Deeply weathered, huskier and more phlegm-coated than ever, it's almost as if Dylan realizes that he can now put forth more power and emotion through the sound of his voice ("the blood of the land," indeed) than through what he might be saying. Surprisingly, beguilingly, and unusually, on Together Through Life" Dylan's songs resonate more through their sound than through their words. Perhaps Dylan has reinvented himself once again. Regardless, Together Through Life is another very satisfying addition to the Dylan catalogue.

Aceyalone has been a mainstay on the underground hip-hop scene for many years, putting out releases notable for both their intelligence and diversity. However, his latest album Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones ups the ante considerably. The entire disc is conceived as a sort of "sixties hip-hop soul revue," complete with a Master of Ceremonies and numerous guest appearances, and it works a treat. The disc starts with a rocking, funky band playing behind the M.C.'s clever introduction, couched in terms that suggests most of the listeners should already know these songs and can join along if they want (i.e., as if the songs have already been hits). The album proper then starts with "Lonely Ones," it's tight, funky guitar chording and up-front drums framing some excellent rapping verses that yield to transcendent doo-wop choruses. "Can't Hold Back" follows with rapid-fire James Brown-like horns (remember, this is a soul revue) and a very funky seventies beat. "What It Was" recalls the heyday of Motown, while "On The One" is an uptempo stomper with a fast flowing rap and great saxophone breaks. "Step Up" is a hook-filled charmer that neatly combines girl-group sweetness with hip-hop goodness. A Bo Diddley beat sets up "2 The Top," while "Power To The People" recalls Edwin Starr's "War" with its pounding beat. The album concludes with what sounds like an "impromptu" acapella gathering of the performers (actually similar in feel to the closing of the recently re-issued sixties disc, Saturday Night At The Apollo). Incorporating all these musical elements from the fifties up to the present might suggest a schizophrenic mish-mash of an album, but the result is anything but. The album flows smoothly from beginning to end (as a soul revue should!), flawless in its consistency and high-quality songwriting. This is, simply put, one of the best hip-hop albums of the year.