theme time

i have a new addiction.

it's bob dylan's theme time radio hour.

this is a weekly, hour-long program on XM satellite radio, hosted by bob dylan himself. as the title suggests, he picks a theme for the week ("coffee", "mother", "baseball") and fills an hour with songs that reference that theme. you won't hear much 'modern' music -- a lot of it is of the divaville era, for instance. i've heard judy garland followed by jimi hendrix. buck owens followed by randy newman. (you can view the playlists here.)

even though dylan's voice has always kind of irritated me, his weird, raspy, singsong delivery makes for a rather haunting DJ. he adds interesting background information about some of the more obscure artists, and he quotes lyrics to emphasize his point. i don't think the music alone would be as compelling. he really adds quite a lot of presence to the show.

now, i don't have XM (and i bet you don't either). no matter: some kind soul has been posting MP3s of the programs on his website.

really, this is good stuff.