Of all the laurels bestowed upon his 35-LP run, two areas come to mind today where Bob Dylan is owed more due: late-career production work and a knack for memorable music videos. For both points, his new Tempest single is a good example, as “Duquesne Whistle” finds Jack Frost (Dylan’s producing pseudonym) either dialing in an old radio or channeling some other vintage vibe to introduce the band’s shuffle in a wider scope, while the official video offers plenty of unexpected turns as well. Some producers’ approach to recording Dylan haven’t felt right over the years and his mythic presence isn’t an easy trait to subdue for fiction, yet somehow it all makes aesthetic sense when he gets directly involved in the process. Lately, Dylan has taken a hands-on role in both duties, as with leading a posse through director Nash Edgerton’s new video and teaching the engineers a few tricks on how to “mush up” audio since leading 2001’s Love and Theft sessions. There’s a host of other career themes this clip brings up, too, so without further ado, dive in above.
