Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, Universal Music 3795014 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Almost 50 years on, this is the companion to Dylan’s original The Basement Tapes album. In 2013 Dylan’s publisher sent musician and producer T Bone Burnett a collection of lyrics unused at the time of the original sessions. Burnett then assembled a group of musicians including Elvis Costello, Jim James and Marcus Mumford to compose music for these lyrics. Of 40 recorded, the 20 tracks here make up Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes Vol 1. The immediacy of the music bears comparison with Dylan’s original, and the analogue recordings are smooth and warm. James’ ‘Down On The Bottom’, with its echoing vocal and twangsome guitar, sets the tone for the album, while the first Costello track, ‘Married To My Hack’, finds the singer evoking Dylan while being very Elvis Costello. But is this album one for the Dylan completists or just a vanity project? AE

Sound Quality: 70%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

This is not an especially ‘clean’ recording [note spurious tones at ~28kHz and ~44kHz on Graph, above] while moderate levels of noise suggest tracks were recorded/mixed in the analogue domain. The end result is at 96kHz though! PM