Explore...Spiritual

By Douglas Wolk
Bob Dylan didn't get to be the greatest living songwriter by repeating himself. He's reinvented his style and technique with nearly every record he's made in the course of his half-century career; he's been the political spitfire of The Times They Are A-Changin', the mysterious joker of The Basement Tapes, the domestic ruminator of New Morning, the indignant holy roller of Slow Train Coming, the aging Romeo of Time Out of Mind. The only constants of Dylan's recordings are his ferociously smart, off-center language and his imperishable affection for the folk songs and blues that he grew up on and can't stop transforming into newer, stranger shapes; he instinctively rebels any time he's expected to do anything in particular. If you're just starting to discover Dylan's peculiar gifts, it's worth investigating the brilliantly sequenced overview of his first few decades, Biograph — but he might as well be a few dozen different masters of popular song.

It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five other albums we've deemed related in some way. In some cases these connections are obvious, in others they are tenuous. But, most important to you, all of the records are highly, highly recommended.

Welcome to eMusic Selects, a monthly program featuring exclusive music from handpicked, unsigned new artists. The label began in February of 2008 with albums from High Places and Breathe Owl Breathe, and has continued from there, releasing 14 albums total to date, and paying out over $100,000 in royalties to our artists. (eMusic does not get a stake in these records or anything like that.) The newest additions to eMusic Selects are Altair Nouveau and Julianna Barwick. Listen to their incredible records below.