Who said "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery"? Was it Plato, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan?

Since the beginning of his song writing carrier Bob Dylan has been imitated, interpreted, integrated, inhaled, and injected by musicians and performers from all over the world, and although Dylan himself has put the strongest imprint on the performances of his own work I find that the Dylan song book becomes strangely compelling when interpreted by the voice and musicianship of others. The soundtrack from Todd Haynes Dylan tribute film "I'm Not There" contains 33 well crafted tracks of Dylan impersonations (if you will) which seek to present or inhabit Dylan's sound, normally on tribute albums artist take liberty with the work, bending and manipulating the song so that it merges with the style and personality of the artist, but here within the construct of this soundtrack Dylan's original recordings are uses as the template for most of the songs, meaning that the tempo, and melody from Dylan's compositions are followed in order to retain the atmosphere and feel of Bob Dylan's style. The illusion comes off well, which probably has more to do with the talent recruited for this soundtrack wich includes an amazing spectrum of artists, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richie Havens, Sonic Youth, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, The Band, Antony & The Johnsons, The Black Keys, Calexico, Yo La Tango, and Bob Dylan.

This is one of the last films Heath Ledger was in....he's amazing as is this movie...I recommend the movie, but it's not on DVD yet so here's the soundtrack :)

Many people have covered Bob Dylan's songs over the years, but few quite like this. On the double-disc soundtrack that accompanies Todd Haynes' extremely confounding biopic of the already plenty confounding folk icon, we get the likes of Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, the Hold Steady, and Antony & The Johnsons doing their best Dylan impressions and often failing gloriously. Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus does a particularly fine job oozing his way through "Ballad of a Thin Man," while Wilco's Jeff Tweedy draws the moody beauty out of "Simple Twist of Fate," and Sufjan Stevens lends his typically baroque touch to "Ring Them Bells." Special credit has to go to the Million Dollar Bashers, the unofficial house band that includes Steve Shelley on drums, John Medeski on piano, and Tom Verlaine on guitar, along with other notable musicians. The generous track list and dynamic set of contributors promises that this album will provide plenty of awe long after the film itself has been forgotten. --Aidin Vaziri (via Amazon)