I cannot shake the image of Tom Waits, sprawled on a pile of trash in afilthy New Orleans alleyway with a half-finished bottle of bourbon inhis hand, looking like a bemused corpse as a passing foreign touristexclaims in broken English: "Life is a-strange and beautiful!" Thisscene from Jim Jarmusch's great film "Down By Law" starring Waits as anescaped convict and former disc jockey, perfectly encapsulates thehaunting dichotomy of Waits' thematic content: losers and fools,cynically yet romantically viewing the beautiful and filthy panorama ofthe human comedy with sinister bemusement and sad resignation. Eversince we were introduced to Waits' gallery of thieves, drunks,jailbirds, addicts and losers in 1973's "Closing Time", listeners whowere paying attention have witnessed one of the most successfulevolutions of a popular artist in the history of recorded music.Beginning as a kind of world-weary, lowlife version of Leonard Cohen,Tom Waits gradually honed his lyrics and songwriting skills throughoutthe 70's and 80's. However, it was not until 1983's"Swordfishtrombones" that we were introduced to a compositionalsoundworld that finally matched Waits' disturbing and profoundnarrative world. This sound was perfected with "Rain Dogs", a perfectmeeting of Waits' amazing songwriting skills and outstandinglyleftfield compositional genius. Since then, Waits' output has justgotten stranger and stranger, with atonal, arrhythmic and grotesquealbums such as "Bone Machine" and "Mule Variations", amazingexperiments that somehow fall short in the content department - Waits'trademark black humor and poetic lyricism are overwhelmed by thebombastic and distracting production. It seemed we would never again betreated to the masterful balance that characterized "Rain Dogs."
That is until last Tuesday, when Waits simultaneously released "Alice"and "Blood Money" on the Epitaph imprint. This dual release representsWaits' best work since the seminal "Rain Dogs" and contain morememorable songs and amazing composition than seems possible for anartist who should be well past his prime by now. The gravelly graveyardblues that dominated "Mule Variations" has been replaced with anatmospheric combination of dark lounge, Dixieland jazz, ragtime andtouches of dreamlike, surrealistic sound production worthy of a DavidLynch soundtrack.While the two albums do not drastically differ, "Alice" is generallymore surreal, dreamy and subdued; while "Blood Money" is lot morecynical and drenched with noisy blues. The lyrical content of "Alice"is jaw-droppingly poetic, especially on "Everything You Can Think,"where Waits wheezes and gasps the amazing lyric "We're fighting our wayup dreamland's spine/With red flamingoes and expensive wine/Everythingyou can think of is true." The strings, horns and syncopated percussionfit perfectly with the dark and bizarre melancholy narratives thatWaits spins. A spine tingling moment comes in "Watch Her Disappear" asWaits'voice gradually fades into the oblivion of the lovely organ,cello and violin melody. A lovely album. If you were only going topurchase one of the two, I would have to recommend "Alice", but youshould really just get both of them, as "Blood Money" is nearly asamazing.
"Blood Money" is the more pessimistic of the pair. The dirty,claustrophobic sound atmosphere is punched up with abrasive rhythms andnegative-as-hell lyrics. Waits alternately assures us that we are allgoing to hell, that we are all fools when we are in love, and that lifeis a sad riddle, filled with misery, that will never grow or change.There are two transitional instrumental tracks here that work verywell; it is almost a relief to hear the subtle instrumentals withoutbeing bludgeoned by Waits' raspy crooning. On the heartbreaking closer"A Good Man is Hard to Find", Waits' voice intones: "Go out to themeadow, scare off all the crows/It does nothing but rain here, andnothing ever grows." Tom Waits is a constantly evolving artist who has developed anoriginal, idiosyncratic universe that is instantly recognizable andalways intriguing. "Alice" and "Blood Money" represent his mostperfected expression of his universe in more than a decade.
samples from Alice:
samples from Blood Money:
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