Tom Waits's new CD, Real Gone, is a damn good album. We're talking Rain Dogs good - hell we're talking Bone Machine good.
At first glance I thought this would be another Mule Variations-style album; entertaining enough, but hardly groundbreaking. But the more I listened, and the closer I listened, the more I found.
There is uncredited use of samples on many tracks. You don't notice it first because it's mostly looped samples of Waits's own voice. His unique gravelly groans, roars and chants dominate the background of several tracks, often turning into a bizarre sort of percussion. It's a brilliantly Waitsian use of technology. There is also heavy use of turntable scratching on several tracks courtesy of his son Casey, which contributes to the swirling ambience. God only knows what records Casey is scratching, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're all his dad's voice too.
The whole album is co-written & co-produced by Kathleen Brennan, who happens to be Waits's wife. Longtime fans know that Waits's music became exponentially weirder when he hooked up with her, and the only album she wasn't involved in since then - The Black Rider - is probably his weakest from this period.
Waits uses the full range of his voice here. He'll probably never write another song as conventionally beautiful as A Soldier's Things (from Swordfishtrombones, his first really experimental album) but Green Grass is the best showcase for his crooning growl in years. Other tracks utilize his more traditional roaring and rumbling, though there's precious little of his nails-on-blackboard falsetto shriek - which will relieve some people.
Trampled Rose is a trademark Waits spoken story track. Make It Rain is a blues guitar-driven lost love song. The ten-minute-plus Sins Of The Fathers is a great low-key growler, and probably his longest ever song. Other highlights are the hilarious Don't Go Into That Barn and the final track Day After Tomorrow, which seems to be from the point of view of a young soldier in Iraq.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you've been waiting for an opportunity to jump onto the Waits train, this is a great one.
Posted by pearce at October 15, 2004 11:24 AM