Blood Money and Alice

Hmmm...well, "Blood Money's" a lesser-known if not obscure B-side, an OK song but eclipsed by its b-side partner "Bury Me Deep," which is totally spectuacular..."Alice," on the other hand, is a total classic, one of the cleanest grooves they ever hit, yet still eclipsed by its partner "Floorshow" on the same 12"...O wait you were talking about Tom Waits not Sisters of Mercy songs...never mind

You evil man, John. ;-)

I gather Blood Money is supposed to be the darker/meaner/more fucked up equivalent to Alice or something; I have Blood Money and enjoyed it but didn't particularly feel he was doing anything new or surprising. Hasn't stopped me from liking bands in similar situations before, though.

Well, uh. They're both based on songs and music Waits has done for plays - 'Alice' for a play about Lewis Carroll's obsession with Alice Liddell, done in about 1992? and 'Blood Money' for a version of an 18th or 19th - century play about a soldier who agrees to have medical experiments performed on him or something.

I got both this morning; first impressions is that 'Blood Money' isn't exactly new territory, but the Brecht/Weill thing he gets into occasionally (well, it sounds to me like he does) is more pronounced than ever. Good songs and all but not his best, although I like the instrumentation a whole lot; calliope, brass, all sorts.

'Alice' - which I keep typoing as 'Alive' GRR - is dreamy. Made me get the Peake-illlustrated version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, finally. The ballads are the kind of thing that someone else might do terribly; the record seems all the more touching for how close it comes to paedophilia from the narrative maybe, I don't know.

I must admit not listening to them hugely, because I want to reread Carroll and read 'Woyzeck' before I get into things. I have a feeling that at this stage in the game no one who doesn't like what Waits has done before is likely to change their mind and those who do are less likely to go off him, but the albums do everything I wanted. Alice seems to do 'touching' better (oh dear) and Blood Money does 'funny' better ("misery's the river of the world / misery's the river of the world / everybody ROW")..

On first impressions they're as good as anything else new I've heard this year.

I suppose this was partly true of say Bone Machine and Mule Variations, but I get the impression that there was more variety on the eighties albums, in terms of sound (production) and styles, and that that gives Waits a boost. Those things are still on the new albums but they feel more restricted to me - production more consistent across the albums, and fewer styles. In particular I wonder if avoiding good ol rock n roll and shitkicking rhythms (I mean, they sort of come up but even then they sound kind of cabaret, and they don't come up that much) makes the albums harder to listen to - it's either similarly-melodied ballads that tend to be driven, rhythmically, like a series of sighs, or oom-pah stuff that seems to lack some of the charm of the eighties stuff in the same vein. A whole string of those tires me out, some - I think it's because I'm constantly waiting for anything else to happen.

Of course, every Waits album I've gotten took me a long time to like, even when they were pretty similar to other ones. I expect that will be true here too, but it still seems like Alice and Blood Money will be harder to come to like as much.

Also like Franks Wild Years they seem to me to be a bit more oblique because of their lack of stage context. Even having roughly known the deal behind both stage productions, I feel a little lost. (Maybe that's because the music doesn't have an enormous amount to do with the play material, really?)

good lord, what, nobody else has anything to say about these?!?

Blood Money is more showboaty and less vital than the original Woyzek. The 80s albums took themselves far less seriously and played up the cabaret aspect -- the difference between a haunted house rollercoaster and some idiot on Fox trying to convince you that a house actually IS haunted.

I found Mule Variations a little boring, mostly because of bland melodies. Only a track or two stood out as being good songs. Did Waits step back up in the melody department on these new records?

right now I would say flat-out no. the most melodic moments come from the band (violin solos, clarinets, etc)

Blood Money is pretty heavy listening, but no way as harsh as say, The Black Rider. I agree with the comments about the 1 dimensional sound...

Alice in the other hand, is the closest thing to his Bones Howe produced 70's masterpieces he's recorded in decades. Heck, there's even a string section on the some of the tracks...

well actually mark I want to modify that - the faster songs are less melodic in one way, a sorta down-up-down-up NYAR NYAR NYAR NYAR thing that can grate (not IS); the slow ones as I said before have a sighing thing going on, and the melodies are pretty flat, but in a way that recalls say the way on franks wild years things sound sort of drunkenly slurred and emotionally wearied

he did 'all the world is green' on letterman tonight, pretty true ("") to the recording but maybe a little bit faster, which also makes me want to say - the slow songs all do sound sorta similar but their being slow helps make their flat melodies more appropriate; with the tempo just a little different I felt like the melodies (in the vocals all the time, here) sort of awkwardly trailed off.

the 'interview' was great though. it's always interesting to see letterman talk to someone he respects a lot and doesn't know how to do his schtick on.

Interesting article in The Blade from Toledo, Ohio:
The strange and fascinating world of Tom Waits: Bluesman's new recordings take listeners to some intersting places.
Excerpt:It’s a world of blues waltzes, torch ballads, and strange sounds. Images of roses, deep water, and decay pop up frequently. Death is not just a metaphor, but a state of mind. And "God’s away on business," so we’re on our own.

― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 9 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Josh is right about melody coming from the band, although I'd argue that this was more or less true of Mule Variations too; 'Big in Japan' wouldn't really work if it weren't for that distorted-trumpet (or posssibly just synth, I haven't heard the record in a bit) sound that comes in on the second verse or thereabouts.

The same is true of 'God's Away On Business' on Blood Money which has little melody until (what I think is a) clarinet starts playing, at which point Waits' voice sounds, to me, anyway, far more effective just as a more atonal/rhythmic counterpoint.

lotta these songs have big (esp. for tom) harmonic modulations near the end

is it just me or does the cover of one of them (dont remember which) remind them of amon duul's yeti.

i heard some of the material in a record store today and it sounded like god's personal death drone. (and i like - nominally - like tom waits.)

An endorsement of these new records will only mean something to me coming from someone who thought that Mule Variations was his weakest record since Heartattack & Vine. I like a couple of songs on it, but most of it is just boring. And the problem is the weak melodies that go nowhere, always have the weak bridge in place, etc. Does anyone agree?

never heard heart attack et cet (or black rider for that matter) but I'm sympathetic, mark; I put 'chocolate jesus' on a tape this fall but otherwise have listened to mule vars very little since the initial times, preferring the frank trilogy (incl now franks wild yrs which I always hated) - maybe in a few months I can give you a more confident take on the new records, but even with our agreement (poss.) on mule vars I wouldn't trust me yet

Actually you are the person I most agree to in ILM, Mark. "Mule Variations" was a bore you are absolutely right. A huge deception after all the praise in the press before. The only outstanding track was "What's he doing out there?" for me. Didn't listen to the new ones except one track from Alice from the website. I liked it a lot. Concerning Blood Money this calliope thing I read about somewhere really intrigues me. The calliope which was played in the studio could be heard as far as 5 miles away. And it could only be carried by 5 people. Tom Waits must be deaf by now I reckon.

'deception' => they INTENDED to fool you => doubtful

'what's he' is the worst song on mule variations. there's nothing charming or weird or scary or anything about it - it's just a placeholder, a formally "weird" interstitial nonsong.

I think its funny. Its Waits' doing his neighbors.

'what's he' is the worst song on mule variations. there's nothing charming or weird or scary or anything about it - it's just a placeholder, a formally "weird" interstitial nonsong
But that is exactly the charm of it, Josh. It is not a song. I haven't listened a lot to MV but that spoken piece was the only thing that kept my attention. And the only track I remember besides "Big in Japan" which I hate as it is terribly dull and bland. Have to relisten to the album again, maybe I'll change my mind, who knows, but I somehow doubt it.

Just looked up the track listing to Mule Variations, which I haven't listened to for a while... I can remember the melodies on all those songs, so there must be something there. I recall thinking it was a nice summary of his career, culminating in anthemic "Come On Up to the House," where he welcomes all the freaks in. It's true that he has his schtick and its getting too pro forma (things like "Filipino Box Spring Hog" sound like an outtake from "Rain Dogs" from the title alone), but at least its his own and anyway, how many people can invent two totally different schticks in one lifetime? He will probably never do anything as good as "Rain Dogs" again, but "Mule Variations" was not nearly as bad as you guys are making out. Plus I saw him live last time around and that was amazing. So get out of here with your revisionism ;)

that's a good test, ben - without even looking at the title list I can come up with some of the melodies

damning with faint praise, alex. damning with faint praise. "franks wild years" is so much better. so much.

I can remember the melodies on Mule Variations too -- and they stink! No really, my problem is that they're just too simple and familar, like four notes up on a scale, then four notes down, then four notes up, four notes down ad infinitum. I like "Eyeball Kid", but it's way too long.

Personally, I don't mind Tom's simple melodies. He's always dealt in blues/folk/American song forms, it's the delivery and texture of his voice that make it special, not to mention the usually brilliant instrumentation and arrangements.

nb this thread can also be used to talk about seeing tom waits' wang

in contrast to this thread which has a restricted subject

it is just you jess: you remind me of yeti