I’ve had a fun weekend, hanging
out with friends, playing Ulti and watching the Miami Dolphins win in a
thrilling second half comeback.
On Saturday, I went down to the
local record store to get the new releases by St. Vincent and Courtney
Barnett/Kurt Vile. Both records were amazing, and I’m looking forward to
getting to know them better and one day – when the dice gods decide its time –
review them.
Disc 1061 is…Alice
Artist: Tom Waits
Year of Release: 2002
What’s up with the Cover? An out-of-focus Tom Waits sits
on a tire, looking devilish.
How I Came To Know It: This was just me digging through
Tom Waits’ discography once I knew I loved his stuff.
How It Stacks Up: I have 17 Tom Waits albums, and while I like
“Alice” competition is fierce. I rank it at #10 overall.
Ratings: 4 stars
Tom Waits’ music has always been
fanciful, but “Alice” is even more like a weird fairytale than usual. These
songs have a playful quality that shows that many years into his career, Waits
is still having fun exploring and developing his approach to music.
The opening and title track, “Alice” is a moody lounge piece, with a romantic
sound matched to lyrics that are foreboding and creepy. This is Waits at his
best, a master story teller rasping his way through the song, accompanied by
sexy trumpet flourishes. The song is dripping with great language, but my favourite
section is:
“But I must be insane
To go skating on your name
And by tracing it twice
I fell through the ice
Of Alice.”
Awesome imagery exploring the
dangerous draw of the narrator’s obsession with the title character. The songs
are co-written by long-time Waits collaborator (and wife) Kathleen Brennan, and
together they paint amazing word pictures. Elsewhere on the album, songs speak
of eyes that are “fish on a creamy shore”, swimming pools “filled with needles
and with fools” and hearts that pump wine rather than blood. It is a sumptuous
feast of language that keeps you interested even after many repeat listens.
Not content with moody and pensive
songs like “Alice” Waits also goes
full weirdo, with his signature bells and syncopated percussion. How he can
turn all these bangs, clangs and whistles into compelling music is beyond me,
but he does it. “Kommienezuspadt”
isn’t even in English (I’m guessing German but I have no idea) but it has such
an irresistible energy I usually try to sing along anyway.
Waits lets his imagination explore
in a lot of different directions. On “Flower’s
Grave” he observes that “no one puts
flowers on a flower’s grave” and on “We’re
All Mad Here” he observes that your hip bones are shaped like a heart,
after all that flesh is removed and you’re reduced to a skeleton. Creepy but
compelling stuff.
“Poor Edward” tells the story of a man who has another face on the
back of his head. We are never told why, it’s just another of Waits’ mad
visions, and nestled among all the others on “Alice”, it somehow makes perfect
sense.
Interspersed among all this
delightful bizarreness, Waits mixes in tender ballads like “Lost in the Harbour” and “Fish & Bird” the latter of which
tells the story of a bird that fell in love with a whale. They can’t be
together, but yet their love endures. In the magical world of Tom Waits it all
just makes sense.
Even though the record features
plenty of troubling imagery there is a gentle romanticism that permeates “Alice”
that draws you in and gives you comfort. This record is a favourite of Sheila’s
and as a result gets a lot of airplay in the house, but despite the heavy
rotation I’m always happy when it comes on.
Best
tracks: Alice, Flower’s
Grave, Kommienezuspadt, Lost in the Harbour, We’re All Mad Here, Fish &
Bird, Barcarolle
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