Shfuck 2

I've been accused of being too positive but when it comes to the prospects of ever managing to score Tom Waits tickets I'm downright despairing. So for me, listening to his live albums are understandably both wonderful and bittersweet. His new album includes a bonus disc of his between song banter-stories that I'm happy to report are all new, with no overlap of my forthcoming Tom Waits Comedy Album I've been compiling from other live shows for a while now. Check his out:


Tom Waits - Tom Tales
[right-click to download]

Just for fun I just want to toss in a few interview snippets:

PLAYBOY: While you may strive for musical crudity, lyrically you’re quite sophisticated-interior rhymes, classical allusions and your hallmark, a great ear for the vernacular. In a sense, you’re the William Safire of street patois, rescuing such phrases as walking Spanish–inebriated saunter–and even coining some pretty good lingo of your own, such as rain dogs: stray people who, like animals after a shower, can’t find their markings and wander aimlessly. What are some of your other favorite bits of slang, phrases you’d like to see get more everyday use?

WAITS: For starters, I’d like to see the term wooden kimono return to the lexicon. Means coffin. Think it originated in New Orleans, but I’m not certain. Another one I like is wolf tickets, which means bad news, as in someone who is bad news or generally insubordinate. In a sentence, you’d say, “Don’t fuck with me, I’m passing out wolf tickets.” Think it’s either Baltimore Negro or turn-of-the-century railroadese.

PITCHFORK: Are there any new artists or people performing right now that you're excited about?

WAITS: Missy Elliott. I'm crazy about her. She did some video where she's on the beach doing the jerk in a wife beater. She's out of her mind. She's so natural. It's like she's always been around. Chamillionaire. I listen to a lot of stuff that my kids listen to. You know, Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, all that. Most of the stuff that dominates the household is not stuff I'd necessarily listen to, but now I put on what the kids put on.