Tom Waits for Everyone

Those low rumblings you felt earlier may in fact have been internet ruminations the world over that new Tom Waits music would be imminent.  Good news too considering it’s been far too long since we were treated to “new Tom”.

Anti Records and Tom himself confirmed today the October 25th release of  Bad As Me today.  It is Waits’ first studio album of all new music in seven years.  According to the press release:

“Waits, in possibly the finest voice of his career, worked with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan” on this one.  “Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. A pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs.”

Bad As Me will be available October 25th.  A deluxe version of the new record will include a 40-page book of lyrics and photos taken by Waits himself, along with three bonus tracks. The album, which features the cover above, will also be available on 180-gram vinyl, which will include the LP and CD, plus a full-size 12-page book.

Bad As Me Tracklisting

01. Chicago
02. Raised Right Men
03. Talking At The Same Time
04. Get Lost
05. Face To The Highway
06. Pay Me
07. Back In The Crowd
08. Bad As Me
09. Kiss Me
10. Satisfied
11. Last Leaf
12. Hell Broke Luce
13. New Year's Eve
14. She Stole the Blush *
15. Tell Me *
16. After You Die *

* Bonus tracks

Check out the Tom Waits Listening Party too.

Crazy Clown Time This November

No, my career aspirations have not changed, and the aforementioned title is not a reference to the current state of American politics. Rather the title refers to premiere film director David Lynch’s next musical project. You may recall the last project, a single called “Good Day Today” and “I Know” that he released last December.  This one though will see release on November 8th, when his debut electro-pop tinged album, Crazy Clown Time, hits the shelves (and servers).

Along with the album’s title and release date, it was announced last week that the track "Pinky’s Dream" features the fantastic Karen O. (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Otherwise, Lynch did all the work pretty much on his own: he wrote, produced, and performed each song, with some help from engineer Dean Hurley, who also steps in on guitar and drums on a few tracks.

Not a lot more information on this release for now.  I will update when appropriate. 

See the track listing for Crazy Clown Time below:

01. Pinky’s Dream
02. Good Day Today
03. So Glad
04. Noah’s Ark
05. Football Game
06. I Know
07. Strange and Unproductive Thinking
08. The Night Bell With Lightning
09. Stone’s Gone Up
10. Crazy Clown Time
11. These Are My Friends
12. Speed Roadster
13. Movin’ On
14. She Rise Up

New Music on the Way From Cass McCombs

Singer-songwriter Cass McCombs is a remarkable artist. Lyrically astute and capable of those heartbreaking melodies that always manage to worm their way into one’s psyche. He released one of my favourite records, Wit's End earlier this year and there is no doubt it will figure prominently in my best of the year wrap-up. If by chance, you haven’t heard this amazing work I urge you to seek it out. Needless to say, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that he'll be following it up with another new release later this year. On November 8th, Domino will unveil Humor Risk. Definitely more upbeat than the last one, you can hear for yourself by downloading "The Same Thing” by heading to this site and for the expense of an email address.

McCombs recorded the album in different homes and studios around the U.S. McCombs produced it with Ariel Rechtshaid, who also worked on Wit's End and Catacombs. (See the new album's tracklist below.)

Humor Risk:
01 Love Thine Enemy
02 The Living Word
03 The Same Thing
04 To Every Man His Chimera
05 Robin Egg Blue
06 Mystery Mail
07 Meet Me At the Mannequin Gallery
08 Mariah (Sketch)

Cass McComb’s Humor Risk is out November 8th on Domino.

Cass McCombs "Dreams Come True Girl" from Foundation Content on Vimeo.http://www.dominorecordco.us/usa/two-pane/17-08-11/cass-mccombs-humor-risk

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Just Got More Wonderful

Via Twitter, Zooey Deschanel announced her excitement of a She and Him holiday record.

"Exciting news! @sheandhim will be releasing our first holiday record later this year! Been working on it a while! I'm super pumped about it!"

At this point the record is non-specified to be original or traditional holiday tunes, though I suspect a combination of these will comprise the eventual release. I shall update when I can so for now enjoy this holiday news as the dog days of summer drag on. Watch for M Ward’s next solo endeavour later this year too.

The Art of the Mix

I have a real soft spot for the art of the mix.  Those perfect compendiums of music drawn of diversity and pure passion.  TheLateNightTales series of compilations has long been a favourite of mine with one-of-a-kind playlists assembled by a diverse array of some of the most compelling artists making music including:  The Flaming Lips, Air, Belle and Sebastian, Arctic Monkeys, Four Tet and many more.  The list is a long one but it’s also a great one.  The results being some very compelling and enjoyable listening.  The compilation series has lined up yet another groundbreaking act to curate the next entry in the series: MGMT. Their compilation arrives on October 3rd, and it features tracks from people like the Velvet Underground, Felt, Suicide, Spacemen 3, and Disco Inferno. It also features an exclusive MGMT track: The band's cover of the Bauhaus song "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything".  Check out the compilation's diverse track listing below.  

LateNightTales: MGMT

01 Disco Inferno: "Can't See Through It"
02 The Great Society: "Love You Girl"
03 Suicide: "Cheree"
04 Television Personalities: "Stop and Smell the Roses"
05 The Velvet Underground: "Ocean"
06 Felt: "Red Indians"
07 Julian Cope: "Laughing Boy"
08 Durutti Column: "For Belgium Friends"
09 Charlie Feathers: "Mound of Clay"
10 Mark Fry: "For Wilde"
11 MGMT: "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" (Bauhaus Cover)
12 Cheval Sombre: "Troubled Mind"
13 Dave Bixby: "Drug Song"
14 The Jacobites: "Hearts Are Like Flowers"
15 The Chills: "Pink Frost"
16 Martin Rev: "Sparks"
17 The Wake: "Melancholy Man" 18 Spacemen 3: "Lord Can You Hear Me?"
19 Pauline Anna Strom: "Morning Splendor"
20 Paul Morley: "Lost for Words Part 2"
http://latenighttales.co.uk/