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.

It’s a Great Day After All – New Neko in March

It’s been a couple of years now since Neko Case’s terrific album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood graced our collective ears so news today that the follow-up album, due in March 2009 is welcome news. The divine Ms. Case has released details of her new record, Middle Cyclone. Officially out on March 3, on ANTI Records the 15 track release promises to be stunning if the brilliant cover art is any indication.

Plenty of Canadian connections on this one too: Middle Cyclone was produced by Case with Darryl Neudorf and recorded in Tucson, Brooklyn, Toronto, and Vermont. It features Case backed by her core band - guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, backing vocalist Kelly Hogan, multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, and drummer Barry Mirochnick - along with numerous guests including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, The Lilys, and Giant Sand, among others. In addition to twelve new songs written by Case, Middle Cyclone includes covers of ‘Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth’ by Sparks, and “Don’t Forget Me” by Harry Nilsson. The woman could not have been any more inspired by those choices of songs to ‘Nekotize’.

See you at the record store. I’ll be the one first in line.

Tracklisting for Middle Cyclone

01. This Tornado Loves You
02. The Next Time You Say Forever
03. People Got A Lotta Nerve
04. Polar Nettles
05. Vengeance Is Sleeping
06. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
07. Middle Cyclone
08. Fever
09. Magpie To The Morning
10. I’m An Animal
11. Prison Girls
12. Don’t Forget Me
13. The Pharaohs
14. Red Tide
15. Marais La Nuit

Click here for a little Christmas bonus from the good people at ANTI Records.

REVIEW - Bob Mould - District Line

REVIEW - Bob Mould - District Line
Anti Records

The 1980’s are seldom remembered as a particularly creative musical decade. Shift the focus though, from the nouveau pop of the Thompson Twins or Phil Collins’ solo career and that assessment might just change. It was, in reality a tremendously vital era that yielded the likes of the Replacements, R.E.M. and Husker Du. College radio was king and people like me were spending more on records every week than on food. (Music was our food man!) I remember that wet, grey day I found my vinyl copy of Zen Arcade in the new release bin at Records on Wheels. It was heavy, gorgeous, heartbreaking and very loud. Its four sides drew me into a particularly dark place that was entirely new. After repeated listening I realized I could disappear in its grooves in the same way as reading a good book or seeing an amazing film.

Zen Arcade was an album that informed my musical sensibilities even to this day. It was a little bit of music magic and I loved it. Much like the Replacements Let It Be, the Huskers album engaged me and quite literally changed the way I listen to music. In the twenty plus years since then, Bob Mould, the principle creator of the former elpee has explored a myriad of musical styles and creative outlets with varying degrees of success. Along the way I have followed his lead but only occasionally did it touch consistent genius. This is not so much a case of “they don’t make music like they used to” but rather a lament to see the brilliance continue. (Affect me like you did twenty years ago and I’ll be there.)

Flash ahead to February 2008 and I am there. The songwriter is back with a brand new record called District Line. This one however, melds perfectly the punk, pop, and even techno of the past to formulate a terrifically cohesive set of songs. Right from the start this one had me in its clutches. Occasionally nostalgic, songs like “Old Highs, New Lows” and “Return to Dust” do indeed take me right back to that affecting place, it just feels like the walls are newly painted and the room not quite so dark. Its an evolution that works. Fugazi drummer, Brendan Canty is back and his distinctive drumming style provides a terrific counterpoint to Mould’s familiar “grungy” guitar. As well, Amy Domingues again adds beautifully bittersweet cello to the set to remarkable effect.

So everything old is truly new again and it’s refreshing as hell. Mould gets the creative blend just right this time and as an active listener I couldn’t be happier. I just hope I'm as vital and relevant twenty years on.

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