Saturday, March 21, 2009

Tom Waits: Already On Top of The Hill


Album: Real Gone
Artist: Tom Waits
Genre: Tom Waits
Year: 2004
Label: ANTI-

Tom Waits (a man who should require zero introduction) obviously doesn’t need a band anymore, but he continues to perform with one, probably more out of habit than actual necessity. I am only partially joking. Real Gone is Tom Waits most recent full-length album, released in 2004. It is the obvious continuation of Waits’s obsessions and introduces a few new ones. It’s also a rock solid work of art. Beginning with the whirly-gig weirdo funk of “Top Of The Hill,” the album lets you know the score immediately. Tom Waits’ raspy beat boxing is juxtaposed against Casey Waits’ turntables and Marc Ribot’s guitar, creating a bizarre collage of sounds for Tom to growl over.

Whoever had the idea to combine Tom Waits’ weathered vocals with something like turntable scratches is a complete genius. This isn’t the first time he’s done it, but it’s the only time he does so on this album. The marriage of the two opposing musical forces seems like it would cause the world to end, but it doesn’t, it just makes it a more interesting place to be. Lots of the tracks on this album feature Waits beat-boxing and noise making, providing his own backing for his eccentric stories and off-kilter ramblings.

Some Waits albums sound like they take place in some sort of smoky nightclub. But Real Gone takes us outside for the most part, lots of the album has the feel of being either on the street of some forgotten American town or perhaps the fields just outside of it. Other Waits albums have taken place in port towns or the middle of the desert, but Real Gone is a curious town where it always rains and the grass is greener on the other side. That’s all implied, none of it is stated. It’s one of the things that Waits is a master of: atmosphere. His stories take you to strange and fantastic places, which are nonetheless somewhat familiar, if you’ve ever gone traveling in the American wherever.

Waits’ band this time around is fantastic. I think it’s funny that John Zorn and Waits share the same standby guitarist in Marc Ribot, considering the mile wide divide between their musical styles. Ribot once stated that he has limited technical abilities because he learned how to play the guitar right handed, but I’ve never noticed anything particularly debilitated about his playing. Regardless, Ribot’s guitars can be bluesy, jazzy, or just ripping. He’s been working with Waits since 1985 and their relationship is cemented in the way their instruments complement each other. Ribot is the perfect guitarist for Waits, not too flashy, but raw and more technically proficient than a punk guitarist.

Meanwhile, the percussion. Rather than an actual drum set, Waits appears to have gone the Skeleton Key route in assembling junk percussion sets to be banged on by Brain of all people. For those who don’t know, Brain has drummed for Praxis, Primus and Guns N’ Roses. He’s a man, a myth, a pseudo-Mexican and this is some of the most interesting stuff he’s ever done. His real drum stuff is great, no question, but the stuff he’s battering here sounds like it was built in a scrap yard and that gives it a unique sound not found in the rest of his work. The other musicians include Larry Taylor, Casey Waits (Tom Waits’ son) and Les Claypool (in a very understated role) among others.

Lots of people come to Waits’ albums for the lyrics. Stories really, stories about the downtrodden, the absurd, the bizarre and the love lost. Some of it is Beefheartian ridiculousness, like the roaring boot stomper of “Hoist That Rag”, and some of it is deadly serious, like the acoustic anti-war anthem of “Day After Tomorrow, but it’s all genius. The combination of these musicians, Waits’ cantankerous delivery and the rough n’ tumble production make this one of the most fascinating and just plain fun listens Tom has ever put together.

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