Archive for: tom waits

On The First Day Of Christmas…

Firstly, yes, I understand the difference between the first day of Christmas and the first day of advent, but the latter doesn’t have quite as much ‘zing’ about it for a blog title. Secondly, my sincere apologies for getting swept up in Christmas hysteria (Christ-eria… sorry).

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the festive period and even less of a fan of the popular music that tends to be released around this festival. However, as with practically everything in life, there are both good, bad and terrible examples of Christmas songs.

Here are some of my favourite Christmas songs for your listening pleasure. From unlikely Christmas crooners Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and The Fall.

Let me know what you think and if I have overlooked anything @monkeyhotel

Bob Dylan – Must Be Santa on MUZU.

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees – Tom Waits

The 15 nominees to be inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame have been announced, and there are one or two surprises to be found.

The words Rock and Roll conjure images in one’s mind of electric guitars and decadence, however this hip-hop artists the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J have been shortlisted for induction into the Cleveland-based Hall of fame.

One of the nominations towers above the rest in quality and couldn’t be more deserving of this nomination; Mr. Tom Waits.

I first discovered Tom whilst studying music at university and his songs completely transformed my understanding of what a songwriter, a performer and a singer can be. His career has been so intensely diverse and vast in its unparalleled quality that it’s impossible to give you a couple of highlights; however I am inserting a couple of beneath this post in the hope that you will venture further into his cave of brilliance.

If you’ve never heard Tom’s music before, please let me know what you think @monkeyhotel

For all the other nominees and information you might want click here.

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis/Silent Night

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Jesca Hoop – Tom Waits’ Prodigal Nanny Releases 2nd Album

You never think about it, but some kid in Beverley Hills must have Harrison Ford on their paper round. In fact, Han Solo himself got his first big acting break through building some shelves for George Lucas. As day-jobs go, being Tom Waits’ nanny has got to be pretty cool. You look after the kids for a while, watch a movie, and then get to hang out with one of the most fertile minds in modern music just as he comes back feeling all groovy from a few beers and a nice dinner with the wife. How much would people pay for an hour with Tom Waits in contemplative mood?

Jesca Hoop was the lucky young lady who got paid to do so – and there are places in her music where you can hear TW’s influence, the kind of beautiful musical mess that he stitched together on albums like Rain Dogs and Swordfish Trombones, where strange chord shifts drop out from under the music and odd dissonances suddenly fall in together and turn out to have been harmonies all along.

There are similarities to Feist and Cat Power in her music too, her sometimes sweet, sometimes piercing, sometimes sultry and seductive voice ties together simple acoustic guitar tracks with complicated, swaggering electronic ones, and there are nice little touches of production like whispers turned up to overpower the rest of the track. Definitely worth a listen if you like any of the artists used for comparison, and interesting enough to be worth investigating if you have any kind of indie sensibility. If the big man backs her she can’t be bad…