Monday, February 09, 2009

tom tom waits

this year i want to absorb all of tom waits. that is a lofty goal, but you see, i suffer from massive gaps in my music history: i was raised in a religious bubble in another country. i've had to dive into entire discographies to educate myself, pour over wikipedia articles, i've had to look for guides. the way i've done it is to choose an artist per year, or per season. i spent a year with nick drake, then one with bob dylan, the next one with johnny cash. spent a summer with leonard cohen then a spring time with the allman brothers. a fall with paul simon. i tried to spend a season with led zepplin but didn't get them. i'll have to return to zepplin, for there is much to understand and feel. last year was spent with pink floyd. well, i had tried tom waits before and didn't get him. abbrassive, annoying. but at the recommendation of many respected music lovers, i'm trying him out again, and i think it's starting to click. so far i've worked my way from 1973 to 1977. and i've jumped ahead to mule variations and can't stop listening to that record. so, dear reader, what's your favorite tom waits record? what advice do you have for a new listener?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Broken dreams and train smoke.

Anonymous said...

There is no shame in not connecting with an artist. I always think it is funny to sit around with friends and listen to them all gaga over Wilco, Elliot Smith, or the Shins and then when I divulge that I don't really like them, I am met with gasps and disbelief.

It is also fascinating to me that an image or a song will not speak to me for the longest time and suddenly one day it will. Art can be deep like that. It compliments life. It is as diverse and complicated as we are, which I guess makes sense, since it is merely an extension of our selves.

optionC said...

you wanna just dive in or go slow?

elnellis said...

will look those up longbrake.

davin- word.

and oh baby, i want to dive in.

hopson said...

Rain Dogs...

Anonymous said...

My advice: Just stick with Sonseed!

Anonymous said...

it's difficult to pick one album. I got started on Mule Variations and then found "Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years," to be helpful.

Have you discovered/viewed this yet?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92916923

cris said...

mule variations is what I'm most familiar with. I'm in awe of the way you make time to explore music. Good to see you have your priorities straight, seriously.

PS your smaller man of the house gets more charismatic by the day. I cant get enough of him.

Jaime said...

tengo como medio dia disponible para el internet, y revise tu blog, y me llamó la atención este post, asi que me recomendación de tom waits seria su primer disco "Closing Time", las tres primeras canciones estan poca jefa, de ahi esta lo basico que recomienda todo mundo, despues de closing time, yo recomendaria Blood Money, rasposo, algunas canciones parecen himnos, sino pones atenciòn a la lirica. por momentos no se porque me recuerda la voz de tu abuela, jajaja, no digo que sea igual, pero a veces cuando lo escucho, sobre todo en blood money me acuerdo de ella.
Nick Drake y Leonard Cohen, ni idea de ellos, de Paul Simon, me gusta mucho graceland, pero tengo que decir, que aunque el haya sido la esencia de Simon & Garfunkel, los prefiero como dueto, tienen un no se que que me agrada.
Pink floyd, que te puedo decir, estan volados, escucha "learning to Fly", wish you were here y Hey You, no tienen jefa. me acuerdo que estaba bien chavito cuando vi The Wall, quede bien friqueado, ya de grande la volvi a ver y ya no me friquea pero si esta densa.
Bueno, solo pase a saludar, cuidate y saludos a la family-a.

P.D.Algo curioso, por la radio, me he estado metiendo en Jazz y World, hay cada cosa interesante. y he escuchado un monton de cosas viejas pero interesantes, ahi luego te recomiendo algo.

elnellis said...

orlae guey, gracias por visitar- estaba empezando a pensar que te habian quitado accesso al internet. gracias por las recomendaciones, y acerca de lo de mi abuela, me estas tratando de espantar? que chistoso.
siempre quiero sujestiones- open to jazz y mundo.

te intente llamar el otro dia pero no se si chequas mensajes en tu casa. siempre que te quiero hablar no se donde apunte tu cell pero un dia de estos. sigues de busy? un abrazo. gracias por saludar.
'lipe