The first time I heard Nighthawks at the Diner , I was immediately a Tom Waits fan.  My dad recorded that album on a cassette along with three or four cuts from 1980's Heartattack & Vine to fill the available room left on the b-side.  I was just in love with its mood, more or less aching to be in that crowd, hearing Waits offer tribute to the "bachelors and the bowery bums" not to the mention the "gyspy hacks, the insomniacs."  I could almost the smell the secondhand smoke from that performance as surely as I could hear its content via playback.  This album is probably the reason I like diners as much as I do.  Needless to say, with Nighthawks acting as precipice, I willfully dove into Waits's extensive canon armed with more blank cassettes, beginning with his earliest work, hitting 1999's Mule Variations when it was a new release and then eventually looking back to the Island years.  My pattern of Waits discovery was more of a zigzag in t...

Weather Report Black Market Columbia Records Released: 1976 Van Halen s/t Warner Brothers Records Released: 1978 A Place To Bury Strangers Onwards to the Wall EP Dead Oceans Released: 2012 J Dilla Ruff Draft Stones Throw Released: 2007 Tangerine Dream Firestarter (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) MCA Records Released: 1984 Tom Waits Real Gone Anti Released: 2004 Cabaret Voltaire Code EMI-MANHATTEN Released: 1987 The Fall Dragnet Superior Viaduct Reissued: 2016 John Coltrane & Alice Coltrane Cosmic Music Superior Viaduct Reissued: 2017 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Tom Waits : "The Soul of a Man ( Blind Willie Johnson cover)" (via Big Mouth Publicity/Soundcloud) Graves at Sea : "Dead Eyes" (via Earsplit PR/ Decibel Magazine /Soundcloud) Hooded Fang : "" (via Force Field PR/ The FADER /Soundcloud) Some Gifts : "All Washed Up" (via The Deli Magazine /Soundcloud) Orouni : "The Peanut Specialist" (via Orouni /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

See you in 2015. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Over the last few days there's been a ton of speculation with regard to some cryptic teaser images Tom Waits has been posting online, along with the execution date of August 7th.  If you were hoping for tour dates, sorry...  It's a video for "Hell Broke Luce." Waits' 2011 release, Bad As Me , was reviewed at Kicking Against The Pricks . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Issue #13 of Kicking Against The Pricks is up. You can find that here . My sole contribution to this issue was a review of Bad As Me by Tom Waits . Tom Waits Bad As Me ANTI- Released: 10.25.11 Kicking Against The Pricks review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

I’ve been scouring YouTube and other avenues so I can hear what’s going on with The Book Of Knots , who are a supergroup comprised of members from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum , Skeleton Key and Pere Ubu . Missing out on 2/3 of their By Sea, By Land, By Air trilogy, I received word this morning about the release of part three, Garden of the Fainting Stars . I’ve found no advance singles so far, but the album is slated to release June 14th, so hopefully something will surface before then. The list of collaborators this band has worked with is an interesting, eclectic and relatively obscure. They’ve featured (now and previously) Tom Waits , Kathleen Brennan , Mike Watt , Mike Patton , Blixa Bargeld and Trey Spruance . Information and links are courtesy of Speakeasy PR: THE BOOK OF KNOTS TO RELEASE GARDEN OF FAINTING STARS JUNE 14 VIA IPECAC RECORDINGS GUEST MUSICIANS INCLUDE BLIXA BARGELD, MIKE WATT AND MIKE PATTON SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2011 – The Books of Knots, the...

As today marks 61 years of age for Mr. Tom Waits , I figured I’d post this version of “Lucinda/Ain’t Goin’ Down to the Well” from the Glitter & Doom Live album because it’s A). Available and B). Awesome. Here’s to another 61 years. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Once again, The Eyeball Kid finds the goods on Tom Waits before the rest of us. Here's a video of "Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing" being played on the Preservation Hall 78 player which, for those that don't know, is performed by Waits and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band . Probably doesn't sound too entertaining, but it's cool to hear the track. Plus, there's a curious cat that scrutinizes the player at some point. For more information on the release, check out a previous blurb here , which contains links to a couple more informative resources. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Found an interesting article on Tom Waits via The Eyeball Kid . Mr. Waits will be appearing on a limited edition 78 vinyl record, Preservation: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program . Proceeds will go to Preservation Hall Junior Jazz & Heritage Brass Band. As an interesting aside, seeing as 78 players aren’t the most readily available commodity these days, a custom-made 78 player will be issued with the album to those contributing $200 to Preservation Hall. Check out the article at The Eyeball Kid or TomWaits.com . Check out Pitchfork for photos. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

A.K.A. Music purchase: Om Live Conference Important Records Released: 7.27.09 "Sacrilege" may be the word. It's possible I find the idea of the new version of Om , drummer Chris Hakius no longer part of the equation, recording a live rendition of the mighty Conference of the Birds a little unsettling. I picked up Live Conference a couple days ago while scouring A.K.A. for a few birthday selections, unaware that new drummer, Grails transplant Emil Amos , was tapped for the performance. Live Conference , like its studio ancestor, is a two-song LP. Recorded live in September of 2008, Important Records unleashed this behemoth in late July and, as soon as I became aware of it, it was something I wanted to check out. Conference of the Birds is an album I swear by, a smoked out masterpiece of sonic sludge that I live in whenever it’s playing. Al Cisneros sounds great, his flattened prayers tuneless against the wall of energized bass amp behind him. Despite Amos bein...

"Fucking asshole!" I'd first learned of the re-release of Tom Waits 's Orphans box set from a friend of mine, his assurances that new tracks would be included and that it would be put out as a 7 LP vinyl set. After securing myself a copy of the 3-disc limited edition version of this album three years ago, the aforementioned vulgarity was my response to the news, simultaneously wanting a copy though aware that money’s already been spent on most of the album. Do I really want to buy the same album twice just to own six new songs? The angel of fiscal responsibility and the devil of fanboy allegiance are perched on each shoulder, debating vehemently. A little digging on the Internet and the ever-reliable Eyeball Kid had all the info. There was also mention of a live album from the Glitter & Doom tour being released this Fall, which I’ll have less of an issue picking up. Mute Records will be putting out Kraftwerk 's 12345678 The Catalogue: Four Decades o...

Tom Waits discusses his upcoming Glitter & Doom tour: It would be ridiculously brilliant if he was touring in support of Scarlett Johansson 's cover album . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Singers are a dime-a-dozen: I’m aware of this. At times, usually when I’m in some sort of self-flagellating mood, I’ll watch MTV and see how low the bar is set. And I’ll know, when I see Lindsay Lohan pouring her heart out, that everyone thinks they’re a fucking singer. And, it seems like it’s mostly actresses. Without boring you, because it really is a long list, and you know who most of them are anyway, these “singers,” and in a lot of instances, “actresses,” are so bad, so trite, so thoroughly laughable… … Scarlett Johansson decided that she was going to add herself to this immense list. But, and I don’t know if this was a strategic move on her part, HER album is a standout: A collection of Tom Waits covers called, Anywhere I Lay My Head . I’ve heard some the tracks and I find her efforts largely unnecessary. However, interest in this album is going to cancel out its quality because, and ultimately this is really all that matters, she benefits from esoteric tastes. Aside ...

Tom Waits Palace Theater Louisville, KY 8/7/06 Personnel: Tom Waits – Lead Vocal, Guitar, Piano Larry Taylor – Acoustic Bass Duke Robillard – Lead Guitar Casey Waits – Drums, Beat Box Bent Clausen – Keyboards, Percussion, Banjo Beat Boxing / Blues / Many Applause for the “Day After Tomorrow” It was probably an hour or so into the set by the time the piano was escorted off the stage, but it felt like five minutes. At one point, I leaned over to my fiancé and said, “Can this just go on forever?” Tom was now standing back up, ragged and awkward. At times, he would take his hat off and bow to the crowd, revealing a struggling peninsula of bushy hair that cut a path through his sweaty forehead. The red shirt he wore underneath his jacket had long turned a darker color, but the warmth didn’t seem to affect him. He would put on his toothy smile, under bite in full glory, and shake like a diabetic seizure. Once his feet were back to the stand, “Lucky Day” was next and then he went int...

Tom Waits Palace Theater Louisville, KY 8/7/06 Personnel: Tom Waits – Lead Vocal, Guitar, Piano Larry Taylor – Acoustic Bass Duke Robillard – Lead Guitar Casey Waits – Drums, Beat Box Bent Clausen – Keyboards, Percussion, Banjo Sweating Lines / Assault at the Hands of a Beer Binger / The Scarecrow Emerges The Louisville sun was oppressive. We were all lined up under its tyrannical blaze, victims of the unmoving, long as fuck, “M through S” line we were thrown into thanks to the last initials we were born with. Will-call tickets require a human filing system. Needless to say, I was quite jealous of anyone whose last name started with “Z”. I was however not jealous of all the Sooooo-phisticated cats dressed head-to-toe in suit wear. A t-shirt was too much clothing for me. A suit would’ve been a health hazard. So, my gang and I tried to keep our minds off the warmth by occupying ourselves with the next couple hours. We were seeing Tom Waits . HOLY SHIT!!!! What songs would h...