Bastards

Bastards

by Tom Waits
Bastards

Bastards

by Tom Waits

CD(Remastered)

$15.99 
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Overview

In 2017, Tom Waits announced remastered reissues of his entire Warner Bros. catalog as well as several recordings on Island and Anti. Among the latter are the three individually titled offerings packaged in a 2006 box entitled Orphans. When originally issued, the whopping 56-track collection proved the most unwieldy of his career. There were 30 new tunes -- a mere 14 could be found on other records -- and the rest were new and uncollected. Even the previously issued titles were newly recorded so the set would have a sonic cohesion despite its musical elasticity. What's more, Waits brought in a diverse and able studio cast to assist him in this endeavor, including the late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse), Colin Stetson, Brett Gurewitz, Charlie Musselwhite, Leroy Vinnegar, Marc Ribot, Dave Alvin, Carla Kihlstedt, Guy Klucevsek, and Arno Hecht. Bastards is the third and edgiest volume in the set. Think Bone Machine's wilder moments combined with Waits' loopy on-stage standup comedy in the form of the six spoken word pieces included here and the chaotic aesthetics of the rest of this 16-track lineup. The eerie, cabaret-inside-a-carnival music that is Weill and Brecht's "What Keeps Mankind Alive" enlists banjos, accordion, tuba, and big bass drum as the means to let these twisted words out of the box. A righteous, swamp & roll cover of "Books of Moses," by Moby Grape's Alexander "Skip" Spence, is beautifully performed here, as is an insane reading of Daniel Johnston's "King Kong." Neither cut resembles its original version as Waits exposes the dark underbelly in each. "Bedtime Story" is the first of Waits' monologues here. It is the repressed wish of every parent (with a sense of humor) to have the temerity to tell this kind of tale to their children when they retire. Others include a reading of Charles Bukowski's "Nirvana," the hilarious monologue "The Pontiac," and the live routine "Dog Door." The words of Jack Kerouac also appear in the dirty-assed roadhouse blues "On the Road." Also included is a redone version of "Heigh Ho," the Seven Dwarves song that Waits originally contributed to producer and conceptualist Hal Willner's Disney tribute project Stay Awake. Perhaps the most endearing cut here is the piano-and-horn ballad "Altar Boy," a postmodern saloon song that would make Bobby Short turn red with envy -- then rage. This disc is truly a mixed bag of Orphans in terms of its stylistic diversity: It's unruly, uneven, and full of feints and free-for-alls. Waits drags everything from his past to into the light be presented as something utterly new and succeeds in spades. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date: 06/22/2018
Label: Anti-
UPC: 0045778755127
Rank: 55138

Tracks

  1. What Keeps Mankind Alive
  2. Children's Story
  3. Heigh Ho
  4. Army Ants
  5. Book of Moses
  6. Bone Chain
  7. Two Sisters
  8. First Kiss
  9. Dog Door
  10. Redrum
  11. Nirvana
  12. Home I'll Never Be
  13. Poor Little Lamb
  14. Altar Boy
  15. The Pontiac
  16. Spidey's Wild Ride
  17. King Kong
  18. On the Road
  19. Dog Treat
  20. Missing My Son

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tom Waits   Primary Artist,Vocals,Percussion,Pump Organ
Charlie Musselwhite   Harmonica
Mark Linkous   Bass,Drums,Guitar
Michael Blair   Drums,Percussion
Mitchell Froom   Chamberlin
Ara Anderson   Trumpet
Colin Stetson   Saxophone
Marc Ribot   Guitar
Bob Funk   Trombone
Larry Taylor   Bass
Carla Kihlstedt   Violin
Greg Cohen   Bass
Brain   Percussion
Bent Clausen   Piano
Richard Waters   Waterphone
Bart Hopkins   Clarinet
Arno Hecht   Saxophone
Mike Knowlton   Guitar
Gary Knowlton   Keyboards
Matt Brubeck   Bass
Eddie Davis   Banjo
Paul Litterall   Trumpet
Guy Klesevik   Accordion
Darrel Devore   Violin
Bebe Riesnfors   Clarinet
Casey Waits   Drums
Crispin Cioe   Saxophone
Larry LaLonde   Guitar

Technical Credits

Charles Bukowski   Composer
Mark Howard   Engineer
Mark Linkous   Composer
Kathleen Brennan   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Remastering Supervisor
Pete Lyman   Remastering
Karl Derfler   Mixing,Engineer,Remixing,Digital Editing,Audio Restoration,Remastering Supervisor
Julianne Deery   Photography,Production Coordination,Cover Photo
Jim Jarmusch   Photography
Mitchell Froom   Engineer
Anton Corbijn   Photography
Tom Waits   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Remastering Supervisor
Brett Gurewitz   Engineer
Daniel Johnston   Composer
Kurt Weill   Composer
William Kennedy   Composer
Bob Musso   Engineer
Jacquire King   Engineer
Oz Fritz   Engineer
Gene Cornelius   Engineer
Johnny Brewton   Design,Art Direction
Bernd Bergdorg   Engineer
Matt Mahurin   Cover Photo
Georg Buechner   Composer
Jane Rose   Photography
Phillip Rodriquez   Assistant
Danny Duperreault   Engineer
Tchad Blake   Engineer
Skip Spence   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Bertolt Brecht   Composer
Biff Dawes   Engineer
Larry Morey   Composer
Jack Kerouac   Composer
Frank Churchill   Composer
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