To Look for America: A Road Trip, a Soundtrack
One thing I was taught about travel—because my father is a black man born in Alabama in 1950—was that there are safe places for black people to go and places that aren’t as safe.
...more
Posts Tagged: Tom Waits
The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #66: Reimagining Children’s Literature as Mixtape
In the best collaborations, creative individuals push themselves to work with new media and singular, wild things issue forth. Jeff Antebi of Waxploitation Records has managed to create just this kind of magic in his book, Stories for Ways and Means. A product of ten years’ worth of seeking and story pitching, Stories for Ways […]
...more
Sound & Vision: Arthur Fournier
Allyson McCabe talks with Arthur Fournier, an independent dealer of books, serials, manuscripts, and archives, about how he developed his niche, and how digital access has both enriched and complicated the work of archiving and collecting.
...more
Those Who Serve
To me, service is a transaction, and when you serve with real commitment, you might be on the receiving end of an appreciation that feels like a form of love.
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Max Ritvo
Max Ritvo passed away on August 23, 2016. Earlier this summer, he spoke with Sarah Blake about his debut collection Four Reincarnations, writing with and about cancer, and how language is a game.
...more
The Rumpus Interview with Benjamin Percy
Benjamin Percy discusses his latest novel, The Dead Lands, why it’s all about keeping language fresh, and his dream job writing for DC Comics.
...moreSong of the Day: “Coney Island Baby”
When listening to Tom Waits’s stately ballad, “Coney Island Baby,” one pictures an ancient Italian grandfather, standing on a windswept boardwalk, boasting about his granddaughter to anyone who will listen. “When I am with her,” he rattles, “I’m the richest man in the town.” A mournful violin and trumpet provide a lonely reply, a modest counterpoint to this […]
...moreCountdown to Letterman’s Final Show
The last few weeks have brought some truly incredible acts to the Late Show as David Letterman prepares to retire. Hollywood royalty, a former president, and, soon, Bill Murray—the iconic late night host and comedian is leaving his post with a bang. Not least of all was the recent performance by Tom Waits, who debuted […]
...more
Swinging Modern Sounds #65: Tragedy Plus Time
Jesse Malin is a lifer in a business that rarely features lifers anymore.
...moreSong of the Day: “Another Man’s Vine”
Tom Waits is a master of irony. Just when we thought we understood his bone-clattering, tooth-gnashing, growling songs of woe, he hits us with “Another Man’s Vine.” The ballad—off the 2002 record Blood Money—is a heartfelt and affecting piece, infused with sorrow and a peculiarly Waits-esque resigned jealousy. And what’s more ironic than a dirge […]
...more“I WILL NOT MAKE ANY BORING ART”
If you ever wanted to hear the three things John Baldessari thinks every young artist should know, you ought to watch this six-minute film of his life story. And if that’s not enough of a selling point you should watch it anyways, if only because it is narrated by the growly Tom Waits and gloriously funny.
...moreAural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #9: Chilly Scenes of Winter
You can see the architecture of things in winter. Structures glisten. Naked trees drip with clear popsicles. We find ourselves alone with ourselves. Everyone else has gone away to someplace warmer/better/more fun or else they are tucked indoors. Even when you live in a relatively warm place, winter still haunts.
...moreAural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #2: Chicago
Chicago. Sometimes it gets overlooked as a great city as we tend to focus our energies on considering the coasts and leave the interior as a great blur in our minds.
...morePoet or Storyteller?
Tom Waits on Tom Waits, a comprehensive collection of interviews and encounters spanning nearly forty years, is essential reading for any Tom Waits fan.
...more“Where the Train Goes Slow:” An Excerpt from Johnny Cash’s American Recordings
We love the 33 1/3 series from Continuum, which explores individual albums through slender investigations from rock critics such as Rob Trucks on Fleetwood Mac and Amanda Petrusich on Nick Drake alongside takes from musicians like John Darnielle on Black Sabbath and Colin Meloy on The Replacements.
...more
Resident Bohemians: The Nighthawk, Tom Waits
He was a restless person and this was the kind of rest restless people needed when they got restless.
...moreThe Piano’s Been Drinking Decaf
I’ve heard lots of wild rumors about the musician Tom Waits over the years. The best one was that his career was an abysmal failure until he was stabbed in the throat in a bar fight, changing his voice — and his music — for the better. I also heard he was spotted ordering […]
...more