Tom Waits
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Song 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…
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“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…
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Aural 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…
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Aural 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.
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Poet 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.
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“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…
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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.
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The 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 —…