Great News!!!!


Tom Waits To Release Two Albums-- 'Alice' & 'Red Drum'--Simultaneously April 9, 2002 On Anti Records

TOM WAITS will release two entirely separate CDs simultaneously April 9 on Anti/Epitaph Records, which also issued WAITS’ most recent album, the Grammy-Award winning Mule Variations. Titled respectively, ALICE and RED DRUM, the recordings are startlingly different in landscape, sound, emotion and composition. Both are written and produced by Waits and Kathleen Brennan, his wife and long-time collaborator. Presently, the pair is in the
studio putting the finishing touches upon each.

ALICE is filled with unforgettable haunting opiate songs played by piano, bass sax, Stroh violin, cello and vibes. Lyrically and musically, powerful and surreal, these are dark tunes from an adult fairytale. Song titles include, “We’re All Mad Here,” “There’s Only Alice,” “Table Top Joe” and “Poor Edward.”

RED DRUM’s songs were inspired by the dark tale of Woyzeck--a poor soldier driven mad by medical experiments and an unfaithful wife. RED DRUM is Tin Pan Alley meets Weimar Republic. Eloquent, innovative and unique, there are tarantellas, lullabies and dissonant calliope waltzes. Dense, textured and rhythmic, some song titles include, “Coney Island Baby,” “All The World Is
Green” and “God’s Away On Business.”

While ALICE and RED DRUM are distinct in subject and sonics, they share some things in common: no electric guitars, as each was recorded with chiefly acoustic instruments; strange curious songs; and concurrent release date. These recordings cover musical terrain formerly unexplored by WAITS and both RED DRUM and ALICE may surpass his celebrated masterpieces. It’s Waits at
the height of his powers.

Step Right Up, Step Right Up!

Great news. So his two most recent stage shows get the studio album treatment. New Tom material is always great to have, and the "Alice" demos have been floating around under shady circumstances for years so this will be really nice.

Big Waits fan here. "What's he doing down there?" heh

damn! he's usually not this prolific. I hope they're as fantastic as "Mule Variations" was - Have to admit I'm a little leery because the only other stage show CD of his I have is "Black Rider" and it's probably my least favorite of his work. But these ones sound more song-based and like less of a soundtrack. Cool beans!

Sierra Disc...

Love the signature. I'm a huge Costello fan. Speaking of, we should have his next album by the middle of next year (A real album and not another blasted collaboraton!) with a tour to follow.

jim

Cool, where'd you pick that bit of news up? I have to admit I've kind of tuned out on EC with the Bacharach stuff - just not my scene, really.

I am THRILLED to hear about 'Alice'!!!! It seems like I've been waiting for this for a lifetime. I refused to pay $60 for a bootleg on eBay, so I am so so so so happy that this is getting a legit release. I haven't heard anything from it, but I'm hopeful it has overtones from the previous "The Black Rider" collaboration.

Also, if we're hijacking this into an EC thread, I love EC to pieces. I'd say he's by far my biggest influence as a singer/performer. Anyway, I'm happy to hear there's a new album finally coming out. Any word on track listings? I'd love to get a non-boot version of "Alibi Factory". That is an amazing song.

F

Keep listening. It will grow on you like a lovely fungus.

That's so far away that I almost don't want to hear about it, but it is fantastic news. So are these new recordings of the material or are they just tweaking the demos? I haven't heard any of the Woyzeck stuff, but have had the Alice demos for awhile & it rivals almost anything he's put out officially. They were recorded in 92 & his voice is incredible. If the new releases ARE new recordings, fans owe it to themselves to seek out & download the original demos. About half of it is instrumental.

Now we need a release date for a DVD release of Big Time!

I don't think this is really hijacking the thread since I'm the one who started it. Besides, I tend to sneak a Costello reference into about 1/3 of my posts anyway, so whose gonna notice?

I got the information from the Costello fan mailing list that I subscribe to. Apparently, it was mentioned recently be Steve Nieve (or was it Nick Lowe? There's so many posts to the list that I tend to skim them and occassionally miss out on some announcements.) and confirmed by Elvis in an interview while he was doing shows with Charles Mingus in New York.

No official word on a release date and no definite track listing. A lot of people on the list are speculating right now about what may be included. "Alibi Factory", "45", "You Lie Sweetly", and (possibly) "Daddy Can I Turn This?" seem likely candidates. Perhaps we can also expect the songs he wrote/performed for the film "Prison Song" to be included. (Or perhaps not since these songs were apparently cut from the film....at least the version of the film that aired on BET.) Elvis played most of these songs when I saw him (twice!) on his last tour. With the exception of "You Lie Sweetly", they sound along the lines of "Brutal Youth", a terribly underrated album.
There were also some rumblings on the list about the album having more of an "electronic feel" to it after a few vague comments made by Elvis in an interview. I am not to thrilled about this possibility, but who knows if it's true or not? Besides, I felt the same way when I heard about the latest Mark Eitzel album having an "electronic feel" to it, and I think it's an excellent disc (the best of the year, in my opinion).

It'll be great to have some new Costello music that's not a collaboration or part of a soundtrack to some awful film. I do really like the album with Bacharach, but his latest with Anne Sofie Van Otter is dreadful. The woman has a lovely voice, but it's not suited for these songs, including two Tom Waits songs. (And I'm sorry, but I don't want to hear Tom Waits songs performed with a gentle voice. I want them performed by Tom Waits, dammit!)

I will post any new info or rumors when I hear them.

F is For Fake....
I'm dying for a boot of "Alibi Factory" or any material from the last tour. Perhap we can work out some kind of exchange. I will e-mail you.

jim

I may be wrong, but hasn't this release already been announced? I don't think that a date has been set yet, but I remember reading something about a DVD release of "Big Time". Perhaps it's just wishful thinking.

jim

www.anti.com now has cover photos & track listings for the 2 new albums. Red Drum has been changed to Blood Money & the date has moved to May 7th. The official Alice release looks to be very different to the demos - so try to get them now before confusion sets in (but only if you promise to buy the official release).

In other news, Tom's got 2 new songs on the soundtrack to Big Bad Love. I have to say they're not essential but can imagine them sounding really good in a movie.

www.anti.com now has a song from each album available for download...

Awww yeaahhh....this "Alice" version absolutely kills the black-market version that floated around for years...can't wait for the releases.