Artist Playlists
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Tom Waits' inimitable voice is as well-travelled as his career. Starting out on Asylum as a jazz-tinged bar singer with a penchant for storytelling, Waits came into his own in the'80s Island era, toying with instrumentation to create his own sound. He was influential then, but became more so when he altered his voice after signing with Anti in the late 90s, twisting it into a percussive instrument on albums like 2004's piano-free Real Gone. Waits' ability to switch from nostalgic ballad to baroque pop on a dime makes him uncategorisable after four decades —but also endlessly compelling. - Idiosyncratic American songwriter and musician Tom Waits has carved a niche in the music world with his craggy voice and atmospheric delivery. He's a true original, so it's no wonder that many are mesmerised by his cleverly constructed songs and want to make them their own. Check out this playlist of Waits reinterpretations by artists like Johnny Cash, Cat Power, the Eagles and more.
- Tom Waits' catalogue abounds with ways in which he's twisted the Great American Songbook into knots that only he could tie. Whether he's juxtaposing guttural blues moans with whimsical percussion on "Earth Died Screaming", performing a mutant theatrical jaunt on “Rain Dogs” or telling a twisting tale of desperation on the loungy “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”, Waits takes the longstanding history of song and makes it his own.
- Tom Wait's gift as a storyteller and command of various American music traditions—from New Orleans balladry to smooth, L.A. singer/songwriter rock—made him one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. Check out some of the artists who have learned from Waits, with this set from Calexico, M. Ward, Victoria Williams and more.
- Both a traditionalist and a member of the avant-garde, a vulnerable singer/songwriter and a hardened rocker, Tom Waits turns contradiction into its own art form. An examination of his influences is equally fascinating. From Frank Zappa's prog fusion to Luciano Pavarotti's operatic drama, every song here has had an impact on Waits's idiosyncratic sound.