Tom Waits ORPHANS – Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards
music review by James Sims
Imagine stumbling into a barn in the middle of the night, and sitting there in a pile of gnarled farming equipment is a sooty-eyed, crazy old man. He’s throwing spoons against a plow, plucking pitchfork prongs and growling. You’re scared as hell. But soon, you begin to hear what sounds like poetry, and lo, perhaps music. You can’t stop listening.
Welcome to Tom Waits’ “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards.” In what he calls “emptying his pockets,” it’s a cumulative 3-disc autobiography of one of the greatest musical visionaries of our time. Mr. Waits, we salute you once again, you crazy, evil genius. [http://www.anti.com] JS
