A few days ago on April 17, 2010, it was Record Store Day. This means that independent record stores get a ton of special limited releases in the name of celebrating and supporting independent record store. My roommate and I did our parts by getting up at 7:30 am (on a saturday too) and rushing down to Everyday Music in downtown Portland. I usually prefer to go to other music stores in town (with my roommate and I being fans of Exiled Records, 4628 SE Hawthorne in Portland), as Everyday Music tends to employ assholes, but upon perusing the list of the releases each store was getting, they were the only store that was getting everything both my roommate and I wanted. He was after the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Song Vinyl Box Set, while I was after Pantera's "Vulgar Display of Power" and Tom Wait's "Mule Variations". A strange combination you might say? Well, whatever dude...
Anyway, we got there and it was a madhouse as expected. But the folks that were working there on Record Store Day were very friendly and helpful, so that was nice. They even had donuts from Voodoo Donuts! FOR FREE! I decided against buying the Pantera upon the realization that it wouldnt be money well spent (because of how I probably wouldnt actually listen to it on vinyl very often, not because of any issue with how good the album is, because its FUCKING AMAZING). Anyway, we got our stuff I ended up also picking up a Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings/Budos Band 45 and a Rodriguez 7" that comes with other cool stuff. Then we stopped by the Jackpot Records by our house on Hawthorne and I picked up the Queens of the Stone Age "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" 10" Picture disc.
Anyway, onto the main point of this post. "Mule Variations" is probably one of the most popular albums by Tom Waits. Its also on of my favorites. It was released in 1999. The album features plenty of guest musicians that dont take any spotlight, including every member of Primus at the time. Anyway, the wikipedia for it is here, but I wanted to post as much music as I could from it here so that if you are one of the unfortunate souls still a virgin to this lovely listening experience, you can now be enlightened. When possible I included live footage or audio as well and sometimes with little personal notes about each song from me, cuz you know, this is my blog. On a related note, the vinyl sounds great and came with a really nice picture of Tom taken by the always-awesome-besides-that-limits-of-control-bullshit Jim Jarmusch.
1. "Big in Japan"
2. "Lowside of the Road"
No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
3. "Hold On"
4. "Get Behind the Mule"
5. "House Where Nobody Lives"
There is a video of him performing HOUSE WHERE NOBODY LIVES on the Tonight Show with a short interview afterward, but I FUCKING HATE Jay Leno, so you get this bootleg instead.
6. "Cold Water"
No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
7. "Pony"
8. "What's He Building?"
There are so many great things about this spoken word track. It really transports you to another place.
9. "Black Market Baby"
10. "Eyeball Kid"
11. "Picture in a Frame"
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (from the album Blue Valentine) and Picture in a Frame.
12. "Chocolate Jesus"
13. "Georgia Lee"
No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
14. "Filipino Box Spring Hog"
This is my favorite track on the album. I want to drink and shout this song from hilltops. The embedded video is an interesting early version of the song that didnt make it onto the Bone Machine album.
15. "Take It with Me"
The piano tone in this one kills me. No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
16. "Come On Up to the House"
A truly great album closer.
As a special bonus for coming to my really cool blog, here is the HOLD ON EP that was released as a special limited promotional offer after the album was out. Its out-of-print so I dont feel bad about sharing it since its the only way to get your hands on it these days.
HOLD ON EP
1. "Hold On"
2. "Buzz Fledderjon"
3. "Big in Japan"
4. "Big Face Money"
Download here
AND DONT MISS:
Tom on Fishing with John! In this classic, Tom puts a fish in his pants (in part 3)! Part 1, 2, 3
No comments:
Post a Comment