Tom Waits has had an incredible career in that he has managed to somehow careen in the opposite direction of most artists: his first records are his lightest, most palatable ones -- for example, Closing Time almost sounding like The Eagles at moments -- and his later albums just get stranger and more uncompromising with time. (It is impossible to deny that if Waits heard Real Gone in 1973, he likely would have fallen over.) He has also achieved something that I cannot say any other musician of his age has done, which is span several decades without making one lousy or even mediocre album. This accomplishment alone sets him apart from nearly all of his contemporaries. And with this in mind, we have his new release Bad As Me, an album that explores the musical territory one would expect, but does not whatsoever translate as mundane. It will come as no surprise to state simply that this is yet another beautifully alien collection of songs from the now 61 year-old legend.

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Ok, so the brand, spanking new Tom Waits website went up today and the internets blew up immediately. My iTunes has more Tom Waits tracks than anything else 'cause I sure do love me that man. The website promises information regarding "news, releases, tours, films and more...a resource for lyrics, photos, wit and wisdom, strange but true tales, and more imponderables on topics as far ranging as the origin of consciousness, the sexuality of Christ and the lonely journey of the male seahorse." In other words, anything a serious Waits fan could ever dream of.

The new album Glitter & Doom Live will be released on November 24, 2009 and is a collection of recordings from Waits' 2008 US and European tour, 17 tracks in all. There are some special offers available for all the Waits fans out there:

1) Pre-order a whole host of merchandise, from T-shirts to tour books, CD's and LP's and any combination thereof here (long load time). I'm on the edge of my seat for the album extra "Tom's Tales" compiling all of his famous tall tales and random stage banter. I love his wacked out stories.

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This is possibly the most important "Under Review" for Three Imaginary Girls readers...

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Although I don't fully understand the "Shortlist" awards, they have announced their, ahem, shortlist for the 2006 award. The Shortlist award is "a peer-selected award that recognizes the most creative and adventurous albums of the year" (um okay) and made their 10 album nomination list. The winner will be announced "in May". I get the impression it is an attempt to be an American version of the "Mercury Prize" in the UK but maybe I'm just not a big fan of extraneous awards anyway.

The nominees are Band of Horses, Beirut, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Cat Power, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor, Spank Rock, & Tom Waits.

Indeed, a motley crew.

For as many listings we've got this week, there's nothing I'm super excited about. Amy Sedaris is always a hoot (she and Letterman have quite the banter). Kaiser Chiefs are all over the place, and Alice Cooper chatting up Carson Daly (or vice versa) could be interesting.

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