Tom Waits

Orphans

Anti/Epitaph/FAB

Vish Khanna (CHARTattack)

01/03/2007 7:47pm

It's difficult to articulate how remarkably beautiful this collection of Tom Waits rarities and experiments is. Culled from Waits' archives, Orphans is divvied up between three vague banners: "Brawlers," "Bawlers" and "Bastards." The 56 songs within stem from hazily remembered sessions, one-off projects/collaborations, and Waits' dabbling in film, art and literature. With 30 new or never-released songs, hardcore fans will recognize some of this material, but creative sequencing and mastering makes this collection a cohesive narrative, with the songs blending together seamlessly. Subtleties in Waits' style and sound are readily apparent, but there's also a real continuity in his folk-punk approach, thanks largely to one of the most distinctive sounds in popular music. "At the center of this record is my voice," Waits writes in his insightful liner notes. "With my voice, I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer... My voice is really my instrument." Somehow, amongst all of the inventive junkyard blues and repair shop stomps, Waits is right — his voice rises above it all to captivate and confound with heady lyrics and brilliant turns-of-phrase.On "Brawlers" tune "Lie To Me," Waits wails like an Elvis impersonator on top of a skewed R&B beat. The most startling song is the epic "Road To Peace," a no-holds-barred analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict that Waits turns into a melodious news story. "Bawlers" is aptly titled, with Waits reading off romantic tearjerkers like "Long Way Home," the heart-wrenching "World Keeps Turning," a spirited "Goodnight Irene" and the haunting "Down There By The Train." "Bastards" is where things truly get wonderfully weird. The herky-jerky "What Keeps Mankind Alive" recalls Waits' groundbreaking work on Swordfishtrombones, and it's followed by the nightmarish "Children's Story." Strange episodes like "Army Ants" mingle with stunning lounge lizard tracks such as "Altar Boy," and they all get along wonderfully. The scope of Orphans captures Waits perfectly. It's musically innovative, earthy and intellectual, and it has a charismatic charm that begs for repeated listens.