New Tom Waits Music!!

http://www.tomwaits.com/news/

That link will take you to a page where you can hear Tom Wait's new track to appear on his upcoming album Bad As Me. Let me tell you, while it's sound is and can only ever be attributed to Tom Waits, it sounds different from all his other songs he's created so far.


-S.

New York In a Nutshell

There is so much I could say following THAT as a title. Tom Waits once described his so loathed town as "a ship, and the water's on fire" and I admit to sharing similar feelings. I'm specifically talking about Manhattan. Yes, it's true that I've not fully become jaded to the New York scene, mainly its inhabitants. I could even speak towards some of the still endearing qualities of this place but seeing as if I do it'll undoubtedly morph into a rant and take up too much of your time. I'll keep it short and throw in some video clips.

This first one you can choose to omit as it's a bit slow. However, I warn you it's quite interesting. It's a clip of beat writer William S. Burroughs paired up with the unique and distinguished musical stylings of Kurt Weil. Burroughs sits, alone in what seems to be stage light warehouse as he recites Bertolt Brecht's lyrics to What Keeps Mankind Alive? This is a song originally written by both Weil and Brecht for their musical drama The Threepenny Opera. Without further introduction, the late, great William S. Burroughs ladies and gentlemen:

This next song Is the Tom Waits cover version. Those of you who are familiar with and shy away from Waits' music can also choose to omit this in which case I apologize for waisting your time. Hopefully you've clicked on a link that's interested you, followed it to Wikipedia and searched the links towards the bottom for more information.

I needn't say anymore, it's all in the music.

Best,


-S.

Come On Up...

For all of you who, for whatever the reason, happen to just be in one of 'those' moods. I present to you a song I've never disagreed with and that is Come On Up To The House from Tom Waits' album Mule Variations (1999). This was Tom Waits' first studio album produced since 1992's Bone Machine. Tom Waits' pain stricken gritty voice crooning about life seems to offer an odd connection to that dismal, dreary 'mood' we all experience from time to time. You might ask me, "why surround myself with audible misery on top of my current emotional state?" I respond to you by saying that Waits' voice opens the door and welcomes you in almost accompanying your misery as if saying 'yeah kid, I know; me too.' Once you're in you begin to relax and give yourself in to the song.  As the lyrics of the last verse pass through your ears-
"There's nothin in the world
that you can do
you gotta come on up to the house
and you been whipped by the forces
that are inside you
come on up to the house
well you're high on top
of your mountain of woe
come on up to the house
well you know you should surrender
but you can't let go
you gotta come on up to the house"
-you realize you can't let go; you must persevere.

Hope you all find enjoyment and eventual comfort.

Sincerely,


-S.

P.S. An additional song to check out would be Hold On which can also be found on Tom Waits' Mule Variations album.

Anti-Records home page
TomWaits.com

Quite excited for THIS. Should be coming out soon. 30 Minute animated short by Terri Gilliam featuring the voice of Tom Waits as the monster.

Check it out.

Sincerely,

-S

Breaking 200 With a Photoshoot of Wyeth

Today I broke 200 page views which, for me, was enough to get me excited.  I decided that in order to celebrate the coming and going of this small milestone I'd post some of the recent 'real' or 'legitimate' photography I've done.  Today I had a short and what felt like a rather impromptu shoot with my dear friend, coffee buddy, and fellow Tom Waits enthusiast Wyeth.  We met at Stumptown Coffee which I featured earlier on this month where I finally got the chance to meet his girlfriend and fellow artist miss Lilly.  We had a fun time talking about some shared experiences Wyeth and I have had over the years.  Wyeth remarked about how I seem to always have an endless supply of pockets containing interesting items and so, in the middle of the Ace Hotel lobby, I emptied the entire contents of my pockets.  It amounted to a sizable pile on the table in front of us; it even made a bystander chuckle at the amount of items endlessly ushering from my jacket and pants pockets.
After coffee we left in order to walk Lilly back to her job at New York's Museum of Sex from where he and I would depart and head to his apartment. I went into today's photoshoot with no idea how or where I wanted to shoot him. I was rather scatterbrained before the shoot but once I lifted the camera to my eye my mind settled down.  He offered up a plethora of possible shooting locations: living room, bed room, fire escape, ...neighbors fire escape..., rooftop and entrance hallway.  We decided to start with the fire escape and it was successful tho probably the least successful location shot in today. Personally I had plenty of fun shooting while performing several balancing acts reminiscent of my past career as a gymnast.  After returning indoors I decided to check out the apartment's geometrically engaging entrance hallway.  We only had to travel down three stories worth of stairs but it took us longer than expected because each window we passed flung such beautiful light onto him that I demanded he stop and pose.  (Thanks Wyeth, I know I can be a dog of a photographer at times barking orders left and right so I appreciate your patience).
After concluding with the entrance hallway of the apartment building we headed back up, paused before his door and he asked "Ya wanna go up?" He issued up the stairs where he had told me the access to the roof was located.  We never made it to the roof on account of two reasons. One of which was that the door had an alarm that we didn't much want to set off.  The second reason was because I doubt we would have found the roof more interesting than the space that precedes it.  There before us was this gem of a location with peeling paint on the wall, a broom, a shovel and a wooden sled.  It was such a great location.  The only difficulty with shooting it was that I had to balance on the interior window sill placing one foot on the banister in order to get the two shots you see below.  This again was great fun as it reminded me of my gymnastics years and I silently thanked my mother for keeping me enrolled for those fourteen years.
SO! Without further adue and presented with my gratitude for your patience with (hopefully) reading this post... here are the images.
Thank you all for your attention, your time, and your continued interest.

Sincerely,

-S.

©Steve Shilling

©Steve Shilling

©Steve Shilling