Tom Waits
Mule Variations 2LP vinyl

Seven years passed between the release of Bone Machine and Mule Variations. During that time Tom Waits eschewed cutting another conventional (the term used loosely here) song collection, occupying his time with acting projects, a soundtrack (Night on Earth), a stage project (The Black Rider), and sundry smaller diversions.

What's surprising about Mule Variations is how little he's strayed from the old bone yard through the years. As with his Grammy-winning 1992 outing, Waits intersperses the tough and the tender, mixing exercises in creative noisemaking with tunes that fall on just the right side of maudlin. As with Bone Machine's "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me", "What's He Building?" is an experiment in word jazz that owes a debt to its creator, Ken Nordine.

Waits has again assembled a crew of attuned sidemen (including Primus and steadfast backers Ralph Carney, Larry Taylor, and Joe Gore). And, as always, Waits and his wife - co-songwriter co-producer Kathleen Brennan exhibit an uncanny ear for the arcane.

NEW / Released in 1999 / Reissue 2017

Tracklist:

A1 Big In Japan

A2 Lowside Of The Road

A3 Hold On

A4 Get Behind The Mule

B1 House Where Nobody Lives

B2 Cold Water

B3 Pony

B4 What's He Building?

C1 Black Market Baby

C2 Eyeball Kid

C3 Picture In A Frame

C4 Chocolate Jesus

D1 Georgia Lee

D2 Filipino Box Spring Hog

D3 Take It With Me

D4 Come On Up To The House