Tom Waits - "Under The Influence" DVD

These unauthorized critical examinations are really well-done, but generally essential only to the already-devoted fan. This is no exception. Waits, it needn't be said, is an enigma, and an American songwriting legend at this point. His music is instantly identifiable, from his gruff froggy vocals to his ramshackle, old-time vaudeville vagabond beat-poet persona. "Under The Influence" tackles exactly what inspired Waits through the years, and through the eyes of his collaborators and journalists, we see some of the jumping-off points that led Waits to forsake "pop culture" and embrace a timeless, historical context within his music and art. Beginning with the beat poets (especially Jack Kerouac), we get portraits of writers like Charles Bukowski and Ken Nordine, and musicians like Captain Beefheart, the Rolling Stones (chiefly friend and collaborator Keith Richards), avante-composer Harry Partch, and European songwriters Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht. Waits' widely-disparate influences make sense, and this DVD does a fine job examining, and proving these inspirations to be likely truths. That's not to say that Waits has emulated any of these composers too greatly, as his vision and personality are uniquely his own. Well worth a look to any Waits collector, but if you don't consider yourself already interested in the man's impressive body of work, this won't convince you. (Chrome Dreams via MVD Visual)

The Low Anthem - "Oh My God Charlie Darwin" CD

Seeing this multi-instrumentalist trio open for Irish songstress Lisa Hannigan recently was enough to convince me to pick this one up. Based in Rhode Island, The Low Anthem create brisk and timeless Americana -- melding turn-of-the-century working-class folk, hauntingly tender slow/sad gospel hymns, and raving lunatic blues -- all with startlingly sincere results. Their instrumentation (pump organs, harmonium, cellphones, zithers, Tibetan singing bowls as well as guitars and drums) to craft weathered vagabond stories and hopelessly romantic tales is refreshing and unusual. "Charlie Darwin" opens the set with a stirring falsetto courtesy of frontman Ben Knox Miller. 'To Ohio' is a kind of dead-ringer for Duluth's legendary 'slowcore' progenitors, Low (that's no bad thing). 'The Horizon Is A Beltway' is a rousing hoedown with gruff vocals that channel Tom Waits. In fact, 'Home I'll Never Be' even dares to cover a mighty Waits/Jack Kerouac composition, with surprisingly successful results. 'Ticket Taker' is stark, understated, and absolutely moving, whereas 'Champion Angel' is as anthemic and rocking as anything by Springsteen or the Arcade Fire. This genre-hopping and blending of moods could be disastrous in the hands of a lesser band, but the Low Anthem handle everything like true professionals. They are poised for great things. Hell, they are already there, as far as I'm concerned. It's just time everyone else noticed them. This album is already among my picks-of-the-year. (End Of The Road Records)

The Low Anthem site