Album Review: Orphans

Three discs, fifty-four songs, thirty new and previously unheard recordings sounds like pretty standard fare for an artist box set, and yet, Orphans has as much in common with a simple career retrospective as Tom Waits does with the average singer songwriter.

The three discs are divided by genre: Brawlers is chock full of raucous blues and full-throated juke-joint stomps, Bawlers contains a selection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano, and classic lyrical Waits' songs, while Bastards is filled with experimental music, stories and jokes.

The first disc, Brawlers, sees Waits channel The Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart, Muddy Waters and T-Rex. The first of the new songs, LowDown, is in pure garage rock mode, with his 20-year-old son, Casey, on drums and San Francisco's blues icon, Ron Hacker, on guitar. A cover of The Ramones's The Return Of Jackie And Judy rubs shoulders with more traditional numbers like Bottom Of The World and Rains On Me.

Stealing the show, however, is Road To Peace, Waits's staggering condemnation of the Bush government and a companion piece to Day After Tomorrow from his previous album, Real Gone. It is, without question, one of the finest anti war songs ever penned.

The lonesome ballads and tender songs of innocence and hope on Bawlers come in sharp contrast to the other two discs and showcase Waits at his most romantic. The plaintive laments of Tell It To Me and Fannin Street meld poignantly with saloon songs of betrayal and despair like The World Keeps Turning. The bitter cabaret of Little Drop Of Poison (originally from the soundtrack to End Of Violence and, later, Shrek 2) explores what the heart gives and what it takes away.

It's the indefinable diversions into Waits's experimental side that are the hallmark of Bastards. The disturbing bedtime fable that is Children's Story, precedes a maniacal version of Heigh Ho, from Disney's Snow White & The Seven Dwarves and a cackling take on Daniel Johnston's King Kong. The poignant reminiscence of car ownership on The Pontiac and the spoken word Army Ants ensures that Bastards is anything but predictable.

Ever the stylistic nomad, Waits takes on the roles of inventive vocalist, literary lyricist, barking preacher, rabid poet, romantic melodist, innovative arranger and pioneer of sonic worlds as he scats, wheezes, blurts, rages, weeps, whispers and chugs through the three discs. Orphans will move the heart, shake the body and expand the soul.

Album Review: The Amazing Adventures Of DJ Yoda

After forging a reputation for turntable tomfoolery with his now-legendary How To Cut And Paste mix tapes, DJ Yoda has finally decided to move into the world of proper recording artists.

Two years in the making and highly anticipated, Yoda has teamed up with guest vocalists such as The Jungle Brothers, Biz Markie, Sway, Princess Superstar, Ugly Duckling, MC Paul Barman and Aspects to create an album that retains all the humour and entertainment of his regular DJ mixes.

Of the instrumentals, Wheels, the first single to be released from the album, stands out as insanely catchy, and as vibrant and colourful as the sleeve that houses it. Elsewhere, Tiptoe is a bizarre blend of old-English hippy-folk music, an ancient exercise video and scratching. It sits just on the right side of the line marked `annoying'.

As enjoyable as the instrumentals are, it's as a backing for other artists' rhymes that Yoda really excels. Biz Markie turns up and spits a couple of tuneless but ultimately charming verses on Breakfast Cereal and Haunted House. As the forefather of humorous hip hop, the marriage of the Biz and DJ Yoda is one made in heaven. Later, Bristol-based rap concern, Aspects, turn up on The Brush-Off and Ugly Duckling's Andy Cooper takes the mic on Holdin' Down The Block. Sway clearly relishes his opportunity to rap on Chatterbox.

Showcasing Yoda's colossal skills as a DJ and as a producer, without losing the sense of humour that has brought him such acclaim, The Amazing Adventures can only be considered a triumph.

The James Bassett Issue

While I was on holiday, fellow ComeOnBoro.com columnist Toby Higgins dedicated an issue of the Anti News to me.

What a top bloke he is.

(not as funny as me, mind)

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Latest Anti News up at ComeOnBoro.com

Leaping to the defence of Stewart Downing...

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Band name origins

Here's a fun list explaining the genesis of band names. Some real, some rumoured.

"BEASTIE BOYS - According to Michael Diamond, BEASTIE stands for Boys Entering Anarchistic Stages Towards Internal Excellence.

WEEZER - Band member Rivers Cuomo had the nickname Weezer in school because of a breathing problem.

YO LA TENGO - translates to "I have it" from Spanish - said to be the phrase called out by Hispanic baseball players when fielding a pop fly ball. Singer/guitar player Ira Kaplan got the expression from a book he was reading about baseball called The Five Seasons."

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Season so far verdict in The Observer

As ever, the Ob don't publish this stuff online. So here's my take on Boro's season so far.

100 words on how the season has started for you. Matching your expectations? What are the problems? Where will you end up? Happy with the manager?
I really want to believe in Southgate, and his terrific tenure as a player means the fans owe him a degree of patience. But for all the goodwill, some tactical naiveté and odd team selections are making it difficult to shake the belief that managing a club with European ambitions is not the place to learn the ropes.

Given Villa’s wonderful start to the season, one can’t help but cast an envious glance towards the West Midlands and wonder if our chairman made the right decision in not pursuing Martin O’Neill.

We seem to lack any knowledge of how to turn defence into attack. Jagielka’s wondergoal and Henry’s penalty aside, all the goals we’ve conceded have been laughably easy.

On current form, if we’re not playing in the Championship next season, I’ll be pleased.

- Who has been your star player so far, and why
Jonathan Woodgate and Mark Schwarzer have barely put a foot wrong, but most pleasing has been the immeasurable improvement from Emmanuel Pogatetz.

- Who's been the biggest disappointment, and why
Yakubu’s form simply isn’t good enough for a man who shredded the entire Chelsea back-four single-handedly just eight months ago.

- Premiership moment of the season so far (not your club)? ie (Thatcher's tackle, Craig Allardyce squirming on Panorama, Van Persie's goal, Joey Barton's arse...)
Arsene Wenger celebrating a decade at Arsenal. For better or worse, the man has defined the Premiership perhaps more than any other manager.

- Cristiano Ronaldo - will he be player of the season? Boo-boy or genius?
A genius, if only he could cross the ball.

- Who'll win the title?
I’ll stick with my foolish pre-season prediction of Liverpool.

- Who'll go down?
Sheffield United, Charlton and Wigan.

Family wins Disney World to themselves

The Spangler family from Ohio won Disney World to themselves for day as part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams competition.

The family arrived at the Magic Kingdom and found it eerily deserted. As they made their way up Main Street, 1,500 costumed castmembers came out of hiding and performed a song-and-dance routine for them. The Spanglers then had the park to themselves for the day.

I'm so fucking envious.

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