[.ca] New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits

From Amazon.co.uk:
Forget that bit about imitation being the most sincere form of flattery: in music at least, an artist truly pays tribute to another by fully appropriating his work and making it his own. Such is the case on New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits, easily one of the best releases in the frequently tiresome genre of tribute albums. Indeed, the late Screamin' Jay Hawkins' delirious take on Waits's voodoo classic "Whistlin' past the Graveyard" is so dead-on that it's almost inconceivable he didn't write it. The same could be said for soul-man Andre Williams' sleazy version of "Pasties and a G-string", Flat Duo Jets' Dexter Romweber's manic "Romeo Is Bleeding" and Knoxville Girls' supremely tacky "Virginia Avenue". Lydia Lunch has been rewriting and singing "Heartattack And Vine" for at least 20 years, whether she wrote the original or not. Perhaps the single most impressive act of re-appropriation comes from one-man band Christopher Watkins, aka Preacher Boy, with a mournful, near-orchestral version of "Old Boyfriends". And a trio of torchy ballads from Congo Norvell's Sally Norvell, Geraldine Fibbers' Carla Bozulich and Eleni Mandell further illustrate the breadth of Waits' huge body of work. New Coat of Paint is given an inner cohesion by the incestuous connections of several of the acts, all veterans (appropriately) of LA's outlaw underground music scene. Perhaps the greatest compliment is that most of these tracks don't compare to the originals at all, but simply stand alone as classic compositions from the songbook of an iconoclastic American master of gutter-poetry. --Carl Hanni

amateur hour:
For the first time ever with my many purchases on Amazon, I'm going to look into a return. I'm a huge Waits fan but this disc doesn't honor Tom at all. Very, very average covers but various artists that my be good on their own but not great when singing Tom's tunes. Don't bother...

Stick to the real thing:
This album - which I don't own, and never will - underlines the simple fact that Tom Waits covers never improve on the original. So why bother? I spent an evening at a friend's house listening to it, and found it pleasant enough but really not worth having. Spend the money on Frank's Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones or Bone Machine.

So it's not Tom...:
Nobody can be Tom but Tom. (Just listen to John Hammond's attempts to sound dangerous, and you'll know what I mean.) That said, these are some damn creative interpretations of Tom's work. Not just creative, because it can be creative and still \obad\c. This stuff is creative and sounds good. In my collection, I have four different covers of Heartattack and Vine, and Lydia Lunch's is still my favorite. Muriel is great done in prayerful whispers, and the guy that sings Broken Bicycles lays down a dirge for a vocal track. Screamin' Jay opens the throttle up wide on Whistlin', and the call-and-answer format of Virginia Avenue is really neat. I like music that doesn't sound like everything else. That's why I like Tom. If that's why you listen, you owe it to yourself to pick up both this and "Step Right Up," which, in its own way, is even weirder and more wonderful than this one.

Not really worth it...:
Ok, I picked this album up while buying another bad tribute album (Badlands: Tribute to Springsteen's Nebraska). I don't know why I buy these but when I run out of the artist's own material I'll buy anything close. First, like Dylan, Tom Waits has a unique voice which makes it hard to others cover his songs. However, there are a couple of gems on this album that I enjoyed. The last 3 songs are all enjoyable. The Black's version of Poncho's Lament is pretty good and the microphone effects just add to the song. The last song, Floyd Dixon's cover of Blue Skies is amusing and longer than the version I've heard Tom sing. The best song on this album is Neko Case's version of X-Mas Card From A Hooker in Minneapolis. The organ in the background is perfect for the atomosphere and it's great to hear a bluesque woman sing this song from a woman's point of view, considering the song is a woman telling a guy about her life. It's just interesting to hear this song sung by a female and so well. It's the one song that I can listen to over and over on the album. Other than that, like someone else said, go buy all of Tom's stuff and enjoy.

A SAD TWCD:
I like Tom Waits most of the time. It was hard for me to listen to all of this album. This is one I will probably give away or resell if I need some cash. I hope I can find a buyer for it soon.

• Whistling Past the Graveyard - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• Pasties and a G-String - Andre Williams
• Heart Attack and Vine - Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch
• Virginia Ave. - Knoxville Girls
• Romeo Is Bleeding - Dexter Romweber
• New Coat of Paint - Lee Rocker
• Broken Bicycles - Botanica
• Old Boyfriends - Preacher Boy
• Please Call Me, Baby - Sally Norvell
• On the Nickel - Carla Bozulich
• Muriel - Eleni Mandell
• Poncho's Lament - The Blacks
• Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis - Neko Case
• Blue Skies - Floyd Dixon