Song by Song

Having gone through all of Waits's music Song by Song, we're obviously well-placed to say which ones are best... or maybe least-worst... perhaps just from our perspective... subjectively good in these two people's opinions... but then who are we to say? Anyway, in this penultimate episode, Sam and Martin have a little chat about The Old Favourites as the podcast enters the final straight.

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Having done the work, put in the hours and carefully considered all the options, Martin and Sam discuss exactly where they think a new listener to Waits's music might want to start, considering the various angles and perspectives one might have, as well as a little discussion of Tom's compilation albums.

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twitter: @songbysongpod
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Music extracts used for illustrative/r...

Our second set of music videos brings Philippa back to Martin and Sam for the last decade-and-change of Waits music videos. Sampling the work of Jesse Dylan, Matt Mahurin and various others, we consider what these videos mean in a post-YouTube world, as well as Waits's filmed promos in the 21st century.

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

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Continuing our season of specials on material outside the show’s main remit, Philippa Spanos returns to help Martin and Sam consider the creative and commercial aspects of Waits’s music videos. Starting with a long-overlooked animation experiment from the 70s, we chart how these films function in relation to the music, the commercial purpose of a video, as well as all the tiny tiny guitars.

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Our final season wouldn't be complete without a look at the emails sent in by you, dear listeners, covering some errors and omissions, new theories, questions about remasters and several lovely well-wishes as we head towards the end of the show. 

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
You Have Beautiful Eyes, Over The G...

We're delighted to bring you an extended interview with the man who literally wrote the book on Tom Waits, Barney Hoskyns. Bouncing through a selection of Waits's material from the 70s to the present day, we discuss what it's like to interview and write about artists, what changed (and stayed the same) in Waits's music, and how you should always take a suggestion from Nick Cave seriously.

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Just imagine... at one point we thought this surprisingly epic True Orphans series might fit in two episodes, HA! Anyway, for this final episode Martin and Sam consider the Waits material from 2010 to the present day, including several contributions to tribute albums, a few live recordings, and his beautiful-yet-flawed farewell to David Letterman.

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As we enter the new millennium, Waits pushes into new sonic territory with various collaborations, covers and spoken word pieces, including nostalgic re-inventions and some more full-blooded engagement with hip hop music.

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Helium Reprise, Helium, Tin Hat Trio (2000)
I’ll Tell You Wh...

Rounding out the second half(?) of the 1990s, Waits explores collaborations with old friends and some unusual covers, as well as the building of experimental musical instruments, including his own mouth. It's a weird one, no doubt about it!

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Brother Can You Spare a Dime, Brother Can...

Into the 1990s, Martin and Sam return for more unreleased Waits tracks, splitting the decade into two more manageable chunks. This first episode sees some repurposed music, a few live songs, as well as Waits delivering heart-felt advice alongside Thelonius Monster.

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Serrano, flexi-d...

More discussions of Waits's unreleased recordings brings us to the 1980s, featuring several demos, a bunch of covers, and significant collaborations with other musicians, both big and small. Highlights this week include his contribution to a poetry documentary, a live Ewan MacColl cover, and his evening of collaborations with The Replacements.

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twitter: @songbysongpod
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Our second episode dealing with the non-album work of Tom Waits (and our second from the 1970s) brings a variety of covers, live performances, outtakes and re-uses from studio sessions... including the Hokey Pokey. Check the show notes for versions of everything we're discussing, and hopefully you'll find some new favourites.

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts u...

Having determined not to waste everyone's time with a comprehensive coverage of ALL of Waits's recordings... Sam and Martin return to the podcast to do exactly that. Sorry? In this first of several episodes, we consider some of the most prolific years of Waits's career, covering as many recordings as we can find between 1971 and 1977.

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twitter: @songbysongpod
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Music e...

WE DID IT! Just over 8 years and several hundred episodes since Ol’ 55, we’ve songed all the songs there are to Song by Song. Along with a little look back at Bad As Me, Kirk, Sam and Martin also give this alphabetically-first-but-chronologically-last track full consideration, and quickly check in to see how The Eagles have been doing. Plus - BONUS! A final appearance of the Smooth Marble Egg theory of art!

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A quintessential and sincere song of advice and experience for Kirk, Martin and Sam this week, perhaps also bordering on the sentimental? We discuss the paired imagery in the lyrics, more rhythmic shifting, and examine the questions these songs are asking (along with the answers they suggest). 

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twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

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Diving into the three bonus tracks from the Bad As Me Deluxe edition, Sam and Martin welcome Kirk Hamilton of the Strong Songs podcast to explore isolated sax stabs, irregular rhythmic structures and sparse arrangements. We consider Waits's continued vocal experimentation, the oblique details of his lyric writing, and the politics and history of dancehall/pop crossovers from reggae star Shaggy.

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At the end of the album-proper, Andrea, Martin and Sam consider the festive season as well as all its associated traumas. We return to Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Rickie Lee Jones as well as 1970s Tom Waits, debating possible autobiographical elements, poverty tourism, and which lullaby is best used to ring in the new year.

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

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With serious discussion of disturbing events from the start, Andrea illuminates for Sam and Martin some of the context for this song of military trauma. We consider musical presentation of problems and solutions to injustice, sonic and lyrical density, and Waits’s political engagement more broadly 

website: songbysongpodcast.com
twitter: @songbysongpod
e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review ...