What We're Listening To

REVIEW
You will hear many things before January 1, and almost all of them will be the same.

There will be sleigh bells. There will be reed-thin voices fresh from the talent show conveyor belt. There will be airbrushed hopefuls who think "good singing" is the art of packing in 17 notes when one will do.

The antidote is Tom Waits. Not convinced? Try this quote:

"Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad - ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."

It's a sentiment you'll appreciate more and more when M&S' latest celeb-advert has been burned into your irises, and you've inhaled Slade for the hundredth time in shiny malls. But it's no less a part of winter than any of this dull glitter.

After all, Tom isn't really a summer person. His bottom-of-a-well vocals are part of a rich concoction best enjoyed in a dark and smoky place. He's the ringmaster to your bluesy circus, full of experimental creatures and the odd wicked act of black humour.

Glitter and Doom Live collects live material from his tour last year, and at the very least it offers relief in this annual sale of the soul.