The Depths · All albums

Mule Variations

Tom Waits · 1999

• Scores: Noise 2, Unease 3, Complexity 2 (each 1 to 5)
• Genre: Rock, Art rock, Blues rock
• Mood: gnarled, tender, junkyard
• Sound: junkyard percussion, gravelly vocals, blues-influenced, spoken-word pieces, ballads

Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan produced this at Prairie Sun Recording Studios in Cotati, California, in 1998, his first studio album in six years. Marc Ribot plays guitar, Larry Taylor bass and Charlie Musselwhite blues harp, with Les Claypool on bass for Big in Japan. Waits plays optigan on Lowside of the Road and Chamberlin on Black Market Baby, and Eyeball Kid includes turntable samples. Christopher Marvin, son of Lee Marvin, guest-drums as a nod to Waits' membership in the Sons of Lee Marvin.

Track list

1. Big in Japan (4:05)
2. Lowside of the Road (2:59)
3. Hold On (5:33)
4. Get Behind the Mule (6:52)
5. House Where Nobody Lives (4:14)
6. Cold Water (5:23)
7. Pony (4:32)
8. What's He Building? (3:20)
9. Black Market Baby (5:02)
10. Eyeball Kid (4:25)
11. Picture in a Frame (3:39)
12. Chocolate Jesus (3:55)
13. Georgia Lee (4:24)
14. Filipino Box Spring Hog (3:09)
15. Take It with Me (4:24)
16. Come On Up to the House (4:36)