The Pete Wentz Ego Trip Continues

For those of you who were fortunate enough not to know, Pete Wentz recently put together a new band called Black Cards. For those of you fortunate enough not to know who Pete Wentz is, he helped propel Fallout Boy to fame with his emo lyrics, lack of musical ability, and douchebag smile.

Not long ago Fallout Boy decided to go on indefinite hiatus, with Pete Wentz citing that he needed to spend more time with his family (you know, that "actress" he's married to, Ashlee Simpson, and their little bundle of joy, Bronx Mowgli, from the jungle book), and tantalizingly enough added that he thought the world  "needed a little less of Pete Wentz."

It looks like Pete has since decided that not only does he not need to spend more time with his family, but that the world needs MORE Pete Wentz. His new project, Black Cards, are meant to be his solution to both, I guess. Apparently the band is meant to be "experimental reggae", but if you ask me the idea of Pete Wentz playing experimental reggae sounds about as successful as Sean William Scott trying to play Rain Man.

Anyway, I don't know what the fuck this is meant to be, but this video was posted on the Black Cards Youtube page yesterday. If anyone has any clue, seriously fill me in. It's a trailer, and I don't know why bands or music videos or retarded bass players need trailers, but there ya go.

Tom Waits Will Ruin What's Left Of Your Wallet

Well it's official, you're fucked. If you pre-ordered the Bad Religion records I posted last week, then your wallet is probably suffering a near death experience, with Tom Waits about to cast the finishing blow. 

Anti Records announced today that they are repressing the first four releases from Tom Waits' Aslyum years (the beginning of his career) on limited edition 180-gram red vinyl, with each record being limited to 1000 copies. Records included in this repressing are Closing Time, The Heart Of Saturday Night, Small Change, and Nighthawks At The Diner. Each record is going for $26.99, except for Nighthawks At The Diner, which is going for $37.99. Now I'm too braindead to do the math, but superior guesstimation skills tell me that ordering all these records comes to a grand total of like, a billion dollars.

The only one of these albums I actually own is Small Change, and I have to say it's pretty damn cool. Tom Waits has this great way of timelessly making you feel like an old tin can sailor at the end of his rope, dying in a gutter somewhere. Whilst the jazzier numbers are fun to listen to, it's the slow piano songs that really make this album for me. It's the kind of album you don't mind listening to on an introspective Friday night by yourself with a bottle of wine.

I remember the first time I heard "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)", I was in a tiny bar with a friend of mine, without any real place to go or people to meet. We were sitting there when the song came on, and we both just started cracking up. There's something hauntingly sad about some of these songs, but at the same time they aren't without humor. Tom Waits manages to sound like a raving drunk singing about how the menus are all freezing, the piano tuner needs a hearing aid, the telephone is out of cigarettes, etc, all while capturing some shared human emotion that anyone who has been there (or even heard the song) feels.

"Tom Traubert's Blues" follows a similar vein, with Waits saying of his inspiration for the song "I went down to skid row ... I bought a pint of rye. In a brown paper bag... Hunkered down, drank the pint of rye, went home, threw up, and wrote 'Tom Traubert's Blues'". 

I can't vouch for the awesomeness of the other albums, but if they're as good as Small Change, you can bet they're worth picking up. 

Anyway, if you've never heard it, here's Tom Waits performing "Tom Trauberts Blues", as well as "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)" on various television shows from the 70's. The first video definitely captures the sad aspect of his music much more, while the second one captures his humor. The second video also includes one of my favorite interviews with him.


EDIT:


Records can be purchased from the Tom Waits official webstore:


http://kingsroadmerch.com/tom-waits/