Tom Waits for everyone - a new web site, 8 free tracks and a new live album

Tom Waits leaps onto the web; photo by Danny Clinch

To celebrate the launch earlier this week of his first-ever officially sanctioned web site, along with the announcement of an upcoming live album, Tom Waits is giving away eight songs as free downloads on the site. The tracks, previews from the live set “Glitter and Doom,” due November 24, show the original musical raconteur in fine form, from the percussive first track, “Lucinda/Ain’t Goin’ Down,” to the tender balladry of “Fannin Street,” through the loping narrative of “Circus” and the T Rex-ian stomp of “Going Out West.”

It certainly whets the appetite for the full two-disc collection, which culls tracks from Waits’ summer 2008 tour of the US and Europe. Disc one recreates an evening’s performance with 17 tracks selected from 10 cities, while the second, dubbed “Tom Tales,” features the best bits from Waits’ deliciously unhinged between-song comic banter, pulled together to create a continuous monologue.

As for Waits’ new web site, consistent with his reputation as an artist of high standards and innovative vision, it provides a rich assortment of images (five pages of arty photographs by some of the best names in the business), random bits of “wit and wisdom,” an exhaustive discography and dozens of videos to engage both hardcore fans and curious newcomers to Waits’ weird and wonderful world. You could get lost here for hours.

As one example, check out Waits’ “press conference” (stay to the end to see what’s really going on), announcing the “Glitter and Doom” tour last year.