Update: This stuff is getting yanked left and right…some of the links might work, some might not…
I’ve now heard three songs from the forthcoming album of Tom Waits covers (and I think maybe 1 original) performed by Scarlett Johansson (with a quite impressive cast of backers) – album title: Anywhere I Lay My Head
Scarlett Johansson – vocals
Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) – production
David Bowie – vocals on “Falling Down” and “Fannin Street”
Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) – guitars
The first song, “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” sounds like an early Magnetic Fields song arrangement. Her voice is pretty weak, but the whole thing is so far off from what I would have expected that I’ll need to hear it a bunch before I can decide what I think of it. I really like the original and I really like the version done by The Ramones, so I may not really have the space in my brain for an additional version of the song…still, it’s the best of the three that I’ve heard.
Listen to:I Don’t Want to Grow Up
“Anywhere I Lay My Head” is also a little bit like The Magnetic Fields, but less so… and “I Wish I Was in New Orleans” reminds me of Margaret Leng Tan with its klinky toy instrument sounds.
Listen to: Anywhere I Lay My Head
Listen to: I Wish I Was in New Orleans
Full tracklisting:
Tracklisting
1. “Fawn” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Alice) – 2:32
2. “Town with No Cheer” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Swordfishtrombones) – 5:03
3. “Falling Down” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Big Time) – 4:55
4. “Anywhere I Lay My Head” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Rain Dogs) – 3:38
5. “Fannin Street” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards) – 5:06
6. “Song for Jo” – 4:09
7. “Green Grass” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Real Gone) – 3:33
8. “I Wish I Was in New Orleans” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Small Change) – 3:59
9. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Bone Machine) – 4:11
10. “No One Knows I’m Gone” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Alice) – 2:57
11. “Who Are You?” (originally on Tom Waits’ album Bone Machine) – 4:49