Tom Waits is a brilliant lyricist, owning a writing style that draws from poets likes Raymond Chandler & Charles Bukowski. On Small Change, the Bones Howe-produced 1976 LP from Waits (his third studio album), the words flow like poetry and he delivers every syllable through the one-of-a-kind vessel that is his strangled, unshaven voice — big ups all the cigarettes he must have smoked and all the whiskey he must have consumed. "Tom Traubert's Blue (Four Sheets To The wind In Copenhagen)" is a stunning opener, and the calming string section starkly contrasts the coarse textures of Waits's vocals. Other standouts include "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening With Pete King)," and "Step Right Up," as Waits sings and/or delivers spoken word pieces against heavily jazz-influenced instrumentals

• newly remastered
• opaque blue vinyl
• music label: Anti- 1976 / 2018

reviewed by rei kwondo 06/18