Tom Waits - Alice and Red Drum

There’s always been a strong theatrical side to pop’s beatnik iconoclast. Aside from his movie appearances, Waits has often collaborated with his playwright-wife Kathleen Brennan. These two new acoustic albums, being released simultaneously, arise from theatrical projects about the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland and Woyzeck, a soldier driven insane by infidelity and medical experiments.  Waits’ record company describes the music for the latter as “Tin Pan Alley meets Weimar Republic.