Foreign Affairs

Welcome to the hipster blues. By the time of this 1977 recording, Tom Waits had fully transformed himself into a musical character actor from another era, caught somewhere between Raymond Chandler and the Beat Generation. His vocals here are some of the most mannered performances this side of Bukowski (and probably had something to do with the movie roles he won in the coming years). His use of strings on some of these tracks can occasionally drift dangerously close to schmaltz, but that's easily compensated by such highlights as his duet with Bette Midler on "I Never Talk to Strangers" and the breathless melodrama of "Burma-Shave." Cool. --Steve Appleford