Proto-punk rocker turned troubadour Cohen made his name in the early '60s with Charleston Grotto, who were then notorious on the LA club circuit. In the 40 years since, Cohen has amassed hundreds of his big-hearted, dog-eared tunes, which blend tiki lounge jazz, Weimar cabaret, psychedelia, lurching blues and boogaloo with dark humour and extraordinary pop finesse. The results-as championed by Tom Waits and John Zorn—vaguely recall Roky Erickson, but there's no hint of a talent tragically damaged here.
Dug by both new breed and old (from Horse Stories compatriot Toby Burke to Dylan), Kelly has long been Australia's foremost troubadour since emerging from Melbourne's mid-'70s punk scene with a solo ambition that first flourished on 1985's Post. Produced by Tchad (Tom Waits/American Music Club) Blake, this two-CD follow-up to 2001's Nothing But A Dream is smartly conceived. Disc one rattles and blows like Highway 61 ghost-ridden by Hank Williams, a tumble of bordello piano, pedal-steel and blustery guitars. Disc two is more spare, sort of Time Out Of Mind left out in the rain by Warren Zevon.
In Francis Ford Coppola's liner notes to this extended, remastered release of the soundtrack to his 1982 classic, he confesses he told Tom Waits and producer Bones Howe, "What I really want you guys to do is make an album called One From The Heart and then I'll make a movie that goes with it." In the event, both were deliciously melancholy works of art. The film was panned. The music, however, was universally loved from the get-go. It's the best thing Waits has ever done.
The horror is that it could so nearly have been Bette Midler, not Crystal Gayle, duetting with Tom.
