Song by Song

Latest Episodes:

Small Change, Small Change, Tom Waits [045] Jul 27, 2016

Show notes

Hitting the apex (or the wind-down?) of the album with its title track, Martin, Sam and Callum work through the details of the untimely death of Small Change, discussing some of the societal commentary in the song, choices of harsh and clinical language and the amazing Jazz stylings of Lew Tabackin.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Small Change (Got Rained on with His Own .38), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Be-Bop, The Rites of Pan, Lew Tabackin (1978/2009)

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The One That Got Away, Small Change, Tom Waits [044] Jul 20, 2016

Show notes

It's storytime again, as Martin, Sam and Callum are taken on a series of single-verse vignettes. Watching the way Waits creates a series of spaces, the kind of shamed men who live there, and his ability to simultaneously retain a sense of fun all form part of the conversation on this week's Song by Song.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: The One That Got Away, Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) The Man That Got Away - Live at Great American Music Hall, Mystery White Boy, Jeff Buckley (2000)

Bad Liver And A Broken Heart, Small Change, Tom Waits [043] Jul 13, 2016

Show notes

Martin and Sam welcome their new guest host Callum Hughes, immediately getting side-tracked by old sitcom themes and how old Geoffrey Palmer might be. Casablanca misquotes, internal rhyming structures, intertextuality and depression - all on Song by Song.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (In Lowell), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Old Red Eyes Is Back, 0898 Beautiful South, The Beautiful South (1992)

Pasties And A G-String (At the Two O'Clock Club), Small Change, Tom Waits [042] Jul 06, 2016

Show notes

For her final track with Song by Song, Lucy Dallas discusses with Sam and Martin some of the social setting and politics of this bump and grind number from Small Change. The relationship of satire and exploitation, sex and sexiness as well as the extent of Waits's critique on the characters he plays and embodies all appear, set to a thumping beat!

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Pasties and a G-String (At the Two O'Clock Club), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Artistry In Percussion, The Chronological Classics 1946, Stan Kenton and his Orchestra (1946)

Invitation To The Blues, Small Change, Tom Waits [041] Jun 29, 2016

Show notes

An invitation to musical analysis (as well as rambling nonsense), Song by Song returns to the diner for another longing message to an unattainable woman. Martin, Sam and Lucy Dallas return to discuss how realistic this longing is, how attainable the draw of independence and freedom might be, and whether Sam should practice piano on-air or in his own time.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Invitation To The Blues, Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Ghost In The Machine, The Police (1981)

The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening with Pete King), Small Change, Tom Waits [040] Jun 22, 2016

Show notes

Whether it's actually possible for a piano to drink or not, it is totally conceivable that a podcast can be hosted by creampuff fencepost-IQ mental midgets, and here they are with another episode of Song by Song. As Martin, Sam and Lucy peel back the layers of writing on this track, comparing it to the comic genius of Les Dawson as well as Waits's own singing persona, the question arises as to whether this is a quick gag, or a deeper exploration of many other themes.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening with Pete King), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Les Dawson plays The Entertainer, via YouTube, Les Dawson (1984)

I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In the Ninth Ward), Small Change, Tom Waits [039] Jun 15, 2016

Show notes

Martin and Sam are joined by their latest guest host Lucy Dallas, wandering arm-in-arm through the streets and debating (again/still) the merits of truth and authenticity in the storytelling of Tom Waits. Whether we buy into the mythmaking of this group and location, or whether Waits is as successful as some of his heroes at creating these idealised places is challenged in weeks episode.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: I Wish I Was In New Orleans (In the Ninth Ward), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Georgia On My Mind, The Genius Hits The Road, Ray Charles (1960)

Jitterbug Boy, Small Change, Tom Waits [038] Jun 08, 2016

Show notes

Liars, liars, all their pants on fire, Sam, Martin and Jeffrey explore the fakery and tall-tale-telling of Waits's drunken persona, debating the truths and lies of the song's narrative and questioning whether we should disbelieve the stories... or believe that a man could really live such a life. Neo-futurist theatre, George Plimpton and the rise of the hobo all join us for another episode of Song by Song.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Jitterbug Boy, Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) A Talk With George, JoCo Looks Back, Jonathan Coulton (2008)

Step Right Up, Small Change, Tom Waits [037] Jun 01, 2016

Show notes

For your consideration, at value price, cut bargain basement availability for one night only and in any shade and texture you could wish for, Martin, Sam and Jeffrey return to package, wrap, fold, spindle and mutilate another conversation on everyone's favourite anti-salesman, Tom Waits.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Step Right Up, Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Butcher's Blend Purina Advert, Tom Waits (1981)

Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen), Small Change, Tom Waits [036] May 25, 2016

Show notes

Sam and Martin welcome Night Vale writer Jeffrey Cranor to this first track from season four of Song by Song, ploughing straight into Waits's Aussie-faux-bo song with instant disagreement and conflict. It's good to be back... Duality of tone and meaning, the unknowability of Danish lyricism and the lure of the open road all feature in the discussion, as well as our putative Waits Theme Pub.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Fyn Er Fin, Fyn Er Fin, Lasse & Mathilde (1995)

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