The release of two Tom Waits albums on the same day presents the casual fan with a bit of a dilemma: splash out on both or take a risk on one and hope you make the right choice? Happily this is one of those rare occasions where you can't really go wrong, since Alice and Blood Money are both fascinating collections of twisted vaudeville which stand up perfectly respectably beside the old ham's stellar back catalogue. Alice is the gentler of the two, a mournfully pretty song cycle co-written with Waits's wife Kathleen Brennan and apparently inspired by the eponymous heroine of the Lewis Carroll books. Blood Money is rather more intense, a gleefully nihilistic take on Woyzeck, the story of a deranged Prussian soldier. With Waits's theatrical rasp as compelling as ever, these releases qualify as a genuine musical event - and proof that, contrary to popular belief, fiftysomethings can make classic records after all.

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