For some reason Tom Waits has decided to simultaneously release two albums of material which he wrote a while back.

Alice contains the music for a 1994 stage show about Lewis Carroll while Blood Money features songs from Woyzeck, another production about a Prussian soldier's insanity.

For the first-time listener, the most shocking thing about Waits is his voice, which at times sounds like an angry, gruffer Louis Armstrong spitting fire with unbelievable intensity. He's an absolute monster.

If you can appreciate that then you can appreciate these fine albums, full of dark foreboding yet sweet and tender at times.

On both, Waits veers from almost straight sax-ridden jazz to surreal jangly orchestrated pieces with xylophone.

It's a strange, deeply atmospheric brew which at times can be unbearably tense and 'heavy'.

Waits and his band can really pull some punches, kicking out stompers which sound like the aural equivalent of a freak show.

Elsewhere it's slow and sombre, almost maudlin.

Musically Alice has the edge, though Blood Money is almost as good.

If you like your pop light-hearted and sweet melodied, then steer clear.

If you fancy something a little more off-the-wall, then do buy.

JS