Wry and bemused, Tom Waits addresses the idea of online privacy this week by releasing a YouTube gag video, embedded below. His first album was released nearly forty years ago and as he prepares for his latest release, Bad As Me, in October, he has to contend with the realities of Facebook, Twitter, and Bit Torrent where a small army of users are quick to unofficially spread out details for anything new, putting an emphasis on being "first" over actually savouring or understanding the content.

I personally subscribe to the idea that an artist should be able to reveal their own works on their own terms, but today's culture is quick to steal that moment. "If you were having a birthday and I came over early" Waits asks, "and I opened up all your presents and started playing with all your toys, would you be okay with that?" The junkyard-like solution he comes up with in his video (which yes, does include snippets from the upcoming album), is very much of his own world, and as you can see at the end, gives him some satisfaction against the tricky issue.