Squarepusher
Jenkinson was offered a five album record contract with Warp Records in December 1995, which was duly signed, and this led him to defer his studies at Chelsea Art College.
Early in 1996 Richard D. James completed the compilation process for "Feed Me Weird Things" which was made from over 50 tracks that Tom had given him on DAT, which were recorded from late 1994 to 1995. Around the same time Richard and Tom recorded two tracks together, one of which was subsequently edited by Tom and released as "Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid" on the "We Are Reasonable People" compilation album in 1998. Tom's contribution to the other track was reinterpreted and released as "Happy Little Wilberforce" on the "Alt. Frequencies" compilation released on Worm Interface in 1996. 1996 saw Jenkinson starting to be offered gigs both in the UK and in continental Europe.
Tom Waits
Waits released "Real Gone", his first nontheatrical studio album since "Mule Variations", in 2004. It is Waits's only album to date to feature absolutely no piano on any of its tracks. Waits beatboxes on the opening track, "Top of the Hill", and most of the album's songs begin with Waits's "vocal percussion" improvisations. It is also more rock-oriented, with less blues influence than he has previously demonstrated. The same year, Waits contributed backing vocals to the track "Go Tell It on the Mountain" on the Grammy Award (Best Traditional Gospel Album)-winning album of the same name by the Blind Boys of Alabama. He also contributed a version of Daniel Johnston's "King Kong" to the tribute album "", released on Gammon Records.