New Tori Amos record

[joyfulgirl]

It was a great performance of a song I don't like very much, Sleeps with Butterflies. I laughed outloud a few times at her pronunciations and Tori-isms.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Not liking Sleeps with Butterflies?

I haven't listened to the album in a while, but I've been meaning to. Time to see how it's changed for me.

Also, my wildflowers are still growing. Lots of tiny green shoots with leaves. :flower:

 

[u2popmofo]

Ok, I thought this was fascinating. They have a diary section on The Dresden Dolls website, and this little article on Tori Amos was made on April 15 of this year. Interesting stuff, please read:


And now, I must now delve into the uncomfortable subject of Tori Amos.
She's been haunting me for years and it's time the story was told.

My earliest memories of Tori Amos were of not really liking her, in that teenage-fuck-everything way, before I'd really heard much of her music. A friend of my sister, Rich Collins, was way into her and gave me a copy of her "crucify" EP. I didn't really dig it, and I didn't bother to dig any deeper. As I grew older and starting getting the comparisons, I just shrugged my shoudlers and said, "Not really familiar with it, not really into it." When I was working at Toscanini's, I think I was around 20, Mike Penta insisted that I dig. "You'll love her. I'll make you a mix." And so he did, and I listened. And I still didn't like it. This time, I more than didn't like it, I REALLY didn't like it. There was something about the vocal that irked me. But some of her lyrics and melodies were brilliant. Some I couldn't stand. This was really bugging me. There was one song on the disc "Winter", that I absolutely loved, but I wanted to go into the song with my bare hands and strangle some of the precious-sounding lyrics. I realized back then that the reason this was such a frustrating expereince is that the similarites - between my songs and hers - were enough that the differences were painful. The way human beings are terrified of likenesses of human beings that are "slightly off". Hearing the piano was like listening to someone speak in my voice, it felt like a violation. I would hear this word choice, this chord choice, this line or phrase and my blodd would just boil....wrong! wrong! wrong! No mittens and snowflakes! Evil! No butterflies, no goddesses, this is wrong wrong wrong! But the songs that were good rooted and stuck. They were few, but I was fucked. I had to admit that I liked them. After that I sort of forgot about her.

Then, recently, I got to the point where I could really afford to get CDs that I might not like. So I bought a bunch of her stuff. I considered this part of my job, research. I would even defend myself at the local record store, embarassed as if I were a guy buying tampons. "Heh heh. These are for my Wife." "Heh heh. This is research for my band. Really." I knew she was coming to town, I got tickets. I decided to delve headfirst and figure this out, and put it to bed if possible. Brian and I had gotten a DVD of hers and watched it several months ago and shut it off halfway through, bored. I had heard that she was a real fireball of a performer, and I was really disappointed by the blandness of it. I also cound't tell if I wanted to like it or wanted to hate it. I couldn't tell if I was jealous or looking for a role model. Some strange combo of all of these things, I think.

We left for tour and I brought a few of her CDs, including her new one, "The Beekeeper", and her new book. It was my project. Brian laughed at my face while he watched me reading. I would grimace, breathe through my teeth and put the book down while making a deep agoinized sound.

"What?"
"AARARRRGGHGGHGg. She's talking about the goddesses and butterflies again and refferring to a song as 'she'. Am I evil for hating this so much?"

But I was fucked again. Buried in all of the Corn-Mother, Butterfly-worshipping New Age LaLa there was a woman living my lifestyle. Getting in a bus with a bunch of people, writing songs, performing them, learning to cope with the crap-ridden, backstabbing music industry. Learning to cope with assholes like me hating her butterfly-worshipping side. I couldn't put the book down. So much of she was writing about, between the lines, was directly applicable to my life. I loved it and I couldn't stand it, just like the music. I listened to her first two records and found songs that I thought were genuinely brilliant. Meanwhile, I listened to the new CD. And I kept wondering...do you want to hate this? Do you want to like it? The answer kept being both (but with the new CD I had no choice, I couldn't like it even if I'd wanted to. Couldn't stand it.)

So we went to see her here in Boston the night before last, my band and I, and there I sat. And as I watched her I thought: This performer does not need to care about whether I like her music or not. She has a huge following, people who love her music and stick with her, she's forty, a mother and she's touring. Terrible album or not, Amanda, you've got to repsect this woman. Coming home, I finished the last few pages of her book and thought about what had struck me, stuck with me. One thing that she expressly said a few times was how sad she thought it was that female musicians and singers felt the need to compete so fiercly with each other, as if there were only room for so many - and it was kill or be killed. I wonder if that's true among those women at the top. I've never felt it. But maybe I have, without realizing it. Maybe my younger distaste for the Toris and the Anis of the world was borne of jealousy more than taste. As I've gotten older, I find that it all doesn't matter so much. I can allow myself to love this or that song, this or that album, and leave it at that. Soemtimes it's easier to love Avril than Tori. Sometimes I wonder what Liz Phair was thinking. Then I think about Bjork and all conflict disappears and I think that the rest of us should just give up and flip burgers.

So as Oprah would say, You Go Tori. I will always continue to buy your records, hoping to find a song I love. And your book made me think, and learn, and consider, and for that, I thank you. There are few of us, and indeed, we best stick together.

 

[joyfulgirl]

That was brilliant!!!! I can relate to a lot of it, too. I had a love-hate thing with her for a long time and for many of the same reasons. But then one night after I broke up with my boyfriend I went for a long drive and listened to Little Earthquakes and the way that record spoke to me I knew that my war with Tori was over. I still cringed when I watched the Beekeeper DVD and I actually can't read the book but the things that used to annoy me amuse me now and it's all just...Tori.

Now I have to go buy all of The Dresden Dolls records immediately.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I would hear this word choice, this chord choice, this line or phrase and my blodd would just boil....wrong! wrong! wrong! No mittens and snowflakes! Evil! No butterflies, no goddesses, this is wrong wrong wrong! But the songs that were good rooted and stuck. They were few, but I was fucked. [/I]

 

[u2popmofo]

To now speak on Dresden Dolls instead of Tori Amos, I just downloaded a live version of them covering 'War Pigs' by Black Sabbath from iTunes.

Wow.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Now I have to go buy all of The Dresden Dolls records immediately.

Yes, you do.


I love Amanda Palmer. I've surfed around the Dresden Dolls' website and found a lot of what she's written to be really smart and relevant.

I've read a lot of the comparisons between Amanda and Tori, and I can see how that's convenient for music critics--two crazy women playing piano. And I can see a few similarities, like Amanda says in the diary. But I guess I see them as so very different from each other, with Tori being a prodigy and Amanda never having 'successfully' taken piano lessons. Even at her craziest, I see Tori as very refined, a beautiful singer, an incomparable pianist. And I see Amanda as the exact opposite, in the best possible way.

And while I'm going on and on here, I must say, I've never had any issues with Tori or her music, really. Maybe it's because I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when Little Earthquakes came out. Whereas Amanda Palmer rejected Tori in a kind of 'fuck everything' high school way, I embraced Tori in a different take on the 'fuck everything' philosophy. Listening to her made me different and a little strange, but even still, I listened to her because I loved her music. The lyrics, the Tori-isms, her style of piano playing...none of that bothered me because it never occurred to me that it should. Now that I'm older, I understand better why Tori rubs some people the wrong way. But I still love her, and I think that's pretty damn cool considering I've been buying her albums for about 15 years now.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I've read a lot of the comparisons between Amanda and Tori, and I can see how that's convenient for music critics--two crazy women playing piano. And I can see a few similarities, like Amanda says in the diary. But I guess I see them as so very different from each other, with Tori being a prodigy and Amanda never having 'successfully' taken piano lessons. Even at her craziest, I see Tori as very refined, a beautiful singer, an incomparable pianist. And I see Amanda as the exact opposite, in the best possible way.

I agree. Now I've only heard the two Dresden Dolls songs you put on the mixes, but I've never once thought that they reminded me of Tori. When I listen to them it makes me feel like I'm in some seedy off off Broadway punk cabaret show that my friend Steve might've dragged me to because he was always in the know. "Refined" is exactly the word I'd use to describe Tori, whereas Dresden Dolls seem very raw, but as you say, in a good way.

And while I'm going on and on here, I must say, I've never had any issues with Tori or her music, really. Maybe it's because I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when Little Earthquakes came out. Whereas Amanda Palmer rejected Tori in a kind of 'fuck everything' high school way, I embraced Tori in a different take on the 'fuck everything' philosophy.

Maybe I judged Tori harshly in the beginning in part because I'm about the same age as she is. I don't know why that would matter but it's possible I wouldn't have had these issues with her had I been in high school when Little Earthquakes came out.

Mostly it was her performance style that put me off. Early on I found her to be self-consciously sexual and it didn't feel authentic to me. Now she's happier, has a child and husband, and has grown into what she had been faking before so that her performance style seems now to be a completely natural and effortless extension of the music. And of course I've changed, too, so I see it differently as well.

The faery-goddess-angel stuff has irritated me at times because she assumes the role of teacher when she talks about these things and that's great for young women and teens seeking strong women role models but I've been put off by the ego that comes through. But I went to one meet & greet years ago and stood in the back and just observed her interacting with the fans and she was really something. I could hear her giving advice because these young girls see her as a mother figure and some of them have nowhere to turn. They were crying and telling her their personal stories of abuse, and she was so compassionate and sincere with them that I began to give her every break. Now she just cracks me up when she goes into her faery-goddess stuff and I appreciate the whole of her more instead of picking and choosing the parts I like and agree with. And while there are songs I like less than others, I don't think she's ever recorded a song that I really really dislike, which given the amount of material says quite a lot.

So, where do I start with Dresden Dolls??

 

[u2popmofo]

So, where do I start with Dresden Dolls??

They really only have 1 'real' release, that is their self-titled album. It's extremely solid, and extremely enjoyable. They have another CD that they personally put out, which is a cd of live tracks (mainly unreleased songs, which some surprisingly DO actually remind me of Tori Amos in some weird way) .

I agree with you both though, for the most part I dont get the comparison (other than the fact that they're both crazy piano playin' ladies!)

 

[joyfulgirl]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

And now, Tori's cover of 'I Ran' from the Denver show I saw is now up. Not great quality but it's all we got.

http://www.hereinmyhead.com/sounds/index.html

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Haha. That is AWESOME. I would have been freaking out. Too bad about the sound quality.

Right now I'm enjoying her cover of "Eyes Without a Face." She's definitely on an 80s kick this tour.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

SUMMER OF SIN TOUR
TICKET & ON-SALE INFO
Tori returns to the North America
with special guests Imogen Heap
and The Ditty Bops!

8/08 Chastain Prk Amp - Atlanta, GA
8/10 Sound Advice Amp - W. Palm Beach, FL
8/11 Tampa Bay PAC - Tampa, FL
8/13 Koka Booth Amp Regency Prk - Cary, NC
8/14 Ntelos Pav Harbor Ctr - Portsmouth VA
8/16 Oakdale Theatre - Wallingford, CT
8/17 Jones Beach - Wantaugh, NY
8/19 PNC Bank Arts Ctr - Holmdel, NJ
8/20 Tweeter Waterfront - Camden, NJ
8/21 B of A Pav - Boston, MA
8/23 Saratoga PAC - Saratoga Springs, NY
8/24 Cavalier T/phone Pav @ Pier Six - Baltimore, MD
8/26 The Bell Centre - Montreal, QC
8/27 The Molson Amp - Toronto ONT
8/28 Meadowbrook - Rochester Hills, MI
8/30 Cleveland, OH
8/31 Chicago, IL
9/02 Houston, TX
9/03 Austin, TX
9/05 Red Rocks Amp - Denver, CO
9/08 Chateau San Michelle - Woodinville WA
9/09 Portland, OR
9/10 San Francisco, CA
9/13 Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA
9/14 San Diego, CA
9/16 Dodge Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
9/17 The Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

-----

I'm really glad the Phoenix show is on a Friday night. I'm hoping that mofo and I will be able to go. I haven't seen Tori since 1998, so I'd love to catch her on this tour.

 

[lmjhitman]

2 canadian dates - in eastern canada, no less.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm going to see her in August, I've never been to one of her concerts so I'm really looking forward to it. 45 dollars too, you can't beat that

I went on her web site and she has a place where you can send in song requests.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I just re-read this entire thread. There's some wonderful discussion in it!

Anyway, I'm here to say that I managed to pick up two tickets during the Phoenix pre-sale this morning. I got an e-mail yesterday with the info, saying that the sale started at 10 this morning. Much to my chagrin, when I logged on at 9:55, the sale was already going! There apparently were no level 1 seats left, so I ended up buying row 3 of level 2 (the $35 ticktes). It's been so long since I've seen Tori live, though, that those seats will do just fine! I have enjoyed Scarlet's Walk and The Beekeeper so much that I'm really excited to see the show and hear the songs from those albums.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I'll be at the Red Rocks show in Sept.

I have an extra ticket if anyone wants to join me.

 

[u2popmofo]

I managed to pick up two tickets during the Phoenix pre-sale this morning.

:sexiestwinkever:

chagrin

You made that word up.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I was going over to LAUNCH today to listen to my radio station, and look what I found....

Clicky



(It's Tori doing a cover of Jim Croce's "Operator.")



Also, I wish the Red Rocks show weren't on a Monday! That would be a sight to behold!

 

[joyfulgirl]

(It's Tori doing a cover of Jim Croce's "Operator.")

Nice. She doesn't do anything half-hearted, does she? I never caught the line "I've overcome the blow" until this minute.

Also, I wish the Red Rocks show weren't on a Monday! That would be a sight to behold!

It's Labor Day.

Did you get the email about the front row upgrades?

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Yeah, that performance is excellent. I'm only barely familiar with the original, though. Beautiful song.

I did get the e-mail! Right now I'm glad to be in the building, but front row....

 

[joyfulgirl]

You can request songs for the tour on her website. I just sent in a request. Don't ask.

 

[BVS]

Don't ask.

Makes it even more enticing!!!

 

[HeartlandGirl]

 

[joyfulgirl]

 

[HeartlandGirl]

From the Tori mailing list:

After years of paying top dollar for low quality bootlegs, Tori Amos diehards now have an alternative. Six live bootleg recordings are set to be released this fall. The first two releases are scheduled for an August 30th release, with four more due this fall. All six discs will be available exclusively at www.toribootlegs.com.

Each bootleg is a double-disc package brimming with live rarities, fan favorites and stunning cover versions. Each set was recorded live during her "Original Sinsuality Tour".

The first album features songs captured during Tori's April 15th, 2005 concert at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Among the set's many highlights are live, soul-baring renditions of 1992's "Mother" the title track of new album The Beekeeper and 1996's "Father Lucifer," as well as poignant covers of Jim Croce's 1971 hit "Operator" and Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game."

The second album, recorded April 25th, 2005 at Royce Hall Auditorium in Los Angeles, features intimate versions of 1994's "Cloud On My Tongue" and "Yes, Anastacia," as well as covers of Bon Jovi's 1986 No. 1 hit "Livin' On A Prayer" and Jules Shear's "All Through The Night."

SPECIAL OFFER!
Order both Tori Amos double-CD Bootlegs -
Auditorium Theatre Chicago, IL and
Royce Hall Auditorium Los Angeles, CA -
for $25!
ORDER BOTH NOW AT TORIBOOTLEGS.COM

Both bootlegs will be available beginning August 30.
If you place your order by Wednesday, August 24, your order will be shipped to arrive on or around August 30.

-----

All I can think is, how am I going to pay for all of this? And then, how on Earth does one listen to all of it? Six double CDs all in one season? But really, I'm not complaining. And if I have to eat nothing but oatmeal for a month, I'll figure out a way to pick them all up.

 

[u2popmofo]

Whoa! That's awesome! When it says order both for $25, does that mean each or both together??!!! If so, that's super cheap for 4 cds worth of music!!!!

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I just got the same email. I can't wait to hear the CDs but I'm sad they're not going to be available in stores - means I'll have to pay extra for international shipping and wait ages for them to get here. But they are Tori bootlegs so I can't complain too much.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I just went over to the website, and apparently you get both for $25. Separately, they're $13.98. That's an excellent deal, I think.

I'm with you, Fizz. I'd rather be able to buy them at my local store (I love supporting them), but I'm just fine with ordering them too.

Tracklisting for the Chicago show:

CD1
1. Original Sinsuality
2. Father Lucifer
3. Mother Revolution
4. Yes, Anastasia
5. Apollo’s Frock
6. Parasol
7. Mother
8. Operator
9. Circle Game
10. Cars & Guitars

CD2
1. Space Dog
2. Marianne
3. Barons Of Suburbia
4. Cool On Your Island
5. The Beekeeper
6. Honey
7. Sweet The Sting
8. Cloud On My Tongue
9. Ribbons Undone


And the Los Angeles show:

CD1
1. Original Sinsuality
2. Silent All These Years
3. Parasol
4. Doughnut Song
5. Yes, Anastasia
6. Jamaica Inn
7. Cool On Your Island
8. Livin' On A Prayer
9. All Through The Night

CD2
1. Barons Of Suburbia
2. Take To The Sky
3. Cloud On My Tongue
4. Ruby Through The Looking-Glass
5. The Beekeeper
6. Tear In Your Hand
7. Toast
8. Sweet The Sting
9. Twinkle

 

[u2popmofo]

I just realized that I think I could only recognize (put titles with songs) about 20% of the songs on either of those CDs if I just heard them in a live setting. I think HG is going to have tell me what is being played through almost the whole show in September. Good thing she knows them all.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I've been dying for this for years! I'm ordering immediately.

mofo - these particular songs aren't exactly her most well-known stuff. A lot of them are b-sides. She's been doing some strange but interesting setlists on this tour and I can't say that I've ever seen a setlist this tour of all of my favorite songs but everything sounds amazing live even if it isn't a favorite song. I hope for better covers on the next releases, too, although "All Through the Night" is killer.

I dreamed about Tori last night.