From: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org (precious-things-digest) To: precious-things-digest@smoe.org Subject: precious-things-digest V6 #180 Reply-To: precious-things@smoe.org Sender: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "precious-things-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. precious-things-digest Wednesday, September 26 2001 Volume 06 : Number 180 Today's Subjects: ----------------- SLG praise, Tv appearances ["Lauren DePhillips" ] SLG: Many comments ["Sarah Bowman" ] SLG: One question ["Sarah Bowman" ] Re: How the 4 retailers cards work ~ [Mysterilady2001@cs.com] FOR SALE: 1 CT ticket 8th row [Mike Vardal ] Re: SLG: One question [Stephen ] Tori, can you handle this? [Kris ] Tori Amos On 'Strange Little Girls' And Illegal Downloads [strange little] lyric search ["Becka" ] Re: my thoughts on SLG ["Tom xxxxx" ] Tampa Clearwater show [Audrina Parker ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 04:46:50 From: "Lauren DePhillips" Subject: SLG praise, Tv appearances > Subject: '97 Bonnie and Clyde > This song is very effective. My first thought was, when this song > ended, was I don't think I want to hear this again. Incredibly > effective and it will definitely get the point across to any who have > been "grooving to this song with blood on their sneakers." Well, any > of them who choose to open their ears up and listen-it will irritate > them. My vision was starting to blur halfway through the song and I > felt a tremendous amount of empathy for this woman- especially when > she was finally dumped into the lake. What will her daughter do? At first listen I couldn't stand this song -- I was thinking 'she isn't even singing and what's up with this weird music in the background.' But now it has grown on me -- if that's possible. Not that it's a song I could ever groove on but it creates the desired effect -- it's really disturbing and it's not a song I won't to listen too many times. Overall, the whole album has exceeded my expectations -- certain songs don't stand out as favorites but make sense in the context of the whole album. Right now my favorite is Time (replacing I Don't Like Mondays) -- it's beautiful. I am so glad Tori chose it for Letterman and Regis and Kelly. It seems like something that would transfer really well to the solo shows. I also wanted to ask if anyone can make a tape of the recent TV appearances (Letterman, Regis and Kelley, and the CBS Saturday Morning show) please email me. I only caught the end of Letterman and missed the other two. I will pay for blank tape, shipping, etc. --Lauren lauren15@hotmail.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 23:57:48 -0500 From: "Sarah Bowman" Subject: SLG: Many comments I will try to keep these short. First, I was a little wary about SLG when I first heard the MP3's... but I knew that, as with every other Tori album I've ever bought, the songs would come in time. Sometimes it will take me more than a year to "get" a girl. Usually, reading interviews of hers really helps, because even if she has a pipline into the song, we may not without her insight. The Twins in "heart of gold" and the callgirl in "Happiness" make a lot more sense now, and I must say the "bonnie and clyde" - "strange little girls" segue works amazingly well. There are songs I still don't like, and it may take me quite a while to get into them. She is asuch a multifaceted artist and as much as I relate to her most of the time, some songs always confound me for a while. On the "barren" style: This irritates me initially, but the important thing to remember is that this album is all about the vocals. She is trying to really get you into the girl's head, with the pictures and the voice. Some songs simply don't seem to work well without more musicality -- flat readings that don't give you anything to musically look forward to. Others can pull that off... I try to listen to the girls and get in her head, then the vocals take on their meaning. On the meaning itself: What fascinates me most is that not only are we listening to her reworking of the songs from a female perspective, we are also trying to reformulate the original back into the male perspective while listening. I have this strange sensation of not knowing whether she is being satirical or really taking on the words and creating a new female self for each. In "Bonnie and Clyde" she's simply hearing/responding to the words (the "Just the two of us" wailing positively haunts me)... but in "I'm not in Love" she's not only criticizing the male who wrote it, but creating a female char. that can feel those things too, turning male power on its head. So complicated as a spectator to sift through these meanings! On the vocals: She seems to really enjoy the sounds her mouth makes (I'm thinking of "Mawww-maaahhhh" on "Happiness"), part of the enjoyment of the album I think is the visceral/sensual quality of mimicry and reevaluation. It's not just the concept "I'm singing songs men wrote" but the process of singing that is important for her... the journey taken through each translation. "Raining Blood" seems to end so abruptly, I wonder if she was meerely meandering, whereas "Strange Little Girls" is very forceful and clear in its direction. Does this make sense? On her as an artist: I was a little bit scared by all the super-hype that went into the promotion of SLG -- the Neil Gaiman product tie in, the ad campaign, etc.I was frightened that this was turning into another Madonna fiasco, plenty of vamp and camp with little substance. What sets Tori so far apart from the other Head Leo, is the CONCEPTUAL aspect of her records. Instead of just dabbling in post-modern style-for-style's-sake "I'm going to dress up as an eighteenth century socialite because it looks kinda cool" syndrome that Madonna embodies, we see her really emphasizing the "girl" quality of her music. She is giving us solid conceptualizations of her characters, using her ideas/talent and Neil's creativity, which turns a bunch of songs that would normally sound "OK" into a palatte of colorful images and personifications. Yes, it's "different", but as has been pointed out before, so was Pele, and she lost quite a few EWF with Choirgirl as well, both of which are my favorite albums to date. Richard is right in pointing out that art can be analyzed in very technical ways, and evaluated accordingly. Even if some cannot find as much personal enjoyment in SLG than her other albums, conceptually the album is incredible, and REAFFIRMS her artistry rather than calling it into question. Here I go, breaking my "short email" rule again. Well, there it is. :) freshlittlepuddles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 00:00:26 -0500 From: "Sarah Bowman" Subject: SLG: One question I have been diligently searching for the lyrics to Lou Reed's "New Age"... the only ones I can find are an extremely harsh, misogynist version of the song that degrade an aging film actress. My question is: are the Tori lyrics "altered" vesions of the original, or is there a Lou Reed version on that has the "diamonds/shoulder" bit? The version I've seen/heard would be great for her to redo... the one on SLG is much more mild and sympathetic, methinks. freshlittlepuddles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 02:37:47 EDT From: Mysterilady2001@cs.com Subject: Re: How the 4 retailers cards work ~ Hi ya EWF ~ Well, it looks like MysT got caught giving away treasured secrets 'cause I went to go check out woj's question with my 2nd retailers card - Happiness Is A Warm Gun. First screen, ok, second screen - the larger popup screen & I get this NEW "checking browser..." notice, then the following message: "Download Tori's new album and check out exclusive video footage! You will have access to this content ONE TIME ONLY!" Woops, wooow... What I think happened is this: Last time I gave out my New Age retailers card pin number on PT and the site had already listed that pin as belonging to my browser and then the same pin number was *accessed* from all over the globe by many different browsers. I think *they* (whoever THEY are) caught on. Rats! Good thing we actually have the music in our hot lil hands huh. I didn't access the Happiness video using the pin because I feel I'll want to in the future - and be prepared to capture images etc. Something I'm not up to at this moment. (Did I mention I'm getting married in less than 3 weeks?) My question to all: I've looked high & low and only found 2 of the 4 retailers cards to be available - New Age (pic with glasses) & Happiness... (pic with wavy reddish hair & plunging neckline). I've yet to find anywhere Raining Blood (beret, smoking cig) or Time (blonde in Nehru jacket). Anyone have these? To answer your question woj sweets, yeah, you get to see the video shoot of the girl ON the download card you got the pin number from. Look on the Dents SLG promo page for stills lifted from the Happiness version - Tori dressed as her HIAWG Girl & a couple guys posing. Compare to the New Age Girl with glasses posing on a stool. I just wish I could get my mitts on the other 2 cards as well. :::sigh::: However - GREAT NEWS! My last show tickets came in the mail today :-) Happy Happy Joy Joy Toodles ~ MysT (aka: kollektor skum (tm) *~Cindy~* called me *lovely* the other day. Awwww thank you! :-) **Anyone else think Jerry Springer is NOW as fake as pro wrestling? *** In a message dated 9/24/01 10:23:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time, woj (leader extraordinaire) writes: << Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 15:29:24 -0400 From: strange little woj Subject: Re: How the 4 retailers cards work ~ when we last left our heroes, Mysterilady2001@cs.com exclaimed: > It appears that each of the four retailers cards... >(get one of the 4 when you pre-order SLG's from certain retailers, >- New Age, Happiness..., Time & Raining Blood) >...Open to a page that shows all 4 images. After typing in your pin >number you are directed to a new site that shows the image on >your card. Each site contains a link for a RealPlayer video of the >photo shoot for the character on the front of your card plus links to just out of curiosity, is this really the case? are there clips from the photos shoots other than "new age"? or is that the only one atlantic made available? (i'm not kollektor skum (tm), so i only got one car -- the "new age" one.) woj >> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 05:34:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Mike Vardal Subject: FOR SALE: 1 CT ticket 8th row Hi all! My friend bailed on me for the Tori concert in Connecticut Oct. 14th and I'm stuck with one extra ticket. I'm selling it for the price I paid..... $51. It's eigth row in the left section..it's almost a corner seat though so it's basicly the center area. Please e-mail me ASAP if you're interested. Thanks. Mike ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 08:42:00 -0500 From: Stephen Subject: Re: SLG: One question At 12:00 AM 9/25/2001 -0500, Sarah wrote: >I have been diligently searching for the lyrics to Lou Reed's "New Age"... >the only ones I can find are an extremely harsh, misogynist version of the >song that degrade an aging film actress. My question is: are the Tori >lyrics "altered" vesions of the original, or is there a Lou Reed version >on that has the "diamonds/shoulder" bit? The version I've seen/heard would >be great for her to redo... the one on SLG is much more mild and >sympathetic, methinks. The lyrics to the song as officially released on the VU "Loaded" album are here: http://lenny.dyadel.net/velvet.htm#32 You are correct that Tori's lyrics have very little relation to the officially released song. About all that matches is the chorus. The September 2001 issue of ICE Magazine has the following in an article about Tori's interpretations of the songs: "On the first cut, Amos aligns herself with the subject - a nude woman wearing only a necklace and mulling over the future. In "New Age", she says, "The character is really engulfed in passion. And I think she's really worried about what the new age is going to be, and she's determined not to sit on the sidelines anymore as it develops. There's this igniting of passion on the whole record." She continues, "I wanted to have this balmy, undulating rhythm going on...sort of stripped. And that's where the passion was coming from." Amos actually used an early and subsequently altered version of the song's lyrics, which she heard on a Velvet Underground bootleg from the late 60's. Stephen Wiener A Man Needs A Maid Dallas, TX ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 11:12:54 -0500 From: Kris Subject: Tori, can you handle this? I just noticed that Tori dressed as the Happiness is a Warm Gun character looks a helluva lot like a white version of Beyonce from Destiny's Child. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 14:30:04 -0400 From: strange little woj Subject: Tori Amos On 'Strange Little Girls' And Illegal Downloads Tori Amos On 'Strange Little Girls' And Illegal Downloads September 25, 12 p.m. ET, Launch Tori Amos's album of song interpretations, Strange Little Girls, is released today (September 25). The collection features her versions of songs originally recorded by Depeche Mode, Eminem, Joe Jackson, the Beatles, and others. Several songs on the album were available on the Internet as illegal downloads prior to the album's release. Amos told LAUNCH about her feelings on illegal downloads. "It's a reflection on you, really, not me," she said. "Because if I taste wine, and I like it, I'm not going to put the bottle in my purse, because I want them to continue making that wine. That's what I want them to do, and I understand what it takes people to make a good wine, a little bit. And if you are going to treat people right and you're going to value, value, what it takes...I've been playing since I was 2-and-a-half, this is what I do. So, if you're at a place where you need to take it, then you take it." Amos added, "There might be one day, in a place, where you go, 'OK I wanna just show my expression of gratitude that this work has done for me,' then you might buy it." Amos considers one other option. "Now, if we're going to get into a barter system, and then you say to me you're going to cook me spaghetti if I come over and play a song--well, if the song sucks you may not want to give me a lot of your precious sauce. But if the spaghetti sucks, maybe I just don't want to...You know, maybe I say the BMW in the driveway is kind of cute for a few songs. Where does the bartering line stop and begin?" [Tour date listing omitted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 16:34:51 -0400 From: "Becka" Subject: lyric search hello listie peoples:) i'm in search of some lyrics that a being a bit hidey from me*L* i need some lyrics.. of tori's.. or if you care to share some other artists with me as well.. that you find particularly "romantic". i'm supposed to be in a romantic frame of mind.. with the approach of anniversaries and such.. but i'm in such a mind blank... anyhoos.. if you can help.. thanks muchly:):):) ~~cheers becka ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 20:41:42 +0000 From: "Tom xxxxx" Subject: Re: my thoughts on SLG A lot of you have talked about SLG and I've been reading what you had to say. I wanted to grok the album for a while before I said anything. First of all, I was less than enthused when I heard this would be a cover album. At least 75% of why I like Tori is her lyrics. So, I was concerned about a cover CD. I like it a lot more than I thought I would. It's good, overall. "Real Men" is my favorite right now. The sarcasm is great and there's a certain sexiness to it. I agree with Neil Gaiman; the character singing that song is a tranvestite. I also love "Rattlesnakes", "Strange Little Girl", and "New Age." "New Age" sounds soooo much like the Velvet Underground. I can just hear Lou singing it. The only song I don't like is "Heart of Gold." I'm also not crazy about "I'm not in Love" and "Raining Blood." They're OK, but not too exciting. I have nothing to say about "97 Bonnie and Clyde." It's all that folks said it is. Can't wait to hear the b'sides and see which songs--old and new--make it to the live sets. How will she do "Happiness..." solo? Just my "thoughts right now." Tom "All the carnage of my journeys makes it harder to be livin' He said, 'It's a long road to be forgiven." Amy Ray, "Chickenman" _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 14:17:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Audrina Parker Subject: Tampa Clearwater show HI EWF I was wondering if there was anyone on the list who is going to the clearwater show and you've been to a tori concert before. its my first i am so excited. i dont know what time to go though. shes playing at ruth eckerd hall and people say she does the meet and greets before the soundcheck. i want to show her my painting so she can sign it!!! i am so excited i didnt decide what i was gonna wear yet lol i hope she sings a bside she hardly ever does live like maybe humpty dumpty or ode to the bana king anyways see you all there if not at this show then ill see you in spirit hehe bye bye ------------------------------ End of precious-things-digest V6 #180 *************************************