From: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org (precious-things-digest) To: precious-things-digest@smoe.org Subject: precious-things-digest V10 #163 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 Monday, August 29 2005 Volume 10 : Number 163 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: if they find me racing white horses.... ["Nancy Cristiano" ] Re: Toast - Lyrics Question [handal@r2d2.reverse.net (Richard Handal)] Re: if they find me racing white horses.... [wojizzle forizzle ] saratogian concert review [wojizzle forizzle ] detroit news concert preview [wojizzle forizzle ] cleveland plain dealer article [wojizzle forizzle ] chicago sun times concert preview [wojizzle forizzle ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 23:37:29 -0400 From: "Nancy Cristiano" Subject: Re: if they find me racing white horses.... Hi Pete -- there are a few unconfirmed updates on Kate. Rolling Stone has reported that Kate's new album release will be November 8, 2005. -- http://www.rollingstone.com/news/st...eregion=double1 This Amazon.com double CD import from Kate is listed for release on November 1st -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=glance&s=music Sky News has recently reported that Kate has handed the masters in to EMI and apparently there are12 songs on one cd and the other is a DVD of videos for four of the songs. None of this is confirmed by EMI UK, so take it with a grain of salt. But -- it's in the trees. It's coming! The Downloads section of Yessaid's Toriphoria has an mp3 of Tori's sweet little cover of And Dream of Sheep. Love, - -Nancy - -----Original Message----- From: pete lambert To: Precious Things Date: Saturday, August 27, 2005 8:59 PM Subject: Re: if they find me racing white horses.... >> and it's fricking eerie that she >> pops that out the same day that rolling stone breaks the news that >> KaTe's next album is due in november. > >News? Album? Due? November? Where??? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 23:47:44 -0400 From: "Nancy Cristiano" Subject: Kate links Pete: I think the last links I gave you might have broken up: please try these: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7581573/blackkeys?pageid=rs.News &pageregion=double1&rnd=1125200562720&has-player=false http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AU1NZQ/qid=1124762912/sr=1 - -35/ref=sr_1_35/103-9646610-4643865?v=glance&s=music Love, - -Nancy >News? Album? Due? November? Where??? > >Pete >xxxx >change, my dear ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 06:37:14 -0400 (EDT) From: handal@r2d2.reverse.net (Richard Handal) Subject: Re: Toast - Lyrics Question Tony informed us: > I would like to draw your attention to Toast when Tori says: "With a > toast he's telling me it's time...to let you go" She holds the word > "go" for a few seconds and at the termination of the word (at 2:54) I > swear she adds a "ssst" sound - as if the word "go" is now the word > "ghost". I just slapped it up and heard it easily, Tony. Good call. Pretty crazy. You left me dangling by my lonesome on the headphones, Tony. I'll always remember that. ;-) Be seeing you, Richard Handal, H.G. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 10:17:14 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: Re: if they find me racing white horses.... one time at band camp, pete lambert said: >woj said: > >>AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > >Please reassure us that you werent sitting next to the only taper, >mate..... ;-) hah! no worries, i wasn't even sitting in the same state! speaking of which, there is now a mp3 of this available at toriphoria: http://www.yessaid.com/download-2005.html the original mp3 distributed by the taper was skip-laden due to jostling of the recorder (apparently, security was very tight once you were inside the venue) but yessaid has cleaned up the blips to make a more pleasant listening experience. scroll down to the saratoga springs show and check it out. >>and it's fricking eerie that she >>pops that out the same day that rolling stone breaks the news that >>KaTe's next album is due in november. > >News? Album? Due? November? Where??? at the risk of being off-topic, but only because there is a little overlap between KaTe and tori fans.... rolling stone included this snippet in their "in brief" section : KATE BUSH will release the follow-up to The Red Shoes, her first studio album in twelve years, on November 8th it's not clear where rolling stone got this information, of course. the observer also mentioned that KaTe would have an album out "in the coming months" in a review of alison goldfrapp's new album. amazon japan also has a listing for an untitled KaTe album with a release date of october 26th: http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AU1NZQ/249-5583873-9001107 of course, whether or not any of this actually pans out, we'll just have to see. though i will say this is more promising than any of the other inklings of a new record from KaTe we've had in the past. woj ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 10:34:23 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: tori on "every woman" tivo (all hail!) snagged a tori television appearance that i had previously not heard of: an interview on a program called "every woman". tivo seems to think the original airdate was may 21st but i can't find anything about this on the dent in that time frame. tori talks about the genesis of "piece by piece", her first piano, her current piano, her song-writing process, and a bit about "the power of orange knickers". the outfit she's wearing looks like the same one she had for the live@vh1 session so i'd say it was filmed around the same time. did anyone else catch this? anyone need a copy? woj ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:59:42 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: saratogian concert review http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1169&dept_id=17776&newsid=15094149&PAG=461&rfi=9 Review: Tori Amos offers magical show at SPAC THOMAS DIMOPOULOS, The Saratogian 08/25/2005 SARATOGA SPRINGS --Tori Amos had a day off on Monday. She celebrated her 42nd birthday at the Spa Park springs and was inspired to write three songs, she told the crowd of 5,000 at SPAC Tuesday night. They had gathered to witness Amos' solo performance of her Original Sinsuality/Summer of Sin Tour. Amos commanded the sparse stage, which was decorated by the ancient symbolism of a half-bitten apple and the tree of life from which was coiled a tongue-flicking snake. At one end stood the grand piano, which she alternately pounded and caressed, her eyes fixated on a spot in the distance. She was both introspective and alluring, simmering and seductive. Reeling her off-the-shoulder piano rolls with a breathless voice, she was at her best in the exotic intimacies she projected in the song 'Icicle.' Then she would swivel around, face left, and attack the organ, spitting out syllables and writhing to the sassy intensity of 'Siren,' her head thrown back and appearing not unlike a possessed concert genius of the middle ages. Amos performed an 18-song set -- on multiple keyboards -- that spanned her entire career, including early songs 'China,' 'Mother' and 'Sugar.' She elected to stay away from her better-known hits, instead challenging listeners to tune in for a two-hour ride into her hypnotic symphony. Those courageous enough to take the chance were treated to a performance that took on all the intimacy of the songwriter's creative vision. Amos drew comparisons to British singer Kate Bush early in her career. On this night, during the cover song segment called 'Tori's Piano Bar,' Amos met the challenge head on. She performed -- for the first ever time she announced -- the Kate Bush song 'And Dream of Sheep,' and followed with a fine rendition of Cat Stevens' 'Moonshadow.' It was on her own material that she excelled, at times straddling the bench where she was seated, often with one hand on the piano and the other on the organ. Her voice clipped the lyrics of her prose to create counter rhythms to the music as the bright beams of back-light silhouetted her form. The best of these were the deep, funereal tones of 'Spark,' as an illuminating silver frost turning blood red, and the intense surrealism of 'The Beekeeper' -- the title track of her most recent release -- its deep humming organ stirring the base of the spine and buzzing the nervous system while her voice vibrated through the open-air hall and soared deep into the clear August night. A pair of Los Angeles-based bands appeared earlier in the evening. The Like performed a brief and pleasant psychedelic-Beatlesque set at dusk. Also appearing were The Ditty Bops, a strum and fiddle ensemble, bringing a bluegrass meets the Andrews Sisters mix into their 21st century eclecticism. )The Saratogian 2005 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:17:50 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: detroit news concert preview http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0508/26/F08-293405.htm Friday, August 26, 2005 Hot ticket: Tori Amos Folk singer tells you what's on her mind 'The Beekeeper' CD is filled with metaphorical themes that aren't engulfed by the music. By Alan Sculley / Special to The Detroit News Tori Amos has an inviting and melodic sound on her latest CD, "The Beekeeper." On Tori Amos' latest CD, "The Beekeeper," she uses the beehive -- the society of bees -- as a metaphor for the world and to explore terrorism, the hypocrisies of the war in Iraq and the battle women face in reconciling their spiritual and sexual sides. Fans can explore the inner workings of the artist's mind when she performs Sunday night at the Meadow Brook Music Festival. The Ditty Bops open. What listeners might not realize is the degree to which Amos' lyrical themes carry through to the music. On "The Beekeeper," Amos has stepped away from some of the complex arrangements and ornate instrumentation that have sometimes made her delicate and baroque-ish piano-focused music a little fussy. Instead, new songs, such as "Parasol," "Ireland" and "Marys of the Sea," are inviting as Amos frequently pairs her familiar piano with the Hammond organ, creating a richly melodic, easily digestible and, at times, grooving sound. But any impression that "The Beekeper" is simpler musically than her earlier music is misleading, Amos says. "I think musically, if you talk to (drummer) Matt Chamberlain, he'll tell you it's really complicated rhythmically," Amos says. And a close listen to "The Beekeeper" reveals songs of considerable substance and stinging commentary: "Barons Of Suburbia" attacks greed and "General Joy" and "Mother Revolution" criticize those who send a country's sons and daughters into war. This kind of depth is typical for Amos, who 15 years after her debut CD "Little Earthquakes," remains a unique and intriguing talent in a business that always seems ready to cast aside last year's star in favor of a newer, younger model. That situation irks Amos, who remains determined to be treated as an artist and not an object within the entertainment world. "I'm just a lioness," she says. "That means I'm going to be hunting wildebeasts until I'm 80. And if people don't want to come watch, that's fine. I'll still be hunting." Alan Sculley is a freelance writer. You can reach him at alanlast word@earthlink.net. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:31:50 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: cleveland plain dealer article http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1125049302292520.xml&coll=2 Staying creative Performer, and now author, feels she's maturing with her art Friday, August 26, 2005 Gary Graff Special to The Plain Dealer Tori Amos is not short on ambition. Just look at the past year or so. The expatriate co-wrote a book and also recorded a new album. She knew it was a heavy load -- and those around her were quick to remind Amos of that -- but the piano-playing singer-songwriter says that doing the two projects at once turned out to be advantageous for all concerned. "I told them that they don't need to worry that I'm writing a book; that doesn't mean I'm going to fluff off writing music," Amos recalls. "On the contrary, I think I appreciated being a musician more than I ever have, except when I played bars and people would spill gin and tonics all over my piano." Indeed, Amos has emerged with two complementary projects that she says helped to make each other. The book, "Piece By Piece," was co-written with music journalist Ann Powers over the course of two years of touring and discussions. It was conceived as a kind of chronicle about the making of Amos' ninth album, "The Beekeeper" -- which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart -- but it turned into part biography, part dissertation on the music industry and a deeply insightful look into the mystical nature of creativity -- which is the part that Amos says appealed to her most. "A conversation about process was far more intriguing than just some facts about somebody's life," says Amos, 42. "I'm fascinated by the discipline that other artists have to make their creation, and so is [Powers]. "Music comes from a very intangible place. It is my first language, not English, and I'm trying to explain in English about the ways of music and the muse as I understand it and as I participate in it as a co-creator, not as the sole creator." It's a relationship that Amos has been wrapped up in since Myra Ellen Amos was a piano prodigy who started taking classes at the prestigious Peabody Institute in Baltimore when she was 5 years old. The minister's daughter was playing clubs around Maryland and in Washington, D.C., by age 13, and in 1984 her muse and her ambitions led her to Los Angeles, where she released a pop album with a band called Y Kant Tori Read before she began her own career with 1982's "Little Earthquakes." This was the first in a string of adventurous and introspective albums that made Amos a critic's darling and built an intensely devoted body of fans. "I think the records have always been where I am as a songwriter, how I see things at that time," says Amos, who resides in Cornwall, England, with her husband, sound engineer Mark Hawley, and their 4-year-old daughter Natashya. "Even if I'm writing about other people, I kind of embody the character and nobody really knows what's me and what's not." Amos says she was in "a good space" when she started working on "The Beekeeper." She was pleased with the reception to her 2002 album "Scarlett's Walk," which was also her first for a new label, Epic, after 15 years with Atlantic Records. Doing the book with Powers also vested Amos differently in her music-making process. "When I got tired of writing the book and a little fed up with it, I would run to the music," Amos says with a laugh. "The music was sort of my escape from this book, and I was so happy to do it . . ." "The Beekeeper" -- whose title refers to the ancient rites of beekeeping in Cornwall and surrounding areas -- was also inspired by her "Scarlett's Walk" tour with the rhythm section of bassist Jon Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain. "I was quite aware of their rhythmic desires and what they responded to," Amos notes. "I was imprinted with the way that they play, their very strong rhythmic sense. "So as I started to compose, maybe without consciously thinking about it, it was in the back of my mind that they were going to be playing on it. And they love a challenge." Amos responded to that by incorporating a greater variety of rhythms on the album's 19 tracks, exploring Latin and Afro-Cuban styles. "This is more of a global record," she explains. She also brought in a guitarist (Mac Aladdin) and used the London Community Gospel Choir as a vocal "jury" on several songs. Singer Damien Rice joins her for a duet on "The Power of Orange Knickers." The biggest change, however, is that Amos decided to supplement her piano with Hammond B3 organ, drawing back to soul music influences from her childhood. Amos says the ultimate reward is that she was able to stretch herself -- to take her music in new directions and take herself into completely new creative territory with the book. "I kind of like the idea of being able to mature with your art," she says, "and not look like you're trying to chase youth. "I think the tricky thing is you have to know that you have it. You might cock your head at me and say All artists think they have it,' but you can't just put an album out because your contract says you owe it. You have to catch up with yourself and force yourself to look at what you've done as a composer, as a performer, and then find a way to move forward rather than repeating it." Graff is a free-lance writer in Beverly Hills, Mich. To reach Gary Graff: music@plaind.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:40:34 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: chicago sun times concert preview http://www.suntimes.com/output/rock/sho-sunday-tori28.html Amos gets back to garden with 'Beekeeper' August 28, 2005 BY BRIAN ORLOFF Tori Amos calls her latest tour the Summer of Sin. It's a moniker that, salacious connotations aside, reveals a lot about what's been on her mind. To those familiar with Amos' 13-year career, it's hardly a surprise that the motif of sin -- and the crisis between sexuality and religious identity - -- surfaces in her penetrating work. "Icicle," for instance, a song on 1994's "Under the Pink" album, fuses images of masturbation and Bible study, and "God" troubles the chaste, female ideals with which Amos, a minister's daughter, was brought up. These issues are even more pronounced on her most recent album, "The Beekeeper," a 19-track affair that reimagines the Garden of Eden story with special attention to the role of women and sin. She dubs that marriage "sinsuality" in a song that is the the album's thematic backbone, "Original Sinsuality." But some critics have taken issue with "The Beekeeper," calling it ponderous and more subdued musically. Its tone is not vitriolic; it's reflective, but Amos still has provocative things to say about the state of the world. She also explores similar themes in her autobiography, Piece by Piece, which she co-authored with music critic Ann Powers. The book provides insight into Amos' long career, including extended chapters about her struggle to stick to her musical vision despite quibbles from business executives. After an intimate, recital-like concert a the Auditorium Theatre in April, which found Amos accompanied only by her Bosendorfer grand piano, keyboards and some vintage organs, she returns Wednesday for a larger, but still solo, show at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Calling from her Florida home, an affable and often funny Amos chatted about her fascination with sin, how she stays in the game of the music business and why it's OK that she's not a firebrand, raging woman anymore. Q.Tori, is there a reason why you're continuing to tour solo? And why are you calling it "Summer of Sin"? A. The solo tour was going really well, and people seemed to want to see that show at this time. But right now because the concept of "sinsuality" .. whether you believe it or not, the bottom line is that we've been taught to believe that a woman was blamed for our fall out of paradise all those thousands of years ago in the Genesis myth -- so I felt that there needed to be a real marriage of sexuality and spirituality within the being. So it's very intimate, this concept, and I've chosen female acts to come and perform before I take the stage. Q. You've really zeroed in on the political climate. With all the religious messages swirling out there in political contexts, the idea of sin resonates with people. A. I believe that ideas either work or they don't depending on what's occurring in the outside world, so as a musician who tries to chronicle time with these performances, it's responding to what is happening in our world at this time. And the word "sin" has become very much a part of this. It's not just a religious term anymore. It is used now by our leaders, so I felt that it was essential that we merge with sin and we bring it in. We welcome it into our bodies. And that's how you transmute it into "sinsuality." Q.In "Piece by Piece" you talk about your role in terms of the music industry. How would you characterize that role today? A. The understanding that you must come to as a musician/performer is that anyone who is giving you a suggestion, you have to see their motive. And much of the time the motive is not to make great art. Much of the time people equate success with economic return instead of with self-respect. I have to take my stand against this kind of thinking all the time. You have to be willing to be told that, "If you're not willing to take our suggestions, because we think you need to wear Chinos" -- which I've been told many years ago [laughs] -- "then we won't support this record." I have had my record shelved and not supported, but then I go out and tour and you get to the people yourself. Sometimes it's a very hard road to take, but you can wake up with yourself in the morning. If you're going to make this choice, you're not going to turn around and get applause from everybody. You have to realize that sometimes it's a very lonely road at first. You also have to tour and make yourself available -- the music available -- to the public. I think I stay in the game by making sure I'm not solely dependent on one outcome. I think the touring side has been the strength for me, honestly, because it's independent of everybody. But the music business is totally different from music, and you have to be able to stand as sort of a warrior [laughs], and I'm a lioness, so there's a part of me that instinctively knows when the hunter is coming with the gun, or when the tourist is coming with the camera, to come after my cub. And these are my musical cubs. Q. Part of staying in the game is responding to criticism. A lot of criticism lately, mostly by male critics, argues that you cannot be a happily married mother and still be a compelling artist. How do you respond to that, and how do you think your composing abilities have changed? A. I don't care. It doesn't affect me at all, because at 41 years old I'm not about being an angry woman. I think that must really burn some guys up. I'm not angry with men anymore. They don't affect me in that way. I forgive them. And maybe that's really hard for them because I'm free of being controlled by my anger over their behavior. Now that is the phoenix out of the ashes. But women are coming in droves because they want it. As a composer, I'm not interested in what anybody thinks because you have to know your music very well. If the director of the Prague Orchestra wants to talk to me about structure, then I'll talk to him. But I think to be angry at 28 is probably where you should be. To be controlled by that at 41 is tragic. And I think what bothers everyone is that I didn't become a tragedy. I'm not a victim anymore, and I think that's very hard for some people to take. Brian Orloff is a Chicago free-lance writer. ------------------------------ End of precious-things-digest V10 #163 **************************************