Cover stories:
The Guy Who Runs the Place: Talking to Rantz Hoseley. By Robert Schrader
"We wanted the book in part to reflect how a piece of art, music, film
or whatever, inspires another creator in ways that may not be
obvious," Rantz elaborates, "so it was more a matter of the stories
dealing with the emotional tone or themes of the songs, rather than
simply telling the song's story through a graphic sequential
narrative. Some of the creator's choices were not obvious, but I
guess... things you'd expect, given the songs. But some of them
completely riffed off of the song in a way you couldn't possible
imagine."
Giving Us the Boot. By Woj
The recording [of the bootlegs for download] had some unfortunate side
effects, most notably the lack of another hallmark of Tori's concerts:
her unique covers that are often some of the most beloved moments of
her performance. Presumably, a decision was made not to include covers
in shows that were to be released so as to avoid the thorny issue of
licensing deals and royalties.... Perhaps to make up for the lack of
covers, there were a fair number of rare songs performed during the
released shows, particularly as the tour progressed....
Friday Night Margaritas: Tori and God. By Elyssa Pachico
"God, sometimes you just don't come at all," Tori purrs during an
especially cheeky encore performance of "God" in Boston's Orpheum
Theater, captured for the ages in the official "Legs & Boots" release.
Whether it's during live improvisations or magazine interviews, Tori
has always been frank about her preference for a deity who would agree
that yes, he certainly could use a woman to look after him—that is, if
said deity could even be pegged within a category as limiting as
gender in the first place. Indeed, the gods who wander in and out of
Tori's songs come from so many different continents and centuries that
it becomes downright naďve to categorize Tori's religious beliefs as
merely feminist-infused-New-Ageism.
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Feature articles:
Dispatches and Polaroids 1998-2008, Part 2: A look back at From the
Choirgirl Hotel. By Alex Ramon
Recording for the first time with a rhythm section, Tori sounds fired
up and energized both as vocalist and musician throughout, as band
interaction—and the crucial addition of Andy Gray's programming—allow
her to develop new strands to her musical palette and sustain a
bigger, fuller, more encompassing sound than on any of her previous
records. "The piano was excited," Tori told Next. "She didn't have
to masturbate for the first time in a long time."
Singing Ears with Feet: Casey Stratton. By Lynne Stahl
Stratton, who currently resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, lists among
his influences Tori Amos (of course), Bjork, Sarah McLachlan, Loreena
McKennitt, The Cure, and Debussy, and although his MySpace page makes
no reference to Savage Garden, _this_ amateur listener certainly
detects some vocal similarities there—a good thing, in her opinion.
"Your Ghost Passing By" also lyrically evokes Tori Amos's "Putting the
Damage On," and the background vocals in "Blood" bring Tori's "Siren"
immediately to mind (again, a very good thing in this listener's
view). He also shares with Tori a passion for the poetry of T.S.
Eliot.
Tori and the recording studio—the invisible instrument. By Liz Garlinge
I always find it fascinating that the track listing for records that
are so familiar to us now could be decided in the studio and, even
more strangely, by people other than Tori. B-sides (sometimes recorded
live) give us insight into 'missing tracks,' songs that got "kicked
off at the last minute during mastering because I am such a
ding-a-ling…," as Tori describes "Honey" on the "Hey Jupiter" EP.
There, Tori famously says that "Honey" is her favorite song from
_Under the Pink_, except that it's not on UTP—the comments later that
"someone in the mix room made a comment," which is why it was ditched.
Adolescent Awakening: Finding Tori in my Teen Years. A Tori Story. By Maureen Paley
When I started listening to Tori, she had already been on the scene
for three or four years. After LE came Boys for Pele, which had
just been released. I didn't even realize another album came in
between until months later. I devoured BfP, and it is—by far—my
favorite of Tori's works. After a few months, I started to search the
Internet for more about Tori. I discovered that there were others out
there like me: fans, Toriphiles, Ears with Feet, etc. I discovered her
massive online community. Each member had a story—a time and a
place—where they "met" Tori for the first time.
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Multimedia:
Review: When a Happy Song Isn't -- Happy Rhodes by John Higdon
There are two things obvious upon listening to these early albums.
First, the girl's got range! Happy's natural voice is an alto, but
through self-training she acquired four octaves, and she frequently
alternates between or multitracks each voice in her songs. (At least
one such song has been mislabeled on file-sharing sites as a duet
between Kate and Annie Lennox.) Second, she can be rather dark.
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