From: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org (precious-things-digest) To: precious-things-digest@smoe.org Subject: precious-things-digest V10 #156 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 Friday, August 19 2005 Volume 10 : Number 156 Today's Subjects: ----------------- village voice interview [wojizzle forizzle ] RE: precious-things-digest V10 #155 ["Tom xxxxx" ] tickets available for Sunday (Boston) [Jeff Wasilko ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 23:11:22 -0400 From: wojizzle forizzle Subject: village voice interview http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/riffraff/archives/2005/08/riff_raff_inter.php Riff Raff Interviews Tori Amos Y'ALL BEEN WARNED I'm not a bees-nessman, I'm a bees-ness, mannnn Riff Raff Interviews TORI AMOS--Believe it! This past February singer-songwriter Tori Amos released The Beekeeper, her eighth studio album and most apicultural effort to date. Bees this, bees that--except it's not really about bees. In conjunction with the record, Amos's autobiography Piece by Piece hit shelves around the same time. The book was co-written by ex-Village Voice music editor Ann Powers, who helped Amos explore the intricacies of her songwriting process. Only some of the book is about bees, but enough that it warrants mention. Amos performs Wednesday August 17 at Jones Beach and Friday August 19 at the PNC Center, but you know Riff Raff--we gets the pre-concert scoop. Exclusive. You worked with Ann Powers on your book--she used to edit the music section here. I approached Ann, and we began to decide, wow, a conversation between two women that have very different perspectives in the music business--[that] could give people a backstage pass into this world which would cover creativity, being a mom, the issues that women have to face when they're working and then want to be moms, and then when you become a mom, the responsibility and still trying to be 100% committed to your creativity, and then how do you survive the music business. She came out and hung out on the road with me for about three weeks, on Scarlet's Walk, and this is where we'd sit in the bus and talk. Did Ann ever get sorta annoying? Well the thing about Ann is that she's vicious but fair. And when I say that, when I say vicious, I mean with her pen. There is an elegance and a grace also with Ann that you also must have in the same statement, if you're gonna say 'vicious but fair.' Right. I wanted somebody who I felt could be tough and yet coming from the compassionate heart. Ann says to me, "Listen, you're writing this work, this album"--I hadn't entitled it yet--"How poignant if we could document the creative process to see an inception of a project and see the different stages and levels that it goes through to finally become what it will become." Did Ann write any of the songs on your record? Oh no, of course not. Oh no no no no no. As a songwriter, I'm sort of a seahorse. Don't they mate with themselves? No I think they kill their mates. Seahorses don't kill their mates! Do they? The men have babies. The men have the babies, but the women always kill the men. The men don't kill--the women don't kill the men! I'm sorry, you're right. I get all these animals mixed up anymore. Wait a minute. Seahorses I don't think-- It's a praying mantis. It's a praying mantis. I'm a minister's daughter. I'm staying away from praying. As a songwriter, I join with the creative force. But I'm the sole songwriter. Have you thought of doing a record called The Praying Mantis-keeper? It's scary, because as a woman, number one, I don't see myself killing my mate, or chopping his head off after sex. You follow me? I think so. You're basically saying you would never really kill anyone unless you sorta had to, as a songwriter. As a lioness force. As a lioness who's protecting her cubs. I'm glad we cleared that up. But bees, we have to be clear. The drones do get pushed out of the hive. But it is a matriarchal society. But The Beekeeper wasn't about us being like bees in every aspect. It is about that the bee represented in the ancient feminine mysteries sacred sexuality. Because the worker bee, which is female, goes and joins with the organ of the flower, then of course takes the nectar, pollinates, goes back to the hive, they create honey by regurgitating. I believe you. To me, the creativity that comes out of the worker bee and the sexuality aspect in Christianity, as you know, sexuality became associated with Magdalene, who was thought of as the prostitute, not as a prophet, because it was not profitable. And I've been trying to corollate those three words--prostitute, prophet, profitable--from the early Fathers of the Church. Have you heard about that mystery book The DaVinci Code? Oh yeah yeah, I've read that. When you were reading it, did you know what was going to happen at the end? Yes. Personally I thought the ending was quite surprising. I'd be curious to see what Ann would have to say about this. We had a chuckle about The DaVinci Code just because this information has been out there for a while. And yet it seems to not be able to penetrate to the masses. You have kinds of genealogists and historians who have been writing about this stuff for a long time. Dan Brown was able to collect these nuggets of information and put it into a story form that the masses could ingest. Which is brilliant. You have to commend that. You have to give Dan Brown his due. Do you think your record is better than The DaVinci Code? Well I would never get into that. That's like saying one piece of artwork from one artist is better than another. You're saying that a Matisse is better than a Chagall. Really though your record is better than The DaVinci Code, right? But they're such different works, you know what I mean? Well you'll at least admit that your record is better than Angels & Demons, right? I didn't read Angels & Demons, because I can't get into this. We should get into shoes. That's like saying that Louboutin is better than Sergio Rossi. That's true though. No I like Sergio Rossi shoes! Also I have both of them. Either way, I think it's really fascinating how all this information was out there, and then it finally made its way into public consciousness via The DaVinci Code, and then ultimately better via The Beekeeper. You're being very kind about it, but he doesn't write music, and I don't write these kinds of book narratives. I'm not a book writer, I'm a musician. This is my form. But I will say, if people were inspired by The DaVinci Code, they need to go read the Gnostic Gospels, they need to go read some of this information that inspired that book. Would you consider doing some sort of collaboration with Dan Brown? I know you seem very focused on the Dan Brown thing, but the point is he helped pave the way for the masses to be open to more artists that have been singing this tune for a long time. I'm just saying his books would be better if you helped him write his books. I can't do--that's not my job. You know what, maybe you should collaborate with Dan Brown. Only under the condition that we always work while The Beekeeper, which is superior to The DaVinci Code, play in the background. You know, Dan Brown has sent me a very warm message. He has sent messages through the publisher that he acknowledges and honors the music, and I received that with a smile. It makes sense that he would respect your work--the work of a superior. I can't go through with this anymore. Posted by Nick Sylvester at 04:00 PM, August 16, 2005 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 18:24:00 +0000 From: "Tom xxxxx" Subject: RE: precious-things-digest V10 #155 This is a review I sent to the Dent, but I figured I should send it here, too. Hope it isn't too long/boring. Cheers, Tom M. - ----- Original Message ----- From: thomas mazorlig To: mikewhy@iglou.com Cc: stephanifornino@tfh.com ; cschutt@tfh.com Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 1:30 PM Subject: Tori review Hi Mike, Here is my review of the August 17th Jones Beach show for The Dent. I haven't read any other reviews yet, so forgive me if I repeat some things. Overall impressions: We were in the fifth row, so we had a good view. We were off to the left, so we were looking at Tori kind of over her shoulder. When she played the Rhodes and the organ, she was looking right at us. She wore this white/pink fairy dress with dark blue high heels that were sequined or sparkly or something. She was wearing an elaborate necklace that took up most of the bottom of her neck and top of her chest. It looked to be silver, marcasite, and garnet, but who knows, really? I can't believe she's 42; she is almost unwrinkled. The show was very good, but rather mellow. It seemed to be a quiet show, sort of introspective without being overly melancholy. Tori played very well and her voice is just about the best I've ever heard it. Unfortunately, too many people will just not shut the f--- up. To make matters worse, one of the people who would not shut up was one of the security guys. He was flirting with two loud, annoying girls. I was actively wishing them laryngitis. The woman behind me took a cell phone call, and when I told her to shush, she said "Oh shush yourself, d---!" Um, as if I was the rude one! My friend, Paula, told her she was about to lose some teeth. She was mostly quiet after that. Anybody reading this, please, please, please, be considerate of those around you. You really can make others suffer with what is probably harmless chatter to you. The songs: Original Sinsuality: very nicely played with deep bass notes. It was played more slowly than earlier in the tour. Little Earthquakes: the base here really reverberated. Tori did a really good job with the vocals, but it seemed a tad long. It's not one of my favorites. Tori said hello and talked about Tash wanting her to get a job at Safeway so they can go see Beauty and the Beast together. Tori points out that she wouldn't be able to afford the tickets then. Improv about a little girl growing up and the mom hoping she'll be around to see her grow into a woman and I think fall in love. It was really beautiful and very touching Amber Waves: I liked this, but I think I would've preferred it all on the piano instead of switching to the organ. She holds out the "paper cuts" part for a long time. Pretty Good Year: This was awesome and the first time I heard it. Gorgeous. She did the "pretty, she is/pretty she can be" part after the "Amer-amer-amer-i-ca" part. This was the first episode drooling; it came during the heavy part and splattered on the piano. Marianne: beautiful long piano part at the beginning. This was just flawless and wonderful and made me warm inside. Jamaica Inn: starts out on the organ very slow. A very nice treat. Cool on Your Island: Tori moves over to the Rhodes. I got choked up during this one. Tori played it perfectly and sang so sweetly. She looked really happy playing it. The piano bar sign came on. Someone yelled out for "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Tori said that's a good one but that they are "kinda f---ed" because she's playing other songs. She said she'd play it in NJ! I'm excited, because I'd love to hear her play this and I'll be at that show. With a Little Help From My Friends: Very bouncy and energetic. She screwed up in the middle (I didn't hear it, but Tori did) and played a little ditty about being lame and now we'll get it right and she went back into the song and nailed it. So fun! Imagine: It must be Beatle night. This was beautiful and very heartfelt. Several lines (especially "the world will live as one") elicited applause. Barons of Suburbia: Tori plays organ and piano simultaneously a lot on this song; the beginning sounded like "Icicle." The ending vocals were just incredible. Jackie's Strength: nice, but a pretty standard version. Liquid Diamonds: This one starts with a long and interesting improv about losing self, liquid coming down, and some other things. The lights during the "underwater thing" part were all green and blue. Carbon: Oh, this was just perfect. Slower than the album version, but so beautiful. The Beekeeper: Tori held out the vocals on several parts of this like she was possessed. She turns the bass way up at the and the whole arena shook. Much more powerful than in Philly last April. - ---- Cloud on My Tongue: perfectly played with a long "circles" part. The screen showed various scenes of clouds and waterfalls and rain. Silent All These Years: Tori fiddles a lot with the tempo on this song and the "years go by" part has several small lyrical differences than the album. - --- Never Seen Blue: totally unexpected treat. The lights alternated between blue and red at the appropriate parts. Hey Jupiter: played completely on the organ. Tori's vocals were angelic. A very good show, although it doesn't make my top show list. This was 10th show, so I feel like it was some kind of milestone. Can't wait for Holmdel! "Can you Mr. Bush light the sage" - --- Tori Amos, "Indian Summer" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 20:33:09 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: tickets available for Sunday (Boston) I've got 3 tickets for Boston's Sunday show. One pair is Section 2 (center) Row N Seats 9-10 and the other is Section 3 (left) row Q seat 18. The seating chart is at: http://www.ticketmaster.com/seatingchart/8310/4651 I'm just looking for face value + ticketbastard fees. The pair is $112.55 and the single is $58.45. I can deliver the tickets in the Boston area over the weekend, or just bring them to the show on Sunday. - -j ------------------------------ End of precious-things-digest V10 #156 **************************************