Desire Avenue

I'm not really a Tori Amos fan, but I like Gaiman's books/comics.

Apparently some of Gaiman's recent book Anansi Boys was written in Tori Amos' house in Ireland, and I've heard it suggested that she makes a cameo appearance near the end of the book...

(I haven't read it myself, and I've heard it's not one of his best books, btw...)

I think Neil mentioned in his online diary that Tori had lent him the house in Wicklow to write in. He said something about it being haunted.

There's an upcoming tribute album to Neil incidentally, to which Tori is contributing a remastered/reconditioned/re-recorded/nobody is quite sure version of her Boys For Pele b-side, 'Sister Named Desire'. The Neil connection is that he based one of his female characters on Tori, I forget which, and the character has a sister called Desire. Tori has of course mentioned Neil by name in several of her songs over the years - Tear in Your Hand, Space Dog, Horses, Carbon. I guess she chose to contribute Sister Named Desire because it's more specifically based on his writing, rather than a namecheck.

elizabeth wrote: The Neil connection is that he based one of his female characters on Tori, I forget which, and the character has a sister called Desire.

Interesting.. i didn't know that. I suspect it's Death or Delerium, from the Sandman comics. Probably not the latter, she's a little too... delerious to be a flattering tribute, but then Tori isn't quite a Goth, is she??

(although it could also be Despair... )

red wrote: Interesting.. i didn't know that. I suspect it's Death or Delerium, from the Sandman comics. Probably not the latter, she's a little too... delerious to be a flattering tribute, but then Tori isn't quite a Goth, is she??

I've just done a little research over at MTF and apparently it is indeed 'Delerium' who was based on Tori.

More news on the Neil tribute album - it's called 'Where's Neil When You Need Him?', which is a line taken from Tori's song 'Space Dog', and it's due for release on 18th July.

Tori is apparently about to begin recording her new album, according to a comment posted by her drummer Matt Chamberlain on his website. He and his drums are enroute to Cornwall, with the recording set to start next week. Looks like an early '07 release date is possible.

*prays for the return of the muse*

I'm really shocked that she returns to the recordingstudio so fast after her last release. Let's hope that Epic/Sony also sees that trying to make Tori sound more commercial doesn't bring in more money. Maybe they'll let her do her own thing.

It's actually almost 18 months since The Beekeeper was finished, and she did say on the tour last year that the next record would be out in '07. People who know a lot more about her dealings with Sony than I do were saying on MTF months ago that she was contracted to put out albums in '03, '05 and '07. Wouldn't surprise me. She does have some work ethic on her.

Let's just hope that both she and Sony have learned a lesson with The Beekeeper. It didn't garner loads of new fans as expected, and it pissed off a whole lot of the ones who were already on board. It's her poorest selling album I think, though I'm not sure what the current stats are.

I suspect the message has gotten through, to Tori at least. She talked to Rolling Stone briefly a few weeks ago, on the 15th anniversary of the release of 'Little Earthquakes', and when asked about the next album she said that we 'haven't heard this Tori in a while. Certainly not since I've been a mother.' She went on to imply that much of the 'mellow' vibe in the last few years was prompted by her not wanting to scare her daughter! Sounds like she's trying to rationalise what she now recognises was a misjudgement in her musical approach. Whatever, if that's what she needs to tell herself to get over it and back to what she does best, it's OK by me. I'll look forward to the reappearance of Scary Tori.

The fact that she says it's not going to be like the Beekeeper is so very comforting. I can't wait to see what the hell it's like! How exciting...

elizabeth wrote:It's actually almost 18 months since The Beekeeper was finished, and she did say on the tour last year that the next record would be out in '07. People who know a lot more about her dealings with Sony than I do were saying on MTF months ago that she was contracted to put out albums in '03, '05 and '07. Wouldn't surprise me. She does have some work ethic on her.

Let's just hope that both she and Sony have learned a lesson with The Beekeeper. It didn't garner loads of new fans as expected, and it pissed off a whole lot of the ones who were already on board. It's her poorest selling album I think, though I'm not sure what the current stats are.

I suspect the message has gotten through, to Tori at least. She talked to Rolling Stone briefly a few weeks ago, on the 15th anniversary of the release of 'Little Earthquakes', and when asked about the next album she said that we 'haven't heard this Tori in a while. Certainly not since I've been a mother.' She went on to imply that much of the 'mellow' vibe in the last few years was prompted by her not wanting to scare her daughter! Sounds like she's trying to rationalise what she now recognises was a misjudgement in her musical approach. Whatever, if that's what she needs to tell herself to get over it and back to what she does best, it's OK by me. I'll look forward to the reappearance of Scary Tori.

She doesn't even need to be scary again like on B4P or FTCH, just...good. (Like TVAB)

Absolutely - I don't think many fans want a repeat of 'Boys For Pele' or 'Choirgirl', not least because those records were born from horribly difficult times in her personal life. No-one wishes that on her. Personally I love the sort of 'fierce calm' that runs through 'Scarlet's Walk' and some of the Hidden Treasures, I adore those records, I think she demonstrates on them that it's possible to be angry about the state of the world and still express that anger with grace and wisdom.

I think with The Beekeeper she just lost her way, tried too hard to make her music 'easy' for the masses she imagined would benefit from her political messages. And who knows what pressure she was under from Sony to follow up the excellent sales of 'Scarlet's Walk'. Hopefully they'll have seen for themselves now that watered-down Tori-lite just doesn't sell the way the stuff she puts her heart and soul into does.

Did anyone else here download the mp3 of the song she performed at that fashion show in Paris last year? The fans refer to it as 'Song of Solomon' but I don't think it has an official title. It's quite stark and dissonant compared to what she's been doing the last few years, seems to be a lot of feeling on the boards that it's an indication of what the next album will be like. I think I could live with that.

While The Beekeeper is certainly not tori's best work, it is has grown on me over the last few months, particularly Sweet The Sting and The Power Of Orange Knickers.

I like the philosophy of PJ Harvey in that she believes firmly in never repeating a musical journey, and I hope that Tori will move onto a new path with her next release, as much as I loved the tori of Choirgirl and To Venus, I'd like to see her explore other musical directions and themes.

According to a report on the new Tori fansite at undented.com, an 'inside source' has told them a collected b-sides release is imminent. At the moment there is no track list confirmed, but this item is apparently listed on an official Warner Music release schedule for September.


I'm so thrilled if this is true! Finally the bees getting the limelight they deserve. Question is, will it be a complete tracklist? If so it will surely run to three CDs. And will it contain tracks like Mountain and Garlands that are currently only available in non-cd formats? Oooh god, just the thought of Garlands on cd would make me buy it.

*prays to the god of compilations*

if you would like garlands on CD, send me a message and I will work some magic....

Thanks Daniel, I do have the mp3 on a mini-disk so I'm OK for the moment. I just don't have the capacity to burn it to CD, which means I can only listen to it in one room of the house (we currently have a music system in every room, but only one plays mini-disks!)

Apparently the collection is being described as a 'rarities box' now. The mind boggles at what it could potentially contain.

The Beekeeper has grown on me also Dani?l. Still it's just all too much songs that I find myself skipping time and time again. I was really impressed with Scarlet's Walk (I still listen to it in my car a lot). I thought she was on the way back after rather dull Strange Little Girls.

What's your favourite Tori album anyway? Mine is To Venus And Back.