Tori Time

I have had a difficult week.  When my world is upside down and I need fortification, I don't turn to food, I don't turn to exercise... I turn to music.  There is one artist above all others who has the ability to help me transcend above all of the chaos and find some kind of peace.  That artist is Tori Amos.  Now, I know that you all think that she has had her time in the sun and is totally irrelevant to your life today, but I would say that if you have the ability to dissect the music that you listen to while delving into it at the same time, Tori Amos will cure your ails.

What I love about her is the absolute perfectionism and the fact that her craft is her religion.  I also love that she doesn't censor herself to sell more albums but rather has such a soul deep connection to her fans that she can stay true to her message and we don't expect or ask her to compromise.  I had a very similar upbringing as she did and so I understand the deep religious exorcism that goes into her songs even today after her christianity has been shed for probably a good 40 years.

The last thing that so impresses me about Tori Amos and always keeps me coming back for more is the way that you can't have her music without their words and you can't have her lyric's without their melodies.  They are vital to each other and are all superb.  Her melodies are detailed to a science and her lyrics are abstract like Miro.  She is a brilliant piano player.  Her skill with the keyboard is almost overwhelming to me sometimes and I play the piano as well.  It's her ear and personal style that make her skill stand out so much.

Ok, I will start giving you some examples of what rescues me:

"Icicle, Icicle where are you going?  I have a hiding place when spring comes around..."

"Don't judge me so hard little girl, you've got a playboy mommy..."

"Muhammad my friend, it's time to tell the world, we both know it was a girl, back in Bethlehem..."

Intrigued yet???

Today I started with Under The Pink.  Ten years ago, when I purchased this album and all the others that she had out at the time, it was my least favorite.  I had no use for it.  I couldn't comprehend the ideas that lay beneath the majority of the tracks.  Now, Under the Pink is my second favorite album of hers.  I listen to it often, but I totally had to grow into it.  I am still discovering things about this album, every time that I listen to it... little revelations about meaning and importance, pop into my mind as I sing along to every song.  My all time favorite Tori Amos song Cornflake Girl, is also on this record.  No matter how many times I listen to it, I can always play it back one more time.  This album is about a woman coming into her own, shedding the religion that has hugely disappointed (and betrayed) her and the sexual awakening that comes with leaving archaic rules and prejudices behind you forever.

Tori Amos will definitely appeal to the more feminine personality types, but that is because she delves into female archetypes often as a reoccurring theme throughout all of her music.  I know many mature men that greatly appreciate both her wisdom and her humor as they are comfortable with their own identities though so don't think that it is just one big chick fest waiting to happen.

Try Tori.  Don't just give it a quick listen and give up.  Try Tori over and over.  You will find yourself hypnotized and moved under the guidance of her skilled piano hands.

I will most likely devote more blog space to this artist, so beware...

Here is her cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, which she sang live in honor of Kurt Cobain a year after he passed away.  It is a brilliant cover and the only way that a female voice can effectively sing this song. This is on the Crucify Ep... it is really old but still powerful.

SUCKS

Lady Gaga's new album sucks.  That is all I have to say while I am sitting here typing with my bottom lip protruding into a pout.  Not gonna talk about any songs, not gonna talk about any words.

I am so irritated.  We'll try again tomorrow.

Inertia

I should be sleeping right now, but I am writing instead.  I have these words swirling through my mind:

My true love died in a dirty ol' pan of oil that did run from the block,

of a Falcon Sedan 1969, the paper said '75.

There were no survivors, none found alive...

So, first the words distract me, then I hear the melody that belongs to these words creep into my mind and finally I begin to hum.  Of course, what else but a song can get me this worked up?  I have this amazing ability to hear the composition replayed in my head just as I would hear it on the record.  The only problem is that after it loops in my brain for awhile, I want to listen out loud and sing along.  Talk about a HUGE distraction from sleeping.

For those of you who don't know me well, and for those of you who do...  I am usually a good, no, GREAT sleeper.  Typically I can sleep when and where that I choose.  I could literally curl up in a ball on most floors (as long as they are clean), and fall asleep if I want to.  So tonight, what song is distracting me from my blessed slumber?  What minstrel wrote words and music that so distract me?

Neko Case.  Who else?

Fox Confessor Brings The Flood is a rare and perfect album that Neko Case released in 2006 and it still mesmerizes me to distraction.  Even the one song on the album that would typically annoy me can convince me to listen to it.   Strange because I am good at skipping through what I deem to be the "fluff" on most albums.  Even Neko Case's fluff is not fluff.

Once I started humming the afore mentioned song, I just had to keep going through the remainder of the album.

There are moments in a musician's career or life where magic happens.  Moments.  Neko Case had an entire album full to the brim of these moments.  How?  I don't know.  Her next album, Middle Cyclone was released in 2009 and was better than good for sure, but to me it still pales in comparison to the 2006 release.  How does one recreate such perfection?  Maybe she will figure it out and amaze me again.  All I know is that five years later, I still catch myself visiting that album with just my mind and then needing to listen to it after I touch on it in thought.  I can't even pick a song highlight for you because they all hold such power over me that to pick one over the other is too traumatic.

You can say that I am melodramatic if you like, and I am for great music, but listen to this album as soon as possible and then just try to tell me that I am wrong.   

Photo Journals and Airbending

Are photo journals really the thing?  I looked on the list of noteworthy blogs and most of the top blogs are photo oriented.  Perhaps I am the only one left obsessed with words???  I am so enthralled with them that I have approximately ten Words With Friends going at a time.  I think about the way words are shaped, the way they sound, the way I say them, the way others say them...  ah well, you get the point.  Am I the only person left with this obsession on my mind?  Is everyone else that much more visual than me?

Well, there is another thing here that I am a fan of, despite everyone else's opinion: The Last Airbender.  This film was the latest by M. Night Shyamalan and was really unpopular.  It is a children's movie and is incredibly well done so that an intelligent adult may just find that they like it too.  There are a few spots of C.G. here and there that weren't executed perfectly, but that's not the reason that no one saw the film.  Apparently it wasn't Asian enough.  Yes, I just said that.  Since The Last Airbender was an anime, moviegoers were upset that there weren't any Asian characters in the movie.  What they did not take into consideration was the fact that this series was an American made franchise, thus it makes complete sense that the characters were a complete mix of ethnicities.  America is the "melting pot" of the world, is she not?  I would beseech fans of good sci fi/fantasy to view this film without bias and consider the magic it presents to us.  After all, it is a tale of balance in the world.  It tells the story of our planet missing some of it's elements and how to fight against that imbalance.  Ah, perhaps that is why American's didn't love it... it tells the tale of making sacrifices for the better of the earth, rather than letting her flounder in our disruption.  Simple enough answer?  Or am I paranoid as well as strange?

There, I added a photo for good measure...

Really, M. Night did a fantastic job.  The music is that he added is a vital part of the film, it ties everything together.  The script is simple enough for the target audience but not dumbed down so that the more mature audience can't enjoy it if they are intereted.  Today, I saw it for the second time, and I marveled at the beautiful set construction, elemental themes and wardrobe.

If you have kids, let them watch this movie... also, feel free to sit yourself down while they view it and get lost in the fantasy.

Playlist Frenzy

I have several playlists that I have on my ipod at all times.  I have a Classic song playlist that has mostly old and amazing songs on it.  I have a pop mix with all of my favorite pop songs.  Most pop albums do not appeal to me in full.  I have a hard time with them, because most of them are over produced and many of the songs are just filler for the few projected "hit" songs on the record.  However, I do believe that there is such good thing as good pop, even great pop.  Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River for instance is one of the greatest produced pop songs ever.  All of the layering, synthesizing and vocal effects are perfectly executed on that song.  It will always be great, no matter how much time passes which cannot be said of most pop music.  Therefore, I have a full playlist of pop songs that I feel this way about.

Anyway, I digress...

The most important playlist I have is called XYZ.  It is a mish-mosh of songs that I love, love, love.  Perhaps these songs are from albums which had only one song on it that I adored but maybe I didn't connect with the rest of the album.  Or, they are just songs that mean magic to me.  Songs that I can't resist.  These tunes range from newer, contemporary artists to older, classic works.  They span most musical genre's from country, to rock.

The song that opens my all time favorite playlist is called 32 flavors and it is originally an Ani DiFranco song.  The version that I like is a cover by a small niche artist named Alana Davis.  She released the album Blame It On Me in 1997.  So... this is kind of an oldie now by today's standards.  I love her cover of 32 flavors much better than the original Ani version because occasionally Ani gets a little long winded.  I know, I know...  who dares to talk about the great Ani DiFranco this way?  Me!!!  That's who!!  She writes so much music that sometimes she just gets lost in it.  She has moments of sheer brilliance and then has these passing works of fumbling.  This song is amazing.  The lyrics are pure poetry at it's finest but she wrote too many verses.  They don't all add up and they turned on each other.  Alana Davis, must have understood that and so she edited the sloppy verse out.  The finished product is perfection and it haunts me.  Literally.

Sometimes I wake up singing it.  There are many situations in my life that bring the lyrics to this song slamming into me throughout the day.  I will do something that I haven't done yet...  I'll post the lyrics to the entire song for you all:

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster, I am 32 flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision so you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you're going to get hungry and eat all of the words that you just said
I am what I am, I am 32 flavors and then some

God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course too pretty is also your doom
'Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room
God help you if you are a phoenix and you dare to rise up from ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy while you are just flying past
I am what i am, I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm taking my chances as they come
I am 32 flavors and then some, I'm nobody but I am someone, someone...

I'd never try to give my life meaning by demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record...
I did everything that I could do
I am beyond your peripheral vision so you might want to turn your head
'Cause someday you're going to be starving and eating al the words that you just said

That you said
I am what I am, I am what I am
I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm taking my chances as they come
I am 32 flavors and then some
I'm looking for truth and there is none 

Why this topic today?  Well, I just switched computers which means I had to manually recreate my playlists on the new computer.  It excited me and made me fall in love with them all over again, which means that I have been listening to them all for several days.  I listened to XYZ and then wanted to hear 32 Flavors again so I started it over.  

Right now, as I write, I am watching Game Of Thrones.  It is a new HBO series that everyone should probably see.  Game of Thrones is set in a mythical land and  the setting is very medieval as well as bleak.  The story is fascinating though so tune in as soon as you can... although give it some concession...  it is HBO after all, so there will be a slight amount of gratuitous nudity.  The script and sets are very well executed, and the acting is top notch.  This storyline is fathoms deep and deserves our attention.

Jack White's Immaculate Taste In Women.

I don't want to sound like a used car salesmen today.  I want to write a blog that inspires you to log onto itunes and explore music that you haven't considered before.  I want you to experience the textures and layers in music that I do and find sounds that come to mean more to you than just background music in the car.  I can't help but hear magic in certain sounds and then I have to talk about them... or write about them.  Sometimes I become obsessed with just one measure, or a single harmony.  I can replay it over and over and over in my head, and if I hear it enough in my mind, I have to listen to it again.  I hear that this is typical which is good, because after I obsess about a single line, I sometimes feel as though I am losing grasp on reality.

While I find complete joy in many musical moments that I hear, there are very few complete albums these days that make me want to listen from open to close.  Sometimes I feel like the days of vast imagination in music are over.  Then I will be proven wrong by one great album.   One of the new album's that made it's way onto this "great album" list of mine is Karen Elson's, The Ghost Who Walks.

If you are familiar with fashion then you have heard her name before.  She is the tall, drop dead gorgeous, red head model that seems to have a contract with everyone.  Seriously, her face is everywhere.  She's a great model though who deserves the work, her pictures are compelling.  She was one of my favorite fashion models already, and then I heard that her husband, Jack White, was producing an album that she was writing and singing herself.  Insert token eye roll here.

Of course she married a musician, and of course he produced an album.  That was the first thought that crept through my mind.  We must have heard this story before.  Now think back to the part of the blog where I said that her album fascinated me.  Ok, that's not verbatim, but it's close.

I should have known not to doubt the power of that almighty genius who's name is Jack White.  I mean, he has not steered me wrong yet... I LOVE all of his projects, including the bluegrass that he did for the Cold Mountain soundtrack.  When I sampled The Ghost Who Walks, I knew from the first twenty seconds that it was awesome, as I had goosebumps.  The title song is haunting and lilting.  Karen spends half of her time back in retro and the other half of her time singing songs with a country/bluegrass/folky flair.  The opening song, The Ghost Who Walks is retro for sure, with a faint echo and a steady beat.  It is genius, and every time I listen to it, I hum the melody for days.  Putting that song first on the album was a great move because it succeeds in grabbing the listener and hooking them in.  I looked forward to hearing the rest of the album solely from sampling  the first song.

The only fault I find is that Karen's voice is a little thin.  Her music is pretty, some of it brilliant.  Her range is good and there are moments that she lets go, lets her voice fly and it fills itself out for her.  Other moments show that she is an inexperienced singer who must work on rounding out the tone.  Jack heard it, and compensated for it in a truly interesting way:  he layered her voice on several tracks.  While someone who hasn't listened to the album might call this cheating, I call it ethereal.  To have an artist layer their own voice and sing the same line on top of itself is interesting to say the least.  Here it has a chilling affect and provides greater grasp in the melodies.

If you liked Neko Case's perfect album, Fox Confessor Brings The Blood, then you will like this album.  Songs like Stolen Roses and Mouths To Feed are compelling and reminiscent of old British folky music, while being contemporarily relevant at the same time.  All of the harmonies are performed by Elson herself, which I always prefer.

Should I provide a sample for you?  I should.

Quirky? Yup!  Of course it is!  It is also solid gold.

Killing It...

So... I took a few days off to clear my head and think about writing.  I feel refreshed and ready to take a stab at interpreting my impressions for you...

First of all, I went to see the Isabelle de Borchgrave exhibit at the SF Legion of Honor entitled PULP FASHION.  It was breathtaking.  For any of you who don't know who she is, de Borchgrave is the artist who started recreating historical and artistic clothing out of paper.  Yes.  Paper.  Some of the recreations are mind blowing.  Many of them don't look like paper, but like cloth.  Don't believe me?  See for yourself:

This is a shot of the Medici room.  She went through paintings of the Medicis and then painstakingly hand painted and refashioned what she saw into 3-d form, using only different types of paper.  Of course, she has a team of assistants, which I would humbly volunteer for any time.  Even with help these projects are beyond the scope of my imagination.  We don't often hear about current and or modern artists these days unless you closely monitor the art scene.  Ms. de Borchgrave has made herself an original niche.  Please go and see this installation if you have time.

As for listening, it was The Killers for me today.  I know that the most popular album for The Killers is Hot Fuss (which I adore), but for me, the magic lies in Sawdust.  Sawdust is a bsides/ cover album done with immense style.  From the first song, there are chills as Brandon Flowers harmonizes with Lou Reed on Tranquilize.  it's an eerie start to a truly great album, and Dave Keuning's guitar really stands out throughout the entire composition.  The only song that creeps me out is Where the White Boys Dance.  I just don't get it.  My guilty pleasure though is their cover of the Mel Tillis song:  Ruby, don't take your love to town.  It's one of the best and most honest cover's that I've heard in awhile.  Their take on the Dire Straits song: Romeo and Juliet is also sublime.

As I leave you to go and watch college gymnastics, I want you to take a listen to Tranquilize.  Let me know how many goosebumps you get... :)

Like always, here are some lyrics that move me:

"Kick the can, kick the can, skip and blackjack
Steal a car and ring a round-rosey,
Rock and roll, candyland, boogeyman,
Run away and give me your sneakers

Acid rain, when Abel looked up at Cain
We began the weeping and wailing
A hurried high from pestilence, pills and pride,
It's a shame, we could of gone sailing
But heaven knows,
Heaven knows everything
Tranquilize"

I love the juxtaposition between these two stanza's that segue into each other and I love the tremble in Brandon's voice as he sings.  Now, if only his solo stuff impressed me this much...