Neil And Tori Slumber Party in Cornwall

Now, this sounds like a fun vacation: Neil Gaiman blogged this morning about a recent visit to Tori & company in Cornwall, where he got to stay in the cushy suite at the Martian Engineering studios. He writes:

I stopped daydreaming about being a famous rock and roll star about thirty years ago, when I stopped being in a band. And it’s not a daydream that’s ever come back. But I spent the night with friends in Cornwall and got to stay at http://martianengineering.com/residential.html (in the bedroom on the top right of the photos, oddly enough), which is the part of the studio that visiting bands stay when they record music, and I found myself wishing that I was a band so that I could come and stay here for three or four weeks and use all the cool buttons and switches and jaccuzzis and everything. I suppose I could always come and stay anyway, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Amanda, Karen, and Laura, who do you think won “Truth or Dare” that night? :)

Yamaha Spills Its Bosey Plans

Richard Handal spotted this news item today, affirming Yamaha’s plan to keep the Bosendorfer name on high-end pianos made by the Austrian pianomaker responsible for some of Tori’s favorite instruments. In addition, the article reports, “Yamaha has decided to set up a new sales channel separate from the one used for the Yamaha brand.” For more, follow the link. We’re just glad the next tour won’t have to change the name of the solo section to T&Ya, aren’t you?

Yoav In The Spotlight

After opening for Tori, Yoav is earning some extra attention. His album Charmed and Strange hit stores Jan. 29. He also earned a recent writeup on BuzzSugar.com. Jody Beard and kimberly, are you charmed? Or strange?

The Martians Have Landed

A couple of you have been missing Tori and her gang badly enough that you’ve been surfing by the Martian Engineering site to see what they’re up to. Doings at the Cornwall-based studio seem to be coming along nicely; the place looks kind of like a luxury hotel crossed with a hot-shot recording studio (look at those comfy leather chairs!). They’ve also sneakily added a couple of outtakes from the ADP photo shoots, which you can check out here and here. Thanks, Jena and BMac!

Matt Chamberlain On The Road Again

Tori may be taking some time off from touring, but Matt Chamberlain sure isn’t. According to the Live Music Blog, our favorite skin-slapper will be drumming with Marco Beneveto for a series of gigs in May on the West Coast. Follow the link for complete dates and places. Thanks to Kimberly for spotting this.

Boesendorfer Sold To Yamaha

Richard Handal has been keeping a close eye on the bidding war over Boesendorfer that ultimately ended this month when the Austrian pianomaker was sold to Yamaha. A bidding war over the company kicked off earlier this year after Boesendorfer’s former owner, Austrian bank Bawag, decided to consolidate by selling off some of its flagging properties. Yamaha managed to grab the company for the cost of 15 million Euros. We’re not exactly sure how many individual pianos that would buy, but apparently Boesendorfer lost 2 million Euros in 2006 and is currently 8 million in debt, so it’s probably a bargain when it comes to purchasing 179-year-old makers of handmade pianos.

According to the Times Online article, Yamaha hopes to “[transfer] Bösendorfer’s crafting techniques back to Japan to enhance the quality and reputation of its own brand. Yamaha has recently undertaken a series of bold corporate moves in an effort to protect the future of its piano business, which, like other big players in the traditional piano manufacturing centres, has come under pressure from new cheaper models being made in emerging economies, such as China.”

20 Questions With Samuel Adamson

British theatre news site WhatsOnStage.com featured an interview with playwright Samuel Adamson recently. What does this have to do with Tori, you ask? Well, he is working with her on The Light Princess musical for the National Theatre. While he does not speak about that project, except to confirm that he’s involved, it’s an interesting read for those who are interested in Tori’s collaborator, his history and his outlook on life and work.

thanks to menju56 for pointing this out!

Blueberry Girl Book Nearly Finished

Charles Vess reported recently that he’s nearly finished with the artwork for Blueberry Girl, which some of you may remember as the poem Neil Gaiman wrote for Tash. Work on the book began in early 2005; now Vess reports that “I’ll be finished with the paintings by the end of this month and then it will be a necessarily long wait for the actual book to be published.” Neil reported in February 2005 that proceeds from the book would raise money for RAINN and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Click the thumbnail above to see a larger image from the book, and go to Vess’ site to see several sketches and finished panels. Many thanks to rainonwater for the tip!

Matt Chamberlain, Dan Phelps Record New Track

Matt Chamberlain’s MySpace page features a dreamy new track called “Everest,” co-recorded with Dan Phelps, Viktor Krauss, and Eyvind Kang. Trent, who wrote in to tell us about the song, wondered aloud whether a Matt-Dan collaboration could signal a new musical venture for Tori’s touring musicians. If we find anything out, we’ll let you know.

Matt Chamberlain Happenings: Floratone and Sara Bareilles

One thing I’ve been meaning to post about, since seeing it mentioned on Matt Chamberlain’s MySpace, is Floratone, a collaboration between Matt, renowned guitarist Bill Frisell and producers Tucker Martine and Lee Townsend. Well, last week, Floratone’s recently released album was reviewed on National Public Radio and, as I listened to the spot while driving home from work, thought, “Self, there are gonna be a few mentions of this in the Undented mailbox tonight.” Sure enough, Richard Handal and SomaRiot proved me right.

Floratone is an intriguing project: the result of several days of free jamming by Matt and Bill back in 2005 followed by Tucker and Lee digging through the tapes to find and produce the 11-track album from the raw material that Matt and Bill laid down. Between the several songs streaming on the Floratone website and the NPR piece, curious parties can get a good idea of what the music sounds like. It’s all instrumental, but don’t let the lack of words keep you from checking out one of the, IMHO, more interesting releases of the year.

If you prefer music with words, Matt also worked on Little Voice, the latest album by singer-songwriter and pianist Sara Bareilles, which just happened to be produced by Eric Rosse. Thanks to Kate for that tidbit (and apologies for taking so long to mention it here) and Ryno for reminding me about Eric’s production credit, which I forgot to mention in last night’s adrenalin-powered update haze.