Tori Contributes To 33 1/3's Reign In Blood Book

Earlier this month, Slayer’s Reign In Blood became the 57th album to receive the once-over as the 33 1/3 series turned its gaze towards one of the most highly respected and revered thrash metal records ever recorded (yes, even more than Dethklok!). Tracing the history, creation and impact of the Reign In Blood, author D.X. Ferris interviewed numerous artists and musicians, including Tori who, as we probably don’t need to remind anyone, covered the album’s closing track, “Raining Blood,” on her record Strange Little Girls.

The book is available from publishers Continuum Books, Amazon.com and other find booksellers.

And, lest anyone suspect that Toriphiles have short memories, Boys for Pele is one of the albums slated to be written about as well. Unfortunately, no new news about this publication has surfaced either from 33 1/3’s blog or author Elizabeth Merrick’s website.

Thanks to Robert Schrader and Amy for the tip!

Who Wants Tweets?

Hey, dudes and dudettes, for those of you that use Twitter, you can follow Undented over there.

You’ll get mini-feeds of the latest news we’re posting, and we sometimes even add goofy stuffs when the mood strikes. It’s sort of a mash. You can make silly comments or ask questions or pester us when you’re bored and whatnot. If we’re bored too, we’ll answer, especially if your icon is really cute.

It’s an easy way to keep up with Tori news when you’re on-the-go. As a bonus, it’s also a great way to find fellow Toriphiles to follow.

Even if you don’t have a Twitter account (but you really should, ‘cuz it’s LOADS of fun!), you can still view all our tweets.

Little Blue World Fanzine Retiring From Print

The Tori fanzine Little Blue World will, after 8 years and 32 issues, cease publication with its final issue of Winter 2009. The sharp rise in productions costs has made it impossible for them to continue as a print fanzine at current production values.

During the transition, they will offer pro-rated subscriptions for the current and upcoming three issues. New and renewing subscribers will have the option to subscribe at reduced rates according to the number of issues that remain. In addition, to help meet publication expenses for these upcoming issues, they are offering their back issue packs at the most substantial discount they have ever offered. This “fire sale” will end and prices return to normal when they meet their goal.

If you have questions about an existing subscription or a subscription you’d like to start, please send them to LBW’s subscriptions editor, Aimee Lortskell, at subscriptions@little-blue-world.org. If you will still be owed issues after Winter 2009, LBW will compensate you for the issues that cannot be delivered. If you have other questions about the fanzine, please send them to editor@little-blue-world.org, where they will be received by Nadyne Mielke and me (Angela Reid).

The staff of LBW is currently considering options for continuing in another form. Information about this will be released as available.

For more details, please see their website, little-blue-world.org.

A Tragic Loss

Very sad and tragic news… At 1pm last Sunday, June 8th, a fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna crashed in Toledo, Ohio, killing all six people on board.

Toriphile Allie Ansted was on this plane, along with her father, Bill, and her fiance, Matt Clearman. Allie’s funeral was held on Thursday, June 12th. Surviving are Allie’s mother, brother Andrew , and godson Camden. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society, Zion Lutheran Church (Gibsonburg, Ohio), or to the Allison Ansted Scholarship Memorial Fund c/o 5/3 Bank. Private condolences may be sent to Allie’s family through the hermankinn.com website.

Allie was a regular poster on The Pool forum and her friends there miss her very much. Jena is one of them:

The Tori Amos community, and this world, has lost a great person. Her name is Allison (Allie) Ansted. Only 23 years old, she died in a tragic plane crash in Ohio along with her boyfriend, Matt. They were going to be married October 9, 2008. Her father was killed in the accident as well. She had friends all over the world who were Tori fans. She was one of our main posters and best friends. She will be sadly missed. I know that she would be honored if she knew we were asking for a moment of silence at Undented. I don’t know if this is possible, but we would really appreciate it from the depths of our hearts. She was such an inspirational person, the entire Tori Amos community should know of her. Her picture as we knew her… being silly:

Please take a quiet moment today to think of Allie, perhaps listen to your favorite Tori song in her memory. As she was planning to a trip to China this summer to teach English, “China” would be especially appropriate. We are certain that somewhere, she is dancing.

Sweet Dreams (Of Tori)

Some people dream in color, some dream in black and white, and then there are the people who dream in … Tori.

Are you one of them?

Adam McCollum, Toriphile and Associate Editor at ForbesLife Magazine, is writing a book that will contain a compilation of essays on dreams that people — both men and women — have had about Tori and are willing to share publicly. Ideally, he would like to gather around 150-200 submissions of actual dreams (not made-up stories). The plan is to also include artwork with the project, however the type of art has not yet been decided. One possibility is the inclusion of fan art.

If you have had a dream (or dreams) about Tori and are willing to write them down and share them with others, contact Adam. Please note that submissions are subject to publishing without payment, however everyone who does end up being published will receive full name credit and at least one copy of the finished book.

The ADP Site Returneth

The American Doll Posse website, which was temporarily unavailable due to the Epic split and upcoming new ToriAmos.com, has been restored to its former glory. Its new home is ToriAmosMusic.com. Existing logins still work and all content appears to have made the transition to the new address unchanged. We doubt any new updates will be made on the ADP site — as between ToriAmos.com and Everything Tori, there are already enough official Tori sites — but the community and content that was built up there is intact and can continue to evolve.

John Philip Shenale To Contribute To The Light Princess, New Album

Composer and Tori’s long-time string arranger John Philip Shenale has ‘fessed up on his Myspace blog to being involved with both The Light Princess musical and Tori’s next record. He also adds that, “more info with a number of other cool projects will be coming when dates are finalized.” Guess we’ll just have to sit back and see what those projects will be…. NOTE: John kindly clarified that this statement was in regards to projects he’s doing with other artists and he assures us he is now aware of the pitfalls of posting at 3am at the end of a long day. (Um…kind of like we’re doing right now?)

Thanks to Robert Schrader, Melissa and Fabz for letting us know about this!

A Statement About Independence

Following the break with Epic Records, ToriAmos.com has been temporarily refurbished (a new design expected in a few weeks), with the following message from Tori leading things off:

This is an exciting time. There will be many ways in the present and in the future for artists to cross what has become the new unchartered Music Frontier. Ways that may seem impossible today but in a months time will seem probable. There are many ways to be involved in a structure. But what kind of structure will it be and what will be the make up of it’s foundation? These are important questions, so important that I’ve been observing many different working templates in the music business for years now. The key word here is the word “working.” In some cases these structures do not work positively for some artists. Only for those who have designed the system to specifically “work” for the corporate few. Artists need not fear structure, we just have to design and partner with expansive ideas. It is time for us as artists to stop being dependent, dependent on any system that has become undependable. Only then can we help to create a new system that propagates and secures independence for each creator.

The old American Doll Posse site will be available again at a new address in the near future is now hosted on ToriAmosMusic.com.

Thanks to Beth Robinson for the tip!

Tori To Headline Dranouter Festival This Summer

Everything Tori has announced that Tori will be headlining the Dranouter Festival in Belgium on August 1st, 2008. This is the only date Tori will play this summer. (According to the Dranouter site, anyway.)

Tickets are currently on sale through the following:

• Belgium — KBC.be or by Ticketphone at 078/155151

• France — FNAC.com or by Ticketservice at 0900/300 1250

• Netherlands — TicketService or by Ticketservice at 0900/300 1250

Tickets by phone for other countries: 0032/57 446933

Thanks to Jan Bouly, Melissa, Mara, and Mikey for sending this in.

[NOTE: Because we don’t really have any plan in place for organizing this kind of one-off show, we’ve simply tacked it on to the American Doll Posse Tour dates in the Tour section. To make it easy for you to access this new entry without having to scroll, we’ve reverse-sorted the listing order, so you will find Dranouter at the top.]

It's Official: Epic Changes For Tori, Inc.!

After 22 years of being in the shackles of the major label system, Tori has chosen the path of independence for her next work. As with many of her contemporaries Tori is devising new and exciting ways of getting her music to the masses without the boundaries and limitations of the major music companies.

Last week, several people wrote in to say that Tori was no longer listed on Epic Records’ roster. Not knowing if it was the real deal, a big goof-up or an honest mistake, we weren’t really sure what to say about it. But, with those words in this week’s Ask Billboard, Tori’s manager John Witherspoon publicly opens the door on the latest significant development in Tori’s career. Whether this means free digital copies of albums like Issa (Jane Siberry), Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails or something else entirely different, only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: it means more freedom — something she’s been fighting for since Little Earthquakes — and that’s certainly a good thing for her and her artistry. (Interestingly, Tori touched on this subject in an interview broadcast on Polish radio last December. Foreshadowing much?)

Witherspoon also drops a few more juicy tidbits as well.

It seems that Tori will start working on a “project of new music and visuals” this Summer with an expected release in Spring 2009. Although a bit vague, we would guess this is not the American Doll Posse tour DVD since he indicates this is a new material. However, we don’t know any more about the status of the DVD than the rest of you and that’s only speculation.

Additionally, Witherspoon explains Matt Chamberlain’s recent sojourn to Cornwall: he was recording demos for The Light Princess, the musical that Tori is working on with Samuel Adamson for the United Kingdom’s National Theatre. (By the way, as he notes on his website, Matt’s back from Cornwall after spending “an amazing” two weeks at Martian Studios.)

Thanks to Fabrizio Leone for sending the original question to Ask Billboard and to Matthew for being the first of several people to let us know! No thanks to my employers for keeping me at work late on a Friday night so I couldn’t get this information posted sooner!