The Advocate Review Of "A Piano"

The following review is from the October 10, 2006, issue of “The Advocate”: http://www.advocate.com/. Thanks to Chad and DMC for sending this in.

read more...

Blender Review Of "A Piano"

Here is the Blender review of A Piano. They give it 4 out of 5 stars. Thanks to Noah for telling us about this.

read more...

Update On Barnesandnoble.com Orders

If you are still waiting for an order from B&N and have received a confirmation message that your order is packed and ready to leave their warehouse, you’re fine and can ignore the rest of this update.

If, on the other hand, you placed an order with B&N and your order still shows as unshipped on your order status page, we suggest that you call them ASAP and tell them you want to check on your order status, even if you did not receive a delay message from them.

We have no idea what happened or what’s really going on, but we think you’ll find that they will tell you that the release date was changed, but that a shipment has “just arrived today” at their warehouse and they’ll put your order through. Apparently this is exactly what they were telling people yesterday, too.

Now, it could be they really are getting their shipments in in dribbles, but this does NOT explain the reports we’re hearing about some people who ordered on Tuesday (the day of release) having already received their orders while others who pre-ordered weeks ago have been told the collection is not yet available because the supplier changed the release date. Seems like it would be a good idea for them to fill the oldest orders first.

[ UPDATE Monday, Oct 2: We attempted to contact corporate representatives at Barnes and Noble to find out what’s causing these delays, but they have not responded to our requests for comment.]

Record Collector (November 2006)

The November 2006 issue (No. 329) of Record Collector (with Bruce Springsteen on the cover) features a major interview with Tori, in which she talks “in depth about her remastered catalogue”. The article is not available online. This magazine is a UK publication. If you can’t find the issue in a store near you, single issues can be purchased directly from the magazine.

UPDATE: A transcript is now available.

Brian Nash: Boys For Pele Adds A Second Show

We’re happy to report that Brian Nash’s Boys For Pele show has sold out! Congratulations, Brian! As a result, a second show on the same night, October 2nd at 9:30 pm, as been added by The Duplex Cabaret, in New York City. Reservations are recommended and can now be made online.

Tori on Kevin & Bean Thursday

Tori is scheduled to appear Thursday (tomorrow) morning on KROQ’s Kevin and Bean show sometime between 5:30 and 10 a.m. Thanks to Lauren for letting us know!

Barnesandnoble.com Out Of Stock

Perhaps you were one of the unlucky BarnesandNoble.com customers *cough* who got the following message:

We regret to inform you that our supplier has changed the release date on the pre-ordered merchandise listed below. We expect to ship the item(s) soon and will send you an email when it is ready to leave our warehouse. If we cannot acquire the merchandise within 30 days, we will notify you by email.

We assume that you still want to purchase this merchandise. However, if you would like to cancel any unshipped portion of your order, you may do so online at: http://www.bn.com/orderstatus

Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay.

— Barnes&Noble.com

[Quick-cut to a split-screen of bustling factories where workers are scrabbling to piece together little plastic pianos as fast as they can.]

One truly regrets making the unfortunate decision to shell out $85.33 for expedited delivery of the B&N edition just to get the extra DVD now.

Your Thoughts On "A Piano"

You know those days when you feel like putting your two cents in doesn’t really count for anything?

Well, this is not one of those days.

Plunk those pennies on the counter and head over to write your review of A Piano: The Collection. You can share your thoughts on a particular song or on the whole shebang. Whatever strikes your fancy.

You can also get to the reviews from our A Piano info page (which is helpfully linked in the right column … bonus points if you already knew that was there).

A Piano: Lyrics and Liner Notes

EverythingTori.com has added A Piano: The Collection to their Music gallery. Each of the five discs has a clickable tracklisting. Previously released songs, even if an alternate mix or remix, link to that song’s page from the album it was originally released on, but the lyrics and liner notes for the new songs and b-sides are now available. There are also photographs for each song from the collection’s included book. Thanks to Ben and lau for letting us know!

'Twas The Night Before A Piano...

...And all through the host,
EverythingTori was stirring,
With news bits to post!

EverythingTori.com has been updated with a few last-minute odds and ends related to the impending release of A Piano: The Collection.

First, they’ve specified some international release dates for the boxed set:

September 27, 2006:Sweden
September 29, 2006: Germany, Italy, Netherlands
October 7: Australia
October 16, 2006: France

The late date in France is somewhat surprising given the mixed signals from Amazon.fr regarding pre-orders for the collection from them. Amazon.fr now shows the 26th as the release date—assuming I can decode enough French to understand “Date de sortie d’origine” to mean the release date. I’m not sure why September 22nd is listed in parenthesis following the words “CD Audio” though.

On a related note, Amazon.ca now indicates October 3rd will be the release date of A Piano in Canada.

Second, starting on September 26th, WindowsMedia will be offering a sampler listening party for A Piano and a video stream of Tori discussing “Walk To Dublin.” (Presumably, that video clip is from the exclusive Barnes & Noble bonus DVD.) MSN Music, mp3.com, and ARTISTDirect will also be hosting listening parties as well. Also, as was mentioned earlier today, AOL Music is streaming several tracks from the boxed set, including “Not David Bowie.”

Finally, PopMatters is giving away a copy of A Piano: The Collection. Any United States resident can enter by providing their name, e-mail address and state. The deadline to do so is October 13th.