Songs Of Love For Japan

Tori has donated “500 Miles” to Songs of Love for Japan, a compilation benefiting ShelterBox, an organization that is on the ground providing relief to the victims of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that affected northeast Japan in March.

The cornerstone of the fundraiser is a 100-track compilation of music donated by 100 artists with many of the songs being rare or live and exclusive to the collection. The compilation will be for sale for $100 for three days, starting on Monday, April 18th at 10:00 ET. For those unable to make the full donation, a different subset of 20 tracks will be available for $20 on each day of the sale. 100% of net proceeds from the project will benefit ShelterBox.

Other performers who have contributed songs to the collection include Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlisle, Charlotte Martin, Elizabeth & the Catapult, Heather Nova, Sara Bareilles, Sarah Fimm, Sarah Slean, Jeffery Gaines, Gail Ann Dorsey and Wolf Parade—so it’s quite the collection! If you can help out, we certainly encourage you to do so!

Mick Foley's #10forRAINN Fundraiser

Tori has twittered her support for Mick Foley’s #10forRAINN campaign to raise funds for RAINN. To encourage people to give, Mick’s lined up a number of incentives, included autographed photographs, a phone call or even a visit from Mick himself. The campaign has a goal of raising $10,000 for RAINN by the end of April.

Check out this clip of Mick talking about the campaign below and, if you can help out, please do!

Thanks to Gary for the tip!

Color Us Obsessed...

Today’s episode of the Colin McEnroe Show, a program on WNPR, Connecticut’s public radio network, revolves around the subject of being obsessed with a band or musical performer. Starting with an interview with Gorman Bechard, whose current film Color Me Obsessed documents the history of The Replacements through the eyes of their fans, Colin also brings in fans of other performers, including a Toriphile who tells her story about becoming and being a fan of our heroine.

The entire show evolves into a fascinating and fun conversation about the intersections between musical fandom, record stores, and the Internet and should be of interest to any Toriphile.

Sneak Peek At "Light Princess" Details

Tori has copyrighted The Light Princess, and in doing so has revealed the names of the songs in the musical, scheduled to debut in April 2012. Check ‘em out:

Piper’s Tale No. 1
Winter’s Carol Part 1
Delectable Boy Pain
Sealander Moon
Althea
Suspicious Condition
Better Than Good
Lord High Steward’s Tale
The Best of You
No H2O
Winter’s Carol Part 2
Winter’s Carol Part 3
The Ending
Darkest Hour
Digby’s Journey
Falling by August
Tinkle, Drizzle, Bubble and Gush
Digby’s Tale No. 2
Raise a Typhoon
Light Child of Lagobel
Selma’s Tale
Destiny
My Little Girl’s Smile
Tears
Piper’s Tale No. 2
Lagobel

Yesterday, we originally reported this tip from Erin, and it turned out the link and listing she sent in were from 2008. Today, Kris sent in the more recent (and seemingly more complete) list above. Click through to check out the 2008 tracklist and see how much it’s changed — and see what has survived two years of writing, revision, and renaming.

read more...

Dutch Guitarist Unveils Tori Tribute Album

Tori inspires an awful lot of people. It’s kind of amazing. A Dutch musician, John C. Fraser, has brought his Tori-inspired project into the light of day. When Guitars Try To Be Pianos is a collection of guitar-based versions of favorite Tori songs, including “Pretty Good Year,” “Precious Things,” “Father Lucifer,” “Black Dove (January),” “Cornflake Girl,” “Winter,” “Doughnut Song,” “Martha’s Foolish Ginger,” “Pancake,” and “Happy Phantom.” You can check him out at his Web site, above, and also find out more about his efforts to bring these songs on the road. In the meantime, have a listen to him in the videos below:

Is anyone else a little bummed that he didn’t do “Flying Dutchman?” Thanks to Frank for sending this in.

On Tori Talk, It's Our Turn To Cringe

Whoopsie. It looks like we misunderstood Nick Salvato’s upcoming Cornell talk, titled “Cringe Criticism: On Embarrassment and Tori Amos.” Reader Melanie contacted Nick to get the goods on his colloquium (which, by the way, has been rescheduled to May 5). Here’s what he said:

I’ve heard that there has been some suspicion about — and hostility toward — the very notion of this talk (based solely on its title) in the Tori Amos “webiverse” — and I want to assure you (and, perhaps by way of you, others) that the talk is in no way intended as a disparagement of Amos’s music or of her fans (among whose number I count myself). Rather, the talk will be an exploration of the complex and understudied feeling of embarrassment; of what Amos’s music may teach us about that feeling; and of what distinguishes “critical embarrassment” (the version of the feeling experienced, on public occasions, by public intellectuals, academics, professors, and others of their stripes) from the run-of-the-mill or “garden variety” embarrassment that we all feel in everyday situations. In the end, the talk will be much more about embarrassment and the work of criticism than it is about Amos’s music.

Well, this is embarrassing. Our apologies, Nick. We hope some of you check out the talk!

The Surrey With The Cringe On Top

What is it with Toriphiles being labeled uncool? The Cornell University Department of Music will host a colloquium on April 28 called “Cringe Criticism: On Embarrassment and Tori Amos.” Admittedly, we’re not entirely sure what that means, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be wholly flattering to Tori or her listeners. Still, if you’re in the area, it might be worth checking out. Thanks to Melissa for the tip!

PS22 Takes Oscars Crowd Over The Rainbow

Tonight at the Oscars, Mr. B and the PS22 hit a home run, performing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” before an awestruck audience at the Kodak Theatre. If you missed it, you can check out the performance over at Perez Hilton. Also, don’t miss them on Oprah’s Ultimate After-Oscar Party on Monday, February 28.

Recent Tori Show Listings Aren't Legit

Mondale31 recently tipped us off to a couple of Web sites claiming that Tori is playing live shows in Europe. One, allegedly in Utrecht, is listed for February 19 (last week). The other, in Zurich, carries a date of March 16, 2011. We’ve confirmed with official channels that both of these listings are bogus, and nobody knows where the information is coming from. It’s always a good idea to be skeptical of concert listings when they haven’t been confirmed by Tori and her peeps.

Birth Of The Uncool: Bitch On Tori Fans

The latest issue of Bitch Magazine features an article titled Birth of the Uncool, by Sady Doyle, that addresses the evolution and nature of us — fans of Tori Amos. Agree or disagree with the analysis, the article, subtitled “In defense of the Tori Amos fan,” is an interesting read.

Thanks to the several of you who sent the link our way!