Here Lies Love Delayed

Last week, Greg informed us that Amazon had changed the release date for Here Lies Love, which features vocals by Tori on two songs, to December 2010. However, as there was no change on the album’s website at the time, we figured it was a glitch of some sort. Alas, that turns out not to be the case as DavidByrne.com is now saying the release date has been pushed back to April 6th — and Amazon agrees. Thanks to @KhaledT for the tip.

Pre-ordering one of the album packages at DavidByrne.com will get you an immediate download of “Please Don’t” (featuring vocals by Santigold) with the rest of the album. Of course, you can still get a mp3 of that song in exchange for your e-mail address from David’s website.

Additionally, a new track from the album, “Never So Big,” featuring vocals by Sia has been posted. Enjoy!

Q&A: When will The Tori Store re-open?

Q: Any idea when the Tori Store will open again? It has been saying 1/18 forever now. — Greg

A: Yes, bit of a delay. The folks at The Tori Store are working on it and expect to have it back up and running soon, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

Upcoming Benefit Auctions Include Tori Items

Update: The Willie Mae Rock Camp on-line auction is live!

Attention collectors and those with a nice-sized tax refund headed your way: Tori has donated a couple items to two upcoming benefit auctions so if you’re looking to pick up some unique pieces of Tori memorabilia, this may be your chance.

First, an autographed microphone is one of the items in the online portion of the 4th Annual Rock’n‘Roll Auction benefiting Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, a New York-based music and mentoring program for girls and women. The online portion runs from February 4th through February 11th and also includes items from Sheryl Crow, Rosanne Cash and Wilco. On February 9th, the silent and live portions of the auction will take place at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY, along with performances by Erin McKeown, Kaki King and Saffire.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Cancer Research UK’s annual Sound & Vision benefit event will be taking place at Abbey Road Studios on February 25th. It too will be preceded by an online auction which includes framed, handwritten lyrics for “A Silent Night With You,” signed by Tori, with an album inlay card. That particular auction starts on February 12th but there is an assortment of other items already on the block to bid on, if you are so inclined.

Tori Visits Metal Hammer

In all the hub-bub of the Midwinter Graces promotional whirlwind back in December, we somehow managed to miss that Tori was one of the guests during the December 18th edition of the Metal Hammer Podcast. While it seems a little inexplicable on the surface, the Slayer cover on Strange Little Girls, as one might guess, is the starting point of their discussion, but they also branch into bringing rock energy to her music, knowing your instrument, dark energy, the occult and Dionysus.

Download it directly here. Tori’s segments starts at the 63 minute mark.

Thanks to velvet for catching this!

Mick Foley Teams Up With RAINN

Pro wrestler Mick Foley has teamed up with RAINN to combat sexual violence. While visiting RAINN’s offices last December, he and his wife Colette announced that they would be donating half of the advance royalties from his upcoming memoir, “Countdown to Lockdown,” to RAINN. The other half, as he revealed on his blog will be going to help victims of sexual violence in Sierra Leone. Additionally, Mick has joined RAINN’s National Leadership Council and is training to be Online Hotline volunteer.

Lest you think this has nothing to do with Tori, Mick addresses the origins of his friendship with her in the memoir (that’s Mick and Colette in the photograph with Tori lifted from RAINN’s site), slated to be published in the Fall of 2010.

Thanks to Alex F, Gary and toritattoo for the tip!

A History Lesson in Song From The Guardian

Tori’s “Yes, Anastasia” was one of the songs selected by The Guardian’s readers for this past week’s Readers Recommend column, featuring songs written about figures from history. Paul MacInnes ties all the various and sundry submissions together in an article that discusses the top and playlist which includes songs from Steeleye Span, Joan Baez, Neil Young, Al Stewart and several others, in addition to the Tori.

Thanks to el feugo for the link!

Glide Midwinter Graces Review

This short and somewhat vague review of Midwinter Graces was posted by the online magazine Glide on January 14th.

Thanks to Bob for sending it in!

Tori Amos
Midwinter Graces
By Jason Gonulsen
January 14, 2010
3/5 stars

Tori Amos has made a career out of being unordinary, and most of her albums are better because of this fact. Here on Midwinter Graces, she’s still giving a max effort, it’s just that not much stands out. The holiday-themed album has a nice overall feel and flow, but it’s probably best served for background music at a party, something that can’t be said of any of Amos’ prior work. If you’re an Amos completist, by all means, get your copy—just don’t expect the magic you’re used to.

Uptown Magazine AATS Review

While one may think Uptown Magazine is behind the curve because they just posted their review of Abnormally Attracted to Sin, it appears that they finally just added it to their website last week and that it was previously published in the print edition. At least, that is what one hopes considering the C+ grade they gave it…

Abnormally Attracted to Sin is quirky singer/songwriter Tori Amos’ 10th album, but not much has changed thematically. She’s still writing vague poetic songs about her beef with religion (seriously, Tori, we get it). Amos creates lush backgrounds of strings or electronic beats, and sings overtop of them with her own internal rhythms. Songs such as Maybe California and Flavor are simple piano ballads, with more conventional vocals. The album would be better if Amos had shortened it a bit – at 17 tracks, Abnormally Attracted to Sin is a long haul. The highlight of the album: Mary Jane, a quirky cabaret tune about marijuana.

— Robin Dudgeon

Photos From The Artists Den

Live From The Artists Den, a public television program here in the States that recorded a performance by Tori back in December for an upcoming episode (got all that? phew!), has updated their Photography section with a new selection of shots taken at tapings in 2009. While there isn’t a gallery for Tori’s performance, you can find a handful photographs taken at the Park Avenue Armory in the header of the main Photos section.

Hopefully a gallery for the taping — as well as details about the episode’s broadcast — will surface soon!

Here Lies Love Refreshment

Not exactly huge news, but times are slow…

Amanda tells us that David Byrne sent out an email today with details on Here Lies Love. Although David’s project page contains the same info we reported from Nonesuch Records in December (complete tracklisting; Tori on two tracks, one a duet with Cyndi Lauper; release date of February 23), we figure it doesn’t hurt to mention again for those who may have missed seeing it in the midst of the holiday (and Midwinter Graces) crush.

Note: one track from the album, “Please Don’t,” featuring Santigold on vocals, is now available to download for free (well, in exchange for your e-mail address) and the title track (vocals by Florence Welch) is streaming on the site too so you can get a taste of what this record will be like. There is also an excerpt of the book that comes with the deluxe edition of the album that provides more backstory for the collaboration and this little Flash movie from David where he talks about the project: