Allmusic Midwinter Grace Review

Allmusic.com has added Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s review of Midwinter Graces to their Tori Amos discography. Erlewine gives it 3 of 5 stars and describing it as, “an easy listening version of all her signatures in one tidy, not so-Christmasy, package.”

Huh.

Thanks to luke for the link!

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Künstlicher Midwinter Graces Review

Laura Snapes’ strongly-worded and less-than-favorable review of Midwinter Graces for NME (apparently that is; it hasn’t been posted on nme.com as of yet though it may have appeared in the print edition already) generated a bit of a flurry in the comments. Agree or not with her critique or not, such is the way of music criticism.

Thanks to toribr for catching this one!

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UK Midwinter Graces Update

Everything Tori has announced that the Christmas card reported at the end of last week will only be included with the first 1,000 orders of the UK regular edition of Midwinter Graces from Amazon.co.uk.

Additionally, they’ve said that, “HMV will be making a special announcement about some Tori Amos live news,” and recommended keeping an eye on hmv.com for details when they are announced. So far, nothing yet but we’ll get it posted here soon as we hear the news.

Visa Offers Ticket Deal For Melbourne and Perth

Visa Entertainment is now offering a 2-for-1 ticket deal to Visa cardholders for the November 12th show Melbourne and the November 21st show in Perth. To take advantage of this offer, you’ll have to buy your tickets through Ticketek.com.

In addition, all Visa card purchasers will be entered into a drawing to win entry to a meet and greet with Tori. Full contest details have been posted at Visa Entertainment — just in case you’re interested in a little dry reading.

Thanks again to onscarletswalk for the tour tip!

Update: I guess I should have read the “dry reading” as tickets have to be purchased by Monday, November 9th at 11:59 PM Sydney time — about 10 minutes ago as of this update. Oops…such is the perils of being out of town for the weekend and reporting on news in a sleepy stupor before heading to work. Looks like the 2-for-1 ticket offer is still in effect though…

Midwinter Graces Now Streaming!

Christmas — or at least Tori’s new music from the season — has come a little early this year: the twelve songs from the regular edition of Midwinter Graces are streaming at imeem for free!

Thanks to Steven, Suzy and Sally for letting us know!

Between the Lines Interview (November 5, 2009)

There’s a side to the record when you listen to it that talks about what is the gold – what really is that? It’s valuing whom you have in your life, the relationships you’ve built. It’s not just about success – or it just isn’t all your material possessions anymore – it’s how you live your life, and that’s all included in the music.

Chris Azzopardi’s interview with Tori in which she talks at length about Midwinter Graces (which we had a teaser from last month) was published in the November 5th edition of “Between the Lines” and is now available online at PrideSource.

Thanks to Mark-Alexis Gabriel for the link!

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Canberra Ticket Prices Reduced

The latest newsletter from the Canberra Theatre announced that all remaining tickets for Tori’s November 15th concert there have been reduced in price. A Reserve tickets have been knocked down to AUS$64.50 and the B Reserve tickets are now on sale at AUS$59.50. Additionally, ever ticket purchased will put you into a drawing to get an opportunity to attend a meet’n‘greet with Tori prior to the performance.

Thanks to onscarletswalk for letting us know about these changes (which, alas, are not exactly advertised on the Theatre’s website).

A Post-Mid-Week Midwinter Graces Update

While I was off cavorting in Northern Illinois on a business trip for the first half of this week (go Ice Hogs!), a few Midwinter Graces tidbits popped up here and there.

First, the album will be released in Australia on Friday, November 6th in both the CD-only regular and CD/DVD deluxe editions. You can find it listed at JB Hi Fi and CD Online and other Australian vendors — assuming you haven’t already gone out to a local store and picked up a copy.

Update: matthew writes to say that the record was released on iTunes Australia yesterday as well and points out that, amusingly, the deluxe edition with the extra tracks and the video interview turns out to be the cheapest version. Go figure!

Second, Amazon.co.uk has added a short video clip from the DVD included in the deluxe edition of the album to their listings for each edition of the album. In it, Tori talks about the conversation she had with Universal Music’s Doug Morris that, along with the other influences she’s mentioned in various interviews, lead to this recording.

Third, Amazon.co.uk’s listing for the regular edition has been changed to say “Midwinter Graces (Includes Tori Amos Christmas Card).” One presumes that the image added to the listing — which also graces this article — would be the Christmas card in question.

Fourthly, back on the North American side of the Atlantic, Amazon.com finally got around to adding clips of each song to their listing for the release.

And finally, as mentioned at ToriAmos.com and Everything Tori, the album is now available for pre-order from iTunes — don’t forget that the deluxe edition sold at iTunes in the US includes one additional bonus track: “Good King Wenceslas”.

Many thanks to vic suteski, roel and David for catching all these tidbits!

Scotsman Interview (October 31, 2009)

Our ancestors have been celebrating midwinter for thousands of years, whether Norse or Native American. The Christians just happen to hold the copyright on it now. We should all be able to enjoy the rebirth of the sun. And that’s s-u-n.

Chitra Ramaswamy spoke to Tori about Midwinter Graces for The Scotsman and the interview was published in the October 31st edition of that newspaper. Besides the upcoming seasonal record, they also discussed Tori’s relationship with Cornwall, her Cherokee roots and family.

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Virgin Music Interview (October 30, 2009)

When you say commercialised I think of people identifying that you can only have a good time if you spend a lot of money. That’s a negative because lots of people don’t have lots of money to spend. I tried to make a record that didn’t focus on that side of it, but focused on values and people.

This interview by Greg Rose appeared on Virgin Music’s website on October 30th. It focuses primarily on Midwinter Graces but also touches on the creative process and staying out of the public eye.

Thanks to Ben for the tip!

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