SLUG Magazine Midwinter Graces Review

Tori Amos – Midwinter Graces review

by Dean O. Hillis
Online Exclusive / Posted October 27, 2009

I can think of no greater feat than a Christmas/Holiday album helping to get you in the mood for the forthcoming holidays in October. If ever a modern artist was suited for recording a holiday/seasonal album, it must be Tori Amos. From “Winter” and her live “Little Drummer Boy” cover from the Little Earthquakes period, her pretty “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and one of my personal favorites, her original holiday song “Purple People (Christmas In Space)” (both b-sides from the Spark single) not to mention her great live cover of Joni Mitchell’s “The River” (sadly never “officially” released) her love of this genre is more than evident. But “Midwinter Graces” isn’t your typical holiday album and its deep beauty reveals itself upon repeated listenings. Which is not to say that initially some songs don’t immediately grab you—they certainly do (this is a Tori Amos album after all)—it is just that this isn’t a “Christmas” specific album and there is nary a Santa or “White Christmas” in sight. Instead a very angelic-looking Tori (floating in heavenly clouds) is featured on the album’s cover, and in a few booklet shots I’ve been lucky enough to view online let me know immediately this album was going to be different than the standard holiday fare.

When I first learned of this release (announced on my favorite Tori site, www.undented.com) I thought it was going to be a compilation of these previously released tracks, and I was more than fine with that. I thought it would be great to have remastered versions of “Little Drummer Boy” or even “Purple People” (as 2006’s great A Piano boxed set included the live soundcheck version from To Venus & Back and not the original studio one) and maybe/hopefully a few new songs. When the actual title was officially announced alongside the track list (comprised of her interpretations of select holiday carols as well as original compositions) I was even happier. And now after several listens, I am not disappointed by any means.

One wonders how she has achieved this amazing accomplishment, especially after already releasing one of 2009’s finest albums, Abnormally Attracted To Sin, not to mention taking that out on the road. The press release explains that most of “Graces” was written/recorded during the promotion of Sin, then recording continued during the “Sinful Attraction Tour” mostly on days off and it is to Amos’ credit that she has created an equally listenable and intriguing album. Working with her loyal collaborators Matt Chamberlain (drums), Jon Evans (bass), Mac Aladdin (guitar), and John Philip Shenale (string arrangements), the recording is lush and crystalline courtesy of husband Mark Hawley and Marcel van Limbeek. What is always amazing about a Tori Amos album is the amount of research and attention to detail that she brings in as the producer. One doesn’t have to question her musicianship or artistry—she seems more attuned to her muses than ever—but it is her reworking here of classic songs (“What Child, Nowell,” “Candle: Conventry Carol,” “Star Of Wonder”) that is simply breathtaking—Even their titles are rechristened.

The original compositions get off to a fine start with the beautiful “A Silent Night With You,” and its irresistible opening line “the radio plays/my holiday faves/it takes me back to/when our love was new” and suddenly one is transported to their own Christmastime (and whatever configuration this feeling holds for you, of course). When the stunning and sure-to-be classic “Snow Angel” starts you will be pulled right into its landscape. It manages to be incredibly delicate, reverent and gorgeous at the same time. “Pink And Glitter” with its full big band orchestration lovingly celebrates the birth of a daughter and vocally reminds me of the improv section of her “Welcome To Sunny Florida” DVD, and that is not a bad thing at all, as she suggests we “shower the world…in pink.” The bittersweet, lovely “Our New Year” has rather sad lyrics, as it deals with those that are no longer with us during the holidays, yet somehow manages to be hopeful.

Wears The Trousers Midwinter Graces Review

Wears The Trousers, a UK-based print and online music magazine, has posted their take on Midwinter Graces. Reviewer Alan Pedder turns an appreciative and insgihtful eye towards the release, giving it 4 stars.

Thanks to Bill for the link action!

Canadian Deluxe Delight

It appears that — at least as far as Midwinter Graces is concerned — as goes the United States, so goes Canada. Josh reports that the single-disc regular edition of the album was discontinued in HMV’s inventory system and, sure enough, only the CD/DVD deluxe edition is listed at HMV.ca. Amazon.ca has followed suit as well.

So, for those keeping score, the deluxe edition will be the only option if you want to purchase a physical copy of the album within North America. Digitally, the choice between regular and deluxe on US (and presumably Canadian) iTunes — with the deluxe iTunes release including an additional bonus track. Meanwhile, outside of North America the regular and deluxe editions are still on the table as either physical or digital purchases. At least as far as we know.

In Honor of Violet's Mom, Marilyn

One last note before knocking off for the night…

As those of you who follow Violet on Twitter may know, the memorial service for her mother, who was tragically killed in a car accident a couple weeks ago, took place yesterday in Half Moon Bay, California. She’s hanging in there and appreciates all the e-mail, private messages, direct messages and tweets of support she’s received since then.

As a few of you have asked about memorial donations, Violet forwarded me some information about that to post. If you’re interested, please read on…

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More Midwinter Reviews

As November 10th gets closer, reviews of Midwinter Graces should start appearing like visions of sugar plums. Two manifested themselves in the past two days.

First, author and blogger P. Viktor presents a long and detailed track-by-track examination of the album. Undoubtedly, most folks will want to form their own opinion of the album once it’s released but for those who want to get a sneak preview, P. Viktor’s piece is quite in-depth, gives a good overview of the album and is quite favorable to the album

Meanwhile, The Skinny, which brought us one of the earliest interviews where Tori addressed the genesis of the record, has a short critique of the album — and seasonal releases in general. While admiring her effort and singling out a few tracks as favorites, they ultimately give it 3 of 5 stars.

Thanks to Rafferty, Eliot and Chris for the links!

Daily Telegraph Interview (October 23, 2009)

Those issues have been around for thousands of years. The Catholic Church hasn’t told women they can have birth control. The Muslim world hasn’t turned around and said, ‘Hey girls, go find your independence’. If we’re honest there is a big old war still happening.

Noel Mengel of The Daily Telegraph in Australia talked to Tori in preparation for her upcoming Australian tour and the interview was published in last Friday’s edition of the newspaper (as well as on news.com.au and reprinted in the Herald Sun). In addition to discussing Abnormally Attracted to Sin, they touch upon religion, spirituality and tolerance.

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Oliver Tanson Chats With Tori

While passing through Luxembourg on the Sinful Attraction tour, Tori sat down to chat with celebrity interviewer Oliver Tanson. While you can listen to clips from her answers to his questions (that, honestly, sound like they were taken from an American Doll Posse tour interview), the typical Toriphile may be more interested in the photo gallery there that features shots of Tori and Oliver by Thomas Nattermann as well as some lovely concert photos from the den Atelier concert taken by Tom Di Maggio. Additional photographs from that set can be found in a slideshow at Di Maggio’s website.

The Latest and Greatest on Here Lies Love

Back in the Spring of 2008, the first whiffs of Tori’s involvement in the studio recording of David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, a song cycle about the Philippines’ former first lady Imelda Marcos, emerged. Since then, there has been the occasional update from David on his journal as well as some reports about the album from the British music press.

In April, the BBC spoke with David about the project, when he revealed that the album was a collaboration with Fatboy Slim (who contributed to the original and confirmed the involvement of Tori and several other vocalists.

More recently, the BBC and NME both reported on the record, quoting collaborator Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) about the record and the other guest vocalists. According to Cook, while its sound would not be “hugely experimental,” it wouldn’t be straight-ahead either and was, in part, inspired by dance music. He also discussed some of the reasons why progress on the recording was slow but indicated that it would be released sometime in the next six months.

The album is yet to appear on Nonesuch Records’ website but we’ll keep an eye out and post when we hear a release date has been announced.

Thanks to Evan Careclakis, Mark Manchen, Socrates Dinos and ChadwickY for keeping on top of this!

Servus TV In Concert Series To Include Tori

Sebastian notes that player.de lists Tori on the schedule of Austrian television station ServusTV’s In Concert series.

According to player.de, Tori will one of two artists to be featured on the series on Friday, December 4th. No details are given and, unfortunately, a quick check of ServusTV’s website turns up program information only to the end of October. So, whether this will be new footage or previously-released material (as is the case with the Oasis and Gwen Stefani concert films being aired this weekend) remains to be seen but details will undoubtedly surface soon enough.

Tori Returns To The World Cafe

According to ToriAmos.com and Everything Tori, the session Tori recently recorded for The World Cafe (presumably while she passing through Philadelphia back in August) will be aired on Friday, October 23rd. WXPN, the station where The World Cafe originates, concurs.

Tune in if your local NPR station broadcasts the program or listen live on WXPN’s stream on Friday from 2:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern.

Update: If you missed the brodcast yesterday or your local NPR station doesn’t carry The World Cafe (or if you don’t have a local NPR station), the interview is now archived for your streaming pleasure!