Tori's New Album Title Revealed

Rudy Ramirez and Melissa wrote in just now to let us know some juicy details about Tori’s upcoming SXSW performance, including a) that her new album, due in spring, will be called “Abnormally Attracted to Sin,” b) that she’ll be playing some new songs off the album when she performs next month in Austin, and c) each song will be accompanied by a “visualette,” whatever that is. For the full lowdown, see the press release behind the cut.

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Best of Legs and Boots?

Several of you noticed music news website Direct Current and music blog Wears The Trousers both mention that Epic Records will be releasing a Legs and Boots best-of collection in March. We caught that too and have been trying to track down anything concrete about it.

While we were off doing that, Wears The Trousers indicated that the information came from a trusted source and, as a reputable publication, they wouldn’t post that sort of thing without good reason. Additionally, the Canadian outfit Future Shop has listed this as an upcoming release available March 17th in at least one of their bricks and mortar stores (though it’s not yet on their website’s upcoming releases list).

We’ve since been able to confirm that the compilation is, in fact, in the works. However, our Magic 8-Ball doesn’t reveal much more beyond that at this point so we’ll have to sit tight and wait for more details to emerge.

Tori Signs With Universal Republic Records For Upcoming 2009 Album

Hot off the presses, a press release for you. Yay! While it doesn’t contain a ton of new information, it does confirm that Tori has signed with a new record company for the upcoming album and has vague details about the project.

The photograph, courtesy of Universal Republic, shows Mel Lewinter, Chairman & CEO of Universal Motown Republic Group, Tori, Doug Morris (Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group), and Monte Lipman (President & CEO of Universal Republic Records).

December 2, 2008

TORI AMOS PARTNERS UP WITH UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC RECORDS

NEW ALBUM ACCOMPANIED BY GROUNDBREAKING NEW VISUAL
COMPONENT DUE IN SPRING/SUMMER OF ’09

(New York, NY) Innovative; influential; poetic; bombastic – indefinable
multiple Grammy nominee, Tori Amos, has teamed up with Universal Republic
Records, it was announced today by Monte Lipman, Co-President and COO of
Universal Republic Records.

Jump the cut to read the rest…

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Comic Book Tattoo Special Edition Published...We Hope

After some confusion about the actual publication date of the Comic Book Tattoo Special Edition, we’re told that copies should have reached stores during this past week. Diamond Comics confirms that the book should have shipped during the week of November 26th. Still, if you’re looking for some assurance that the bleeding thing actually exists, editor Rantz Hoseley has posted a couple photos of it on Flickr, reproduced here for your viewing pleasure:

However, Amazon still has some issues with regards to the special edition. Amazon.com lists it as not yet released and has sent out delivery delay notices as recently as last week. Amazon.ca shows it as released but with a 1-2 month estimated delivery date. Meanwhile, Amazon.co.uk is slightly more optimistic, indicating that orders will be shipped within 1-3 week.

Given the listing on Diamond though, one hopes Amazon will get this straightened out and start shipping copies this week.

Update: DavidMackGuide.com has some handy links to comics stores where you can order the Special Edition from as well.

Live at Montreux Odds and Sods

Several items of interest about Live at Montreux have popped up in the past few weeks.

First, courtesy of a licensing agreement between Eagle Rock Entertainment and FreemantleMedia Enterprises, all of Eagle Rock’s new music DVD offerings will now be available in Australia and New Zealand and the second release to be born from this deal is Tori’s Live at Montreux. According to Shock Entertainment, the company handling sales and distribution for these licensed releases, it was released on November 15th. Dylo and Benjamin have pointed out JB Hi-Fi’s listing for the DVD but it does not appear to be in stock there currently. No doubt, other stores should be carrying the title as well.

Second, several reviews of the Blu-ray edition of Live at Montreux have been posted in various Blu-ray/High-Definition websites. Blu-ray.com, High-Def Digest and DVD Talk have all weighed in. If you’ve been considering the Blu-ray edition, they address much of the technical aspects of the release which may (or may not) tip the balance for you. Thanks to Chris Johnson, Jack, and Jimmy for the links!

Finally, CrystallineColey let us know that some of Live at Montreux can be found on Comcast’s On Demand channel, available to Comcast’s digital cable subscribers. The program is in the Music section and is listed simply as “Tori Amos.” The program description pumps Comic Book Tattoo but the video is actually the first seven songs from the 1992 Montreux concert. The program does not appear to be listed on the On Demand website any longer, but we’re not sure if that means it’s no longer available for viewing or not.

Here A Tori, There A Tori - Comic Book Tattoo Edition (November 2, 2008)

It’s been a while since we mentioned Comic Book Tattoo and there have been a few newsy items of interest since we last did.

First, several collectible items, including Rantz Hoseley’s personal copy of the Comic Book Tattoo Limited Edition (#4 of 1000), are being auctioned off to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The other items include an Under The Pink tour program, a Boys For Pele tour program, a BEA CBT print and a San Diego Comic-con CBT print, all signed by Tori. The auctions run for another week.

Second, Globecat interviewed Rantz, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Tom Williams and Ming Doyle about Comic Book Tattoo. It’s good readin’! Check it out!

Third, in what hopefully will not become a repeat of the Limited Edition Amazon stress-fest, at least one person has reported receiving a delay notice for the special edition CBT hardcover. We suspect this could be related to an misunderstanding about the publication date — Amazon shows a publication date of October 29th but the actual date, according to the information we were given, is November 19th — but we don’t know for sure. If anyone has troubles with the special edition from any retailer, please let us know.

Finally, Rantz signed several paperback and hardcover copies of Comic Book Tattoo and left them for sale at the Image Comics booth at the Alternative Press Expo at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. APE’s ends at 6:00 PM PST today so this is probably too late notice for most people, but if you’re in the area and you need a copy, that’s one place to pick ‘em up. Thanks to Michele for that tip!

Live at Montreux on Blu-Ray

Back at the end of September, we mentioned that Amazon.co.uk had a listing for a Region 2 Blu-ray edition of Live at Montreux. It now appears that there will be a Region 1 Blu-ray release for North America as well. Roger noticed that Eagle Rock Entertainment had added a Blu-ray DVD to their catalog, with a release date of December 9, 2008 — one week after the European Blu-ray release, at least according to Amazon.co.uk. There’s no mention of the Region 2 Blu-ray DVD on the UK Eagle Rock site but then, according to them, Live at Montreux doesn’t exist at all so they might not be the most reliable place to look for confirmation….

Comic Book Tat-TWO

On November 19th, a new special hardcover edition of Comic Book Tattoo will be published. While it will not be limited or numbered or signed, it will come in a frosted matte black slipcase with silver foil accents and logos. The suggested retail price for this edition is $74.95 but bargain-hunters should be able to find it for a nice discount at many of the usual retailers and e-tailers. We’re told that the original hardcover is close to sold out so the special edition will soon be the only hardcover of the anthology in print and, as the latest ToriAmos.com newsletter points out, though we hesitate to repeat it in these uncertain economic times, it would make a nifty gift for the Toriphile in your life during the upcoming holiday season.

A Piano Firesale at Amazon

A Piano is Amazon.com’s Deal of the Day for today, Sunday, October 12th! Normally, carrying a hefty $74.98 price tag, they are offering it for 51% off at $36.99. Not a bad deal at all. So, if you’ve been holding off on adding the collection to your collection, this is a pretty good time to do so.

Live at Montreux Hits The Streets

Live at Montreux 1991/1992 was released last week in Europe and this week in North America.

For those who have somehow missed the boat, this release presents Tori’s first two performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival: 1991’s pre-stardom concert and the following year’s appearance when Tori’s name had sky-rocketed to much greater heights. The release is available on both CD, DVD and, according to Amazon.co.uk at least, a Region B Blu-ray DVD due December 1st.

The DVD issues are identical in North America and Europe, including the entirety of both performances (the only difference being the region encoding).

However, the CDs are a bit different: while the European issue is a double-disc set containing all of both concerts, the North American edition is a single CD with all of the 1991 concert and all but 3 tracks from the 1992 concert. The 3 missing songs from the North American edition are exclusively available on this side of the Atlantic from Amazon’s digital music store to those who purchase the complete album download from Amazon.

The DVD or CD can be ordered from all the usual places, though be advised to make sure you are purchasing the appropriate region DVD for your DVD player. If you’d like to support Tori directly, the Tori Store is offering the region 1 DVD for sale.