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From:
rdtrn@torithoughts.org
Date:
Thu, 16 Feb 2006 17:07:52 -0800
Subject:
RDT Right Now #1996
To:
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o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Really Deep Thoughts Right Now Volume 06 : Issue #1996
.
o - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - o
. o o .
o o
O "Thoughts right now... O
o What will become of me, o
o Become of her, become of we?" o
. o o .
O O
O - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - O
o .
o
o
o
Tori Amos, "Thoughts"
In this issue:
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
washington blade fade to red article [ wojizzle forizzle <woj@smoe.org> ]
out interview [ wojizzle forizzle <woj@smoe.org> ]
"you're on a mushroom now!" "I wish [ Cyndi S Crawford <cyndi.crawford@ju ]
Missed a digest? Pick up a copy at the RDTRN archives:
http://www.torithoughts.org/rdtrn/archives
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
[top]
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 11:39:14 -0500
From: wojizzle forizzle <woj@smoe.org>
To: torinews <torinews@smoe.org>,
fiercest clams <precious-things@smoe.org>,
rdtrn <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: washington blade fade to red article
http://www.washblade.com/2006/2-10/arts/music/amos.cfm
Amos explains it
Commentary on Tori Amosí new DVD collection proves the singer songwriter
takes herself way too seriously.
By BO SHELL
Friday, February 10, 2006
If thereís anything more imaginative, artistic or just plain "out there"
than Tori Amosí and her music, itís her music videos.
From dancing with snakes in "God," to crawling on rocks in "China," to
making out with Adrien Brody in "a sorta fairytale," Amosí video
collection "Fade to Red" is somehow appropriate for her image.
The two-disc DVD box set is scheduled to be released Feb. 14 and
includes almost every video from the singer-songwriterís 14-year,
nine-album career. The collection also provides comprehensive, if
strange, audio commentary from the artist and a short film on the making
of the ëa sorta fairytaleí video.
For eight years after Amos first released her video catalogue on VHS in
1998, fans were clamoring for an updated collection. The long-awaited
update includes the 15 videos from the first collection, plus six more
recent videos, including the two from her latest album, "The Beekeeper."
Amos videos rarely make THE airwaves or the charts. Fans who never saw
the videos are treated to new experiences with this release, but
die-hard "Tori-philes" are sure to relish the rare commentary Amos
offers for every video.
In true Amos style, the commentary is a little heady. Even after hearing
the singers ramblings, common listeners and non-fanatics are still left
in the dark with random references like Mary Magdalene, the Dark Prince
and Anne Boleyn used to explain creative decisions.
Amos seems unable to laugh at herself or her crazy videos, and she comes
off taking herself too seriously. Even true fans can look at the videos
in and out of context and give them a laugh, not just because theyíre
dated ó and some of them clearly are ó but because theyíre just plain
freaky.
But the best videos are explained in ways never heard before. The clips
that feature strong narratives, like "Jackieís Strength," "Spark" and
"Past the Mission" are arguably Amosís most beautiful videos, each with
audio commentary that is educational and enlightening.
Who knew Amosí mom was on the set for "Past the Mission," that the
driver in "Spark" is the same as in "Jackieís Strength," or that said
driver is missing half a finger?
Noticeably absent from the collection, besides the driverís fingertip,
are two videos that somehow got lost in the shuffle: "Glory of the ë80s"
from the album "To Venus and Back" and the title track from "Strange
Little Girl."
There seems to be no reason why "Glory of the 80s" didnít make the cut.
Two other tracks from the album made it to the DVD, so we know it wasnít
an album-specific issue, which may be the case with "Strange Little
Girl," considering the album was released in the shadow of some fall out
between Amos and Atlantic Records.
Also absent is Amosí video for "The Big Picture," which was recorded for
the 1988 album "Why Kant Tori Read." The video would have made great
fodder for the DVD collection, but itís really no surprise it doesnít
appear here.
Amos distances herself from that uber-í80s era of her career, and who
can blame her, but the video is priceless, and imagine the commentary
(read: excuses) Amos could conjure for donning a frilly blue pirate
blouse, jacked up hair and black spandex.
Fans may be surprised that a DVD collection with videos from Atlantic
and Amosí new label, Epic Records, is available at all, while others are
distraught over the exclusions that make the collection less complete.
With that in mind, Amos still does her followers a favor with a DVD
collection that any true fan wouldnít be without.
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[top]
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:37:34 -0500
From: wojizzle forizzle <woj@smoe.org>
To: torinews <torinews@smoe.org>,
fiercest clams <precious-things@smoe.org>,
rdtrn <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: out interview
the complete interview is from the latest issue (march 2006) of out
<url: http://www.out.com/current_issue.asp >.
http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=16551
Red Alert
In outtakes from our exclusive interview with Tori Amos, the alt-rock
goddess talks about her new collection of music videos, Fade to Red.
Matthew Breen
Why was it important to you to make a collection of your videos on DVD?
Rhino approached me and I started to watch [the videos]. I realized that
with sonic technology the way it is now, we could really present
something that I would want to watch. So I decided to sort of pick up
the gauntlet that was laid down, and try and present something that I
thought would be a contemporary collection of the different archetypes
that Iíve tried to carry and hold for the last many, many years.
Your videos arenít traditionally narrative, but often your songs are not
traditional narrative either. How would you describe your approach to
making videos in general? Is it specific to each song, or is there an
over-arching approach?
Iíve never really done a literal read on somethingÖ In ìJackieís
Strength,î for example, that was one of the ones that we decided to
bring the song to life, and you have ìToriî reliving her life as sheís
going through her neighborhood on the day of her wedding, and she canít
decide if sheís going to make it to the church or not. And I donít think
it really matters if she makes it to the church or notÖ So I felt that
that was one video that we tried to bring the song story in its truest
form to the visual story.
Others, of course, like ìPast the Mission,î it was important to
follow the bloodline of what that story was about. That was about the
ìold worldî coming to the ìnew worldî and saving all the ìsavages.î This
has always been a real discussion within my family because my fatherís
side of the family came from Scotland and Ireland to save everybody. And
my motherís side finds this all really amusing because they didnít think
that they needed saving at all. So [for the video] we talked about how
to bring this to moving picture. Instead of following the trail of
Cortez, we went back in the bloodline and we went back to Spain. And
Jake Scott, the director, Ridley Scottís son, had found a village in
Spain that was sort of frozen in time. And he had said that when he
heard this song he really felt this undercurrent of Jesus and Mary
Magdalene, which, of course, as a good ministerís daughter, Iím always
writing about that. So we decided to go back in time and create
somethingóand this is before all The Da Vinci Code hoo-hahóbecause if
you did it now, it would just be in bad form.
And so I started off with that, because to answer your question, I
take each sonic and visualóitís a marriageówhether itís in the still
photograph that you present with the sonic work, or the moving picture.
And sometimes itís like a visual poem, or a short story. Each [video] is
very different.
Have you ever said to a director, ìI wonít do this or that in a videoî?
I wonít let [directors] hijack a song in order to make their own point,
one that goes against who the song is. But you shouldnít walk into a
partnership with a creative partner if you donít like their treatment. I
know that sounds obvious, but sometimes in the editing process [videos]
have come in, and Iíll say, ìWait a minute, you have made a choice here
that we didnít agree with originally.î So you get them to do a second
edit or a third edit. You always try to give them the benefit of the
doubt. Some directors just hand it in and you know youíre 90% there.
Some can lose their way from the time they left you back to the editing
suite, back into L.A., intoóIím sorry, but the paranoia of the
cityóespecially the entertainment industry where you can lose your way.
I mean, if you start doing things for MTV or VH1 or anybody else,
then youíre a whore. You just are. And bask, love your whoreness. Enjoy
it. But if Iím going to be a whore, Iím going to be a fucking goddamned
good one. The songs are not here to do that. If Iím going to investigate
what it is to be paid for sexóif thatís what the song is, then Iím not
being a whore with the art of it. And I think you know very well that
you can write something for all the wrong reasons or film something for
all the wrong reasons and then you start editing and doing this stuff
and you donít even know what your work is anymore because youíre trying
to please everybody. You canít shake the western world and be in Kmart
all at the same time. It doesnít work like that.
Letís talk about your gay and lesbian fan base. Do you have a sense of
why gay and lesbian fans are drawn to your music or your sensibility? Is
it an outsider perspective?
Everybody is ready to judge you guys, manÖ People have such an issue and
they bring up the Bible and they bring up this and they bring up that,
and their arguments are very weak, because Jesus, the last time I
checked, was about compassion. And I see very little compassion when
Christians, or any other religion for that matter, are self-righteous
and judge the gay and lesbian community. I find it incredibly
condescending, just as an on-looker. There are a lot of same-sex
relationships that I think are far more sacred than anything in the
heterosexual community, but this means that your community carries a lot
on its shoulders. If youíre not going to wear peopleís opinions like a
second skin, then you better be reaching for something other than
peopleís harsh judgments. You better be reaching for, I would say, the
tools to take you to the next part of your journey, which ultimately is
wholeness with yourself.
It seems that a lot of what organized religion did to women is the same
thing that society has done to gays and lesbians. I wonder if thatís an
area where your music connects with gays and lesbians.
Thatís a good point because women [were prominent] in the early
Christian church, as Iím sure you know. When I was making The Beekeeper
I did a lot of study that there were women prophets, and I always saw
Mary Magdalene as a prostitute but as a prophet, and that was not
profitable for the early church. Because clearly they needed women to be
subservient if they were going to construct the patriarchy, no different
than Rome was, they just needed to do it through Christianity, and
therefore thatís how the structured church developedÖ If the gay and
lesbian community were fully empoweredóthink about itóthey would be
bringing forth ideas and concepts. Other people might have to go back to
their closets and open them and see whatís truly there instead of
pointing the finger at you guys. And itís no different than when women
are sitting at the roundtable saying, ìYou know what, guys, Iím not
going to hold this issue for you, I disagree with you, and I have a
voice at this roundtable, and Iím going to speak.î You might just make
people uncomfortable with what you have to say. Letís face it, if
everybody were truly comfortable with ourselves, we wouldnít have any
problem with you guys, would we now?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
[top]
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:30:04 -0500
From: Cyndi S Crawford <cyndi.crawford@juno.com>
To: RDTRN@torithoughts.org
Subject: "you're on a mushroom now!" "I wish I were on many.."
HUZZAH!
so.. who got Fade To Red? I did. so far, so good. I'm not even
watching the videos without the audio commentary from Tori. and it's
quite interesting, the stuff she's saying.
I plan to get the bootlegs later.. like when I have money. (I
actually *GASP!* saved $30 of my Christmas money to get Fade To Red. be
proud of me.)
in other news, life is going rather well for me, except for the
fact that my dog Stoney is dying of cancer. that's a lot of fun, ya
know.. watching your dog that you've had for probably almost nine years
die slowly before your eyes. (I love sarcasm.) John B. and Bethany have
read my LJ posts so they know exactly how I'm handling it. (not very
well, though things are finally starting to be "okay" now for me)
Garlands has taken on a new meaning for me because of what's
going on with my dog. originally, listening to it provoked images in my
head of your typical sappy love story movie.. where the guy is running as
fast as he can in the pouring rain to the one he loves.
nowadays (and I said this in an LJ post), a few lines in
particular stand out to me.. and make me see it differently. "he's on the
run, he's on the run from this walking greeting card" comes to mind.
that line makes me think of Stoney running from the inevitable:
death. and when someone dies, you usually get those sympathy greeting
cards. not so much when it's a pet--I mean you're lucky if anyone sends
you one then, but it's the same principle. in my mind, he's running as
hard as he can from.. a sympathy greeting card. from me and my family
ever receiving one because of him dying.
what comes to mind for you guys with Garlands? anything
different? anything similar?
so anyway.. let's see, my niece and nephew are growing like bean
sprouts.. so that makes me quite happy. I'm still trying to get back into
school--or find a job.. whichever comes first.. (preferably school)
the other night, I was rewatching the Welcome To Sunny Florida
DVD and I kept yelling at the TV screen.. (or well.. at the editor..)
because the video editing--to me anyway--was rather sloppy on that thing
and I coulda done it better. I kept going "Loren Haynes, boy, you need to
fire your editor and hire me! this is SLOPPY!"
speaking of video editing, I've made a couple of little music
videos if anyone on here is interested in looking at 'em.. you can see
them here: www.soundstage64.com/cyndi
in actuality, I've made a BUNCH of videos over the years. I just
have those two put up right now is all.. but yeah--if you wanna go look,
feel more than free to visit that website and take a peek. a good friend
of mine was kind enough to host my videos through her webspace.
and also, we have a puppy! his name is Max, he's about nine
months old, and he's already bigger than Stoney.. and Stoney's a pretty
big dog. heh heh! they enjoy each other very much and play together quite
a bit, and Max, all in all, looooves people. jackpot. can't have a dog
that growls and snarls at people, can we? especially not with kids under
five in the house.
my niece was terrified of him, but she's slowly warming up to
him. I think she's just intimidated by his size, more than anything,
because he's a very friendly dog.
this place is much too quiet lately. quit being so quiet! *blares
loud music* ahhh.. that's better.
so.. what does anyone else have to say about Fade To Red, among
other things?
Sincerely, Cyndi S. Crawford
"I know we're dying / and there's no sign of a parachute / we scream in
cathedrals / why can't it be beautiful / why does there gotta be a
sacrifice?" -- Tori Amos
o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o
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