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and fire thought she'd really rather be water instead
Writing is proving extraordinarily difficult. I cannot settle down and focus, which is really rather a shame given what a splendid job I did last weekend of writing a ten-page paper in a day. This is easier than that one, too, or should be, but I only sit here wrapped in a quilt watching dusk spread through the sky and browsing through more images of war bond ads, as though I don't already have plenty, which I do.
It's actually a semi-interesting topic and a pretty original one; I'm proud of thinking of it. Or discovering it, actually. And it does not require a lot of Deep Thinking to write about visual propaganda in the U.S. and Britain during World War II, because it's all terribly blatant. It's simply a matter of starting.
I don't have much interest in ever seeing Tori live, because I've found most of her live work to pale in comparison to the studio offerings (rather the antithesis of Ani, really). Perhaps it's that I've never heard a studio version of "Cooling," but it's the one song I can't imagine not hearing live. It's such an impossibly beautiful song, and no other version could top it, I think.
Yes, on reflection, I am mostly disappointed with "Strange Little Girls." "Rattlesnakes" is so gorgeously done I'd have bought the album for it alone, and the title track and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" are both worthy offerings as well. But the rest of it falls flat. I've never been a fan of her flat-out ballads. "China," "Hey Jupiter," "Jackie's Strength," "1000 Oceans" - blegh, always skip 'em. Give me a good old blood-rusher like "Precious Things," "Space Dog," or "Spark," or the tingling brilliance of those songs that shouldn't work but do, like "Mother," "Hey Anastasia," or - possibly my all-time favorite - "Hotel". (Though I'd rather stick with my list of the top three - "Hotel," "Mother," and "Cooling" - than choose just one, as it tends to change with varying moods.)
I am of the camp that believes Tori should never, ever lose the piano, but I'm not averse to the electronica influence of the Choirgirl-Venus years. As much as I enjoy the electronica, though, the piano remains the driving force, one of those things that sets Tori apart. It's too clearly missing in the songs that don't utilize it. Its absence is felt. But "Hotel" is a perfect example of how well Tori can mix electronica with her piano's signature driving force. It's remarkable, really. I love the end of that song, how out-of-control the piano becomes, until the song can't even keep up with it.
But no, I'm not a fan of Strange Little Girls. I'd rather Tori had spent the time working on new material, though I think it was a creative and worthwhile endeavor.
I'm always surprised by the bad rap Boys For Pele gets. Granted, it was my first Tori-exposure (interesting, because most people recommend starting with anything but Pele, and I honestly don't think I'd have been hooked by anything else) so I'm biased. And there aren't any songs that stand out as masterpieces on the album, I'll admit. But it's such an amazingly cohesive album, and it's the one I most enjoy listening to all the way through. I tend to regard it as something of a symphony. Certainly, she's most obviously classically-influenced in Pele. While not my favorite Tori album (Choirgirl gets that distinction, as well as being the album it took me longest to even like, much less love) it is a close and happy second. (Venus is probably the one I like least, SLG not-withstanding since I choose to regard it as a side project rather than a "real" Tori album. I go through phases where I get stuck on either Little Earthquakes or Under the Pink, but not with the same frequency as Choirgirl or Pele.)
Yes, it's remarkable the things I'll happily write about when I want to avoid academic writing. But it's time to get my ass in gear. Sigh.
It's actually a semi-interesting topic and a pretty original one; I'm proud of thinking of it. Or discovering it, actually. And it does not require a lot of Deep Thinking to write about visual propaganda in the U.S. and Britain during World War II, because it's all terribly blatant. It's simply a matter of starting.
I don't have much interest in ever seeing Tori live, because I've found most of her live work to pale in comparison to the studio offerings (rather the antithesis of Ani, really). Perhaps it's that I've never heard a studio version of "Cooling," but it's the one song I can't imagine not hearing live. It's such an impossibly beautiful song, and no other version could top it, I think.
Yes, on reflection, I am mostly disappointed with "Strange Little Girls." "Rattlesnakes" is so gorgeously done I'd have bought the album for it alone, and the title track and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" are both worthy offerings as well. But the rest of it falls flat. I've never been a fan of her flat-out ballads. "China," "Hey Jupiter," "Jackie's Strength," "1000 Oceans" - blegh, always skip 'em. Give me a good old blood-rusher like "Precious Things," "Space Dog," or "Spark," or the tingling brilliance of those songs that shouldn't work but do, like "Mother," "Hey Anastasia," or - possibly my all-time favorite - "Hotel". (Though I'd rather stick with my list of the top three - "Hotel," "Mother," and "Cooling" - than choose just one, as it tends to change with varying moods.)
I am of the camp that believes Tori should never, ever lose the piano, but I'm not averse to the electronica influence of the Choirgirl-Venus years. As much as I enjoy the electronica, though, the piano remains the driving force, one of those things that sets Tori apart. It's too clearly missing in the songs that don't utilize it. Its absence is felt. But "Hotel" is a perfect example of how well Tori can mix electronica with her piano's signature driving force. It's remarkable, really. I love the end of that song, how out-of-control the piano becomes, until the song can't even keep up with it.
But no, I'm not a fan of Strange Little Girls. I'd rather Tori had spent the time working on new material, though I think it was a creative and worthwhile endeavor.
I'm always surprised by the bad rap Boys For Pele gets. Granted, it was my first Tori-exposure (interesting, because most people recommend starting with anything but Pele, and I honestly don't think I'd have been hooked by anything else) so I'm biased. And there aren't any songs that stand out as masterpieces on the album, I'll admit. But it's such an amazingly cohesive album, and it's the one I most enjoy listening to all the way through. I tend to regard it as something of a symphony. Certainly, she's most obviously classically-influenced in Pele. While not my favorite Tori album (Choirgirl gets that distinction, as well as being the album it took me longest to even like, much less love) it is a close and happy second. (Venus is probably the one I like least, SLG not-withstanding since I choose to regard it as a side project rather than a "real" Tori album. I go through phases where I get stuck on either Little Earthquakes or Under the Pink, but not with the same frequency as Choirgirl or Pele.)
Yes, it's remarkable the things I'll happily write about when I want to avoid academic writing. But it's time to get my ass in gear. Sigh.
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anyway, i just had to share. i got really excited about that.
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because writing rocks my world in so many ways, i'm always striving for perfecting any of my own. and that alone is as stressful as the beautiful releif that follows upon completion. same goes for my art. (i know i talk funky).