James Chapman

Unfair to end this in 2003. Yes, there was a mid-career dip in consistency from The Beekeeper through to Abnormally Attracted to Sun, but later material has been A+ with some amazing lyrics: Reindeer King, Bang, Climb, Forest of Glass, Metal Water Wood, Flowers Turn to Gold, Star Whisperer etc etc.

this is amazing and Tori herself said how much she loved it. They did it as a tribute to her father, who Winter is about and died at 96 a few months ago. ❤️

Not sure even Tori Amos herself would argue that she is not weird. SLG isn't my favourite of her records either but I love Rattlesnakes, Time, Real Men and Raining Blood. And that solo tour was fire.
Did you see she just announced a new album? Sounds like an angry political record ❤️

I remember reading something quite different, that Slayer loved that cover and sent Tori a load of tour T-shirts to say thanks.
Personally I absolutely love this cover.

But the great thing about Robert Jenrick is that wherever he goes, he increases the number of white faces by two.

Why is Starmer becoming more confident criticising Brexit? Because quietly, without any great drama, a consensus has been reached. It's a disaster inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...

Not sure the man responsible for this poster is best placed to lecture anyone else on taking politics “into the gutter”.

Well do check out later career highlights like Reindeer King, Forest of Glass, Metal Water Wood, Climb, Bats, Star Whisperer, Oysters, Bang, Flowers Burn to Gold if you don’t know them.

The Best of Tori Amos

There are some lovely b-sides from this era included on the deluxe - my favourites are Honey (which Tori regrets not putting on the album to this day) and Sister Janet. You might appreciate my best of Tori playlist, which includes them both.

open.spotify.com/playlist/2Xf...

Andy Burnham has called for the UK to rejoin the EU at the Labour Party conference. Now things are getting interesting.

Support for Brexit drops to laughable low - with just 11% seeing it as a success Ah well, at least our passports are blue again. Unfortunately, not many Brits are feeling buoyed by our supposed 'Brexit benefits'.

Just 11% of Brits now see Brexit as a success. This is Farage’s one “achievement” - indeed he vowed to leave the country if it failed. What is he still doing here and why isn’t he asked about the disaster or Brexit in every interview?

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

The Best of Tori Amos

Me too. You might appreciate my best of Tori playlist.

open.spotify.com/playlist/2Xf...

“You walk into my show, you walk into a world -- it's a film every night. I can't impose that on Lilith and vice versa."

“Well I would have a good bottle of wine with Sarah [McLachlan] any night of the week," Tori Amos said. "But my shows are theater, and I've worked a long time to get them to this point. This isn't just about eating some chicken and hearing a few of your favorite female singers… (1/2)

I wouldn’t say I like DDL more than the studio Venus disc, I thought we were comparing live versions. And the live versions of Space Dog, Bells for Her and Cooling are of course magic!
Did you see a few tour dates leaked today?

I prefer this collection to the Venus live disc tbh. Climb, Spring Haze, Code Red, Lady in Blue… all better than the studio versions for me. It also captures the live Tori experience in terms of improvs and jams with the band better than Venus.

Sir Menzies Campbell was a fine public servant and a deeply honourable man. I remember him telling me over lunch the best thing about his life was its three stages: Olympic athlete, lawyer, politician. He advised me to do the same so I did: journalist, govt adviser now PR. RIP.

Farage.
Corbyn.
Lowe.

All the right people are cross about ID cards. In an age of NHS apps and HMRC digital logins, what’s the problem? Sign me up.

Tori Amos, London 2023

An introduction to Tori Amos

If you liked it and want to explore some more of Tori Amos’s catalogue, you might appreciate my playlist. She’s incredible.

open.spotify.com/playlist/0oG...

This is essentially the end, at least for now, of the US government as a credible source of health information.

That’s bad in any circumstances, but…if we get hit with another pandemic in the near future, god help us all.

Politically, you’d think kicking Truss out would be a free hit for Badenoch: terrible reputation with the public, easy way of signalling you’ve learned lessons, she’s not going to be nice about the party anyway, Reform won’t take her (and even if they did you’d be delighted). And yet?

Not everything. When I worked at the Treasury she was an enthusiastic supporter of the Remain campaign and apparently a middle of the road liberal conservative. Which makes her subsequent swerve to the right even more sickening.

I like Ed Davey’s stunts. He talks about serious issues like social care and how to take on Reform day in day out, and I think voters like to see politicians occasionally demonstrating they can have fun too. It’s also a way of commanding attention from a negligent media. Sue me.

Liz Truss: Britain faces its MAGA moment Speaking to Newsweek, Truss is back, with a radical new message for a British right which could be on the cusp of transforming Britain.

Asked by Newsweek whether she thought Tommy Robinson had been "unfairly demonised", Liz Truss says: “Yes, I do.” A Conservative Party serious about ever regaining power would have slung her out long ago.

www.newsweek.com/liz-truss-br...

Very odd watching BBC News talking about the Lib Dem conference and mentioning how the party has struggled to break through in the media like it's nothing to do with them.

I wish she would work with Cindy Palmano again.

Amen to this.
And this is the best album art ever.

YouTube video by Tori Amos Swimming Pools (Drank)

They especially like her cover of Swimming Pools (Drank) by Kendrick.

youtu.be/i1emfLQ-Jqw

I’ve taken both my rap-loving kids to see Tori Amos live. I wouldn’t say they came away as lifelong fans exactly, but with massive respect for the talent on display. They know quite a few tracks and tolerate me playing her in the car.