Song of the Year

And the winner is ... Star Whisperer by Tori Amos

In music, excellence, in and of itself, just doesn't cut it – it's boring. It needs to be different. What new ground is being covered? What new sound has been discovered? What has been found that was lost? My favorite musicians are explorers first. One of the least appreciated miracles of our age is the joy from all the recordings the human experience has to offer. Thus, the prescribed, the formulated, mediocre, the safe, the accepted, and the tamed heart are not just disgusting, but an injustice which we are bombarded with at nearly all reaches of institutionalized society.

Even if a great quality blue ray comes out of this tour, there's just no substitute for seeing something like this in person. Very few people alive today have this sort of skill, stage presence, vocal talent, back catalog of great material, and love performing as much as Tori Amos. I went to shows on the Boys for Pele and Choir Girl Hotel tours (both completely different and outstanding), and they just don't come close. It was like seeing an old friend, that while not being paid attention to, continued to evolve to near majestic levels of capability. Don't misunderstand, she has some great material from the 2000s. It's just that when someone has achievements in their career like teaching 90's teenagers such as myself what there is to love and respect about a harpsichord, your own work can be hard to live up to.

If you still haven't gotten on the Night of Hunters boat yet, then you really need to open your mind to this little thought. Maybe, just maybe - this collaborative project, is the highlight of her career. There is so much to love on the album. Job's Coffin, for instance, being almost “too obvious” pick for my little fan ramblings here. As great as the album is, the material on the tour, especially reworking of songs like Cruel, was just off the chart awesome. As for Star Whisperer, I didn't even know it was possible to amplify stringed acoustic instruments that loud. Simply amazing.

Merry Chirstmas

Thomas Stover


Lost Star Whisperer
Where, where, where have you gone?
Lost Star Whisperer
Where your Cloud Ride has come
Why, oh why have you locked up your sky?
Night in the sky
Whisper me back to life

Night warns of an Eastern threat
North calls reinforcements from the West
Lost all reason guarded by the waves
Sing to life the Seven Lords of Time

Lost Star Whisperer
Send for your Cloud Riders to come
Why, oh why have you locked up your sky?
Night sky
Whisper me back to life
Then I heard you scream
From the other side of the mountain
I saw a you I didn't want to see
I heard you scream
From the other side of the mountain

Then I heard you scream
From the other side of the mountain
You saw a me I didn't want to see
I heard you scream
From the other side of the mountain

Lost Star Whisperer
Where, where, where have you gone?
Forged out
Fire and Song
You, you worn
Eight shadows long
Why, oh why
Have you locked up your sky?
Night sky
Whisper me back to life

Least annoying interview I've seen so far

Night of Hunters Tour

Another side note is that there is now an instrumental version of this album. Not sure what to make of that yet.