Tori Tribute album from Cleopatra Records

Updated October 15, 2001

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Tori Tribute Album Cover

On July 10, 2001, Cleopatra Records released a Tori tribute album called "Songs Of A Goddess : A Tribute To Tori Amos". (The release date was delayed a few times and the track listing altered a little in the weeks leading to release.) Look below for full details about this interesting project, including details on all the artists on the album, the complete track listing, and more. This seems to be a project that was put together by people who really appreciate Tori. You can see the tribute album cover to the right.

Several people are asking me where they can buy a copy of this tribute album. You can order it online from Amazon.com or amazon.co.uk. You can also order this CD at 800.com Music.

I also have scattered reports from people who have found it in local record stores, with Best Buy and Sam Goody being mentioned a lot. If you live in the New York City area, I have a report from Ed Lathan that the Virgin Megastore was carrying it, as well as a bunch of smaller, independant music stores in the area.

Timothy Dooner of Cleopatra records was kind enough to send me a lot of information about many of the artists covering Tori on this album, and I thank him! (I also thank Cleopatra Records for kindly mentioning the Dent on their web site!) Look below for details on the artists on the album and web links where you can find out even more about them.

Cleopatra Records has a web page dedicated to this tribute album.

Read a review of this album at Philadelphia's Citypaper.net.


Track Listing For "Songs Of A Goddess : A Tribute To Tori Amos"

Click the name of the artist for more details.

  1. Unto Ashes - Beauty Queen
  2. Amber Asylum - Leather
  3. Glampire - Bliss
  4. Rei Toei - Sugar
  5. Tapping The Vein - Cornflake Girl
  6. October Hill - Winter
  7. Voltaire- Caught A Lite Sneeze
  8. This Ascension - Crucify
  9. Meegs & Jessicka -Iieee
  10. Temple Of Rain - God
  11. St. Eve - She's Your Cocaine
  12. SIMPLE - Raspberry Swirl
  13. Dragon Style - Space Dog

Cleopatra Records has put out series of tribute albums in the past where they have other artists (often Goth-like) cover songs by famous artists. For example, they also have tribute albums for Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and so on.


The Liner Notes From the Album

Thanks to Matt Natale for sending these to me!

    The packaging is SO cute! It's designed after Tori's "to venus and back" booklet. It has the purple and the little boxes and it even tries to mimic the font of the typing. It comes in a digi-pak. When you first open it, on the right is the CD and on the left is an introduction type thing written by Jason Myers. Here that is:

    The chemistry and connectivity shared between Tori Amos and her fans is truly an awesome and unique phenomenon, unparalleled in the history of modern, pop culture. Emerging from a tumultuous era in the evolution of rock, Tori slithered in between the fissures created as early 90's alternative music was clashing with the tired remnants of excessive 80's synthesis. Her raw emotive voices, bastardized classical mutations and intimate prose fused into an electrifying force that began spinning with sizzling momentum, inevitably drawing myriad wandering satellites into this gorgeous orbit. While many stars from her system were destined to burst onto the scene and shoot away with a fading trail, Tori's was a stronger, more patient path. She never set the charts on fire. She never saturated the media, ad nauseam, yet her celebrity to raise awareness of close-to-home issues like rape and sexual abuse survival. Rather, like a sly ancient matriarch whose own obvious righteousness will attract the proper followers, she just continued to spin her creations off to the left. As other appeared and dropped off the radar, Tori pulsated soothingly, consistently. With an unnerving candor and wry humor, she opened her heart to an ever-increasing legion of listeners as she traversed the earth with her piano. The records sold respectfully with support from traditional radio and television minimal, at best. Tour after tour, the venus became ever more plush with her most suitable setting being mid-sized theaters usually reserved for symphonies, plays, and other true art, as opposed to the more bourgeoisie night clubs and sporting arenas utilized by her contemporaries.

    The images Amos provokes with her obscure lyrics seem specifically designed for each individual listener. It's as if she speaks in code, brushing together random words and phrases that bleed into one another like fresh watercolours bubbling on a canvas. Get too close to the piece and its abstracts may be too obtuse to assimilate into a working frame of reference.

    Step back, loosen focus and suddenly the beauty of the picture appears like a hidden message materializing in an optical illusion graphic. Now the language can be understood in context. Tori has often given her own spin on where the seeds of these blossoms originated. In spacey interviews she often dances with the questionnaire until the message becomes so dizzy all but the purist member may forget what the question was. Words are nearly always used as a medium. Between numbers at her recitals, the playful chanteuse will interact with the appreciative attendees in her coy, innocent way, she charms. As she has worked out traumatic issues in her life with the help of both song and fan, the bond and the music have grown immeasurably. Her soaring, tear jerk carols flirt as convincingly with a stark, acoustic keyboard accompaniment as they do with the most sizzling post-modern electro groove. Even a digital wave gets warmth passing through the texture of this crooner's vocal filter.

    Never one to shy away from interpreting the songs of her favorite influences, Tori's covers have become a legendary staple of her enigmatic live sets, and consequently the focus of countless concert bootlegs. Her homage to Kurt Cobain, a simple piano/voice twist of Nirvana's raucous "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was an unexpected underground hit that afforded many viewers their first glimpse of Amos' unintentional sexuality perched at the edge of her bench. This odd blend of confidence and vulnerability entranced many into feeling the woman was a projection of their own deepest passions. She unknowingly became the voice of a soft powerful movement, yet remained humble enough to have fun with herself and her friends by sharing her versions of everything from NIN's "Hurt," The Cure's "Love Song" and R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" to Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," Prince's "Purple Rain" and Madonna's "Live to Tell." With a deeply rooted career that promises to continue blossoming and branching ever outward and upward, the divine Ms. Amos is respectfully tributed on this release. An array of rising artists from around the planet have each graciously borrowed the fruit of her bounty. In perfect love and perfect trust the energy is returned with fresh inspirations that will hopefully bring pleasure to the fans and to the lady herself.

    The Cycle Continues

    Jason Myers - Los Angeles, California 2.2.1 -----

    The back cover has the track listing, exactly like the one on The Dent. Above the track listing is the following Tori quote:

    "If you're going to do a cover, it has to be a complete challenge." Tori Amos - Chicago Tribune, October 8, 1992

    Then, there's the booklet, which is contained behind the introduction thing. It's very cute because it really does mimic "to venus and back." It is setup just like that booklet, except that instead of lyrics in each of the little boxes, there's the song title, the credits of the musicians, and then there's a description of the particular cover, how to contact the artists, and pictures of the artists. Below you will find the text from the liner notes. (There are times where I will put ???? because I cannot make out a person's name or something (the writing in the liner notes is REALLY small and sometimes quite blurry)


    unto ashes
    beauty queen

    Latin Translation: Michael Laird and Natalie Lincoln Arrangement, Dulcimers, Drone, Vox 4: Michael Laird Vox 1: Ericah Hagle
    Vox 2: Melody Henry
    Vox 3: Natalie Lincoln
    Feline Vox: Princess Ophelia Buckwheat
    Recorded at Dungeon Rock Studios, NYC
    Unto Ashes appear courtesy of Projekt Records

    Step back a few centuries into a realm of lords and ladies. This classic reinterpretation of "Beauty Queen" from New York's chamber maidens in waiting - Unto Ashes, comes across like the score for a vintage period piece. The brevity of the cut, only lends to the suspense, bleeding effortlessly into the band's left coast classical counterparts.

    P.O. Box 298
    Prince Street Station
    New York, NY 10012
    www.untoashes.com

    --
    amber asylum
    leather

    Cello: Jackie Gratz
    Violin, Voice: Kris Force
    Recorded by Jackie Gratz and Kris Force at studio 13, March 2001
    Produced by Kris Force
    Amber Asylum appear courtesy of
    Relapse/Release Records

    The sparse, haunting treatment of the sardonic "Leather" showcases San Francisco's premier, post apocalyptic queens of experimental neoclassical at the height of their powers. Amber Asylum's uncanny knack for balancing soothing finesse with slight unease shines through on this track, proving once more that when music is approached as an art rather than a commodity the results can be stunning.

    2440 16th St.#121
    San Francisco, CA 94103
    info@amberasylum.com
    www.AmberAsylum.com

    --
    glampire
    bliss

    Composer, rocker, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumental Glampire is an equal balance of glamour, urban spirituality and immense talent. Having written, performed and produced all of the songs on hi last four full-length albums, it's apparent why he has such a devout, international following. This New York based, avant-garde performer, reworks "Bliss," off of "to venus and back," implementing his own panache and solid musicianship which will please even the most discerning Toriphile.

    Musesick Productions Inc.
    c/o Glampire
    511 6th Ave. #133 New York, NY 10011
    Musickpro@earthlink.net
    www.glampire.com

    --
    rei toei
    sugar

    Programming, Korg MS-20, Live Drums: Deville Bass: Smirnoff
    Piano: Adamenko
    Guitars: Rah
    Korg MS-50: Matodage
    Vocals: Irene
    Produced by Deville
    Engineered by Smirnoff/Deville at Apoptic Studios/UHSS/Lenfilm
    Mixed at Aphotic Studios

    Hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, Rei Toi was founded by three sound production faculty students (Deville, Smirnoff, and Rah), of the infamous UHSS university. They were later graced with the addition of vocal chanteuse, Irene, and have been progressing immeasurably since 1999, with their brand of smooth, sultry trip-hop rock.

    rei-toei@mail.com
    www.rei-toei.ipfax.com

    --
    tapping the vein
    cornflake girl

    Drums, Sampling, and Programming: Eric Fisher Bass: Joe Rowland
    Guitar: Mark Burkert
    Voice: Heather Thompson
    Tapping the Vein appear courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records

    Philly natives Tapping the Vein will make Tori proud. The edgy, melancholic, dark rock band gives absolute props and first rate justice to the track "Cornflake Girl." Singer Heather Thompson invokes the same conviction and emotion, if not more, into this fiery rendition, raising the question once again: is Tori's influence transcending even into the realm of goth and metal? You bet your life it is.

    Their version of Cornflake Girl also appears on a "goth" compilation album called "The Darkness of Beauty volume 5".

    www.tappingthevein.com

    --
    october hill
    winter

    Vocals: elle Temaddon
    Guitar, Drums, Synth: Jeffrey Wilhite
    Bass: Jason Myers
    Engineered by Jeff Wilhite at Levitation Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Mixed and Produced by Brian Oblivion at
    Aleister Einstein Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Photography: Raj Naik / www.rajnaik.com

    SoCal electro-dreampop new blood, October Hill show yet another facet to their diverse palette of influences, channeling that deep Bristol current. Tori's poignant lyrics of remembrance are sung with a pensive, yet hopeful, passion over distant, hypnotic loop, thick lavaflow bass and sparkling acoustic guitar enhancements. Winter never felt so warm.

    dragon ryders, entertainment
    1325 North Garnder Street, Suite 108
    Hollywood, California90046
    info@octoberhil.net
    www.octoberhill.net

    in loving memory of Jenab Mehdi Tamaddon

    --

    voltaire
    caught a lite sneeze

    Vocals, Acoustic Guitar: Voltaire
    Violin: Gregor Kitzis
    Cello: Matthew Goeke
    Drums: Pete Rivera
    Bass: George Grant
    Piano: Mary Bop
    Programming: Kerry Smith
    Produced by Voltaire and Kerry Smith
    Voltaire appears courtesy of Projekt Records Photograph: Kate Varenne

    Multi-media artist Voltaire has released two CD's of whimsical dark acoustic music(The Devil's Bris-1998, Almost Human-2000) with dark wave record label Projekt. He is also the creator of the comic book series Oh My Goth! and the animated series Chi-Chian for www.scifi.com. To see more of Voltaire's music, comics and animation, visit the Voltaire web site.

    www.voltaire.net

    --

    this ascension
    crucify

    Vocals: Dru
    Dulcimer: Tim Tuttle
    Bass: Charlie Dennis
    Percussion: Paul Sutherland
    Drum Programming: Matt Ballesteros and
    Chad Bimman
    Recorded, Mixed, and Produced by Chad Bimman, The Eye Socket, Vanica (???), CA
    This Ascension appear courtesy of Tess Records

    With over 13 years of history, anyone even slightly versed in the ethereal or dark wave circuit knows This Ascension offer some of the smoothest, classy down pop in the world. Founding the well loved Tess Records in the late '80s, these pioneers have done so much to increase the profile of beautiful music. Their cover of "Crucify" is a natural addition to the cache of high quality sonics on both this tribute and the music industry as a whole.

    P.O. Box 206
    Santa Barbara, CA 93012
    Reon00@hotmail.com
    www.thisascension.com

    --

    meegs & jessicka
    iieee

    Mixed by Meegs Rascon & Franklyn Jones III at The Cave, N. Hollywood, CA
    Photography: Sheryl Neilds
    Meegs appears courtesy of Roadrunner Records and Coal Chamber

    A match made in hell, (but the kind of hell with lots of self-indulgent fun, all night debauchery and eternal blissful chaos), tracking these two beautiful maniacs down and coordinating them into one studio was truly the work of the devil. Untold obstacles, scheduling conflicts, personal tragedies, extreme illnesses...It was as if some pesky, benign force was seemingly against this unholy union. Yet nothing truly worth having comes without a price, and the end result is pure, intense energy.

    Visit Jessicka at: sickypie@aol.com
    www.jackoffjill.com
    http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/109/jack_off_jill.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/109/messy_.html www.spookyland.com

    --

    temple of rain
    god

    Vocals, Programming: Syrin
    Guitars, Bass, Programming: Zoltan

    Something exciting...sensual...lurking between enormous dark sound waves in the open ocean at night...Something slipping by...between the foam...lightly touching your skin...it was a siren...a sexy beast you reach after....but your fingers grasp only the scales of death....This band reminds you of a strange place....somewhere...hmm...the Dark Side of Venus perhaps...?

    www.templeofrain.com

    --

    st. eve
    she's your cocaine

    Programming, Vocals: St. Eve (L. Gabrielle Penabaz) Additional Programming, Guitars: AJ Tissian Produced by REX, Tissian and Penabaz
    Engineered and Mixed by AJ Tissian at
    Dungeon Rock Studios, NYC.
    Photography: Scott Schedivy - www.schedivy.com Special Thanks to baronfrank

    St. Eve is the musical solo project of. Gabrielle Penabaz. She is a New York based singer/songwriter/performance artist with a penchant for dark humor and darker costumes. With several recent European tours to her credit, this rising star is making waves on both sides of the pond.

    PO Box 1031
    Canal Street Station
    New York, NY 10013
    www.sainteve.net
    www.st-eve.net

    --

    simple
    raspberry swirl

    Simple is: Gregory Butler and Christine Leonard Produced & Recorded by: Gregory Butler for Aleister Einstein Production, Hollywood, CA

    Simple is a collaboration between Christine Leonard (vocalist from Mephisto Walz) and Gregory Butler (producer of Switchblade Symphony's "The Three Calamities").
    www.aleistereinstein.com
    simple@aleistereinstein.com

    --
    dragon style
    space dog

    Performed, Produced and Engineered by : George Grant at Planet Grey Studios, NYC, New York

    Spawned on the Lower East of NYC, Dragon Style incorporates elements of drum and bass, rock and "old school soul." A lush bed of layered vocals, phat beats and instrumentation mesh to create essential dreamy dance/pop.

    http://members.aol.com/onewhodied/dstyle.html

    --

    Mastered By Judson Leach at JLAB, Los Angeles A&R, Art Production, Liner Notes, Promotion: Jason Myers A&R, Contracts, Publishing: Timothy Dooner Publicity, Additional Text ali ? *Rock Star* Production Manager: Tim Yasui
    Advertising: Ken Tighe
    Royalty Administration: Paul Morse
    Money: Glitter Girl
    Graphic Design: Eunah Lee


Details about the artists on this album

Look below for details about ALL the artists on this album, in the order that they appear on the album. Some of the artists sent me this info themselves, The rest came from other Toriphiles and Timothy Dooner of Cleopatra records.


Unto Ashes (covering "Beauty Queen")

Dying Time sent me the following information:

Michael Laird from Unto Ashes emailed the Dent about the cover album and you can read that email below!

    Greetings, it's Michael Laird from Unto Ashes; we're very pleased to be part of the Tori tribute album. There are two rabid Toriphiles in our group, Melody Henry and Ericah Hagle; they are so rabid that they own all Tori's albums, know every word to every song (including B-sides), etc., etc.

    I of course didn't know anything about her music; reluctantly, Ericah let me borrow some of her Tori CDs; suffice it to say that I was absolutely shattered by the very first song I heard ("Beauty Queen"): the tremendous power and emotional depth in this short, simple song was absolutely overwhelming. I listened to it over and over and over, trying to understand what it was that I kept "hearing" in this tiny diamond...

    It reminded me of something I vaguely remember "hearing" in a medieval music composition by Perotin (ca. 1160 - ca. 1220). Therefore it seemed logical (at least to my diseased brain) to explore this phenomenon further. Happily, the demo tapes I made with Ericah were well received by the other members of Unto Ashes; Natalia Lincoln, a scholar of the first order, greatly improved my preliminary Latin translation. The results will be heard on the Tribute Compilation: Ericah provided the lead vocal, supported by a choir of failed nuns and monks who are none other than Natalia, Melody, and myself; I played the accompanying music on early instruments - the arrangement (for better or for worse) is my own.

    An amusing fact: just after Ericah sings the word "lavaTORIarum" the discerning listener may be able to hear the soft meow of a silky feline; this is not a mistake! Her name is Princess Buckwheat, and she lives in Dungeon Rock recording studio. Normally she is shy and quiet as a mouse; but at that very moment she came right up to Ericah's microphone and -- well, maybe she was inspired by what she heard?

    Bright blessings,
    Michael Laird


Amber Asylum (covering "Leather")

Find out more about the band at amberasylum.com.

Amber Asylum's music is too cold to be ambient and to call it new age is reductive, yet the members use traditional instruments and modern equipment to explore the classical form in demanding new ways. Their innovative style blurs the boundaries between "high" and "low" art, and they play to enthusiastic black-tie audiences in San Francisco and then turn around to play support at grumbling venues like Lucifer's Hammer or The Great American Music Hall with Neurosis, the Melvins and the Swans (now dead). AmberAsylum is Wendy Farina on drum kit and percussion (formerly of Towel and currently with Red Shark and Condor); Kris Force with lead vocal, guitar and violin; Jackie Gratz on cello; Erica Stoltz on bass and voice (lead singer and bassist for Lost Goat).

Turning classical music on it's head, AmberAsylum juxtaposes traditional forms such as the Art Song and Aria with the post-rock and electronica setting. Their music can be as personal and poignant as songs by 60's chanteuse's, as epic as film scores (think Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone), and yet it ranks with the output of post-modern noise pioneers such as Nurse with Wound, Coil and more currently that of sometime collaborators, Matmos. Force's lyrical style and content is chilly yet elegant and at moments supernaturally decadent, stirring up comparisons to American murder ballads and the confessional "suicide" poetry of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath.

In addition to AmberAsylum, string work by Kris and Jackie can be heard on "Matmos The West", The past 4 Neurosis albums, "Swans are Dead" and "Sound Tracks for the Blind", "The Body Lovers 1 of 3."

AmberAsylum have welcomed contributions from many talented players. Past line ups and contributors include; John Benson, Martha Burns, Annabel Lee, John Oberon, Camille Norment, Tim North, Mike Richard and Steve Von Till.


Glampire (covering "Bliss")

An artist named Glampire will be covering "Bliss". You can find out more about him at www.glampire.com. You can find a couple Tori mentions on the site. In the site's photo gallery, they mention that photographer Frank Micelotta has photographed both Glampire and Tori.


Rei Toei (covering "Sugar")

Hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, Rei Toi was founded by three sound production faculty students (Deville, Smirnoff & Rah), of the infamous UHSS university. They were later graced with the addition of vocal chanteuse, Irene, and have been progressing immeasurably since 1999, with their brand of smooth, sultry trip-hop rock.

You can email the band at rei-toei@mail.com and find out more about them at www.rei-toei.ipfox.com.


Tapping The Vein (covering "Cornflake Girl")

Thanks to Ted O'Connor, Jen Miller, Wilson Tse and Jennifer Clarke (faeriequeen) for being the first to tell me about this. A group called Tapping The Vein covered "Cornflake Girl" for this Tori tribute album. The group announced this on their email mailing list. They state:

    Hi, everybody! We just turned in our recorded version of the Tori Amos song "Cornflake Girl". It will be included on a Tori Amos Tribute Album that will be released through Cleopatra Records in a month or so. Maybe sooner! This album will not be for sale through us. Nuclear Blast let us participate in this release while we continue recording our full length album for them. We hope to be all done within 30 days.

You can find out more about this group on the official Tapping The Vein web site and at MP3.com.


Toriphile maryam (littlebluegirl) saw Tapping The Vein perform live in Philly on April 25, 2001. Here is her report:

    I just wanted to let you know that I saw tapping the vein perform live in Philly last night at 94.9's Loud and Local show, and as the last song of their set they performed Cornflake Girl. It sounded really neat, since they had this gothic rock twist on that cute song. Heather's voice was neat how she performed it too, since she sang real sweet and cute like she can and then let out screams of "You bet your life it is" and "Rabbit, where'd you put the keys girl?" It was really cool to see, and I talked to Heather after the show and let her know that I loved the song and that I read about them on the dent! She thought it was so cool that their info was up there. I got their cds and they are really awesome. I'd recommend them to anyone who likes bands like a perfect circle and tori, that's what they sounded like ;)


October Hill (covering "Winter")

I received an email from Jason Myers, who is the bassist/keyboardist for the band October Hill and is with Cleopatra Records. He talked about his band's cover of "Winter" on the Cleopatra Tribute album. I include the email below. You can currently download an MP3 of their cover of "Winter" from octoberhill.net.

    in regards to the tori amos tribute, i really appreciate your enthusiastic support. we are doing our best to ensure the highest quality music, art and packaging on this cd. we are fans of tori ourselves and want this to be the best possible tribute we can create while giving some more underground bands a chance to show their goods to the hordes of other tori fans out there.

    my band, october hill did our version of winter, a song we all felt very close to for various reasons. while the initial recording sessions were a bit awkward - turning her beautiful piano lines into hypnotic loops and swirling chords, the magick of the song really came through in postproduction at aleister einstein studios. october hill is an electro-dreampop group from hollywood with sounds that invoke influences from mazzy star, cure, verve, curve, portishead, cranes, mojave3, and even old fleetwood mac. when reproducing tori, the end result was leaning a bit more towards our massive attackish, trip hop side, and we hope that tori and her amazing fans will appreciate our homage to "winter." we will be putting some samples of this up on our site very soon: http://www.octoberhill.net. (Note from Mikewhy: You can now find an MP3 of Winter on their web site!)


Jason Myers later posted a news item on the RDT Fanzine web site. Here is part of what he says about this project:

    First, despite what certain appearances and recent history indicate, this is not limited to darkwave artists. We intentionally included more diversity than past Cleo efforts and if you look at the individual artist sites, you will see that, while there is a dark feel to the record, several genres are touched upon, from trip hop and dreampop to indie rock and avante garde neoclassical....

    One last thing, due to tour commitments in Europe, The Illuminati was unable to complete "Icicle," but L.A. based Simple have contributed their amazing electronica version of "Raspberry Swirl."


Voltaire (covering "Caught A Lite Sneeze")

Toriphiles Elusis and shelle (hungover faery) were the first to inform me that an artist named Voltaire (who one person described as a "folky gothic musician") covered "Caught A Lite Sneeze" on the Tori Tribute album from Cleopatra Records. Voltaire sends out an email newsletter, and this is what he had to say about this project in early February 2001:

    TORI AMOS COVER

    I will be covering the Tori Amos song, "Caught a Lite Sneeze" for the upcoming Tori tribute disc to be put out by Cleopatra! I'm not sure when the disc will be out, but more news will surely follow as I get it. The disc seems to have a lot of New York talent on it including St. Eve and my label mates Unto Ashes. We will record the song using the usual band members so expect violins, cellos bass, etc. but we are aiming towards a dancefloor track so we will most likely be speeding the song up a bit and adding some electronic sounds for depth. Co-producing the track with me will be Kerry Smith, responsible for the unreleased remix of The Man Upstairs. Kerry's remix of The Man Upstairs can be heard at MP3.com.

You can find out more about Voltaire at his official web site and at MP3.com.


Voltaire's email to The Dent

Voltaire emailed me with an account of how he discovered Tori and more details about him covering the song "Caught A Lite Sneeze". He says:

    I am Voltaire. I just stumbled upon your website and was really pleased that the information about my upcoming Tori tribute had gotten to you! The newsletter that I send out goes to fans of my music, comic books and animated series- that I created for the Sci-Fi Channel's website "Chi-Chian" but alas, since most of my people may or may not be Tori Amos fans, I didn't go into detail regarding WHY I am doing the song. I thought you might find my thoughts on this interesting so I am sending them along to you.....

    I received the call from Cleopatra Records about 2 weeks ago and it just so happens that it came on a very strange day. You see, there has been this strange synergy lately between me and Tori Amos! It's almost like one of those "X degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon" type things!!!

    Recently I spoke on a panel with writer Neil Gaiman (the Sandman comic book, etc) at an Anime convention in New York. I was REALLY surprised that he was aware of my music. As we approached the stage he said to me, "I really like your music. I think the mix of Satanism and Klezmer is brilliant! " We had a good laugh and he put me right at ease. During the talk he mentioned that Tori and he are very good friends.

    A few weeks later I met up with him again after a reading he did in New York. During the reading he read a short poem that he had written for Tori's daughter at Tori's request. It was really sweet and was sort of a prayer calling on the forces that be to look over her child. If I recall correctly (and God I hope I do!) I believe it was called "A Prayer For A Blueberry Girl".

    To be quite honest, and I am now ashamed to say this, I was never really very aware of Tori's music (which in retrospect is tragic! since my music is also comprised mostly of classical instruments and I see some distinct similarities). Then one day my manager got a call from Lava records. They were looking for someone to create some animation for one of their recording artist (yup, I do animation).

    My manager told me that the gentleman she spoke to was Jason Flom, the president and that he was the A&R man who had signed Tori Amos to Atlantic way back when.

    Well, thirty seconds later, Cleopatra called asking me if I wanted to be on the Tori tribute disk! It was just too WEIRD! I thought, that does it! I have to do this cover! One of my assistants brought in Boys For Pele and when I heard Caught a Lite Sneeze ("Oh! THAT song!) I instantly knew that it was the song I wanted to cover. The strange thing is that as the days went by and I listened to the song repeatedly to familiarize myself with it, I started to realize that the lyrics have a lot of meaning to me, they strike a very personal chord in my life.

    I now feel extremely lucky to be involved in this project and I find myself singing that song ALL OF THE TIME! I can't wait to record it!!!!

    So, now you know!
    I am going to do my very best to create a track that does justice to her work. Somehow I just know it's going to be a lot of fun!

    Cheers!
    Voltaire


This Ascension (covering "Crucify")

THIS ASCENSION formed in 1988 and have been building a strong international following ever since. They successfully blend the shimmering 4AD synthesizer/guitar sound with an uncommonly powerful rhythm section and dynamic, heavenly vocals. The group features Dru on vocals, Matt Ballesteros on drums, Paul Sutherland on percussion, Charlie Dennis on bass, Tim Tuttle on keyboards and Kevin Serra on guitar.

Find out more about the band at www.thisascension.com and at mp3.com.


Meegs and Jessicka (covering "Iieee")

Cindy Elder sent me the following information:


Temple Of Rain (covering "God")

Temple Of Rain are an LA based goth/metal band. They were one of the first bands to join mp3.com representing that genre and have remained in the Goth top 10 for well over a year. For more info on them check out at mp3.com and www.templeofrain.net.


St. Eve (covering "She's Your Cocaine")

St. Eve founder, L. Gabrielle Penabaz, composes/programs/sings the songs and then plays live in a "performance art" setting. She occasionally collaborates with other people.

Find out more about the band at www.st-eve.net and at mp3.com.


SIMPLE (covering "Raspberry Swirl")

Simple is a collaboration between Christine Leonard (vocalist from Mephisto Walz) and Gregory Butler (producer of Switchblade Symphony's The Three Calamities).

Find out more about them at aleistereinstein.com and the band's email address is simple@aleistereinstein.com.


Dragon Style (covering "Space Dog")

Spawned on the Lower East Side of NYC, Dragon Style incorporates elements of drum and bass, rock and "old school soul". A lush bed of layered vocals, phat beats and instrumentation mesh to create essential dreamy dance/pop.

Find out more about the band at their web site.




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