Tori Tuesday

This morning I was thinking, that I had no idea what to feature for this weeks Tori Tuesday. I decided to go for a walk, which I never do without my c/d player. This morning, I chose to play Tori's 2002 release, Scarlet's Walk.



I turn on the c/d and begin my walk. The sounds of Tori singing A Sorta Fairytale fill my ears, and suddenly my mind races to the sounds of hectic, noisy Bangalore. I listen to Scarlet's Walk, and I am happily transported. I can almost see the men sitting at the stalls drinking chai, the old lady on the corner with her tobacco and bananas for sale. I hear the sounds of traffic and horns blaring. I can almost smell the curry and chapatis cooking. Children dressed in their school uniforms play cricket in the street while they wait for school to start.
How is it that while wandering the quiet, neat and tidy suburban neighborhoods of my town, that I am instantly carried away to the noisy, chaotic streets of India? This is because, every year that I have gone to India, I have had with me, at least 3 or 4 of my Tori c/ds. But the one I am always sure to have, is Scarlet's Walk.
It reminds me so much of India, that I play it when I have that, "I wish I was there now" feeling.

Here are some excerpts from a review of Scarlets Walk by Patrick Schabe PopMatters Associate Music Editor:

Scarlet's Walk is alternately delicate, lush, soft, gritty, beautiful, painful, wistful and joyous -- in short, all the things that devotees of Tori have come to expect. However, with Scarlet's Walk, Amos doesn't deliver in spots, she delivers in spades, maintaining a consistent strength throughout the album that supports, or is supported by, the core story at the heart of the album. There's also a palpable sense of maturity in this disc, which translates to an expansive but commanding songcraft ability. The brash and confrontational Tori of Little Earthquakes seems to have become an introspective and confident woman here, yet another reflection of the Scarlet persona's growth throughout the album.
Musically, Scarlet's Walk may actually be the most complete and approachable Amos album yet released. The piano remains front and center, sometimes replaced with organs but essentially the heart of Amos's sound, and her claim to mastery of the instrument is only reinforced by this album.



Amber Waves
A Sorta Fairytale
Wednesday
Strange
Carbon
Crazy
Wampum Prayer
Don't Make Me Come To Vegas
Sweet Sangria
Your Cloud
Pancake
I Can't See New York
Mrs Jesus
Taxi Ride
Another Girl's Paradise
Scarlet's Walk
Virginia
Gold Dust



If you are looking for a place to start on your journey to Tori-land, Scarlet's Walk is a great place to start.