matt bingham, I owe you one

I was browsing through a thrift store cd section this week when I came upon an old Tori Amos cd (Under the Pink, in case you were wondering). Now, I must sheepishly confess, when Tori Amos first hit it big, I didn’t pay too much attention to her. I was around 14, and I was too busy discovering the Beatles and Janis Joplin to listen to anything written after about 1973. But when I found this cd, I thought to myself, hmm, I remember a post of Matt Bingham’s from like, a hundred years ago, where he said he was a fan of Tori’s. Seeing as how Matty B’s musical choices have never yet steered me wrong (and the cd was only $3.29), I decided I may as well get it. So I popped it in my cd player when I got home and started cleaning my house. I didn’t get very far. Before long I was sitting on the floor, reading the lyrics, and essentially frozen in awe of this unbelievable sound. When Matt said that her voice gets inside your head, he wasn’t kidding. ‘bells for her’ has been haunting me for a week now (and that’s a good thing!). Her arrangements are unlike anything I’ve ever heard. The imagery she uses is wild and vague, and yet it makes sense in some crazy beautiful way. And you’ve never heard anyone play the piano until you hear “cornflake girl”. Yes, she’s blunt, to put it mildly (‘icicle’ will probably make you cringe). But she’s honest, and she makes me think (a lot!). So thanks, Matty B., for introducing me to someone who already feels like an old friend—I owe you one, man.