[BRIEF NOTE] Gaiman and Amos

[rfmcdonald]

I feel the same way about Björk as I do about Tori Amos or Neil Gaiman. Of late, Amos' music has been increasingly abstract and almost unlistenable, and the slyness of Gaiman's fiction can sometimes be too polished and self-knowing. This is a pity, since I admire the self-consistency of these two artists' pagan sensibilities. Their cosmologies are rich with the knowledge that the world is much darker and more complex than a dualist might believe, with power manifest in various forms each with its own particular drives and requirements. Think of Amos' quietly threatening cover of Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" as told from the perspective of the murdered wife, or of Gaiman's Sandman and Delirium, mostly playful and harmless but occasionally quite vindictive (never stop a spiteful Delerium on the highway else you feel bugs all over you, forever).

It's not very surprising, given their sensibilities, that Amos and Gaiman have shared a long relationship. Delerium's appearance in the later issues of Sandman was partly influenced by Amos, and Amos--besides referencing Gaiman in some of her songs--recruited him to write some ficlets for her 2001 album Strange Little Girls, one story for each of the twelve personas she adopted for each of her twelve cover songs, all available right here.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to which of their albums or fictions I should check out next? I think I'm in the mood for their sort of material.