I just read the announcement! Sounds very exciting, I hope lots of brumstixers will be able to attend (I probably won't because I'm too far away - but fingers crossed for some youtube videos ;))

Mine doesn't have a booklet either. It's pretty odd that there is a pocket, which implies that something should be in there..

Hi Catalina, First of all, breathe in and breathe out. Don't stress too much, this sounds like a fun assignment and you've already given it a lot of thought! Regina's music has been so important for me in getting acquainted with the English language, and I always enjoyed using examples from her work in assignments for high school/university. So I hope I can help you with this.. About the corpus: You mentioned both Songs and the song Mary Ann, so then I have to mention that Regina released a compilation CD at some point that is called Mary Ann Meets The Gravediggers And Other Short Stories. Which contains some songs from Songs (Oedipus, Prisoners, Consequence of Sounds, Daniel Cowman, Lacrimosa) but also some from 11:11 (including Mary Ann) and Soviet Kitsch. I've been thinking about overarching themes and the first thing I thought about was capitalism and money. I think it comes back in many of her songs, including: Small Bill$, Trapper and the Furrier, Hotel Song ('a smile I've bought with a couple of gold coins'), Chemo Limo, Back of a Truck ( there's a back of a truck selling smoke free lungs / There's a back of a truck selling alien pods / There's a back of a truck selling game show hosts / There's a back of a truck selling the souls of the dead/ There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread' etc. until they're even selling the back of someone's head!), Mermaid, Sellers of Flowers ('who's the winner? not the roses, not the sellers, not the buyers'), Scarecrow and Fungus ('he's got enough money to buy a new father'). And I can go on and on (and am tempted to keep going haha). And perhaps you could link this to her perspective of someone who moved from Russia to the US, a country of abudance where you could buy almost anything? Just my two cents, hope it's of some use for you, and if I can think of other themes I'll write an update I do think picking a specific topic or overarching theme will make it easier for you to structure the text. Like: Regina Spektor makes ordinary everyday things extraordinary in her songs, and here are three ways in which she does it (E.g. because rhetorical devices or vocal quirks make you think of a word or expression differently, or because the songs put a spin on familiar situations by highlighting new aspects). Good luck!

Hm, I'm not sure but it seems like some people were sent an email with the wrong password? The e-mail I received about her UK/Europe tour says that the pre-sale password for this tour is: tornadolando (yes, with an O at the end). It worked for me when I pre-ordered tickets for Regina's show in the Netherlands. Good luck

Sent you a message

Thank youu for the write-up! Haha I love her outfit. And it's such a Regina thing to offer you fruit. I'm seeing her tomorrow night, really excited

Ugh, so frustrated with Warner Music. So here's a boring rant. I pre-ordered the deluxe version of the album the day it was announced (3 months ago). Then, about a week after the release day, I received an empty envelope, it looked like someone forgot to put the CD in there. A few days after contacting them, customer service replied with an apology, saying they'd send me another one. So, ok, I thought it was solved. But while I got a confirmation email that the new order had been placed, I never got a shipping notification.. Nine days later I contacted Warner again. Their reply: yeah, it's out of stock so it will take a bit longer. Then this weekend, Paypal notifies me that Warner has refunded me the money. I get in touch with them again: what happened? Do I need to place a new order? And here's their response: "We regret to inform you that we will not be able to ship the Remember Us To Life Deluxe CD. This has been discontinued and we will not be getting any additional stock." Wtf? Guess I'll be able to buy it on tour, but this is really disappointing.

Did you contact them via http://store.warnermusic.com/contacts ? I ordered the deluxe CD myself, but received an envelope that was empty except for the return labels.. didn't see any damage whatsoever, so I think someone actually forgot to put the CD in So was wondering how you got in touch with them.

Hi Ishtus, yes I'll be there! I'm taking my mom with me, who has become a bit of a convert over the years We could do a mini brumstix-meeting if you'd like! I saw that the concert is completely sold out again. I'm always a bit amazed by how little media attention she's getting in The Netherlands, while she still has plenty of dedicated fans here.

I'm so happy and thankful for the new album. It's such a new experience to have all new songs, I'm overwhelmed by it in the best way It feels like Regina handed us this huge gift.. and I'm unwrapping it veeeery slowly, taking time to let each song sink in, so I've only listened to it up to Tornadoland so far. But I couldn't wait to leave a message to say that I'm enjoying it so much! The album is reaffirming Regina's amazing range in terms of moods and styles, and I really like what she has done production-wise (although I wish Black and White were a bit less polished, and Older and Taller feels a bit too end-credits-of-a-movie to me). Before the album came out I was already obsessed with Small Bill$, and I really love the lyrics of Older and Taller.. And each of the other new songs I've heard since Friday bring their own flavour to them <3 Grand Hotel has amazing imagery, it reminds me of A Canon which is one of my favorite songs of hers. The Light is beautifully vulnerable. The Trapper and the Furrier is such a surprise, wow, she's still writing songs like this! Yay! And then Tornadoland.. I love the stormy sounds and how her voice seems to be so 'close' to your ears. Now I have 6 more songs to discover.. It's great to have her back.

Regina did a Facebook Q&A and it's so adorable. Watch it: https://www.facebook.com/reginaspektor/videos/10153794017621389/ Two interesting answers: -Someone asked if 11:11 will ever be reprinted because they would love a physical copy, and Regina says yes! "It's on my very very long todo-list, I think it's been on my 'I have to get this done' list probably for a decade now. So I'm very sorry about that.. It is possible and I'm going to do it at some point. (...) I'm going to reprint it at some point and make physical copies. And then you can have one. :)" -There was also a question about the Beauty musical she had been working on a few years ago (I was also wondering what happened with that). Regina explained that things did not work out, and they (Regina and the director and producer) decided to discontinue the project, but: "if I ever do write a musical, I would write the music and the words myself. That's something I discovered. As awesome as it is being a composer, I really fucking love words and I want to write both."

Hey everyone, I've been reorganizing a bit, sorting through the stuff I barely use.. and I was wondering if anyone is interested in either of these 2 Regina posters that I never found a spot for. If you're okay with paying for the shipping costs from the Netherlands to your place, I can send them to you Let me know. Update: The posters are on their way to TC

I really like Older and Taller Is anyone else getting a bit of an 'Only Son' vibe from this one? Hard for me to explain why but for example when she sings "and that's all you need to know", that's something I can imagine Jack singing as well with that melody.