This is the fifth Tori Amos concert I’ve been to and this was possibly the most intense and enjoyable to date. With just a piano and a keyboard, she straddles her bench and plays both while howling her tunes with all the energy and empathy you could ask for.

Personal highlights included a haunting opening of “Bells For Her”, a very intense “Precious Things” a aching beautiful “Garlands”, the wails of “Hey Jupiter”, the foot stomping “Beauty of Speed” and a most fiery cover of “Personal Jesus”. However not one song went a miss and I was utterly captivated from start to finish.

If you ever want to see a singer/songwriter bare all on stage, take yourself to a solo Tori Amos concert and you will feel every minute of the road with her. Mesmerising.

01) Lisa Gerrard: With more posts getting more than 150+ views than any other artist, Lisa Gerrard topped our most viewed list and she looks to stay high in 2010. Her Balibo soundtrack was amazing, and we’re still waiting for her 2009 album “The Black Opal” to arrive to review. Well done Lisa

02) Vienna Teng: Vienna went under the radar for me and is a surprise second. Her fourth album Inland Territory is absolutely stunning and we got our hands on her live DVD from a while back and loved that too. Hears hoping to more in 2010!

03) Brendan Perry: The anticipation for Ark continues and Brendan continues to clock up hits while we wait. Ark looks like hitting early 2010 and rest assured, HPM will be buying it on release day!

04) OverClocked ReMix: Well the biggest game music remixing project chalked up several releases but it was the FF4 project that really exploded over here grabbing the most viewed interview in 2009 with the project managers. 2010 will no doubt see tons of remixes for all and I’ll drink to that *glug*.

05) Akira Yamaoka: Well HPM did a lot of reviewing of Silent Hill soundtracks in 09 and that’s because the reviews always seem popular. Now Akira has left Konami (although Shattered Memories is still composed by him) it remains to be seen when we’ll hear of him next. Not too soon we hope!

06) Imogen Heap: Imogen actually had the most viewed post of 2009 with over 700 views of bizarrely the tracklisting for Ellipse. Sadly not as many read the review so that’s why Immi is down in 7th. 2010 looks like a year of touring so expect Heap to appear in the live vault!

07) Utada: This Is the One was one of pop’s best albums and was the third most read music review of 2009 and top of the non-game music reviews. Utada’s groove is definately on and maybe we’ll hear some more Japanese work in 2010.

08) Tori Amos: Tori strangely didn’t feature highly on the most viewed threads lists but constantly propped up just outside the top 10 and so ended up 8th overall. Abnormally Attracted to Sin and Midwinter Graces were fantastic albums that deserve much love and so 2010 should see Tori enjoy a break for a few months!

09) Hiroki Kikuta: The most read review of 2009 belongs to Hiroki and the Secret of Mana + Review that clocked over 500 hits. Hiroki was kind enough to send over one of his more obscure soundtracks which will be reviewed in 2010. Thank you Kikuta-san!

10) Christopher Tin: Sneaking in by just 2 views over Sarah Slean, Christopher Tin’s Calling All Dawns is simply devine and snatched the final spot on our top 10. Chris is a genuinely nice guy and deserves all the credit the albums recieved.

Top 5 Game Reviews

01) Battle Tanks (PS3)

02) Trash Panic (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) Magic Ball (PS3)

Opening with “What Child, Nowell” you are treated to the hark back to early Tori times with pianos, harpsichords and a lot of brass. The use of sleigh bells in the chorus and the lyrics are the only real hints of the festive season. This is because the album deals more with the Winter Solstice and is more concerned with going way back in time to where the original carols came from than celebrating Jesus The result is a warm but complex mirage of different instruments and almost different faiths combining.

“Star of Wonder” has a beautiful arabic feel to it with some excellent string works and making this is an uptempo piano-rock track is inspired and while the verses are funky and quirky its the when it all comes together ala Scarlet’s Walk for the chorus’ it really hits home. “A Silent Night With You” is turn is a warm and fuzzy ballad which Tori does so well and is the first of several original songs. What I like about this track is that is feels very traditional in its songwriting and the waltzing pace of it is quite sweet.

“Candle: Coventry Carol” feels archaic! It’s the brass that does it – and the opening minute really feel quite sinisiter to me, almost like a siren of warning. From there the track completely changes dynamic into a lute led track – almost like a baroque track. It’s quite unlike anything Tori has done before and I’d happily listen to a whole album of this style – almost Loreena McKennitt-esque, especially with Amos using a high register for her voice this track.

“Holly, Ivy and Rose” is beautiful. Marking her vocal debut, daughter Tash appears here with some cute call and responses with her mum. Again, the pianos, strings and percussion really pull the song forward into a new territory of music for Tori to play with and the production throughout is fantastic. “Harps of Gold” is the rocking song of the album and while I find it uplifting and joyous – almost Christian rock (shock-horror), if fans struggled with previous albums efforts 500 Miles, Ireland or Cars and Guitars then you may struggle here.

“Snow Angel” is another original track and is hauntingly delicate. It’s realitively simple in its composition and that makes it no less effective. Tori’s always been able to make stand out beautifully haunting tracks and this is no exception. A personal favourite.

“Jeanette, Isabella” is beautiful in a different type of way. Reminding me of “Jamaica Inn”, its got so much fluidity to it, its like taking a ride down the calmest lake in heaven whilst being given a relaxing massage!  The marriage of piano, harpsichord, brass, guitar and soft percussion is sublime.

“Pink and Glitter” really divided me for a while. It’s a massive big bang number, a type of music that I really struggle with. However, this song is really fun to listen to and again has such a fuzzy warm flow to it you can’t help but like it. While its my least favourite of the album, its purely down to the big band and each listen lets me like it more. “Emmanuel” is a slow and delibrate track but one that conveys a lot of emotion and goes with the less-is-more approach.

The next two tracks are simply stunning. “Winters Carol” is taken from Tori’s upcoming musical and is very dramatic and dynamic, switching from rolling pianos to massive bridges and soaring vocals. I particularly love the church bells and the catchy chorus’. It’s five minutes of emotive twists and turns that doesn’t let up until the end – if winter had a rollercoaster, this would be it. “Our New Year” starts off like a ‘usual’ Tori ballad and then ends up giving us some massive climactic codas that leave you feeling actually, like your not listening to a Christmas record at all! The screams of “you’re not here” to dramatic string stabs is not like anything I’ve heard for a while from Amos.

For the bonus edition you have two traditional renditions of “Comfort and Joy” and “Silent Night, Holy Night” (albeit the title in German) with just piano and vocal and they are lovely. There’s also a 30 minute interview on DVD which goes right into what Tori was looking for with this album which is really insightful.

Rarely putting a foot wrong, Tori Amos has put together my favourite Christmas/winter album of all time. Each song is unique and there’s a lot of styles that I’d like to see Tori continue with and expand on. Not really for Christmas music fans celebrating with presents but one for when your on your own with a candle, some cinnamon wine and lights down low so the record can seep in and come to life. Fantastic.

01) Lisa Gerrard (2 months)

02) Tori Amos (^)

03) Brendan Perry (^)

04) Christopher Tin (v)

05) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

06) Imogen Heap (v)

07) Akira Yamaoka (RE)

08) Sarah Slean (RE)

09) Anonymous 4 (v)

10) Utada (RE)

—-

Games

01) .detuned (PS3)

02) Battle Tanks (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) GripShaft (PS3)

01 What Child, Nowell
02 Star Of Wonder
03 A Silent Night With You
04 Candle: Coventry Carol
05 Holy, Ivy & Rose
06 Harps Of Gold
07 Snow Angel
08 Jeanette, Isabella
09 Pink & Glitter
10 Emmanuel
11 Winter’s Carol
12 Our New Year

01) Tori Amos (^) 1 Month

02) Utada (v)

03) Sarah Slean (^)

04) Vienna Teng (v)

05) Reiko Nomura (NE)

06) Akira Yamaoka (^)

07) Brendan Perry (v)

08) Seiji Honda (NE)

09) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

10) OCRemix (v)