Jim, you might try Tales Of A Librarian or (if you're using iTunes or Amazon for downloads) the second, live half of To Venus And Back (I wouldn't start with the studio first half, however; it's mostly good, but not necessarily easy).
"Pretty Good Year" and "Past The Mission" are both originally from Tori's second album, Under The Pink, which might be her best all-around album. Her later work gets a bit strange and her first album (Little Earthquakes is extremely good and easy to get into, but isn't necessarily represenative; Pink is a good mix of some musical adventurousness with mostly accessible lyrics.
Avoid Strange Little Girls and American Doll Posse. The Beekeeper is just a mess. Scarlett's Walk is alright but just alright, in my opinion.
She's a brilliant vocalist and pianist, but her lyrics tend to be... elliptical, for want of a better word, and her more recent albums have tended to be frustratingly uneven, combining intriguing cleverness a certain degree of bizarreness and opacity. (Her lyrics have tended towards the incomprehensible lately, and some of her vocal quirks and stunts have morphed into the surreal: "Bouncing Off Clouds," a wonderfully catchy song off the generally weak American Doll Posse, features Tori turning the word "clouds" into a polysyllabic mess for reasons probably only known to herself, but I love her to death anyway.)
I suspect Tori is similar to Kate Bush, who she's often been compared to, in a fundamental respect beyond "eccentric artsy experimental female singer/songwriter/pianist": like Kate, Tori's not necessarily easy to access and her work can be polarizing (most people fall hard or are just turned off).
Others may have some suggestions, but those are the places I'd suggest starting with.
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I wouldn't have recognized her, but from the clip she sort of reminds me of Cate Blanchet.
"Pretty Good Year" and "Past The Mission" are both originally from Tori's second album, Under The Pink, which might be her best all-around album. Her later work gets a bit strange and her first album (Little Earthquakes is extremely good and easy to get into, but isn't necessarily represenative; Pink is a good mix of some musical adventurousness with mostly accessible lyrics.
from the choirgirl hotel also isn't a bad place to start. I've previously embedded the video from the first track, "Spark," here, if you want to take a listen.
There's a case to be made that Boys For Pele is her very best record, but it's a weird fucking album and I wouldn't start there.
Avoid Strange Little Girls and American Doll Posse. The Beekeeper is just a mess. Scarlett's Walk is alright but just alright, in my opinion.
She's a brilliant vocalist and pianist, but her lyrics tend to be... elliptical, for want of a better word, and her more recent albums have tended to be frustratingly uneven, combining intriguing cleverness a certain degree of bizarreness and opacity. (Her lyrics have tended towards the incomprehensible lately, and some of her vocal quirks and stunts have morphed into the surreal: "Bouncing Off Clouds," a wonderfully catchy song off the generally weak American Doll Posse, features Tori turning the word "clouds" into a polysyllabic mess for reasons probably only known to herself, but I love her to death anyway.)
I suspect Tori is similar to Kate Bush, who she's often been compared to, in a fundamental respect beyond "eccentric artsy experimental female singer/songwriter/pianist": like Kate, Tori's not necessarily easy to access and her work can be polarizing (most people fall hard or are just turned off).
Others may have some suggestions, but those are the places I'd suggest starting with.
Have you listed to Bat for Lashes? I think she listens to a lot of Tori.
I haven't heard Bat for Lashes. I'll keep an ear open for her.