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elfsI'm a big fan of Fiona Apple. I have copies of both Tidal and When The Pawn..., and I have to say that as albums go they're much better than the video of "Sleep to Dream" suggested when it first appeared on MTV back in 1996. Although When the Pawn wasn't nearly as good as her first album (which had absolutely brilliant cuts like "Carrion," "Never is a Promise," and my favorite, "Slow Like Honey"), it was still an excellent album and I still think "A Mistake" is one of the best songs she's ever written.
Tonight, I'm listening to low-quality pirated music. I admit it. Extraordinary Machine is not available in stores. It lies on a shelf somewhere in a vault owned by Sony, unreleased by Sony's corporate drones because it "doesn't have a single," and as Boingboing puts it, "it doesn't sound like Norah Jones and because, well, they're corporate drones."
It's a brilliant album. It sounds like Fiona, growing up, enjoying her maturity and still as angry and as female and as relentless as ever. The song "A Better Version of Me," which is about getting off Ritalin, the relentless "Not About Love," and the mischevious, sexy, wonderful, almost Disneyesque unplugged title song "Extraordinary Machine" are just perfect. Fiona doesn't show a great range of vocals here; that's never been her forte'. Instead, she shows the power of her imagination, her lyrical writing, and her ability to assemble a musical line and a band that can play it. It blazes with an honesty and authenticity that's hard to find in modern music.
But you can't buy it. And that's a big damn shame. Because I want to hear it in all of its glory, not at 128kbs poorly encoded MP3 "liberated" by someone along the chain from production to cold storage.
If you love Fiona, listen to Extraordinary Machine. Yes, have some.
Tonight, I'm listening to low-quality pirated music. I admit it. Extraordinary Machine is not available in stores. It lies on a shelf somewhere in a vault owned by Sony, unreleased by Sony's corporate drones because it "doesn't have a single," and as Boingboing puts it, "it doesn't sound like Norah Jones and because, well, they're corporate drones."
It's a brilliant album. It sounds like Fiona, growing up, enjoying her maturity and still as angry and as female and as relentless as ever. The song "A Better Version of Me," which is about getting off Ritalin, the relentless "Not About Love," and the mischevious, sexy, wonderful, almost Disneyesque unplugged title song "Extraordinary Machine" are just perfect. Fiona doesn't show a great range of vocals here; that's never been her forte'. Instead, she shows the power of her imagination, her lyrical writing, and her ability to assemble a musical line and a band that can play it. It blazes with an honesty and authenticity that's hard to find in modern music.
But you can't buy it. And that's a big damn shame. Because I want to hear it in all of its glory, not at 128kbs poorly encoded MP3 "liberated" by someone along the chain from production to cold storage.
If you love Fiona, listen to Extraordinary Machine. Yes, have some.
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Date: 2005-03-18 04:18 pm (UTC)Soon as I get home I'll have to start downloading that torrent. And yeah, I won't feel even a tiny twinge of guilt for downloading and eventually seeding this one. If Sony ever does release it, I expect I'll probably buy it.
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Date: 2005-03-18 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-21 10:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-25 08:46 pm (UTC)