Fiona Apple Album to be Officially Released (Finally!)

[sxesven]

Glad to see you like it so far.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Hah! I listened to it twice through!! Its really impressive !! I LOVE THE MUSIC.. Its like the kind they use in Courage The Cowardly Dog episode where a crocodile changes people into puppets on stage .. I think cabaret would fit her music nicely.. However I'm freaked out by her vocals when they reach low notes her high notes are beautiful, though. Overall her voice is like Shirley Manson from garbage, but her music is very very very different!! I think I'll just get Extraordinary Machine once it reaches my shores!
On The Bound- killer track, pulled me into the album right after first listen.. Love it when she says "maybe some faith would do me good.."
To Your Love- another cool track, the chorus sounds like its in a bar..
Limp- The music changes speed, really nice, but cant say much, didnt leave a strong impression..
Love Ridden- This is way quiet I feel sleepy listening to it.. (-.-)zzZZ Cant say much..
Paper Bag- This grabbed my attention after almost falling asleep to Love Ridden! Really really like the song! It feels peaceful eventhough the music is like the other songs!
A Mistake- Another winner!!! Love the lyrics!! The opening lines casts a spell "gonna make a mistake, gonna do it on purpose.." The chorus is also wonderful! I was shocked by the words though , I thought Fiona was just a nice girl judging by her smile...
Fast As You Can- This lived up to my expectations!! Like it a lot!! The music is bloody cool!!
The Way Things Are- An ok track .. the chorus has an irritating instrument..
Get Gone- THIS is FAMILIAR .. I heard the piano before, I think Beyonce modified the piano loop in the background and used it in her bonus track from Dangerously In Love, My Daddy.. The song is really nice, needs some time to like..
I Know- (-.-)ZzZz makes me really sleepy, cant say much..

Wow after listening to it, I recommend anyone grab a copy of it from stores.. Her music is UNIQUE AND PERFECT, never heard anything like it before ! Thanks for sharing the album, sxesven!

[sxesven]

Terribly glad you liked it! Indeed, amazing album, huh? Although I disagree on some songs being sleep-inducing (to each his own of course ), I do agree on the music itself being unique and perfect. And glad to see you thought Paper Bag was a stand-out track - while I find it hard to pick a stand-out track, Paper Bag is my probably my favorite.

As for her music and/or lyrics something coming across as dark, well, Fiona isn't your average light-weight light-hearted singer I guess. Plus, she was brutally raped by a stranger when she was 12, which leaves one quite devestated. It made her quite bitter, logically. This sort of 'darkness' is what put me off in Tidal though - it all was a bit too much and, like I said before, it fully represented what people mean when they talk about 'teenage angst'. The occasional downside on When The Pawn... feels entirely authentic, which makes it a much stronger record (and, imo, the best album ever made). Excellent stuff!

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by sxesven

Terribly glad you liked it! Indeed, amazing album, huh? Although I disagree on some songs being sleep-inducing (to each his own of course ), I do agree on the music itself being unique and perfect. And glad to see you thought Paper Bag was a stand-out track - while I find it hard to pick a stand-out track, Paper Bag is my probably my favorite.

As for her music and/or lyrics something coming across as dark, well, Fiona isn't your average light-weight light-hearted singer I guess. Plus, she was brutally raped by a stranger when she was 12, which leaves one quite devestated. It made her quite bitter, logically. This sort of 'darkness' is what put me off in Tidal though - it all was a bit too much and, like I said before, it fully represented what people mean when they talk about 'teenage angst'. The occasional downside on When The Pawn... feels entirely authentic, which makes it a much stronger record (and, imo, the best album ever made). Excellent stuff!

Oh, she was raped when she was young? Thats the same with Tori Amos! Fiona's great, loving her !!!

[SunshineSlayer]

I'm really looking forward to this. I haven't heard all of Tidal, but I own When the Pawn and think it is one of the best albums ever - especially lyrically.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Like Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot before it, Fiona Apple's third album Extraordinary Machine turned into an internet legend as fans leaked the unreleased record as labels left it on the shelves. Since Wilco's album notoriously remained unreleased because their label deemed it uncommercial, Apple fans who were patiently waiting a long, long time for new material were convinced that her label Epic was withholding a masterpiece because they also thought it was uncommercial. And, based on the version of Extraordinary Machine that was widely leaked on the internets in early 2005, if Epic indeed harbored suspicions that the album was uncommercial, they were not wrong — although Apple reunited with her When the Pawn producer Jon Brion for Extraordinary Machine, the original sessions for the album found the singer/songwriter and producer both indulging in their worst tendencies, creating delibertately difficult, obtuse, baroque art-pop with so many creaky details and elliptical melodies that it barely let listeners into their world. It was the kind of record that devoted fans — say, the kind that will start a website called FreeFiona.com to petition a record label to release an album — would dissect endlessly, but it was too insular to appeal to even those that loved her second album, which was already dismissed in some quarters as too arty, passionately. But the leaked album and FreeFiona did result in considerable media attention for the reclusive singer/songwriter, and put both Epic and Fiona Apple in the position to revive the project, since it proved that there was an audience for the album, giving Fiona artistic confidence and Epic the hopes of recouping the $800,000 they'd already sunk into the album. So, Apple ditched most of the Brion productions — according to the flurry of articles to promote its fall release, this was her decision, not the label's, since she was unhappy with the recordings, which is why the album remained unfinished and unreleased for years — teamed up with producer Mike Elizondo, best known for his productions with Eminem and 50 Cent but also a sideman on records by Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne, and finally finished the record.

To say that the released version of Extraordinary Machine is a marked improvement over the bootlegged version is not to say that it sounds more complete — after all, the Brion productions sounded finished, as evidenced by the two cuts that were retained; the intricate chamber-pop of the opening title track and the closing "Waltz (Better Than Fine)" are the only time Brion's productions not only suited but enhanced Fiona's songs — but to say that they're not only more accessible, but more fully realized, letting Apple's songs breathe in a way they didn't on the original sessions. While Brion's productions were interesting, they stretched his carnivalesque aesthetic to the limit, ultimately obscuring Apple's songs, which were already fussier, artier and more oblique than her previous work. When matched to Brion's elaborately detailed productions, her music became an impenetrable wall of sound, but Elizondo's productions open these songs up, making it easier to hear Apple's songs while retaining most of her eccentricities. Now, Extraordinary Machine sounds like a brighter, streamlined version of When the Pawn, lacking the idiosyncratic arrangement and instrumentation of that record, yet retaining the artiness of the songs themselves. Like her second record, this album is not immediate; it takes time for the songs to sink in, to let the melodies unfold and decode her laborious words (she still has the unfortunate tendency to overwrite: "A voice once stentorian is now again/Meek and muffled"). Unlike the Brion-produced sessions, unpeeling the layers on Extraordinary Machine is not hard work, since it not only has a welcoming veneer, but there's plenty of things that capture the imagination upon the first listen — the pulsating piano on "Get Him Back," the moodiness of "O' Sailor," the coiled bluesy "Better Version of Me," the quiet intensity of the breakup saga "Window," insistant chorus on"Please Please Please" — which give listeners a reason to return and invest time in the album. And once they do go back for repeated listens, Extraordinary Machine becomes as rewarding, if not quite as distinctive, as When The Pawn. Nevertheless, this is neither a return to the sultry, searching balladering of Tidal, nor a record that will bring her closer to tasteful, classy Norah Jones territory, thereby making her a more commercial artist again. Extraordinary Machine may be more accessible, but it remains an art-pop album in its attitude, intent and presentation — it's just that the presentation is cleaner, making her attitude appealing and her intent easier to ascertain, and that's what makes this final, finished Extraordinary Machine something pretty close to extraordinary. [Extraordinary Machine was also released as DualDisc, containing a CD of the album on one side and a DVD on the second. The DVD contains the album in PCM stereo — there is no 5.1 mix here — plus a video and several live performances.]

Wow, rave AMG review! Fiona got a 4.5 Star score! So far METACRITIC gave it a 92!

[-Link-]

Todays the day, whos got it already?

[sxesven]

It's been put back, it's coming out on the 10th here now. *sigh* The horror.

[~K+]

It's not coming out here until the 31st...but it's a CD/DVD package. Anyone have previews of the tracks?

[sxesven]

Yup, right here. The 31st though? Man, that sucks.

As for the release, the CD+DVD version is a DualDisc one. I'm not too excited about that personally, as I don't think much of the whole DualDisc format. Some of the downsides of DD:

In addition to the possible inability for some CD players to read a DualDisc properly, other consumer criticisms of DualDisc include:

The 1.5 mm-thick disc can get jammed in a very small number of DVD players, slot-loading CD players (such as car CD players) and mega-changers.

For any CD player, the thinner CD layer makes reading the CD side of a DualDisc harder than reading a conventional CD. Thus, anomalies such as small scratches, fingerprints or disc tilt may cause tracking errors easier than those same anomalies would on a conventional CD. Since disc damage is inevitable over time, this can mean a reduction in a DualDisc's effective lifetime as compared to a CD.

Since both sides of the disc are used for data, a label cannot appear on either side of the disc. The only way that a consumer knows which side is CD and which is DVD is by looking at the center ring of the disc where it is marked.

source: Wikipedia.org

I'd rather seen a normal CD+DVD release, but well. I'll still pick up the DualDisc, because the contents of the DVD are amazing:

The DualDisc DVD side includes:
• The Entire album in Enhanced LPCM Stereo
• Brand-new videos for "Not About Love" and "Parting Gift (live)," never before released
• Live performances of 5 songs filmed at the club Largo in Los Angeles, including "Fast As You Can" and "Paper Bag"
• Behind-the-scenes footage

source: Fiona Apple - official website

Can't! Wait! Any! Longer!

[sxesven]

Sorry for double-posting, but the Pitchfork review is just in, and as they're a quality website, their review is definitely worth reading. As the release has been pushed back here, I haven't heard the new version yet, but from what I'm reading it's exactly what I had expected--unworthy of Brion's version, but still a decent to good album on its own (and an album that I, as a fan of miss Apple, will like a lot). Granted, I'm not sure if the 62 is quite on the mark, but Pitchfork are very critical so 62 isn't even all that bad.

Fiona Apple
Extraordinary Machine (Jon Brion version) / Extraordinary Machine
[mp3 / Sony; 2005]
Rating: 7.8 / 6.2

If you're particularly web savvy, you may have seen the previous version of this review up on the site before its replacement with the edition you're reading right now. Here's the story: I crafted the original to be my most ambitious yet-- epic in scope, embellished with the richest prose I could possibly summon. But alas, the powers that be were not, as they say, feeling it, and sent me back to the drawing board to craft a review less eccentric and more crowd-friendly. Or actually, maybe I had second thoughts about the original review myself, choosing to self-regulate and take a mulligan. I don't know, it's very confusing; but know that all this vacillation was never for publicity's sake, no, never that.

So I can empathize with Fiona Apple, who has gone through a similarly arduous journey on the road to releasing her first album in six years. Earlier this year, Extraordinary Machine appeared destined for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot status, as the nearly-finished album Apple made with longtime collaborator Jon Brion was shelved, then surreptitiously leaked to the world's music thieves. But rather than graciously accepting a starring role in **** the Man Rock N' Roll Myth #67, Apple did a do-over, this time working with Mike Elizondo, best known as right-hand man to the good Dr. Dre.

Unfortunately for Apple and Elizondo, that Brion version isn't going away quietly. And now, upon the release of the official retail version, it only makes sense to compare the two-- a sort of musical Pepsi challenge-- given that they share 11 of 12 songs. The differences are far from subtle: For all but two songs, the title track and "Waltz (Better Than Fine)", Elizondo overhauled the original takes-- or maybe underhauled is the more appropriate term in this case, given the addition-by-subtraction philosophy applied throughout.

Apple is a songwriter who can turn every relationship hiccup into a calamitous tragedy, and Brion fittingly applied his production talents with the intent of blowing up her songs to 2.35:1 aspect ratio. On "Not About Love" and "O' Sailor", Brion scored Apple's compositions no less extravagantly than his soundtracking work for the indie-film elite, applying dollops of lush orchestration to place her piano and throwback vocals in an epic frame. Though the material wasn't always Apple's best-- "Oh Well" and "Window" in particular, sounding a bit through-the-motions-- the symphonic presentation kept it interesting and gave the LP a cohesive flavor.

Elizondo's approach is more eclectic: Rather than applying copious amounts of strings, he employs bits of organ, backwards loops, and busier drumming to flesh out Fiona's sound. But the fleshing out is kept skeletal, so as not to distract from the central elements of Apple's voice and piano. Though the Brion version was likely unmastered, it's still striking how much the emphasis has shifted from a broader sound to Apple's contributions alone, like demos in reverse. You can also pour a 40 out for fallen countermelodies, as Elizondo hacks away Brion's embellishments upon "Not About Love" and "Window" in his efforts to keep the spotlight fixed solely on the star.

Not to say that there aren't moments where Elizondo either improves or offers a valid alternative to the Brion takes, as "Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)" remakes the routine "Used to Love Him" with twitchy synth-bass and "Oh Well" benefits from a stronger vocal take. The dreamy "O' Sailor", meanwhile, refuses to be ruined, though the new version knocks the original out of its cosmic moody-blue orbit by insultingly replacing actual strings with the synthesized variety. Not so tamper-proof are the triplets "Red Red Red" and "Please Please Please", the former losing most of its drama thanks to a dull ambient backdrop, the latter ironically softening its single-ready punch on what's supposed to be the more traditionally commercial album.

The officially released version of Extraordinary Machine remains a decent-to-good album, one that showcases Apple's considerable vocal and key-pounding talents. In its new clothes, the album fits alongside her prior two albums, with only the slightly less consistent material bringing it down a peg. The shame of it all is that Apple, after six years of silence, could've made a more definitive, progressive statement rather than something familiar and similar-- and we've got the bootlegs to prove it.

-Rob Mitchum, October 5, 2005

Mitchum is making some really good points here though, and I thought the following observation was quite a keen one:

The shame of it all is that Apple, after six years of silence, could've made a more definitive, progressive statement rather than something familiar and similar-- and we've got the bootlegs to prove it.

And the following statement is quite on the mark as well:

For all but two songs, the title track and "Waltz (Better Than Fine)", Elizondo overhauled the original takes-- or maybe underhauled is the more appropriate term in this case, given the addition-by-subtraction philosophy applied throughout.

Again, I have yet to hear Extraordinary Machine and I'm pretty sure I'll like it a lot, but, that side, I think it's a shame that the Brion version got canned.

[Mad_Cactuar]

^ the reviews on the songs make me curious! you heard them already, sven?

[sxesven]

Nope, I'm waiting until the official release--a bit silly maybe, but I'd just like to hear the songs on CD for the first time. So just three more days! Woo!

[sxesven]

Finally got Extraordinary Machine (DualDisc) today, and eh, was it worth the wait?

Let me begin to say that I half expected a lukewarm reaction from my side, as the switch from Brion to Elizondo had been a pretty odd decision that possibly couldn't bring any good. I'm very fond of Brion, so it pretty much felt like Sofia Coppola doing a new movie with Bill Murray, and then suddenly switching to Vin Diesel.

And how is Extraordinary Machine?

It's f'n AMAZING. Seriously, the album is just flat-out brilliant. Dissappointment? Hell no. Favourite 2005 release? Hell yes. Just breathtakingly good. No When The Pawn..., I'll admit, but I hadn't expected anything like that in the first place. Awesome.

The DVD side is great as well--a hilarious video for Not About Love and some brilliant live performances.

Best release of 2005!

[asterix]

can't download. anyone kind enough to upload the album????TIA

[sxesven]

Pretty hard to find, I noticed. I have Extraordinary Machine, the retail version, in both WMA and MP3 format, but I don't have any way to upload it. You can add me to MSN and I'll send it to you.

[asterix]

i've added you. =)

[sxesven]

Cool. =) I'll be on tomorrow to send the files.

[PickleCookies]

Originally Posted by sxesven

... but I don't have any way to upload it.

Didn't I give you a place to upload on my domain? http://sxesven.kriswolfe.net I think?

[-Link-]

i heard this album today, at barnes and nobles, and its really good! like i enjoyed it alot more than her old album (cuz i also managed to sample it haha)

Nice if ur in for somefin new