Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine & Free Fiona

[sxesven]

As you may or may not know, Fiona Apple is a lovely female singer/songwriter who recorded one good album (Tidal, 1996) and one exceptionally brilliant album (When The Pawn, 1999). Both of which are highly recommended, I must add, especially the latter one. Only a few of you though are probably aware of the fact that this woman already recorded a third album. So what's the big deal? Well, she recorded it in 2003 and her record label Sony refuses to release it. Say what? Come again? Yes, you've heard that right. They just won't.

Reasons? Well, apparently, but not really any good ones. Sony claims that there's no potential single on the album, and that is apparently a good reason for not releasing the bloody disc. Come again? Just release the album then! So what if there's no potential hits on it? The material is supposedly too complicated to actually appeal to mainstream music lovers, but then again, Fiona Apple's fanbase has never been one of mainstream music lovers. Frankly, I don't see what the deal is.

The album's been leaked on the net already a few months ago, in CD quality even, but that doesn't justify the fact that the album hasn't had a proper release. Freefiona.com has set up a petition a while ago which you can sign - there's already 33.490 entries (give or take a few double entries), and anyone who thinks this whole case is very unjust and that Sony is acting incredibly stupid, please, do sign it!

In the meantime, if anyone feels like discussing any Fiona Apple material, please do so!

[Neil]

This campaign has been going on forever! I'm surprised it's only just reached here :p I have one of the first few hundred signatures on that petition

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by pri0256

I'm surprised it's only just reached here :p

So was I, so I immediately made this thread.

So, a fan?

/edit

So, that's pretty stupid how the word 'so' is in this post so many times.

[sugoiguywithhair]

OMG I need to kick Sony Music right smack dab in the balls. I've been DYING for new Fiona material and it turns out that its out there but the stupid label refuses to put it out? Are they retarded? OK I'd understand if say, someone like Lindsay Lohan suddenly decided to put out an artistic and musicaly complicated album (bwahahaha yeah right) cause then that would alienate her dumbed down fans and they just would not get it.

But Fiona fans EXPECT inventive and out there music! That's what she does! Sigh...

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by sugoiguywithhair

But Fiona fans EXPECT inventive and out there music! That's what she does! Sigh...

Exactly. Not releasing a Fiona album because it isn't commercially appealing enough, well, what did they expect, a bubblegum pop album?

[ohsixthirty]

*sigh* thats sad...

i don't understand why they would hold it back...no one expects commercial bubblegum pop from fiona, thats not what she does. i'd like to hear this album, too bad it may never be released officially.

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by touchedstar

i'd like to hear this album, too bad it may never be released officially.

I want to hear it, too. Of course I could download it, but I refuse to, I just want a proper release!

[Halla]

I wonder what are the real reasons behind Sony's decision not to release this album , I can't believe those reasons they've given so far. There has to be something behind the scenes going on.

Sony is a enormous company , i'm sure they release many albums with a lot smaller profits than Fiona's album would generate each year.

I don't really know that much about Fiona's music career or her sales, but maybe her previous albums weren't profitable enough to cover the expenses or just not profitable enough for them to bother with her ?
I'm just speculating because this is so weird situation

[JimmyKoria]

Chances are she'll get picked up by another lable, I wouldnt worry about it.

Im confused about the comments about Lidnsay Lohan, if you heard her songs they arent bubble gum pop (I dont like her songs btw)....and nothing anymore is bubble gum pop so I dont know why that would play into the equation. Isnt the market driven by Rock (rock-pop) and Rap/R&B acts anyway?

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by Halla

I wonder what are the real reasons behind Sony's decision not to release this album , I can't believe those reasons they've given so far. There has to be something behind the scenes going on.

Well, you can take this into consideration to begin with:

1997's Tidal sold 2.7 million copies and 1999's When the Pawn ... sold 917,000—it would be a major disappointment.

source

I was kind of surprised myself to see Tidal actually sold three times more than When The Pawn, since Tidal is obviously the weaker album. Then again, even if Sony 'd only manage to sell one third of the copies that When The Pawn sold, they'd still sell 300.000 albums, which is obviously more profitable than shelving the album. The article that this quote comes from is a nice read though, although it seems to focus way too much on how commercially appealing Fiona actually is, which just shouldn't be the question. See for yourself, as I quote from it:

In other words, Extraordinary Machine is just the sort of adventurous, critic-pleasing album that's nearly impossible to sell to a mainstream audience.

Last quote, an interesting one:

The label's most recent statement, issued earlier this month, read: "Epic is continuing to work with Fiona's management toward the release of this project.

Hope, I guess. Still though, if it still doesn't get released, Fiona should just try and buy the rights to the material and get it released on a different, smaller label.

Chances are she'll get picked up by another lable, I wouldnt worry about it.

I'm sure there's a lot of labels out there that'd love to release 'Extraordinary Machine', but it's just that Sony has the rights to the album. That's the big problem.

[Halla]

ok , that just makes things even weirder since I doubt album doesn't even need to sell huge amounts to make up for the production costs. even if the label thinks the album is not gonna sell you'd think they'd still release a small enough patch of cds which profits would cover the production costs , I think that's usually how they'd handle situtations like this. and then press more albums if it happens to sell well

[sxesven]

Exactly what I'd think. Whatever Sony think they're doing and whatever reason they have for shelving the album, I just can't understand it all.

/edit

A thing I wanted to add: I was surprised at the number of people I know that actually liked 'When The Pawn', as bad as their musical tastes may be. My girlfriend usually enjoys anything from Pearl Jam to N.E.R.D., but doesn't like anything I listen to. However, last week I was playing in the car when we were driving to the beach and she was actually humming along and tapping her foot to it - she thought it was pretty cool.

One of my best friends usually only listens to anything mainstream (Dutch pop-rock, mainstream trance and rock, just anything on the charts), and also dislikes anything I listen to. However, he and I went to the movies with my car and 'When The Pawn' was playing again and I noticed he actually liked it, not knowing what it was. Later on he asked if the radio had been on when were in the car, so I was happy to tell hem it was actually one of my favorite albums. I'm planning on giving the album to him for his birthday, haha.

A school friend of mine is a big fan of No Doubt and stuff, but nothing really special or outstanding. I had uploaded three songs for someone else and gave her the link since she was bored so she'd have something to do. She immediately fell in love with the songs. Excellent!

Just to show how commercially un-appealing Fiona is.

/edit

Just wanted to add this review of 'When The Pawn', Fiona's previous album, that hits the nail right on the head. It makes it all the more incomprehensible why 'Extraordinary Machine' doesn't get released properly.

Fiona Apple may have been grouped in with the other female singer/songwriters who dominated the pop charts in 1996 and 1997, but she stood out by virtue of her grand ambitions and considerable musical sophistication. Even though her 1996 debut Tidal occasionally was hampered by naiveté, it showcased a gifted young artist in the process of finding her voice. Even so, the artistic leap between Tidal and its long-awaited 1999 sequel When the Pawn Hits... is startling. It's evident that not only have Apple's ambitions grown, so has her confidence — few artists would open themselves up to the ridicule that comes with having a 90-word poem function as the full title, but that captures the fearless feeling of the record. Apple doesn't break from the jazzy pop of Tidal on Pawn, choosing instead to refine her sound and then expand its horizons. Although there are echoes of everything from Nina Simone to Aimee Mann on the record, it's not easy to spot specific influences, because this is truly an individual work. As a songwriter, she balances her words and melodies skillfully, no longer sounding self-conscious as she crafts highly personal, slightly cryptic songs that never sound precocious or insular. With producer Jon Brion, she created the ideal arrangements for these idiosyncratic songs, finding a multi-layered sound that's simultaneously elegant and carnival-esque. As a result, Pawn is immediately grabbing, and instead of fading upon further plays, it reveals more with each listen, whether it's a lyrical turn of phrase or an unexpected twist in the arrangement; what's more, Apple has made it as rich emotionally as it is musically. That's quite a feat for any album, but it's doubly impressive since it is only the second effort by a musician who is only 22 years old.

source: AllMusicGuide

[JimmyKoria]

Ah, yeah I understand about the Sony having the rights. P+E/Poe (not edgar allen poe) had something similiar happen, so she went to court to get the rights for her music once her lable ousted(I believe) her.

[sxesven]

Wilco (the band) had the same problem a couple of years ago with their 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' album. Their record-lable Warner refused to release it, after which Wilco bought the rights back and got it released through Nonesuch (a Warner division!). It got great reviews and was by many chosen as top pick of 2002 (including a #1 spot on the Amazon.com 2002 editorial list, for instance).

[sugoiguywithhair]

Originally Posted by BigJimmyC

Chances are she'll get picked up by another lable, I wouldnt worry about it.

Im confused about the comments about Lidnsay Lohan, if you heard her songs they arent bubble gum pop (I dont like her songs btw)....and nothing anymore is bubble gum pop so I dont know why that would play into the equation. Isnt the market driven by Rock (rock-pop) and Rap/R&B acts anyway?

Lindsay lohan/Avril/Hilary/etc. , they're all predictable, generic pop albums with a "rock" exterior. I guess you can think of it as pop disguised as rock. Very manufactured, done by the numbers and just very disposable...

Same with the Rap/R&B acts now. Its gotten to the point where they're all the same.

Pretty much anything played on none statellite radio has become pretty crappy.

[sxesven]

Update:

Originally Posted by fionaapple.org

A second third album?
The June 24th/July 1st "Must List" issue of Entertainment Weekly brings a surprising bit of news.

On page 101, Fiona is listed at #83 on the Must List, titled "Buried Treasure: Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Music Machine":

Mustworthiness: The album boasts an intriguingly bizarro backstory: Fans accused Epic of shelving Apple's avant-pop third effort in 2004 because there was no obvious single, prompting a passionate 'Free Fiona' campaign. Insiders, however, claimed Apple, 27, was unhappy with producer Jon Brion's handiwork and bailed on delivering the goods. In the meantime, the unreleased Machine has Exxon Valdezed all over the Net and got some radio play.
Prime Cuts: The cabaret-style title track and the exquisitely bouncy "Better Version of Me."
Next: Apple is starting a second third album with producer Brian Kehew (Moog Cookbook). Electro-Apple? Now that's extraordinary.

Originally Posted by freefiona.org

6/26/05 MTV.com reports, "With her third album, Extraordinary Machine, collecting dust on some shelf in the basement of Epic's headquarters, and on the iPod of anyone with even a working knowledge of computers, Fiona Apple's starting anew, and hoping the second time's the charm. According to an Epic spokesperson, Apple's taking another stab at her third disc, and has been working with Brian Kehew (Moog Cookbook). No word yet on when — if ever — this one might surface." Also, Blender magazine promises a piece on the Fiona Apple situation. Look for it in the next issue!

Err. I'm baffled.

[ohsixthirty]

^whoa, thats odd...they're just scraping it then??? seems like they'd go ahead and release it and make what money they can make and then work on a fourth album.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Hey, if you're humiliated with how an album turned out, you can choose to shelve it. Tori Amos' "Happy Worker", from the "Toys" soundtrack, was supposed to be a single (and there were even promos of it released to the label), but she hated the mix of it so much that she told them not to plug it or release it. Same reason Alanis Morissette doesn't want her first two canadian albums re-released at all. It's embarrassing.

[sxesven]

Now of course, if you're not happy with an album, by all means, do just shelve it and forget about the whole thing. Record something fresh and new and leave it. What bothers me though is that there's never been any word from Fiona these last few years about the case. If she's unhappy with the album, just say it. There's no shame in it, and it's easier for the fans to accept that there will be no release then.

Furthermore, I've heard Extraordinary Machine (I couldn't stand waiting any longer), and I thought it was simply amazing. Very much in the vein of When The Pawn, and very Jon Brion-ish, too. However, I think that's a good thing, as it turned out Apple's songs and Brion's arrangements worked out quite well in the past. Ah well.

[Nikki]

I listened to the song Across the universe today. I really liked it, Fiona has a unique voice, it's really soothing. So I want to listen to more songs of her and I was wondering if anyone has some recommendations of songs I should hear?