Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (Leaked Bootleg)
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Album Archive | 04/06/05 | 12:32 AM
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Grade: A- | Genre:
Alternative Rock
Summary: Fiona sounds like she is playing on an epic musical playground with Extraordinary Machine. She's so very alive, effortlessly casting aside the tight ropes of an industry that tries desperately to define her. |
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 One of the more interesting situations in music today is unfolding before our curious eyes. Sony has drawn a harsh line in the sand, saying if they can't find a way to market a disk, they just aren't going to release it. The disk in question is Fiona Apple's marvelous artistic vision Extraordinary Machine. According to the album's producer, Jon Brion, this album was wrapped in a bow and dropped on Epic's doorstep, a division of Sony, in May 2003 which was promptly kicked back saying it suffered from a lack of a hit single. God forbid they should promote an album based it's artistic merits without concern to where it would crack the top 40. There is something very wrong with the state of music when brilliant artists can't get corporate America to release their works to a pleading public. Shuffle step back a couple years and this situation was echoed almost verbatim behind the walls of Warner Brothers with Wilco's Yankee Foxtrot Hotel. Interestingly, Fiona's quirky tracks have slowly leaked onto the Internet and have spawned a life of their own.
They would hit in waves. First the album's title track, then 3 other pieces, finally the full work. It is currently one of the most downloaded albums circulating on the Internet. Who leaked these tracks remains a mystery. Did Brion get fed up with the run around at Sony and take it upon himself to make sure the music would be heard? Is it the rather tight-lipped Fiona who set her songs free? Perhaps this is a well-played marketing move on Sony's part. By releasing the album on the Internet, you drum up truckloads of free press for Extraordinary so that when the final release happens, success is guaranteed. No one knows for certain. Really this is a whole commentary piece in and of itself I feel brimming to the surface so I'll leave it for now to focus on the music.
First, it must be stated that this is a review of the album that has been widely circulating on the Internet. This should be viewed as an advanced look and not necessarily a perfect representation of what the finished album will materialize as. The first thought that seizes you when listening to these tracks is that this is Disney on PCP or perhaps a kickin' batch of 'shrooms. Its something akin to the pink elephants scene in Dumbo crossed with Alice spiraling down the rabbit hole. I'm aware that makes this work sound too strange for words, but this is Fiona we are talking about here. Strange is a key ingredient dusting her innovation. The kid in her comes out to play in tracks like "Not about Love". Fiona supports the whimsical piano and string orchestrations as each word runs on the heels of the next to suddenly congeal into something sucked straight off the page of Dr. Seuss. The album's title track tiptoes on a quiet pluck like Bambi first learning to walk and then the horns swagger in as a touch of garnish. Jon Brion brought a hefty level of influence to this album through his role of producer. His latest soundtrack work (I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) exhibit a lot of the same quirkiness bundled up here.
As for the absent single, Sony must not have cracked open the CD case because there are several pesky tracks that will firmly lodge themselves into your head. "Please, Please, Please" is quite infectious. The rolling pianos of "Get Him Back" accentuate Fiona's long sneer in this afflicted love song that can't decide if she wants to drop him to the floor and make love to him or string him from the rafters. Ah, love is such a funny thing. She teeters on the ledge of emotion, blessed by love's confusion wrapped in lines like "I think he let me down when he didn't disappoint me". "Used to Love" is the song that all the other songs are struggling to become. It comes out swinging, holding up its rhythm on church bells intermingled with heavy lethargic drums. It has such a sweet punch and drive to it that Fiona's voice seems like it's on a jungle gym flipping, ducking and contorting her way through the deep carnival beats. Perfection I say.
In her vaults off the high dive into the kiddy pool, her daring doesn't always pan out. "Waltz" slides in and out like an improvised dance uninspired and visually lacking when held up to the light of the other numbers. The refrain of "Window" grows a bit monotonous as you feel your finger impulsively going for the skip button, yet you have to remind yourself its Fiona so we should at least hear her out.
Fiona sounds like she is playing on an epic musical playground with Extraordinary Machine. There were a lot of rumors that the weight of the music industry had pushed her frayed nerves past their breaking point, and that she would retire at the ripe old age of 25. There is no sign of that complacency, quite the opposite in fact. She's so very alive, effortlessly casting aside the tight ropes of an industry that tries desperately to define her. Fiona will never fit a mold anymore than Tori Amos, Jeff Buckley or any of the revolutionary musicians of our time. Fiona couldn't hide her talent from me even in the first instant I discovered that enormous voice of a husky, black woman mysteriously piping out of a waifish, young, white girl. She has always resided left of center and Extraordinary Machine is the perfect extension of the journey she's led us on thus far. She defies conventions and that is why we love her. Sony, you have one of the most artistically ambitious music releases of the year collecting dust on your shelves. If you have any sense musical, financial or otherwise, you will release the strangle hold you have on this songbird. We want to buy this album so Fiona can give us her vision the way it was intended. Will you let us?
So what is your call to action here? First, jump on over to Free Fiona and sign the petition telling Sony to get their grubby, money-loving hands off your album. Then hear Extraordinary Machine for yourself. Fifteen minutes of ingenuity should do the trick (hint: Google is your friend).
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