i'm heartily amused by the critical attention (rightly) being lavished on her atm! this was not the case in the 90s, iirc everyone just called her an alanis morissette clone o_0
though it doesn't exactly seem like ilm is falling over itself to get excited about her smh
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Monday, 23 April 2012 15:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
Well, like I just said on Twitter, this is because at least a few of us were never excited about her to start with.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 April 2012 15:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
ehhhh ilm has never been into young female singer-songwriters though, has it
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Monday, 23 April 2012 15:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
That last Taylor Swift album thread was huge!
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 April 2012 15:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
Is ilm into ANYTHING as a whole? Nah. Plenty of people like female singer-songwriters though.
I take Fiona Apple on a case by case basis, and this song doesn't do anything for me. Still, I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 April 2012 15:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
no, i mean the tori/fiona/suzanne vega type of singer-songwriter
xp
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Monday, 23 April 2012 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
accusing people of not liking musicians because of their age/gender out of nowhere just raises the question of whether you like them because of their age/gender
― Poor Turrican (some dude), Monday, 23 April 2012 15:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
When I like her songs, I tend to like them a lot, otherwise I think she can be too technical a singer w/o enough emotion to back it up or conversely too overwrought. This doesn't do much for me but it does remind me that I miss her voice.
― L'ennui, cette maladie de tous les (Michael White), Monday, 23 April 2012 15:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
^ this
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 April 2012 15:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
i like the hits a lot. you know, the famous fiona songs. they played the criminal song on the radio this morning when i was taking the kids to school and i always like hearing it. some of the non-hits bog down for me with that samey piano formula and can be a bit of a drag. i like this song a lot because its so sparse. i like her voice.
― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2012 16:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
What Scott said.
― Raymond Cummings, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 10:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
(to some extent. I DID love all of Extraordinary Machine.)
― Raymond Cummings, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
Dig this new song. The minimal instrumentation works really well.
― Turangalila, Thursday, 26 April 2012 07:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
"I just made a meal for us both choke on" is just classic Fiona delivery of lyrics that somehow reaches into some deep crevice inside you and then you unravel (sorry)
I just wish that in between her crazy indolent periods she'd just release cover albums because since 1996 I haven't found a voice I love this much
With this and her "Walkin' After Midnight" cover I wish she was my classic country jukebox
― all the other twinks with their fucked up dicks (billy), Friday, 27 April 2012 05:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/arts/music/fiona-apples-new-album-the-idler-wheel.html
― markers, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 16:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
man the photo with that article
― just sayin, Thursday, 31 May 2012 10:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
"anything we want"
http://pigperson.tumblr.com/post/24231972248/fiona-apple-anything-we-want
― uberweiss, Saturday, 2 June 2012 03:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
Like the song, voice sounds weirdly raspy.
― Turangalila, Saturday, 2 June 2012 04:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think I need to get used to whatever it is she's doing with her voice in this song.
― Turangalila, Saturday, 2 June 2012 04:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
Im indifferent to most of her songs but First Taste is one of the sexiest songs of the 90s.
― Moka, Saturday, 2 June 2012 17:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I don't see any relation between her and Alanis Morissette? Humourless female singer songwriters both of them but their voices and their music don't sound alike at all.
― Moka, Saturday, 2 June 2012 17:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
Fiona Apple is humorless?
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 2 June 2012 17:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
There's a lot of dark humor in When The Pawn and Extraordinary Machine.
In other news, I'm pretty sure this album is going to kill me
― all the other twinks with their fucked up dicks (billy), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 05:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
eh whatever http://youtu.be/Fby632bPn0E
― all the other twinks with their fucked up dicks (billy), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 05:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
Tidal finished 35th on Pazz & Jop, and "Criminal" was the #11 single, so it's not like critics were universally dismissing her.
― Never translate Dutch (jaymc), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 13:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Oh, and When the Pawn finished 7th!
yeah, the whole "finally, my peers are getting into fiona apple / i was always into fiona apple" thing that perpetua/lex have been throwing around rings false b/c i was a total unnuanced indie fuck when i bought when the pawn and i bought it based on the critical attention
but i was also like 14 so i dunno
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 14:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah i remember tons of people being excited about when the pawn hits when it came out (i think i was a freshman in college?). seems like she's always been a step cooler than morrissette and her ilk.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 5 June 2012 14:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
full album stream yay!
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=154422085&m=154351745
― uberweiss, Monday, 11 June 2012 02:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
:D
― Turangalila, Monday, 11 June 2012 02:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, this is marvelous.
― Turangalila, Monday, 11 June 2012 02:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
who is drumming on this record
i would like to give it up for that drummer
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Monday, 11 June 2012 05:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
in the past few years I've seen her live a bunch of times and she's just so fuckin talented, I'm not even a fan of her recorded material or anything it's just like her shit's so undeniable when you see her idk
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, 11 June 2012 05:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
BradNelson, it's Charley Drayton, who co-produced the album with her.
― Turangalila, Monday, 11 June 2012 10:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
yesyesyesyesyes this album
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Monday, 11 June 2012 15:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
the rounds on "hot knife" i just sat there looking at my speakers going OMGOMG silently to myself
the LYRICS
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Monday, 11 June 2012 15:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
the ARRANGEMENTS
This is great. "Hot Knife" is crazy good, though hard to pick a favorite so far.
― Regional Tug (irrational), Monday, 11 June 2012 15:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
remember when we argued on the concept of regret?you were an expert even then but not me, not yetnow all you gotta do's remind me that we met
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Monday, 11 June 2012 16:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah I don't think anyone was expecting Hot Knife at all.
― Turangalila, Monday, 11 June 2012 19:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
Judging by "Hot Knife" and this
Fiona and her sister should together more often.
This album is tremendous.
― all the other twinks with their fucked up dicks (billy), Tuesday, 12 June 2012 05:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
LOL
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 12:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
That's ...ironic?
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 12:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
haha
i think characterising apple's lyrics as "bottomless pit of despair" might be even worse though. do they not hear her humour?
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 12:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh look we're back to using adverbs like "bewitchingly" to describe woman piano music
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 13:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
this album isn't very bewitching, it's odd and sparse and more unvarnished than anything she's done before
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 13:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think I like it less now. But Hot Knife is still amazing and my favorite thing she's done in years.
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 17:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
I never expected those bouncy 1920s jazz vocal harmonies after some of the hyper-dissonant stuff that came earlier in the record. Also, with different production, it could be a Destiny's Child song.
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 17:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
huh
maybe I should have paid more attention to the rest of Fiona Apple's career
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 17:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
ok wow "hot knife"
"he makes my heart a cinemascope"!!
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 17:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
also how ridiculous that an album with "hot knife" as its most immediately talked-about song is getting these "OH SHE'S SO MISERABLE" reviews
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think for 'Bottomless pit of despair' read 'The most self obsessed person ever to make music...I mean nobody's wretched love life is that interesting....
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
musician formerly in bad relationship uses experience as creative fodder, film at 11
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh go90s flashbacks! the "all these wretched female singer-songwriters are so self-absorbed and they remind me of that crazy girl i dated once" line is pretty much the reason i rejected the music press from an early age
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
Anybody...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
no. you're alone, all alone, sonnyboy.
― Impetuous hybrid (Matt P), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
great album. kind of aggressively weird, I haven't heard this many jazz piano chords on a pop album ever.
― akm, Monday, 18 June 2012 20:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Really? I find her melodies dull and undistinguished for the first time. She's singing well though (e.g. the last two tracks). I've played it pretty much non-stop since last Thursday.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 18 June 2012 21:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
i've listened to this twice. not sure what to make of it yet
right now, i'm thinking it emphasizes rhythm too much, sometimes at the expense of melody.
really digging the warmth/brightness of anything we want, though
― buh, Monday, 18 June 2012 22:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
so far "Anything We Want," "Werewolf," and "Periphery" are the standouts
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 18 June 2012 22:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, i'd agree with those three, and add every single night
i want to like hot knife, but those layered vocals kind of annoy me
― buh, Monday, 18 June 2012 23:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
Those layered vocals are my favorite thing about that song.
― Turangalila, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 01:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
They aren't actually layered, though. Harmonies were recorded live with her sister.
― Turangalila, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 01:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
just now listening to the NPR stream, this is gorgeous -- i liked When the Pawn just fine, didn't care for Machine, but my favorite's always been the debut and Idler Wheel steps back to the less cluttered sound of that album -- but with 1,000% the songwriting chops
― ilxor, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 02:54 (11 months ago) Permalink
yeah i've decided this is great. i really love the rawness of her voice in certain parts of daredevil and regret. the little chant at the end of periphery makes me happy
― buh, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 03:55 (11 months ago) Permalink
this "interview" is pretty out there
http://www.vulture.com/2012/06/hiding-out-with-fiona-apple-musical-hermit.html
We got very stoned. We talked about a man who wore upside-down glasses and whose brain, within a few days, adjusted to perceive them as right-side up. She showed me a sample of the secret language she’s been speaking — and sometimes singing — since she was a child, a cross between scatting and talking in tongues.
...
We drank and smoked more. Coming back from the bathroom, she had turned off the lights and turned on a little machine that projected a million green stars orbiting across the whole space of the ceiling. I lay on the floor, spinning, watching them spin. She sat at her desk, not moving much, mostly staring into the screen that bounced a pale glow across her face.
It was late. The music had stopped. I asked her, I don’t entirely know why, to ask me something. She asked me about one of the most intimate experiences of my life. I told her the truth.
I was now standing in the middle of the room; I felt very stupid. Despite my protests, she came over and put her arms around me. We stood there for a while, hugging. She said, and I could hear her tongue clicking in her mouth:
Dan. I’m so sorry.
― dmr, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
love this album, love the production, love the sequencing -- the sad songs leading up to the burst of joy at the end. i like a lot of songs off her other albums, but i tend to pick and choose which ones to listen to in isolation. this feels like a full and complete package to me.
― the bibles fake lol don't trust a book (reddening), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 22:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
yes I do too. This weekend it snuck its claws into me.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 22:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
Seconded re: the article mentioned above. Read it today. She's apparently fond of the weed and the whole article had a surreal feel to it, almost as if she and the writer were doing a performance art piece. It really made me want to hear this record thoug, so there's that.
― kwhitehead, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 02:44 (11 months ago) Permalink
Didn't like it for the first few listens, but now I can't stop playing it, especially "Hot Knife" (best on the album), "Werewolf," "Anything We Want," and "Valentine." Too much shrieking and hollering on "Regret," though.
― LimbsKing, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 13:11 (11 months ago) Permalink
it's quite a brave album how she just puts her vocals and poetry out there to be scrutinised -- not concealed behind many embellishments. a lot of her observations misfire, but some strike like a dagger. and both these elements are propped by really jagged piano chords that make everything she sings sound vulnerable and on edge. my favourite so far is "left alone" i think, which gives itself up 100% to the dark side and is suspended in one big, long swell of riled emotion. i'm sure she's alienated a lot of people with this album, but those people are probably not really willing to buy into what she's trying to put out there, so...
― charlie h, Saturday, 30 June 2012 03:40 (11 months ago) Permalink
God, 'Anything We Want' is just magical, isn't it?
― Austin, Saturday, 30 June 2012 03:58 (11 months ago) Permalink
Never been a big fan of hers, but damn, what an album. Really loving the vocals on "Regret" and of course "Hot Knife," but it seems like there's something unique about all the songs that make this so solid. Not sure why it struck such a chord, but it did.
― slagterm, Sunday, 1 July 2012 23:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
you made your major overtures when you were a sure and orotund muttand i was still a dewy petal rather than a moribund slut
^^all-time great opening couplet
this album is so so good. i find it oddly life-affirming
― bitch I'm on the 242 (lex pretend), Friday, 13 July 2012 00:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
i wrote about this: http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/13/fiona-apple-the-idler-wheel/
― bitch I'm on the 242 (lex pretend), Friday, 13 July 2012 11:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
Every Single Night is an earworm, heard it tonight and it clicked. For a minute I thought I was listening to an obscure Nancy Sinatra or Dusty Springfield joint.
Hot Knife is good too. This might be better than I originally thought.
― Moka, Tuesday, 17 July 2012 04:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
The feet shuffling on "Periphery" have really grown on me.
― LimbsKing, Tuesday, 17 July 2012 14:13 (11 months ago) Permalink
well i heard "every single night" the other day and it is wonderful, def gonna listen to this EVENTUALLY even tho i am really bad about "getting to" albums i want to listen to
― teledyldonix, Tuesday, 17 July 2012 15:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
Worth a read.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 15:40 (11 months ago) Permalink
'sultry analysand'
!
― j., Wednesday, 18 July 2012 16:17 (11 months ago) Permalink
I adore the minimalism of the instrumentation and imo it suits her vocals better than anything I've heard before. As much as I love Jon Brion I just did not like Extraordinary Machine for this reason. The drums in some of the songs on Idler Wheel remind me quite a bit of Wildbirds and Peacedrums.
― Grease Jones (scottfree), Sunday, 5 August 2012 20:39 (10 months ago) Permalink
Werewolf is wonderful
― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, 20 September 2012 07:08 (8 months ago) Permalink
For true
Revisiting this for the first time in a couple monthS, still hits hard
― Raymond Cummings, Monday, 10 December 2012 11:58 (6 months ago) Permalink
I can totally see why someone wouldn't like this, just like I could Tuneyards say, but I reckon they would be listening with prejudice. It's great.
http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/fiona-apple-the-idler-wheel-etc-round-42-toms-selection/
― yugi ex, Thursday, 20 December 2012 11:37 (5 months ago) Permalink
"Every single night" is such a smoking opener. I am awed that this woman begins her album with such an explicit "hey guys, I'm craaazeee" lyric, feels empowering to listen to
― you, your max is on fire (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 20 December 2012 13:42 (5 months ago) Permalink
Ha ha braaaaiiaiaiain! brain! braaaiaiaiaiaiain! brain! Remember 1999 when a girl would sing about something not-cute and people would call her crazy? They were RIGHT suck on IT
― you, your max is on fire (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 20 December 2012 13:44 (5 months ago) Permalink
"Werewolf" still capable of fucking me up everytime
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 21 December 2012 12:44 (5 months ago) Permalink
That track floored me driving this morning.
― Gukbe, Friday, 21 December 2012 13:21 (5 months ago) Permalink
respect this album more than I like listening to it. but I should revisit it again.
― akm, Saturday, 22 December 2012 17:29 (5 months ago) Permalink
Just got it this week and am loving it.
― your damn bass clarinet (Eazy), Saturday, 22 December 2012 17:31 (5 months ago) Permalink
Jesus christ, this fucking album. Speaking as an unabashed Fiona fan, I have no idea why I put off listening to it for so long. The sparse, minimalist rawness suits her so well that I kinda retroactively wish she'd never gotten mixed up with Jon Brion (even though those albums sound great). So many wonderful untethered moments here. Upon first listen, it sounded like a musical version of Isabelle Adjani's performance in Possession, which is about as high a compliment as I could pay an artist.
― Alien Lays (Old Lunch), Monday, 31 December 2012 01:48 (5 months ago) Permalink
I'm so in love with this album
'Anything We Want' killllls me
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 24 March 2013 00:31 (2 months ago) Permalink
Thanks for the "It's Only Make Believe" cover upthread. Whazzabout this cover of Macca's "Let Me Roll It"?
― Johnny Too Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 26 March 2013 02:44 (2 months ago) Permalink
what a still
― hoospanic GANGSTER musician (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Sunday, 28 April 2013 05:14 (1 month ago) Permalink