fiona apple - the idler wheel is wiser than the driver of the screw and whipping cords will serve you more than ropes will ever do (2012)

you made your major overtures when you were a sure and orotund mutt
and 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

i wrote about this: http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/13/fiona-apple-the-idler-wheel/

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.

The feet shuffling on "Periphery" have really grown on me.

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

Worth a read.

'sultry analysand'

!

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.

Werewolf is wonderful

For true

Revisiting this for the first time in a couple monthS, still hits hard

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/

"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

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

"Werewolf" still capable of fucking me up everytime

That track floored me driving this morning.

respect this album more than I like listening to it. but I should revisit it again.

Just got it this week and am loving it.

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.

I'm so in love with this album

'Anything We Want' killllls me

Thanks for the "It's Only Make Believe" cover upthread. Whazzabout this cover of Macca's "Let Me Roll It"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM11NrlF8Dc

what a still

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1VVFfOnYQ

I need more albums like this. Any recommendations?

Lisa Germano's Geek the Girl feels tonally (if not necessarily sonically) similar to me.

This album is pretty sui generis, no?

Wildbirds and Peacedrums

Cousins: Mary Margaret O'Hara's Miss America and Jesca Hoop's Silverscreen Demos.

listening to this album a lot recently, and it is still so singular and great.

every record fiona makes is the perfect record for that time in my life.

otm

Do love this record so very much.

fiona really elevates this andrew bird song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwtWExDmoI

On my shortlist for favorites of the year.

forgot how fucking good this album is.

one of the best wordsmiths to ever grace music

I can only take the deep dive back into this album after I've had some time away from it, but boy oh boy when I do...

'Left Alone' hitting like a hammer atm. Feeling you, Fee-Fee.

same here old lunch - last time i put this on was dec. in the xposts there, but i had not heard it since the tour and shit i forgot how good it is - the biggest shame is how fiona seems to have no intention of releasing a new record, but only stray singles like left hand kisses - based on articles it seems she is content to live in her trailer property and smoke hash all day ymmv

i'm sure she'll drop a new record, but the gaps are getting wider between each one. considering how much of her soul she puts into each one, i can't really blame her for not wanting to go through that experience more than once or twice a decade.

otm

seeing her live twice was amazing, she is such a great performer and the audience loves her infinitely.

I was actually just talking about how good this album is the other day

her poetry is super on point on this one (is on all of them obviously) and i admire how the record uses field recordings and avant-garde methods to create such raw, powerful songs

'Regret' is a raging blast furnace that reduces me to ash, every time.

otm

"based on articles it seems she is content to live in her trailer property and smoke hash all day ymmv"

who can blame her

not me

sounds ideal

i had a very bad week/month which had a lot to do with trying to reconnect with an ex and i think i should've been listening to this album the whole time

Good idea

even the "fuck you you complete asshole" songs on this one are so nuanced

Much of the album seems to be Fiona waving the listener away from the false door labelled "closure" and toward the real door labelled "get the fuck out"

otm

I spent August 2012 listening to this album in a loop