Album: Extraordinary Machine
Extraordinary Machine
Once upon a time, Fiona Apple exemplified all that was wrong about popular music. Waif-like, she writhed around in her underwear as a way of selling records. This is not without its appeal, to be sure, but I think we can all agree that it is no way to begin a serious career in music. Apple became public enemy number one in the battle of artistic substance over style.
Her second album is entitled When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You'll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You Know That You're Right. No shit. The title says a lot about her as an artist: confident, unafraid of popular disdain, and more than a little pretentious. But I'm willing to forgive any manner of pretension so long as she writes songs like this.
Apple didn't find a regular place on my iPod until Extraordinary Machine was released in 2005. The record had a tortuous beginning. She laid down the original tracks in 2002, but her label, Sony, was unhappy and demanded that it be reworked. Sony claimed that Jon Brion, the producer, had created an album that had no popular appeal at all; they insisted that he be replaced. Apple balked, but eventually agreed to a compromise so that her music might be released. Unfortunately, it meant that Brion's unique orchestrations had to be scrapped, for the most part. "Extraordinary Machine" is the only tune that keeps all of the original production. Unsurprisingly it's my favorite on the album.
To give you a sense of Brion's artistic vision: here is his production of "Red Red Red"; here is the album version. Both have their appeal, and I might even prefer the latter. And there is no denying that the album version has a clarity that Brion's does not. This is at its core an argument about artistic integrity, however, and I find Apple's vigorous defense of her producer both courageous and inspiring.
By the way, you may have noticed that whenever possible I provide links to live performances; as far as I'm concerned this is the litmus test of any musical artist. Given the controversy surrounding the release of Extraordinary Machine and the unjust firing of Jon Brion, our featured song today is from the album so that the fascinating original orchestration can be heard. Apple sings the tune live, here.
There seems to be a slew of these relatively unpopular female vocalists that produce amazing music and for some reason don't gain the fame of other similar people like Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson. I don't understand why female vocalists such as Fiona Apple, Florence Welch, Kate Nash, etc don't achieve such fame because they produce songs that have the "catchy pop" sound to them, but also have more unique sounds. I believe we've talked about this in the past, but why doesn't Ida Maria have a huge hit with that song? To me it meets the necessary prerequisites. Catchy song, lots of energy, attractive woman. Baffling.
ReplyDeleteI effing love Fiona Apple. And I agree with Kris in that "indie" girls don't achieve fame because they're not all about mainstream music. And btw, I hate Avril Lavigne. She can probably go in a hole and die.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers.
ReplyDeleteI would. I hate cracker crumbs in my bed. Really hate it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting questions Kris. I don't have good answers. It's a mystery to me too. I suppose it has something to do with issues pertaining to universal distribution via major labels. Only the big boys can afford to ship in such volume as to saturate the market and still make a huge profit with mere pennies as the margin.
Or something.
I dunno.
Also, if the roles were switched, but the music stayed the same, would we prefer Avril to Fiona, simply because we hate the popular for whatever reason, or is there a lot in the music itself that makes them substantially different? Is it a psychological thing? I find most groups seem to have an indie "doppelganger" that achieve less fame, but in this instance, I would argue that Fiona Apple produces better music than that of her mainstream fellows.
ReplyDeleteI would find it abhorrent if labels such as "indie" and "mainstream" have an affect on whether people like music or not, because they are essentially meaningless in terms of the music itself.
Yes those labels are meaningless, and I like to think that they have very little effect on people -- once they reach an age where they can think for themselves and are not force-fed Beyonce -- and their buying habits. But of course this is pie-is-the-sky, Pollyanna-ish thinking.
ReplyDeleteI guess I can only speak for myself, and I don't think there is any correlation between my appreciation of the music and the popularity of the artist. But for the average person...
The fact is that Fiona Apple is not as popular as Avril Lavigne, and Ida Maria is not as popular as Rhianna. Why? Well, in my opinion the lack of distribution and advertising, and therefore exposure, is an important factor. But in all likelihood it has more to do with the unwillingness of most people to move out of their AM-driven comfort zones.
Sad, but likely true.
To quote a crude friend of mine in response to this: "SchadenfreudianSlip said... I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers."
ReplyDelete"I would... then I'd f**k her on the floor."
Well that is just rude. We do not approve. :)
ReplyDelete