Fiona Apple "Extraordinary Machine"

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

title track I think from the new-but-shelved album, have you heard it? It is sort of weird and casual and drunk, I just heard it for the first time.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 19 July 2004 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

http://popwherry.blogspot.com/2004_06_20_popwherry_archive.html#108795644759303186

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 19 July 2004 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Link's dead :(

― C11 (C11), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 00:06 (twenty-one years ago)

What do you mean by "new-but-shelved"? Has she scrapped plans to release it?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 00:20 (twenty-one years ago)

her record company has

― anthony, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

from the sound of that song they made a wise choice.

― keith m (keithmcl), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 02:10 (twenty-one years ago)

what would be the purpose of shelving this album..she has alot of fans. i hate 'chick' music but i like her. usually awesome production, unique music.
i heard something about they didnt no how to market it?? seriously ..big record companies need to die. keep downloading.

― phunktion, Tuesday, 20 July 2004 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the song a lot.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm inclined to think that this is a grassroots publicity thing.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 05:51 (twenty-one years ago)

That was my immediate assumption too. Deny, and have them DEMAND IT. Fiona Apple is Old Coke.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 06:41 (twenty-one years ago)

It'd make sense if it was a grassroots publicity thing, neither of the leaked tracks are even that strange. Sony should know that anything by a 'credible' artist which shows any degree of 'innovation' is very very easy to market.

"Extraordinary Machine" is great, anyway, as is "Better Version Of Myself" (the other leaked track). Fiona increasingly reminds me of Rufus Wainwright.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 10:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked this song at first, but less each time hearing it. Her kind of angst just isn't for me.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 11:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think the album is shelved, she just decided to re-record it, without producer Jon Brion, last I heard.

Anyway, her second album, "When the Pawn..." is fantastic. If the new one's even half as good, it'll be better than most.

― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 11:15 (twenty-one years ago)

> Fiona increasingly reminds me of Rufus Wainwright

You mean

> Jon Brion increasingly reminds me of Jon Brion

― caspar (caspar), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)

tim closs/tears in x-ray eyes is the new rufus wainwright.

― keith m (keithmcl), Tuesday, 20 July 2004 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

Three more songs have leaked. They sound like they were recorded on wax cylinders, but you can still hear the songs. I like them a lot!

Fuck Sony.

http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/nadjadee/index201.html

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 26 February 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)

No, really.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:30 (twenty years ago)

awesomeness!

how did you find these?

― reo, Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

Someone sent me that link. Beyond that, I don't know.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

Awesome cover art!

Not really.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

jesus, Sony are totally nuts. Not only are these songs not weird, they're the most immediately catchy of Fiona's entire career (also FANTASTIC). And have they not seen how well Nellie McKay and Rufus Wainwright have done with the whole Broadway sound?

Are they still definitely sitting on the album?

― The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 26 February 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

this is delightful. what the fuck is wrong w/ sony?

― iang, Saturday, 26 February 2005 22:00 (twenty years ago)

She is too old to market at 25.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 26 February 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)

These songs are the perfect showcase for her voice. I think Sony is NUTS.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:48 (twenty years ago)

I read they said they "Couldn't find a single on the album".

― kate/baby loves headrub (papa november), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:03 (twenty years ago)

That cover is truly abysmal.

I like Extraordinary Machine!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:07 (twenty years ago)

Erm that cover is just some fan thing.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

yeah this is pretty nice. The little woman will be happy we scored these tracks, she's a fan.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:27 (twenty years ago)

Sony is indeed nuts. These are terrific. I like Fiona and always have. She's got a lot of heart and can sing her ass off. I don't care if she's a brat. You were probably a brat at 17 too, probably a bunch of know-it-alls, hah.

― shookout (shookout), Sunday, 27 February 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

"Extraordinary Machine" is the obvious single. Sony is just being lazy - they would need to do some non-traditional marketing to get this to its proper audience(s), and they would rather stick to their formulae.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

so you think all this mess isn't non-traditional marketing?

― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

Since since the album's been done since 2003... I'd say a resounding now.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Since since the album's been done since 2003... I'd say a resounding no.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Bleh.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I was suspicious that they were trying to engineer their own Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but now I'm pretty sure that they are just being foolish.

They should just drop her and let her buy back the record. This is very cruel.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

I bet Nonesuch would do a great job selling this record.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

Or really, any label with a budget following Nonesuch's formula.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

"I Am Trying to Drop Your Record"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, she should make a movie of her breaking up with herself in the studio.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

So the whole album is out there now...

What kind of drugs are Sony on, not releasing this?

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 6 March 2005 19:41 (twenty years ago)

'out there'... where?

― The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 6 March 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

Try soulseek, various msgboards, or me on AIM...

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 6 March 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

yeah i gotta say, this record sounds pretty great

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 6 March 2005 20:48 (twenty years ago)

this is really really excellent. i hope cd quality leaks of everything surface soon.

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 6 March 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

Yeah I think it's fantastic, her best work yet.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Monday, 7 March 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

Mrs Adam will enjoy this.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

the entire album is now available in 'cd quality' rips

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 11 March 2005 18:48 (twenty years ago)

mel can you yousendit to us all?

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 11 March 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

Can somebody gmail it to me? My wife's a big fan.

pdfreeman at gmail dot com

Thanks in advance. I'll provide something suitable in exchange on request, of course.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Friday, 11 March 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

just go find a fiona apple forum, there are yousendit links everywhere.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 11 March 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 85 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

can somone pleeease post a ysi of the original brion sessions, i can't use slsk... i'm begging!

― jonathan - stl (jonathan - stl), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

I'm not trying to convince myself of anything, Jaymc! I said that BEFORE I ever heard the final version, and I was afraid that the album I loved would be ruined. As it turns out, it's much much better now. If I'm trying to convince anybody of anything, it's people who are down on this mix for not being the first version that they heard.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

I totally understand if Jon Brion fans prefer his version, but if you're a fan of Fiona as a songwriter and performer, I can't imagine not preferring the final version of the album.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

so did anyone else hear the released version?

i'm surprised by a) the way not everything is intolerable b) just how much a couple of them have been mutilated.

a) i'm uncomfortable with the new jauntiness of 'o sailor' - it used to be a ballad and now it is...not - but i like the new vocals at the end. 'used to love him' and 'window' are probably better, though not by very much. most are at least tolerable, except...
b) 'get him back' and 'not about love' have been RUINED :( where are the amazing strings on the latter? and the former, which used to be my favourite by some way, sounds completely muffled.

(i say this as a fan of apple more than brion; i think they made a perfect team. it's curious, though - a while ago i kept thinking that kanye west and fiona apple were in many ways musical twins, and now he's got himself her producer and she's got herself someone from the hip hop world...surely the first kanye/fiona collaboration is not far off)

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 17 November 2005 17:39 (twenty years ago)

Neal Schindler makes a good case for the released version in this week's Seattle Weekly. For what it's worth, I like it a lot too.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 17 November 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

[ooh, penis pictures and spoofing usernames, delightful --mod]

http://gbvbb.homestead.com/files/gygax3.jpg

― gyygax!, Thursday, 17 November 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

But thanks for not deleting the links. Much appreciated.

― gyyygax!, Friday, 18 November 2005 01:29 (twenty years ago)

I really like the newer released version.

― Hairy Asshurt (Toaster), Friday, 18 November 2005 01:30 (twenty years ago)

I admit, was skeptical at first but I really like this new version a lot. "Red, Red, Red" in particular is stunning and I never thought much of it before.

The only one I have a problem with is still "Not About Love" - the only one where I thought Brion did a way, way better job. "Tymps" can kinda go either way. Right now, I just slightly prefer Brion's version but that could change tomorrow. In any case, her vocals are generally MUCH stronger on this record than on the leaked versions.

― Roz (Roz), Friday, 18 November 2005 07:09 (twenty years ago)

I didn't download Brions version. I waited for the release and heard them at the same time. I find myself listening to the released version more.

― Hairy Asshurt (Toaster), Friday, 18 November 2005 12:07 (twenty years ago)

You do realize this is all so they can release the 2-CD extended edition with the Brion recordings next year so you can buy it all over again.
-- Ned Raggett (ne...), August 15th, 2005.

i don't know how to use the internets so haven't heard the brion version ('SS2003'?). is it gonna get a proper release? or where can i look for it?

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Friday, 18 November 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

i don't think the released version of this is such a step down from the brion version. it's a slightly different approach but it's not as radically different as I'd expected.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

i really DISLIKE brion.

― surf punks from arizona (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

I'm getting together a mix of the Brion and Elizondo versions, best of both worlds.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:45 (twenty years ago)

i like brion but you can overload on him pretty quickly. it gets a bit samey. He's Mitchell Fromm Mk. 2 really.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

Froom, I meant. what the fuck is wrong with me?

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

I'm getting together a mix of the Brion and Elizondo versions, best of both worlds.

I'd like a copy of that...

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

i really DISLIKE brion.

Elaborate please! It it an image thing (the image wrought by his production choices I mean, not a lifestyle thing) or what? I think he's quite great m'self

xpost but Froom is about grandeur - Brion is about squahsed/Joseph Cornell'd grandeur!

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

"it it" = "is it," sorry

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

The only Elizando track I can think of that I'd keep is "Tymps". He ruins "Oh Sailor" w/ those stupid ass tacked-on coda vocals, and "Window" & "Please Please Please" stink stank stoink w/out Brion's arrangements. The rest (from what I recall) are A-OK, but I'm partial to JB's versions.

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)

a lot of brion's versions aren't really 'done'

listen to the first better version of me. it sounds like an unfinished demo.

the only brion tune that is better is not about love, for the drama. and the final version of that is nice anyway.

― bugged out, Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:13 (twenty years ago)

They're definitely not mastered, but I think the arrangements are all there for the most part. Even if they're not finished, it's kind of cool hearing something that feels more like an indie record except with all the trimmings (full orchestra parts, great studio musicians, etc.).

I think there's a lot to like about the released version, but the Brion version in general has better vocal takes (maybe because they were just tossed down as placeholders in some cases) and more life in the arrangements.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

i think you mean, more junk in the arrangements. a lot of brion's stuff is overdone.

i don't really hear the difference in the vocals. actually, i don't really hear a significant difference between the two versions, not about love apart. most of the released songs are slightly more worked-out, slightly less-cluttered takes on what Brion did. if it wasn't for the whole fuss, noone would really care.

― bugged out, Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

I disagree. I don't really care about the fuss or even about which one is better, I just think it's such a cool opportunity to hear two big pop producers' different takes on the same songs.

The Brion versions may be busier arrangement-wise, but to me they feel more spacious because of the instrumentation. The Elizondo versions have simpler arrangements but a lot more layers of sound, as well as that pop style of mixing where all the levels are pretty much flat except for the vocals.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

I just think it's such a cool opportunity to hear two big pop producers' different takes on the same songs.

I agree, and I'm looking forward to the dual-disc release in 2008.

I think it's pretty tough to judge something like the sound in favor of Jon Brion when a) mixing was never finished on his version and b) you have to listen to his version on crappy who-knows-what generation MP3s, but hey...

― bugged out, Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

True, but it is what it is.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

i hate jon brion too!!!!

― howell huser (chaki), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

I'm genuinely intrigued by the range of opinion of the relationship between the released version and the unreleased version.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)

i really DISLIKE brion.

Elaborate please! It it an image thing (the image wrought by his production choices I mean, not a lifestyle thing) or what? I think he's quite great m'self

i don't know and i'm not sure i can explain why! on strictly musical grounds i think it's b/c i've never liked the beatles' production either (it's cloying and "clever," and one of the main things about them that hold me back from being a fan). on image grounds it's probably that i find brion-worshippers pretty despicable (they're such stick-up-ass yuppies that even their CDs have to come with "quality assurance" stickers). "morning becomes eclectic" can go suck a fuck.

― surf punks from arizona (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

i used to be a lot more impressed by stuff like that when i was in my earlier 20s (i turn 29 tomorrow).

― surf punks from arizona (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 23:44 (twenty years ago)

i saw him totally ruin an awesome jam session with critters buggin before. no taste!

― howell huser (chaki), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 23:47 (twenty years ago)

Listening to this, I keep thinking how impossible Fiona Apple would probably be in a relationship. I think it's good, but I feel like saying, okay, I get the message that you've had a lot of trouble with men. Is there something else? Maybe I'm missing nuance. I'm sure she's no narrower than most pop, I'm just not used to being able to understand what lyrics are actually saying.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 3 December 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)

dude, half the songs in the world are about trouble with men/women. it is not a limited subject. and she has a pretty sophisticated take on it.

― bugged out, Saturday, 3 December 2005 23:26 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

What I've heard of this album makes me think that record executives are smarter than rock critics.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 04:22 (twenty years ago)

All the songs I've heard are overly wordy, awkwardly phrased, and lack memorable melodies.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

On the title track isn't the "awkwardness" what is so great about the song? Pauses where you wouldn't expect them, mixed with sudden excelerations, mixed with leisurely delivery of quite lucid statements. It's like someone talking, or maybe thinking out loud. I think the sound patterns (internal rhymes, consonance) in the lyrics are exceptional (at least compared to what I hear of current pop music).

(I haven't listened to the rest of the album that much so far, although I think it's quite good, if a little too much of the same thing from song to song.)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:14 (twenty years ago)

otm

i mean the song is kind of *about* awkwardness, mentions it, etc!

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:18 (twenty years ago)

I kind of think the rhythms on "Extraordinary Machine" are doing more of the work than the melodies anyway, although the melodies are fine (and help bring a show tune feel to the song).

x-post

Right. I guess you could complain about artists using that as an excuse. "This song is about awkwardness so it's awkward," "This song is about being a complete fuck up so it's just fucked up," etc. But I think it's very clear at the same time that the song is under control, that the awkwardness has been worked up into an artifact.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:21 (twenty years ago)

when a cabaret/musical theatre influenced album -- and a good un at that -- tops the rock/pop critics polls you know it's a slow year.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

eclecticism is the last defense against creative exhaustion

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:25 (twenty years ago)

That odd rhythm makes it possible for her to surprise us (well, it surprised me) with "Be kind to me [echoes of lots of songs where the speaker begs to be treated nicely--"Lady Be Good," for example]/Or treat me mean."

x-post

Haha, well maybe a slow year for rock.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:25 (twenty years ago)

when a cabaret/musical theatre influenced album -- and a good un at that -- tops the rock/pop critics polls you know it's a slow year.
-- m coleman (imanordinar...), December 21st, 2005.

'sgt peppers lonely hearts club band'

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:28 (twenty years ago)

x-post

Although I can't think off-hand of a genre that has been said to have had an especially good year in 2005*. (Maybe reggaeton, but that has more to do with it's status in the market. Maybe country, since that country thread just seems to go on and on.)

*This is unnecessary awkwardness, but it's too early to rewrite.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 12:29 (twenty years ago)

hmmm

― farning, Wednesday, 21 December 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

i dont like this album. it's just boring.

― ryan (ryan), Wednesday, 21 December 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

All the songs I've heard are overly wordy, awkwardly phrased, and lack memorable melodies.

Yes, if the album were submitted to me I'd mark it up with my red pen too.

and then I'd turn to you, because as a fellow pedant you'd appreciate it!

"overly wordy": redundant. "Wordy" already entails excess.
"awkwardly phrased": are you addressing the phrasing of the songs (not sure what that would mean), or of the singing?
"lack memorable melodies": construction is not parallel. Change to "melodically undistinguished".

― eek, Wednesday, 21 December 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

five years pass...

the released version of this album is still really good. listen to it all the time. about time for a new one from her (which I think is coming out this year? who knows)

― akm, Sunday, 6 March 2011 22:29 (fourteen years ago)

four years pass...

I really like the released version of this album. The original mixes were good, but the released version cleaned things up nicely.

I remember when it was released, I was working at Tower Records and heard it every day (sometimes numerous times in a day) so I got kind of burned out on it, but I go back to it now and it strikes me as her pop masterpiece. The Idler Wheel was good, but it seems like it was too "weird" — purposely in quotes like that because it seemed a little forced, I guess. But Extraordinary Machine perfectly balances the "weird" with the accessible if you ask me.

― Austin, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 16:32 (ten years ago)

How extraordinary – was listening to this album last night. So good.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 November 2015 17:13 (ten years ago)

I had forgotten just how potent and intense a song 'Not About Love' is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u09s0uz0tEU

Serious business.

― Austin, Friday, 20 November 2015 03:58 (ten years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.