Fiona's Back, baby!

February 28, 2005 11:21 AM

Where has Fiona Apple been? A fair question, and here's an answer. Seattle radio is now playing some new Fiona Apple tracks (you can download them here and here; and if those don't work, there's a mirror here) What can I say? I miss her particular brand of angst ridden piano pop. (via Waxy)
posted by indiebass (29 comments total)

previously discussed on NerdFilter (can't find the link) and MonkeyFilter
posted by matteo at 11:28 AM on February 28, 2005

I love the two leaked songs. They've been floating around the web for nearly a year now, I believe. They would sound right at home on "When the pawn..." (a cd, I'm not at all embarrassed to admit, that is one of my all-time faves).

More on her currently shelved cd here.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:38 AM on February 28, 2005

(the two leaked songs I've heard being "Extrodinary Machine" and "Better Version of Me")
posted by eyeballkid at 11:39 AM on February 28, 2005

eyeballkid, the important thing to note is that there are now five leaked songs. The three new ones aren't as good as the pair that's been around since last spring (which are outstanding), but they're good nonetheless.
posted by jdroth at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2005

Damn you, Eyeballkid! Took the comment write out of my textarea. I'm not a huge fan of Fiona, but I love Jon Brion, so I'm quite looking forward to a time when the full album is available.

Scenestars has a couple of the (older) tracks as well in case the mirror linked to goes down.
posted by shoepal at 11:52 AM on February 28, 2005

that would be "right out of my textarea." ugh.
posted by shoepal at 11:55 AM on February 28, 2005

I swear I almost posted this two days ago. Don't forget free fiona.
posted by raysmj at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2005

I heard she went into hiding after Maya Angelou told her to quit starting every sentence she said with "Maya Angelou says...."

Oh wait, that was a Saturday Night Live skit, nevermind.
posted by fenriq at 12:01 PM on February 28, 2005

By the way, the link refused to load up for me.
posted by fenriq at 12:01 PM on February 28, 2005

I usually like music like this, but I'm sorry, she dated David Blaine. That's it for me.
posted by fungible at 12:23 PM on February 28, 2005

jdroth: Yeah. I noticed that after I posted (leave it to me to not follow the link ;) ), which is why I was a little more specific afterwards.

Hopefully, now that nearly half the record has been leaked, and is getting some airplay, Sony will finally pull it off the shelf.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:32 PM on February 28, 2005

Loved her first album, enjoyed her second, was very saddened to see her perform live and find out it was all studio production. She sang like a sheep goes "Baaahhh".

Still, would certainly give a new album a listen.
posted by cavalier at 1:02 PM on February 28, 2005

If you're looking for someone with a very similar voice with piano-led tracks, Rachael Yamagata is worth a spin.
posted by TheDonF at 1:34 PM on February 28, 2005

I think we'll do fine without her.
posted by Kloryne at 1:37 PM on February 28, 2005

What a heartbreaking story. Poor girl.

In any case, this is certainly the first I've heard of leaked tracks, and "Extraordinary Machine" is pretty magnificent. I'm off to check out the other four.
posted by jennanemone at 2:00 PM on February 28, 2005

She sang like a sheep goes "Baaahhh"

But sheep go "Baaahhh" very well! Better than ducks or squirrels, anyway.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:26 PM on February 28, 2005

Wow, this just made my day. I have been a Fiona fan since my angst-ridden early teens (since the release of Tidal) and absolutely LOVED "when the pawn...". I wish I were in NY so I could protest in front of the Sony HQ with the rest of them. Much love for the angsty piano music.
posted by salad spork at 2:52 PM on February 28, 2005

To join in the parade: didn't care for Tidal, loved Pawn, glad to see some (more) new leaks, second the Rachael Yamagata recommendation, and raise it by a Nellie McKay.
posted by aaronetc at 2:57 PM on February 28, 2005

With the exception of the title, I liked "When the Pawn..." a bunch. Very few of these tracks really did anything for me though. Different strokes I guess.
posted by willnot at 2:59 PM on February 28, 2005

If the album has already been recorded, mixed, and mastered, why doesn't Sony at least put it out on all the various online sevrices? I can understand (but disagree with) the logic of not wanting to risk a full promotional push, but it's 2005 now. You don't even need to press CDs anymore.
posted by Uncle Ira at 4:12 PM on February 28, 2005

Any album they aren't going to promote will compete for dollars/mind share of any album they do want to promote. So it's in their financial interests to limit choice as much as possible and to focus their promotion efforts on things with the widest possible mass appeal. It probably also means that they can keep Apple under contract for 1 more album since as I understand it those multi-contract deals generally don't expire until you've given them albums that they're willing to accept, so they could effectively string her along forever if they wanted to and she'd never be able to release another commercial record.

This is why I hate current implementations copyright in general and corporations being able to own copyrights in the specific. Here is an artist who wants to get her music heard and possibly sold, and she can't because of the stupid laws we have in place. It's crazy.
posted by willnot at 4:41 PM on February 28, 2005

That is a shame about the album getting shelved. Didn't When the Pawn... go platinum eventually? Ah well. Hopefully it'll get released at some point. In the meantime, the songs I've heard from it sound pretty good. Especially "Better Version of Me".
posted by kryptondog at 4:45 PM on February 28, 2005

There had earlier been a rumor going around that Sony was shelving the album until after the election/inauguration, because the album was too "political". Too bad that turned out not to be the case...

Also, does anyone wonder where the leaks come from? Is it possible that Sony is checking to see if a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kind of situation will arise? Or should I take off my tinfoil hat?
posted by torregrassa at 5:48 PM on February 28, 2005

A link from the previous discussion essentially attributed the shelving to how contracts work whereby an artist who has had a successful first (or second) album negotiates that the record company will pay $X dollars to promote the next album so if Sony feels this won't make more than the money they are contractually obligated to spend promoting it, then it makes more sense to shelve it; so even if they only release it online with no distribution costs they still end up in the hole.

At this rate though I'll just wait for the last few tracks to be leaked :)
posted by zeoslap at 8:42 PM on February 28, 2005

God I love When the Pawn ... . I rediscover it every few months and go insane.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 10:52 PM on February 28, 2005

I loved Tidal... not quite as fond as When The Pawn... (with the notable exception of "Paper Bag").

Thanks for the tracks, it was about time for me to rediscover Fiona!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:15 AM on March 1, 2005

If you enjoy Fiona, you may also find a lovely place in your heart for my friend Michal. Her music has been heard on several television shows and recognized by the Emmy's. www.michal-towber.com She's a lovely singer and songwriter with an even more stunningly gorgeous voice and presence in live performance...
posted by superfem at 2:16 PM on March 1, 2005

Also see Michal's mp3 download page. So so lovely!
posted by superfem at 2:17 PM on March 1, 2005

This entire thread is... some sort of excercise in subtle irony?

Sorry, it's just that I expected a lot of pointing and laughing when I clicked to view comments.
posted by jack_mo at 8:31 AM on March 2, 2005