December 02, 2004

Free Fiona? I'm not a Fiona Apple fan, but the two songs (scroll to Tuesday, November 23) leaked off the shelved Extraordinary Machine are interesting, sounding rather retro in instrumentation and construction. Given the current pop-musical climate in which it sounds like the use of traditional (or traditionalesque) instruments with solo vocalists is out of style, I'd like to hear other opinions of these songs. Should Machine stay shelved?
  • This is, of course, not really true. It doesn't make logical or moral sense, but it does make business sense. (Indeed, the fact that it doesn't make logical or moral sense is sort of a good sign that it makes good business sense.) Hehe. So true.
  • Why the fuck should anyone care? She signed a contract with the record company. TOO BAD. She's not commercial enough, they think. That's what you get if you make a deal with a record company. Probly only a 9% deal too. Poor cow. She could just wait, refuse to release any more stuff on that label; they will release her from her contract (probably make a big deal out of it but they won't sue for breach for the same reasons they won't release this record - too expensive - & she can counter) and write off her advance as a loss (which is what they must've done anyway, since her original contract will include the deal for the release of this record - she's already received an advance on payment for the release of this album, most likely). She'll then be free to release whatever she wants on another smaller label - oh, except this material, which the record company owns in perpetuity. A better idea would be for her to create her own label, or release stuff herself via some internet model. She has little chance in hell of getting this released except by bootleg. Shit, look at what happened to Mariah Carey. And she aint Mariah Carey. Isn't she the one who insulted her own audience & stuff? She's lucky any of them are loyal enough to make this website. Sounds like she's a flake, & probly the suits are right, from a bizniz perspective. They don't give a shit about art, you know?
  • Fuck all that record company noise. That woman has got an amazing voice and those two songs reminded me of that.
  • I hope it doesn't remain shelved. I liked the two leaked tracks immensely.
  • leaked?
  • leaked.
  • Lets all help feed the PR Machine! Yea!
  • Nostrildamus: Before you start going off, maybe you should listen to her last album. No, she's not Mariah Carey. She's a major talent, actually.
  • It's just really strange how this conundrum works. Yes, you want to listen to Fionna's music, why? well, buy "When the Pawn..." and anyone (even you Nostril) will know that the girl's got talent. Enough talent to make you want to fight for the realease of her Music. So what if she's a bit eccentric? I like my artists on the edge. The other part is the money part, even if she doesget released and the album does well, we're at a moral loss! why? well, because we're fueling an industry where the ones that are making the most money are the fucking suits! not the artists... I think nostril is right, they'll prolly just wait for her contract to die off and shelve this album, and then she'll have to come up with another one on another label.
  • Solution: leak the rest of the album onto the net. The record company fails to make any money off of it, she gains cred for both defying the record industry and for participating in the web-o-sphere, and her fans get what they want. Everybody wins.
  • The crazier she gets, the more I like her. But alas, it has always been that way, and not just with sallow-eyed chanteuses, to my chagrin.
  • Why on earth wouldn't they release it, make it an iTunes only release, zero distribution costs, hell don't even promote it then any sales are pure gravy. Why keep it shelved?
  • Fes: I feel your pain, from the opposite side. I've been broken up with by men because I'm not crazy *enough* (or in the right way, I guess). Oh you silly, silly boys :) zeoslap: because they can? (actually, I think your suggestion makes a lot of sense. But then, I'm bad at business. See comment above about logic)
  • Without having read the article, wasn't there a campaign recently to get her fans to mail apples in any form to the record company?
  • Incidentally, I have some bootlegged live versions from when she was doing shows at the Largo about a year ago. If anyone would like them, they aren't high quality and there's a lot of crowd noise but she's doing covers of old standards like "Crazy." I found these tracks ONCE and never again on any filesharing network, so I don't think they're very readily available. Email me at jeanettev at gmail dot com if you want the tracks. :)
  • Looks like the rest of the album has popped up here as well as on some filesharers. Having heard more of the album, I can't understand why Sony is not releasing it. Maybe this is part of some viral marketing scheme, sort of "pulling a Wilco."