Tag Archives: Fiona Apple

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Song of the Day #708: ‘Fast As You Can’ – Fiona Apple

I love Fiona Apple’s work for many reasons. Primary among them is her voice. And not just the quality of her voice (which, she’d be the first to admit, is not technically perfect) but the way she uses it to convey the passion and pathos in her songs.

I also love her choice of instrumentation. The production on her albums is top-notch and she always manages to surround her piano with strings, horns, interesting percussion… all kinds of sonic goodies that feel somehow old-fashioned and ahead of their time all at once. Jon Brion deserves a lot of that credit, I think, but he’s actually produced only one of her three albums and they all share a similar vibe.

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Song of the Day #604: ‘Red Red Red (Unreleased Version)’ – Fiona Apple

In early 2005, leaked versions of Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine began showing up on the Web. These songs were recorded in 2003 and produced by Jon Brion, who had produced Apple’s previous album. However, the new album had no release date and the rumor was that the studio had shelved the disc fearing the songs weren’t commercial enough.

That was a very frustrating and exciting time to be a Fiona Apple fan. There was much outrage over her supposed treatment by her label, complicated by the complete silence from the artist herself. And then the songs began to trickle out, so that every day for a few weeks a trip around the Web might result in a new uncovered gem. Eventually, by hitting the right sites, fans were able to piece together their own version of Extraordinary Machine, adhering to a song sequence that had also been leaked (by whom remains unclear to this day).

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Song of the Day #603: ‘Red Red Red’ – Fiona Apple

Today and tomorrow I’m going to take a look at the difference song production makes by highlighting two versions of the same song given completely different studio treatments.

The song is Fiona Apple’s ‘Red Red Red,’ which appeared on her third album, 2005’s Extraordinary Machine. It’s hard to believe the album came out five years ago already. That means we’re approaching the 6-year delay between her sophomore album When the Pawn… and this one. Only now there’s no new album on the horizon, no promise of new material. I really wish she’d record more often.

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Song of the Day #234: ‘Frosty the Snowman’ – Fiona Apple

apple2On earlier Songs of the Day, commenters Amy and Dana correctly pointed out that Fiona Apple’s music is often dark and brooding. While there are certainly exceptions on her three albums, it’s true that the overall mood is one of angst and melancholy.

So I’ve decided to finish off Fiona Apple week with something completely different… a performance of the classic Christmas song ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Apple recorded for a holiday album.

Of course, in her version Frosty goes on the lam after killing a traffic cop (or maybe I’m reading too much into it… I’d actually never heard the complete lyrics before).

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Song of the Day #233: ‘Across the Universe’ – Fiona Apple

apple1Apparently one of the fringe benefits of dating a world-class filmmaker is taking advantage of his talents for your music videos. During their several years together, Paul Thomas Anderson directed half a dozen videos for Fiona Apple and every one is special.

Among my favorites are the big-band dance number he staged for the ‘Paper Bag’ video and today’s selection, a black-and-white short for her cover of The Beatles’ ‘Across the Universe.’

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