Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine

I had caught, on some interwebs radio station, the title track to Fiona Apple's latest, and really enjoyed the jazzy-lounge feel of the music. It evoked a feeling of Nellie McKay, and we all know how I feel about her. So I grabbed the disc, and have been very slowly digesting it for a few months now.

And my review is in: This is a great album.

The whole album, even on the fluffier-sounding tracks, has a very dark musical theme following Apple's sometimes angry, sometimes depressing lyrics. With her smokey, emotive vocals, the disc just comes together nicely.

Key tracks include the title track, Extraordinary Machine, the hip-hop-esque Tymps, Parting Gifts, which is very simple, just her and a piano, and it's absolutely beautiful, and the album closer, Waltz, a waltzy tune that just seems to bring an optimistic close to an album with such dark undercurrents.

In the End: Fiona Apple really seems to play with her instruments, either by adding more, or limiting herself to just the piano, and knows how to put them together magnificently. Being familiar with only her big radio hits, this was a pleasant, welcome, and enlightening find. If her other stuff is half as good as this disc, I may have to go drop a few bucks at Newbury Comics.

Technorati Tagged: Fiona Apple | Piano Rock