Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine CD

Fiona Apple's long-awaited follow-up to 1999's WHEN THE PAWN... had a difficult (and well-documented) inception that involved pulling the notoriously strong-willed artist out of self-imposed seclusion in her California home. The end result, however, is an assured outing that upholds Apple's reputation for exceptional albums, proving that it was well worth the six-year wait.

Bookended by lush, vaudeville-like tunes created with Apple's longtime collaborator Jon Brion, EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE features production work by Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) on all other tracks. Those expecting any hip-hop flourishes will be left empty-handed; this disc presents Apple working in her signature style, with her soulful, slightly mischievous voice carrying these confident, primarily piano-driven songs. The performer's penchant for confessional, witty lyrics is still apparent, but her approach is notably more subtle and mature here. While many tracks are gilded with adventurous arrangements that incorporate an arsenal of organs (Farfisa, Optigan, etc.), marimba, Moog bass, and other unusual instrumentation, Apple also shines when left to her own devices, as on the spare, melancholy ballad "Parting Gift." Listeners worried that the lengthy hiatus might have diluted Apple's potent, inventive aesthetic can sleep well; EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE more than lives up to the superlative in its title.

Recording information: Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA; EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England; Ocean Way, Los Angeles, CA; Phantom Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Stanley Studios, Venice, CA; The Paramour, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographers: Lionel Deluy; Autumn DeWilde.

Personnel: Fiona Apple (piano); Fiona Apple (vocals); Mike Elizondo (various instruments, guitar, Clavinet, Mellotron, upright bass, programming, drum programming); Zac Rae (various instruments, tack piano, celesta, Clavinet, Farfisa, pump organ, Wurlitzer organ, chamberlin, keyboards, ARP synthesizer, vibraphone, marimba); Brian Kehew (guitar, Farfisa, keyboards); Glenn Berger (flute, saxophone); John Daversa (trumpet); Brad Warnaar (French horn); George Thatcher (trombone); Benmont Tench (organ); Jebin Bruni (chamberlin, keyboards); Dave Palmer, Keith Ciancia, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards); Jon Brion (marimba, bass instrument); Jim Keltner, Ahmir Khalib Thompson, ?uestlove (drums); Abe Laboriel, Jr. (drums, percussion, programming).

Audio Mixer: Dave Way.

Internet

Rolling Stone (No. 984, p.148) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Against all odds, EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE lives up to its title as a testimony to its creator's resilience and flexibility...."
Spin (p.96) - "EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE lives up to its name most when Elizondo echoes Apple's cartoon spookiness on 'Tymps,' which sounds like a '60s Disney soundtrack left out in the sun." - Grade: B
Spin (p.64) - Ranked #9 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005"
Entertainment Weekly (p.140) - Ranked #1 in Entertainment Weekly's 'Top Ten Records of the Year' -- "For all its melodrama, EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE never sounds like the work of a defeated spirit; it's the most paradoxically uplifting music of the year."
Entertainment Weekly (No. 843, p.72) - "...[T]he album places Apple's dusky voice and firm, almost defiant way with piano chords at its center...." - Grade: A
Q (p.118) - Ranked #66 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Apple is a savvy and focused cookie with a playful, malleable contralto....A fine, off-beat listen."