Pretty Little Head

Infobox Album
Name = Pretty Little Head
Type = studio
Artist = Nellie McKay


Released = October 31, 2006
Recorded = 2005
Genre = Singer-Songwriter, Pop, Rock
Length =
Label = Sony/Hungry Mouse
Producer = Robin Pappas/Nellie McKay
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://wm11.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0cfrxqtdld0e link]
*Being There Magazine Rating|3.5|5 [http://beingtheremag.com/reviewalbum.php?id=558&issue=21 link]
*"Pitchfork" (7.4/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39321/Nellie_McKay_Pretty_Little_Head link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/12056665/review/12060197/pretty_little_head link]
Last album = "Get Away from Me"
(2004)
This album = "Pretty Little Head"
(2006)
Next album = "Obligatory Villagers"
(2007)

"Pretty Little Head" is the second album by singer Nellie McKay. It was released October 31, 2006, on Nellie's own Hungry Mouse label. Initial reports indicated that the album would be released on the Internet in January, with a possible conventional release in February; however, this did not end up being the case. Speculation existed that the album's release would be timed to coincide with the start of "The Threepenny Opera" which McKay began starring in on Broadway in April, but this did not take place either.

It features duets with Cyndi Lauper ("Beecharmer") and k.d. lang ("We Had It Right"). Other songs include "Columbia Is Bleeding", "Cupcake" ("...about gay marriage..."), and "The Big One" ("...about a tenant's rights activist...").

"Pretty Little Head" was originally set to be released October 18, 2005. The release date was subsequently delayed until December 27, 2005 and finally January 3, 2006.

However, McKay announced on December 19, 2005, that she had left Columbia/Sony Records after a dispute over the length of the upcoming album. [http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cotown/la-fi-mckay20dec20,1,7784158.story?coll=la-headlines-business-enter] Just over two weeks following this announcement, a "New York Times" article surfaced stating McKay said she had been dropped by Columbia Records. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/arts/music/03nell.html]

The album was being marketed and manufactured on the SpinArt Records label until the label's bankruptcy in 2007. "Pretty Little Head" is now being distributed by Sony in its original, 23-track 2-CD version, effectively bringing the album back to Columbia.

Track listing

Columbia's version

#"Cupcake" (4:44)
#"Pink Chandelier" (1:38)
#"There You Are in Me" (2:46)
#"The Big One" (4:02)
#"G.E.S." (1:42)
#"I Will Be There" (2:55)
#"The Down Low" (3:36)
#"Long & Lazy River" (3:47)
#"Beecharmer" "featuring" Cyndi Lauper (4:02)
#"Real Life" (2:49)
#"I Am Nothing" (1:47)
#"we had it right" "featuring" k.d. lang (2:20)
#"Columbia Is Bleeding" (3:41)
#"GLADD" (3:06)
#"Happy Flower" (2:27)
#"Tipperary" (2:56)

pinArt/Hungry Mouse version

Disc One
#"Cupcake" (4:44)
#"Pink Chandelier" (1:38)
#"There You Are in Me" (2:46)
#"Yodel" (1:36)
#"The Big One" (4:02)
#"G.E.S." (1:42)
#"I Will Be There" (2:55)
#"The Down Low" (3:36)
#"Long & Lazy River" (3:47)
#"I Am Nothing" (1:47)
#"Beecharmer" "featuring" Cyndi Lauper (4:02)
#"Swept Away" (1:53)

Disc Two
#"Real Life" (2:49)
#"Tipperary" (2:56)
#"GLADD" (3:06)
#"Food" (3:00)
#"we had it right" "featuring" k.d. lang (2:20)
#"Columbia Is Bleeding" (3:41)
#"Lali Est Paresseux" (2:33)
#"Happy Flower" (2:27)
#"Mama & Me" (4:11)
#"Pounce" (0:56)
#"Old Enough" (1:45)

Charts