Extraordinary Machine

Infobox Album | Name = Extraordinary Machine
Type = Album
Artist = Fiona Apple


Released = September 30, 2005 (Germany)
October 4, 2005 (U.S.)
Recorded = April 2004—August 2005 (Elizondo/Kehew sessions)
Genre = Alternative rock, piano rock, baroque pop
Length = 50:34 (official release)
46:30 (bootleg release)
Label = Epic
Producer = Mike Elizondo, Brian Kehew, Jon Brion
Reviews =Official release:
*AbsolutePunk.net (96%) [http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=104853 link]
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ut9us34ea3pg~T1 link]
*Blender Rating|5|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1793 link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Fiona+Apple link]
*Entertainment Weekly (A) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1111224,00.html link]
*Pitchfork (6.2/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15004/Fiona_Apple_Extraordinary_Machine_Jon_Brion_version_Extrao October 5, 2005 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7670833/extraordinary_machine October 6, 2005]
*"Slant" Rating|4|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=661 link] Bootleg release:
*"New York Times" (positive) [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E0DA123FF930A35757C0A9639C8B63 April 3, 2005 link]
*Pitchfork (7.8/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15004/Fiona_Apple_Extraordinary_Machine_Jon_Brion_version_Extrao October 5, 2005 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3.5|5 May 2005, p. 79| Last album = "When the Pawn..." (1999)
This album = "Extraordinary Machine" (2005)
Next album = "iTunes Originals" (2006)

"Extraordinary Machine" is the third album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released by Epic Records in the United States on October 4, 2005 (see 2005 in music). Produced by Jon Brion, it was originally to be released in 2003 but was later delayed several times by the record label without explanation, leading to speculation that a dispute had arisen over its commercial appeal. The controversy surrounding the album and leaked recordings of the Jon Brion sessions were the subject of substantial press attention, as well as a highly publicised fan-led campaign to see the album officially released. In collaboration with producers Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew, Apple re-recorded the album over 2004 and 2005, and it was eventually released more than three years after the original recording sessions began.

Background and production

After completing a concert tour in support of her second album "When the Pawn..." (1999) in 2000, Fiona Apple relocated to Los Angeles. "The first couple of years [after "Pawn"] , I didn't have anything left in me to write about ... I just figured if the songs came to me, they came to me, and if not, 'Oh, well, it's been fun'", she said.Scaggs, Austin. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theroots/articles/story/7595844/fiona_talks_machine "Fiona Talks "Machine""] . "Rolling Stone". August 30, 2005 (September 2005 issue). Retrieved June 4, 2006.] During her hiatus, Apple contemplated retiring from her recording career. In spring 2002 Apple and Jon Brion, her longtime friend and producer on "When the Pawn", met for their weekly lunch meeting. Brion's five-year relationship with comedienne Mary Lynn Rajskub had abruptly ended during the shooting of the Paul Thomas Anderson film "Punch-Drunk Love" (2002), which Brion was scoring. He reportedly "begged" Apple to make another album after being forced to watch hours of footage of Rajskub whilst working on the film: "I need work that can save me". Apple agreed, and Brion went to Apple's label, Epic Records, with strict stipulations (including no deadline), which the label eventually agreed to. A tentative November 2002 release date was then set.

After performing the then-untitled "Not About Love" at a Brion concert in February, Apple started studio work on the album the following June at Ocean Way Recording, where she played for Brion the first five songs she had written for the album. She debuted the song "A New Version of Me" (later renamed "Better", and then "Better Version of Me") live at Club Largo — where Brion has a regular Friday-night gig, often joined by musical friends — in August. [Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2002/07/first-of-all-i-apologize-for-being-so.html "Untitled"] . "FionaApple.org". July 22, 2002. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] By late 2002 Apple, Brion, engineer Tom Biller and percussionist Matt Chamberlain were at work in a wing of the Paramour Mansion, which was built in 1923 by silent film star Antonio Moreno; the four used the building as a temporary residence from early 2003, and Chamberlain said the experience of recording there was "completely amazing" . With the album half complete in April 2003, Brion, Apple and Biller worked at Cello Studios, and a new release date of July 22 was announced. Brion and Apple then travelled to England later that month, to record strings and orchestration for the songs at Abbey Road Studios in London. The album was completed from Brion's perspective by May 2003, at which point the release was pushed back to September 30. But by Fall 2003 Apple and Brion were back in the recording studio adding finishing touches to the album, thus forcing back the release date to February 2004 (this was later changed to "early 2004").

Little by little, small details about the songs were revealed through newspaper and magazine articles. A "New York Times" article on Jon Brion in August 2003 revealed the title of another song on the album, "Oh Well", with Brion stating that he cried the first time he heard Apple play it. Brion worked solidly on "Oh Well" for over a week, and would later refer to it as the album's "problem child". The October 2003 issue of "Rolling Stone" depicted the album as being "all over the place" (a sentiment shared by Apple herself) and "definitely eclectic". The slow-paced track "Extraordinary" was referred to as "a Tin Pan Alley-esque blend of Tom Waits and Vaudeville", while the much more energetic "Better" was described as "an OutKast-like deluge of beats". [Baltin, Steve. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/fionaapple/articles/story/5936930/fiona_apple_ripe_for_return "Fiona Apple Ripe for Return"] . "Rolling Stone". October 17, 2003 (November 13 issue). Retrieved September 1, 2005.] In February 2004 an article in "Spin" magazine confirmed the title of the album and a new song, "Red, Red, Red", which had reportedly been inspired by a book about optical illusions. ["Spin". February 2004.]

Delays and leaked tracks

In late June 2004 the song "Extraordinary" — which had since been retitled as the title track — was leaked onto the internet. Soon after, a "rough mix" of "Better Version of Me" also leaked, with the following inscription listed as a comment in the properties of the MP3 file: "It has some good bits, but I still think we never have topped the second version. Ideally, we would combine some of this with that, but obviously we can't. Sigh. Ask the others what they think — I know she was partial to both of them, particularly the second"." Josh Korr of the "Tampa Bay Times" wrote, "With a playfulness and penchant for odd sounds and instruments that channel the spirit of Brian Wilson's "Smile", Apple's first songs since 1999 make Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Alicia Keys and other pretenders sound like "American Idol" rejects", [Korr, Josh. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060103170548/http://www.tampabay.com/entertainment/story.cfm?storyid=113640 "Some hits — and misses" "Tampa Bay Times". February 16, 2005.] ] while "Entertainment Weekly" called the songs "tantalizing, brazenly eccentric art pop ... With Apple, the weirder, the better". ["Fiona Apple". "Entertainment Weekly". January 21–27, 2005. pp83–84. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2005/01/entertainment-weekly-fiona-in-dc.html link] ]

After months of no official news, an article about Jon Brion appeared in the October 8, 2004 issue of "Entertainment Weekly". It revealed that the album had been shelved since its completion in 2003 due to "the label not hearing any obvious singles". A representative for Epic Records stated that the album was to be released in February 2005, and had been delayed because Apple had decided to re-record some of the songs. ["Entertainment Weekly". October 8—14, 2005.] Brion later clarified the status of the album in an interview with MTV News in January 2005: he said that Epic had desired material in the vein of Apple's debut album "Tidal" (1996), but that when confronted by "Machine", "it's just not the obvious easy sell to them". [Perez, Rodrigo. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1496301/20050126/story.jhtml "Whatever Happened To Fiona Apple? Online Campaign Tries To Find Out"] . MTV News. January 26, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] When "USA Today" asked Apple herself about when the album would be released, she replied: "You'll probably know before I do". [Vivinetto, Gina. [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/08/Floridian/Sony_cuts_Apple_s_fan.shtml "Sony cuts Apple's fans to the core"] . "St. Petersburg Times". February 7, 2005. Retrieved September 2, 2005.]

Shortly thereafter, members of the forum [http://fionahaswings.com fionahaswings.com] formed the organization Free Fiona and started a movement for an international, week-long mail campaign to flood Sony with support for Apple and for the release of the album. A website devoted to the campaign, [http://freefiona.com freefiona.com] , was created. In response to the campaign, Epic president Steve Barnett said: "It's our understanding that Fiona is still in the midst of recording her next album, and we at Epic Records join music lovers everywhere in eagerly anticipating her next release". On February 26, 2005 radio DJ Andrew Harms at "107.7 The End" in Seattle began playing previously unheard tracks from a bootleg copy of the album, and before long, poor quality copies of "Not About Love", "Get Him Back" and "Used to Love Him" were circulating on the internet. [Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2005/02/seattle-radio-playing-new-fiona-tracks.html "Seattle radio playing new Fiona tracks"] . February 26, 2005. Retrieved September 4, 2005.] Harms said of the situation: "this is pretty special ... with an established [artist] like Fiona, to have that happen is pretty crazy, so to stumble upon a full-length copy of the record was incredible"; he also noted the positive response from listeners the songs had received. [Perez, Rodrigo. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1497617/20050301/apple_fiona.jhtml?headlines=true "Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Songs Leaked On The Radio"] . MTV News. March 1, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.]

By early March 2005 radio recordings of "Waltz", "Please, Please, Please", "Oh, Sailor" and "Window" had leaked online; those were followed by better quality album cuts of "Oh Well" and "Red, Red, Red". Soon after, CD-quality versions of all the tracks were released through the BitTorrent website [http://www.torrentbox.com/torrents-details.php?id=13132 TorrentBox] . They received a positive review from the "New York Times", who described the album as "an oddball gem", adding "Had it been released, "Extraordinary Machine" would have been a fine counterbalance to a pop moment full of monolithic, self-righteous sincerity." [Pareles, Jon. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E0DA123FF930A35757C0A9639C8B63 "DIRECTIONS: BOOTLEG REVIEW; The Lost Apple"] . "The New York Times". April 3, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] Ed Bumgardner concurred, saying the album was "certainly a work of daring and sophistication, as wildly imaginative as it is entertaining", [Bumgardner, Ed. [http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031781850226 "Fiona Apple on the shelf because she's ... odd"] . "JournalNow". March 31, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] while Will Dukes said "Extraordinary Machine" flaunts a quirky, cold-world cohesiveness that's as inviting as it is alienating." [Dukes, Will. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/track_reviews/30432/Fiona_Apple_Not_About_Love#30432 "Fiona Apple: "Not About Love""] . Pitchfork Media. April 4, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2007.] According to the file-sharing tracking website "BigChampagne" in March, 46,759 people were sharing the leaked tracks on major P2P networks. [Edlund, Martin. [http://slate.msn.com/id/2116932/ "The Fiona Apple Fiasco"] . "Slate". April 19, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005.] The RIAA later contacted webmasters of sites hosting the files and asked them to be taken down, [Lucero, Andres. [http://www.geekdreams.com/archives/2005/04/05/i-just-totally-got-served/ "I just totally got served!"] . "GeekDreams". April 5, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] [Tanaka, Nadja. [http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/nadjadee/index201.html "Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine Tracks"] . "Nadja Dee's Lavender Garden". March 3, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] while the BitTorrent files subsequently vanished from the TorrentBox website.

Re-recording and release

"Entertainment Weekly" reported in its June 24, 2005 issue that Apple was preparing work on a "second third" album with producer Brian Kehew of the electronica band Moog Cookbook, ["Buried Treasure: Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Music Machine". "Entertainment Weekly". June 24—July 1, 2005. pg. 101.] further fueling speculation amongst fans that the leaked "Machine" tracks had been shelved indefinitely. A July 2005 online chat, little noticed at the time, occurred with hip hop musician ?uestlove on a website devoted to The Roots. He said the album was "not cancelled", was in production with Mike Elizondo, and would be a DualDisc, all of which was later confirmed as true. [Quinn. [http://itcameoutmagical.blogspot.com/2005/07/better-version-of-me.html "better version of me"] . "From Blown Speakers". July 12, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2005.] (?uestlove also said he played drums on the album, and in the March 2005 issue of "Rolling Stone", he had said he may collaborate with Apple on her next album. ["Rolling Stone". March 2005.] )

After months of silence, Epic released a statement regarding the album's future on August 15, 2005: "Extraordinary Machine" was to be officially released on October 4, 2005, extensively reworked by co-producers Elizondo and Kehew. Elizondo had played bass on two "When the Pawn" tracks, but one reported had described him as "a curious departure from Brion" because of his more well-known production work with popular hip hop artists such as 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and Eminem. He and Kehew worked at the Phantom Studio located behind Elizondo's Westlake Village home, reworking each song; track by track they built from Apple's piano and vocals, added live drums with the help of Abe Laboriel Jr. and ?uestlove, and then synthesizer flourishes. Once the song frameworks had been completed, Apple returned to the studio and recorded final performances.

Of the eleven tracks previously leaked, two remained unchanged: "Extraordinary Machine" and "Waltz"; but nine were completely rearranged. One new song, "Parting Gift", was also included on the album; it is a solo vocal piece with piano that was recorded on the first take. Elizondo said he felt that most of the tracks sound "radically different", and that even though he listened to Brion's version, "Everything was done from scratch". The "New York Times" suggested that Epic Records was not impressed with fan interest in the bootleg, and that Apple never considered the album finished; but by the time of the leak, she and Elizondo had been at work for some time (since April 2004). In an interview with "Rolling Stone" in September 2005, Apple explained her decision: "I gathered scraps for songs, and I ended up writing the rest on the way, a totally new approach for me... [but] I didn't have enough time to live with the songs before recording them, so I really didn't know what I wanted".

Speaking with "Billboard", Elizondo acknowledged that it was "a little disheartening" to be working with the knowledge that Brion's version was available to the public, but applauded Apple's "amazing core of fans" for their efforts to have the album released: "The way they interpreted it was, the label isn't putting out her record, so we're going to do it for her. That's very admirable". However, he defended Apple's decision to press on until the album reached the finished state that she had envisioned. On the day of the announcement, the label placed "O' Sailor" for streaming on Apple's MySpace [http://www.myspace.com/fionaapple site] (the entire album was made available for streaming on September 27), and streamed both "O' Sailor" and "Parting Gift" on Apple's [http://www.fiona-apple.com/em/ official website] . Additionally, exclusive video material was put up weekly in the run-up to the album's release and most of which was later included on the DVD side of the album DualDisc, along with recordings of five of Apple's live performances at Largo.

Despite rumors that the album had caused a rift between Brion and Apple, they performed together at Largo the Friday evening before Epic's announcement. Brion told MTV News, "She re-recorded a bunch of stuff, but whatever, that's her business. I remain a fan and think she's great, and she shouldn't have to meet too much resistance"; meanwhile, Elizondo insisted Brion was "cool on all fronts" about the proposed re-recording. However, Brion struck out at the bootleg version of the album: "It's wrong...I don't like those [leaked] versions. It's stuff that doesn't reflect what we recorded, for the most part". In late 2005 MTV News reported that Brion and Apple may collaborate again to complete the original recording sessions for "Extraordinary Machine" and release it officially in the near future. Apple said "I really think it would be cool to compare [the two versions] ." [Perez, Rodrigo and Norris, John. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1513015/20051104/apple_fiona.jhtml?headlines=true "Fiona Apple Haunts Ocean Liner In New Clip; May Release Alternate Version Of New LP"] . MTV News. November 4, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2006.]

Reception and promotion

The official version of "Extraordinary Machine" attracted generally positive reviews upon its release: it was placed number one on year-end top albums lists in "Entertainment Weekly", "The New York Times" and "Slant" magazine, within the top five in "The Village Voice", "Blender" magazine and "Rolling Stone", and in the top ten in the "Los Angeles Times" and "Spin" magazine. [ [http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2005.shtml "The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year"] . Metacritic. Retrieved June 1, 2005.] A minority of publications commented less favourably about the album; "Stylus" magazine described it as "a rudderless piece of work" and "a bitterly disappointing listen", [ [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=3471 Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine - Review - Stylus Magazine ] ] while the website Pitchfork Media (which placed the leaked version of the album at number forty-six on their "Top 50 Albums of 2005" list [ [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/38517/Staff_List_Top_50_Albums_of_2005 "Top 50 Albums of 2005"] . Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 5, 2007.] ) wrote, "The shame of it all is that Apple, after six years of silence, could've made a more definitive, progressive statement rather than something familiar and similar — and we've got the bootlegs to prove it". [Mitchum, Rob. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15004/Fiona_Apple_Extraordinary_Machine_Jon_Brion_version_Extrao "Fiona Apple: "Extraordinary Machine" (Jon Brion version) / "Extraordinary Machine"] . Pitchfork Media. October 5, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2007.] "Extraordinary Machine" was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Vocal Album", losing to Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" (see Grammy Awards of 2006). [ [http://www.grammy.com/Grammy_Awards/Annual_Show/48_nominees.aspx "48th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List"] . NARAS. February 8, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.]

During mid-August 2005 and ahead of the album's release in October, both "O' Sailor" and "Parting Gift" were made available as a bundle download at the online iTunes Music Store. While "O' Sailor" was released separately at other digital music stores, video promotion for "Parting Gift" began later that month. "Extraordinary Machine" debuted at number seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 94,000 copies sold in its first week of release, making it Apple's first top ten album; [Harris, Chris. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1511338/10122005/nickelback.jhtml "New releases from Fiona Apple and Franz Ferdinand make albums chart's top 10"] . MTV News. October 12, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2006.] however, it fell out of the top ten in its second week with a sales decline of almost fifty percent. [Harris, Chris. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1511752/20051019/story.jhtml "Alicia Keys Scores Third "Billboard" #1 With "Unplugged"] . MTV News. October 19, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2006.] The video for "O' Sailor" began to receive television airplay in November, and the following January the "Not About Love" video made its internet premiere; early the next month, "Get Him Back" was released to radio stations. None of the singles attracted substantial airplay or digital downloads, and consequently they did not appear on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 or Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.

As of April 19 the album had sold 462,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan,Cohen, Jonathan. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002382568 "Fiona Taps Rice, Garza For Summer Trek"] . "Billboard". April 19, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.] which is below the sales of both "Tidal" (which sold 2.7 million copies) and "When the Pawn" (which sold 920,000). [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9601227/from/RL.2/ "Loyal fans helped free Fiona Apple's CD"] . Associated Press/MSNBC Entertainment. October 5, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2006.] Prior to receiving a gold certification from the RIAA in January 2006 for shipments of 500,000 copies, it was nominated for the New Pantheon award, which honours "left of centre" albums that shipped less than 500,000 copies in the U.S. between July 2004 and October 2005. [Montgomery, James. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1519924/01092006/death_cab_for_cutie.jhtml "Death Cab, M.I.A., Fiona Among New Pantheon Finalists"] . MTV News. January 11, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2006.] Apple went on a three-week U.S. tour from November 22 to December 11 to promote the album, [Kaufman, Gil and Norris, John. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1510911/10052005/apple_fiona.jhtml "Fiona Apple Announces "Extraordinary" Tour Dates"] . MTV News. October 5, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2006.] and from January 25 to March 5, 2006 she supported British band Coldplay on the first half of their North American "X&Y" tour. [Cohen, Jonathan. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001476154 "Coldplay Drafts Apple, Ashcroft For 2006 Tour"] . "Billboard". November 9, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2006.] Apple also appeared on her own headlining summer tour from April 10, 2006 to October 29, 2006, with Damien Rice and Davíd Garza as her supporting acts for the thirty-five shows.

Track listing

All songs written by Fiona Apple.

Notes

References

* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2002/10/arm-injury-and-entertainment-weekly.html Arm injury and Entertainment Weekly mention] . "FionaApple.org". October 22, 2002. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (arm injury)
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2003/01/fiona-recording-at-paramour.html Fiona recording at The Paramour] . "FionaApple.org". January 16, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (The Paramour)
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2003/04/fiona-to-record-at-abbey-road-studios.html Fiona to Record at Abbey Road Studios] . "FionaApple.org". April 14, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (Abbey Road Studios, July 2003 release date)
* Cohen, Jonathan. [http://billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1867151 Fiona Apple At Work On New Album] . "Billboard". April 16, 2003. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2003/05/columbia-house-release-date.html Columbia House Release Date] . "FionaApple.org". May 3, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (September 2003 release date)
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2003/05/finishing-album.html Finishing the Album] . "FionaApple.org". May 27, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (Cello Studios)
* Rodrick, Steven. [http://web.archive.org/web/20061018124702/http://idiot-dog.com/embrionic/text/NewYorkTimes030817.html Embrionic: Lost in the Music "New York Times" August 17, 2003.]
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2004/10/situation-and-beginnings-of.html The situation, and the beginnings of fionaapple.org] . "FionaApple.org". October 9, 2004. Retrieved September 3, 2005. (MP3 inscription, "EW" "shelved" article)
* [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1494448/20041202/snoop_dogg.jhtml?headlines=true For The Record: Quick News On Snoop Dogg, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton, No Doubt, Fiona Apple, R.E.M. & More] . MTV News. December 2, 2004. Retrieved August 28, 2005. (shelved, Free Fiona)
* [http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=11723 Fiona Apple's new album deemed 'Not Commercial Enough'] . Top40-charts.com. December 8, 2004. Retrieved August 31, 2005. (shelved, Free Fiona)
* Sprague, David. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6660821/elvispresley?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion The Week in Weird] . "Rolling Stone". December 10, 2004. Retrieved August 28, 2005. (shelved, Free Fiona)
* Sisario, Ben. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D17F73F5F0C7A8EDDA80894DD404482 Arts, Briefly; A Faint Chant to 'Free' Fiona Apple] . "New York Times". January 29, 2005 (Late Edition - Final). p10. Retrieved August 28, 2005. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=320 link] (Free Fiona, Steve Barnett)
* Bevan, Jarrad. "Shelving at core of Apple protest". "The Mercury". February 3, 2005. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=344 link]
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7069178/fionaapple?pageid=rs.Artistcage&pageregion=triple3 In Brief: Fiona, Stones] . "Rolling Stone". March 1, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2005.
* Lane. [http://www.fionaapple.org/2005/03/official-track-listing.html Official track listing] . "FionaApple.org". March 3, 2005. Retrieved September 4, 2005. (leaked tracks, official track listing)
* Rabiee, Rob. [http://web.archive.org/web/20050305060228/http://villagebroadsheet.com/content/view/168/63/ "The Village Broadsheet". March 4, 2005.]
* Rabiee, Rob. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060206120937/http://villagebroadsheet.com/content/view/182/63/ Extraordinary Gall: RIAA v. Fans (Round 8,501). "The Village Broadsheet". March 14, 2005.]
* Morford, Mark. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/03/16/notes031605.DTL Who Will Free Fiona Apple?] . "San Francisco Chronicle". March 16, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
* Dean, Katie. [http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66926,00.html Fiona Apple Is Cookin' on the Net] . Wired News. March 18, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2005.
* Farber, Jim. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/292420p-250349c.html 'Extraordinary': Free Apple CD!] . "New York Daily News". March 23, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2005.
* Lang, George. "Sony is to blame for holding Apple album". "The Daily Oklahoman". April 1, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2005. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=646&view=next link]
* Ali, Lorraine. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7304435/site/newsweek/ Chasing Fiona's Tracks All Over the Internet] . "Newsweek". April 4, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
* Dickens, Tad and Harvey, Neil. [http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/stories/21414.html All the clicks that are fit to hit] . "The Roanoke Times". April 6, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
* Garcia, Gilbert. [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14296670&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=551424&rfi=6 'Extraordinary' response] . "San Antonio Current". April 7, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
* Cromelin, Richard. "An emotional artist finds release — yet doesn't". "Los Angeles Times". April 9, 2005. pE1. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=634 link]
* Arthur, Charles. [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/11/sony_online_music/ Fiona Apple saga shows Sony's core dilemma] . "The Register". April 11, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
* Pachter, Richard. "Fans get first taste of Fiona's next album" "Miami Herald". April 21, 2005. p6E. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=680 link]
* Fleming, April. [http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2005-05-05/music/beatgrinder2.html Extraordinary Mess] . "Pitch.com", May 5, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
* Valania, Jonathan. [http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=9466 Forbidden Fruit] . "Philadelphia Weekly". May 11, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
* Cohen, Jonathan. [http://au.launch.yahoo.com/050815/11/7hi1.html Fiona Apple fashions a different 'Machine'] . "Billboard". August 15, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2005.
* [http://www.spin.com/features/news/2005/08/050815_fiona_apple/ "Fiona Apple's Machine Finally Turned On"] . "Spin". August 15, 2005. Retrieved August 27, 2005.
* Leeds, Jeff. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/arts/music/15appl.html Fiona Apple Retools Her Leaked Album] . "New York Times". August 15, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005. [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=857 link]
* Perez, Rodrigo. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1507595/20050815/apple_fiona.jhtml?headlines=true Fiona Apple's Long-Delayed LP Slotted For October 4 Release] . MTV News. August 15, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2005.
* Mellor, David. [http://www.record-producer.com/learn.cfm?a=2425 Why can't you buy Fiona Apple's new album? Sony says you can't!] . "Record-Producer.com". Retrieved August 31, 2005.

External links

* [http://www.fiona-apple.com/em/pressrelease.html Press release from Epic Records] — August 15, 2005.
* [http://www.toxicoquebec.com/actus/index.php?2005/03/17/361-extraordinary-machine-de-fiona-apple-lalbum-de-lannee "Extraordinary Machine" radio] — original version.
* "Crawdaddy!" Ex Posto Facto consideration of [http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=6192 Extraordinary Machine] March 2008
* [http://www.alwaysontherun.net/fiona.htm#ex Lyrics]
* [http://www.trojanvision.com/media/view/?id=8 University of Southern California's TrojanVision interview with Fiona Apple, fall 2003] — requires RealPlayer.
* [http://www.thewaythingsare.hpg.ig.com.br/index2in.htm TheWayThingsAre] — news index.
*Reviews of the bootleg release:
**Jon Pareles, "New York Times" (positive) April 3, 2005 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E0DA123FF930A35757C0A9639C8B63 link]
**Sal Cinquemani, "Slant" magazine (4.5/5) [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=561 link]
**Ed Bumgardner, "Relish Now!" (positive) March 31, 2005 [http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031781850226 link]
**Rob Mitchum, Pitchfork Media (7.8/10) October 5, 2005 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15004/Fiona_Apple_Extraordinary_Machine_Jon_Brion_version_Extrao link]
**Malcolm X. Abram, "Akron Beacon Journal" (positive) April 3, 2005 [http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/11294147.htm link]
**Robert Wilonsky, "Dallas Observer" (positive) April 14, 2005 [http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2005-04-14/music/hearthere.html link]
**Jon Liu, "The Harvard Independent" (positive) April 14, 2005 [http://www.harvardindependent.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9390 link]
**Salon.com (mixed) March 23, 2005 [http://www.salon.com/ent/audiofile/2005/03/23/fiona/index.html link]
**Brian Hiatt, "Rolling Stone" (3.5/5) May, 2005 (p. 79) [http://freefiona.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=732 link]
**Okayplayer (4/5) [http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/index.php/weblog/more/extraordinary_machine/ link]