*I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star...*

I’ve recently gotten myself a copy of Fiona Apple’s latest album, The Idler Wheel… It’s definitely a very interesting listen, and one I’d recommend. For those of you unfamiliar with Fiona Apple, her music is dark, dreary, occasionally uplifting, and always emotional. The songs have a structure more associated with pop music, but her deep voice shows that there is something more profound and disturbing under this facade. Her husky alto voice carries the songs with a rare intensity (and is a bit reminiscent of a torch singer from the '30s), backed with swelling strings and delicate piano melodies.

 

While Fiona has been in the music scene for more than 15 years, she has been a fairly recent addition to my music collection. I actually went and searched down some of her music a few years ago, after watching some VH1 show featuring the “Top Songs of the ‘90s”… The first song I heard of hers is probably her most famous, “Criminal”. After downloading a handful of songs from her first album, Tidal, I ran across “Paper Bag” and it quickly became a favorite of mine – and one I’ve often dubbed as my theme song.  The simple, grooving drumbeat, melodic piano and poetic lyrics hooked me. I listened to the song over and over, each time identifying with and finding a new appreciation in another layer of the song.

 

Since then, I’ve found myself listening to Fiona Apple on a fairly regular basis. She only has 4 albums, but all of them have noteworthy qualities and songs that I would urge anyone to take the time to listen. Tidal  is dark, murky, and soulful. As a songwriter, her songs are blunt, emotional, pensive, and self absorbed yet strangely relevant. This is a woman who knows she's screwed up, but isn't going to ground herself in her pretensions. She's world weary... Opening with "Sleep To Dream", a stalking theme of romantic collapse with biting lyrics and thundering piano taps. "Sullen Girl" is powerful. In fact, this whole album is commanding. "Slow Like Honey", "Never Is A Promise", "Shadowboxer", "Criminal", are all significant. It's hard to believe that a 17 year old girl wrote these melodies and words. Her vocals ache with disappointment, regret, and pain. And what’s even more interesting about hearing her first album, is to see how she evolves as a musician and songwriter.

 

Her next album, When The Pawn…,  is still probably my favorite album. While her first album could become a bit tedious, this album contains all of my favorite songs of hers. “Limp” is, musically, a wild ride of complex melody, jazzy interludes, and poetry. “Love Ridden” is a mellow discussion of the aftermath of a breakup. “Fast As You Can” is another amazing song. Opening with an unique drum fill before kicking in with a driving piano part and fast paced vocals, the tempo change in the middle makes for an interesting listen and stands out in contrast to the rest of the song. And “Get Gone”… The repeated piano riff through the verses is rather addictive and interesting and I find the lyrics and passion behind the performance quite liberating. Again, I love the contrast in this song – how the quiet verses transform to the strong chorus, where she defiantly sings, “I do know what’s good for me”. I love that. The album closes with the slow, subtle ballad that is an almost hopeful end to a somewhat cynical album.

 

After six years of waiting, Fiona released her third album in 2005, Extraordinary Machine. away, "Extraordinary Machine" grabs you, with its unexpected orchestrations--oboe and bells that delightfully enhance this downright catchy tune. The ironic pairing of such whimsy with lyrics about adaptability in a raucous relationship is delicious. “O’Sailor” may be my favorite on the album, with her trademark piano style and smoky yet yearning vocals. "Not About Love" describes the scene after a late-night fight or possibly break-up. "Get Him Back" narrates the vengeful plans of a jaded lover that eventually finds herself wanting back the one man who didn't disappoint her. Probably the most outwardly angry songs on the album is "Window" where she tells about how a "filthy pane of glass" was obstructing her view out a window while a lover is confessing to having an affair.

 

Which brings me to her latest album, The Idler Wheel… Upon my first listen or two, I knew this was different from previous releases. I listened to it often through the month of December and it really hit me that Fiona is pouring her emotions out like never before. She is really letting loose and her voice sounds better than ever. The writing and creativity is superb. While not all of the songs are instantly accessible, this is some of the most passionate, emotional work I have heard from her. "Every Single Night" starts out quietly, with a vibraphone/toy piano sound, joined by an acoustic base; she starts softly, soon becomes demanding: "That's when the pain comes in...Like a second skeleton/Trying to fit beneath the skin/I can't fit the feelings in/Every single night's alright with my brain." There are not words at my disposal to describe the emotional changes that this song brings you through, but it had my mouth open in disbelief, it was so powerful.

"Werewolf" is another standout track set to a chiming piano. This dichotomy, this my fault/your fault push and pull is something that she excels at, and this song is no exception, and it is developed into a description of an obsessive relationship, full of pain but full of fire. "If I'm butter, then he's a hot knife, He makes my heart a cinemascope..." she croons to an insistent tom tom beat on "Hot Knife" and soon a dark dancing piano figure comes in, and Fiona, tight and controlled begins harmonizing with her sister, twisting in and out of each other's melodies, forming a complex web of sound that is still focused and sharp. It is an astonishing achievement that she pulls off with incredible focus, and her sister's voice is not only an amazing counterpoint to her own, but is hauntingly similar. All in all, this is an incredibly intimate album.

 

Fiona brings a sultry mix of blues, pop, rock, and R&B to the table, along with edgy lyrics and fresh perspective. I look forward to hearing more from her, even if I have to wait another 7 years for a new album.

*Driftin' through the dreams we used to share ... *

Thirty years ago, Karen Carpenter passed away. As I’ve expressed before, I’ve been a long time Carpenters fan and Karen has always been quite special to me. I thought that in remembrance of this exceptional talent, I’d write a little bit about her solo album.

 

Now, Karen’s solo album is the source of some controversy among the Karen Carpenter fan community (and yes, I am a part of said community!). The story of Karen’s solo album is a bit tragic considering the album was ultimately shelved and wasn’t released until 13 years after Karen left this world. When Karen started her solo project, Richard was in rehab ridding himself of a sleeping pill addiction. Rather than remaining idle, she went out to New York, teamed up with producer, Phil Ramone (known for producing for Billy Joel and Paul Simon), and started work on an album. I’m sure it was an odd experience for Karen to be in the studio without her brother, but I bet it was also quite liberating for her to be breaking out of the Carpenters mold and doing something on her own.

 

The album didn’t come together quickly, taking well over a year to complete. After it was finished and Karen came back to LA, she was called into an intense meeting to discuss the release of the album. Despite the fact that Karen was rather proud of the record, the pressure and negative criticism from the label and Richard, Karen reluctantly allowed the album to be shelved.

 

In 1996, the album was released to little fanfare – though, I remember cutting out a small article out of a magazine that mentioned the album. And of course, in 1996, being deep in my Carpenters obsession, I picked up the CD from Camelot Music in the local mall. Upon first listen, I enjoyed it (except for the second track, “All Because of You” - a song that has since become a favorite). My favorite song from the album at that time was “If I Had You” – I loved all the intricate layers of harmonies and complex vocal arrangements.

 

I hadn’t listened to the album much for several years, but after getting the book Little Girl Blue, I felt the need to dust of the album and check it out again. As is typical of anytime you haven’t listened to something for a while, I heard much more than I had the first time around and heard it in a different way. The album is much different from the standard Carpenter albums – Karen is edgier here than she was as part of the Carpenters. She plays with a number of styles including disco, power pop, smooth jazz, and includes a couple tunes with a bit of a country lilt to them. While this album is not my favorite work of Karen’s, I do enjoy the songs.

 

The album opens with an upbeat disco tune, “Lovelines” (Karen was a fan of disco). The next song is “All Because of You”, which has become the most played song on my iPod of her solo songs. It’s an interesting song because it’s just Karen accompanied by an acoustic guitar – very limited production, which I dig. Karen’s performance is very intimate and sincere. “If I Had You” is all about the complex vocals – my favorite part is towards the end, when you’ve got about 16 Karen’s singing together. “Making Love In the Afternoon” is a sunny, light pop song that Peter Cetera contributes some background singing on. “If We Try” is a jazzy ballad and “Remember When Lovin’ Took All Night” is another disco infused song. “Still In Love With You” used to be my idea of what rock music was (at that age, I had very limited exposure to true rock music). And while it’s definitely not rock, it is a catchy power-pop song with some crunchy guitars. “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” takes you back to some more disco, but the limited production version of “Make Believe It’s Your First Time” I feel is far superior to the later released Richard Carpenter arrangement. To me, when you’re dealing with such a rich, pure voice like Karen’s, there’s no need to add choirs and heavy orchestration… At least, not with such an intimate song. “Guess I Just Lost My Head” is a nice ballad with some lovely harmonies. “Still Crazy After All These Years” is a splendid cover of the Paul Simon ballad (For some reason, it always makes me envision Karen singing it leaning against a piano in a smoky bar – but that’s just me.) “Last One Singin’ the Blues” was notable for me when I first heard it because I was so excited about hearing Karen speaking a little at the beginning – instructing the band about taking it a bit slower this time. (I had never heard her speaking voice at this point, thus the novelty!)

 

Of course, there are also quite a few outtakes from her solo sessions that are floating around on the internet – and I’m rather intrigued by them as well. My favorites of the non-released tracks are the ballad “It’s Really You” and the edgy “Keep My Lovelight Burning”.

 

So… All in all, it’s a very pleasant listen, though I’ll admit to a number of the songs being a  bit dated. There’s definitely a 1979-1980 feel to the productions, but that is when they were recorded, so it should be expected. And while I’m not convinced the album would have been a smash hit, I do firmly believe it wouldn’t have been a flop and that it should have been released when originally intended. (And I do prefer her solo album to the following Carpenters album, Made In America). Of course, it’s hard to know how the release of the album would have changed the course of events in Karen or Richard’s lives, and I’m not going to play the “what if?” game now. I guess all we really need to remember is that Karen was a remarkable talent – both as a drummer and as a vocalist. Her voice was always rich, pure, and haunting and provided layers of longing, maturity, and vulnerability. She will always be remembered.