1. so ridiculously excited to see her on Tuesday. 

  2. i sit and daydream, i got daydreams galore.

  3. [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

    Fiona covered “Jolene” by Dolly Parton on Saturday night (9/24/11) at Largo during her show with Jon Brion. She’s performed this cover before but pretty sure this is the first recording of it ever to surface. 

  4. Thanks to sharp producer Jon Brion (Rufus Wainwright, Macy Gray), When the Pawn… avoids overstatement. Apple’s piano trundles, the strings loom, the beats clop; everything, including her throaty voice, has alluring dark circles under it. With their hints of cabaret, tango, and doomed chanteuses, the melodies slither rather than pummel you. The very good but imperfect Tidal was hampered by musical and lyrical floridness. When the Pawn… is more consistent, rhythmic, and forceful. From the hell’s-carousel feel of ”On the Bound” to the sputtery single ”Fast as You Can,” which dares radio to stick with its shifting time signatures, Apple and Brion take chances that continually pay off.

    — Entertainment Weekly on the 10-year-old masterpiece, When the Pawn…

  5. mollyknight: It’s just been brought to my attention that one of my favorite albums of all-time, Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn…, is ten years old today. I’m hard-pressed to think of a record I listened to more in college—maybe OK Computer ?—and nothing reminds me more of the drive from LA to Stanford than listening to these ten songs in order. One track for each year. I have no idea where the decade went, but it was easily the most eventful of my life. I’ve participated in group sing-a-longs of every single one of these songs on the streets of Manhattan, and one summer night years ago my friend Bill and I sang the whole thing a capella together from beginning to end at B Bar over pints of Yuengling. When the album first came out my freshman year my initial favorite song was “Paper Bag.” When sophomore year rolled around I moved on to loving “Limp”-and I still think “you fondle my trigger then you blame my gun” is one of her best lines. But as the years went on I discovered the album’s two finest tracks were the pair tacked on at the end: “Get Gone” and “I Know.” I think the former is my favorite Fiona song, but the latter does hold the distinction of having its opening line tatooed on the back of my iPod. So happy birthday, When the Pawn. If you were old enough to drink I’d buy you one. I sometimes think Fiona might be my absolute favorite songwriter of all time, and this album is easily in my top 10 I’ve ever heard (note the name of this blog). Ditto on the “I Know” love.

    mollyknight:

    It’s just been brought to my attention that one of my favorite albums of all-time, Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn…, is ten years old today. I’m hard-pressed to think of a record I listened to more in college—maybe OK Computer ?—and nothing reminds me more of the drive from LA to Stanford than listening to these ten songs in order. One track for each year. I have no idea where the decade went, but it was easily the most eventful of my life.

    I’ve participated in group sing-a-longs of every single one of these songs on the streets of Manhattan, and one summer night years ago my friend Bill and I sang the whole thing a capella together from beginning to end at B Bar over pints of Yuengling.

    When the album first came out my freshman year my initial favorite song was “Paper Bag.” When sophomore year rolled around I moved on to loving “Limp”-and I still think “you fondle my trigger then you blame my gun” is one of her best lines. But as the years went on I discovered the album’s two finest tracks were the pair tacked on at the end: “Get Gone” and “I Know.” I think the former is my favorite Fiona song, but the latter does hold the distinction of having its opening line tatooed on the back of my iPod.

    So happy birthday, When the Pawn. If you were old enough to drink I’d buy you one.

    I sometimes think Fiona might be my absolute favorite songwriter of all time, and this album is easily in my top 10 I’ve ever heard (note the name of this blog). Ditto on the “I Know” love.

  6. [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

    Fiona Apple - “Better Version of Me” (Jon Brion version)

    this song has been my personal fight song ever since i first heard it. i’ve been doing a tour of the past decade on my iPod and looking back, this album probably hit me the hardest on an emotional level. almost every track could be the soundtrack to my ups and downs of the past 5 years. or as Fiona puts it: “after all the all folderol and hauling over coals stops, what did i learn?/i am likely to miss the main event if i stop to cry and complain again. so i will keep a deliberate pace, let the damn breeze dry my face.”