Extra, With A Splash Of Ordinary

The second album to be musically tasted by us music tasters is Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine. Ms. Apple's music genre is vocal (think Norah Jones), and vocal isn't really my thing, but I kept my mind open. The album opens with Whitni's personal favorite, 'Extraordinary Machine', which also happens to be one of the best songs of the album, and most likely the single. The song keeps you interested, and it is a really cute, sweet song about being yourself and going at your own pace. It reminds me of Paul McCartney's song 'English Tea' from his album Chaos and Creation In The Backyard. My favorite track on the album was 'Please Please Please'. I love the combination of the piano, bass guitar, and drums with her voice, as well as the 'do do do', which you can also hear in Vampire Weekend's track 'Mansard Roof'.

Overall, this album was very good, but not entirely extraordinary. It had its moments, but not enough of them. If I had made this list, I would have switched Bright Eyes with this one. After the first track, the album slows down and, dare I say, gets boring for a few tracks. The second half of the album (7-12), is a lot better, it has more feeling to it. In the first half, many of the songs sound a lot alike, but they start to develop their own personality later on, which is always a good thing. The noteworthy tracks I would mention are 1, 5, 9, 11, and 12. I like twelve because it sounds like a waltz, and there is nothing wrong with a little ballroom music. All in all, this was a good album to listen to, but don't expect to be amazed by it. Just enjoy the splash of extraordinary.

-Rai