Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Dig)
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CD Details
Artist: Amanda PalmerEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-09-16
Music Label: Roadrunner Records
Soundtracks:
- Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing
- Runs in the Family
- Ampersand
- Leeds United
- Blake Says
- Strength Through Music
- Guitar Hero
- Have to Drive
- What's the Use of Wond'rin?
- Oasis
- The Point of It All
- Another Year: A Short History of Almost Something
Music reviews of Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Dig)
Music Review: The vastly rich and rewarding intrigue of "Who Killed Amanda Palmer"
Rating: 5 Stars
While many may know Amanda Palmer as half of the Boston based "Brechtian Punk Cabaret" band The Dresden Dolls, in September of last year, Palmer took a hiatus from fellow Doll drummer Brian Viglione to release her first solo album, "Who Killed Amanda Palmer," produced by Ben Folds. The album, just like its enigmatic lead singer, is without categorization, but really, isn't that what art truly needs to be? If one can instantly label something by simply saying, "oh, it's clearly a mix of this band and that band," or "it really sounds a lot like such and such band," then why bother? Why not just listen to the original instead of something that is merely trying to emulate something it is not, and in the process, losing its soul? This is not the case with Amanda Palmer. When I first got the album I listened to it straight through and then promptly did so again without pause. Palmer has created something that is vividly rich and just yearning to be devoured. This is an album that will seduce you with its brilliance, and one that you will continue to try and discover more about on each listen.
What becomes immediately striking on first approaching the album is the dynamic nature of Palmer's voice. At one point it is almost a fairy tale, such as in the Judy Garland-esque song "What's the Use of Wondrin'?," yet then it can quickly become sultrily intoxicating like at the beginning of "Leeds United." At other times though it's just dripping with the rawness of a personal emotion, beautifully realized in the song "Ampersand." This is matched completely by Palmer's piano playing, at times delicate, but still able to convey such a power of emotion. It is here that the album distinguishes itself from others, for it feels as if it is almost morphing as you are listening to it, constantly changing and never able to be pinned down. It exists on multiple levels at the same time as art should, allowing listeners to discover something within it that speaks directly to them, making it uniquely personal depending on its audience.
This is something that Palmer has the uncanny ability to do, to connect on such a personal level with so many people. When Palmer was playing a benefit concert for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in San Diego last week, I asked Rachel, a girl standing in line waiting to see her idol, why she liked Palmer. After thinking for a moment, she told me, "She's brilliant. She's talented. She makes me feel like it's okay to be who I am as a person." I asked if she had ever met Palmer and she stated simply, "no, but it's like I really do know her. She's not fake at all." This intimate connection, the actual invitation for the audience to become part of the art and not just merely a detached observer of it is what sets Palmer apart from others. As Rachel and her friends waiting in line were glad to tell me, they not only follow Palmer on Twitter, but also read her blog religiously.
And Palmer's blog is not some celebrity drivel written by a publicist to appease hungry fans, but rather is just as reflective of the lyrics of Palmer's songs on "Who Killed Amanda Palmer." It's this deconstruction of the artist as an elevated and protected figure into something that is stripped and intensely personal, blurring the lines of the public and the private and showing someone who is not only accessible but, ultimately, real. This builds a trust within an audience, and Palmer's fans fervently support her. Even when the video for her song "Oasis" was banned on British television earlier this year since it contained lyrics such as: "when i got to the party / they gave me a forty / and i must've been thirsty / cause i drank it so quickly / when i got to the bedroom / there was somebody waiting / and it isn't my fault / that the barbarian raped me" delivered in a campy an upbeat pop tune, her fans quickly rallied behind her, with over one thousand comments posted to her blog declaring their support. As Palmer states, "When you cannot joke about the darkness of life, that's when the darkness takes over."
Art needs to be provocative, it needs to make people stop, think, and ultimately, to discuss it. It needs to challenge precepts and beliefs. "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" really cannot be defined as just an album then. It is also the hardcover book with short stories by the brilliant Neil Gaiman. It is the collection of videos to each of the songs. In the end, it is also the relationship she has built with her fans. It is all things at once. "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" is art.
Description of Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Dig)
The idea was a simple one: songs for the piano and voice, recorded in one week in a bedroom, just to get them down on tape. But like all things surrounding the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer-a one-woman machine who is a rock musician, artist, writer, yoga enthusiast, political activist and more-simplicity is not an easy thing to come by. Her small idea snowballed into something grand, exciting and nothing short of brilliant in the form of her debut solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer. Produced by Ben Folds, this is a departure from the music she creates as a critically acclaimed Dresden Doll and a major step towards showcasing her maturity as a songwriter, performer and most importantly as an artist.Alternative Rock CDs
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