"If Jennifer Lopez could write songs like Fiona Apple's, she wouldn't have to
spend so many hours at the gym."
-- GARBAGE's SHIRLEY MANSON
I know that's a really bitchy thing to say... HOWEVER, how cool is that??? I
always got the feeling Shirley Manson was pretty bright, and that is one of
the smartest put-downs I've heard in years. I'll probably go straight to
hell for siding with spite, but even we touchy-feely bleeding-heart liberals
have to sharpen our claws occasionally...
Anyway, the positive side is that Fiona Apple is indeed very very good - I
remember all sorts of people chiming in with praise for her debut, including
Sheryl Crow and one of the Marsalis Brothers, I think it was Brandford.
"Sullen Girl" is especially good, one of the greatest accounts of rape and
its consequences I've ever heard, up there with Tori Amos's Me And A Gun,
though very different, much more oblique.
I think Fiona Apple's two records to date stand up to just about any other
contemporary singer-songwriter over the same period.
Azeem in London, looking forward to seeing Oh Suzanna tonight.
