Before listening to Fiona Apple’s newest album The Idler Wheel (or the long version The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do), I knew only two things about her. One was her first single – 1996′s “Criminal.” Two is her acceptance speech at the MTV VMA’s that year, where she briefly talked about being an individual. That notion, however small that is, it really reflects in her music. In a world where popular music has to have a driving electronic beat and Auto-Tuned lyrics, Apple manages to stand out using now foreign pop words like “instrumentation” and “talent” to make an exceptional album. And that’s what you get with The Idler Wheel; a forty-two minute album that mixes every emotion possible into ten incredibly solid tracks. [Read more...]