Maps of Music

The Idler Wheel... (2012)

Where the lyrics of The Idler Wheel... take you, and where it was really made.

Fiona Apple recorded this album in secret, and her label did not learn of it until she presented the finished record in early 2012.

Key places

Recorded at Stanley Recordings (2012)

Recording site Stanley Recordings — The album credits list Stanley Recordings in Los Feliz as one of its recording locations. John Would is credited as the recording engineer there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at NBB Studio (2012)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album credits list NBB Studio in New York City as a recording location. Eddison Sainsbury is credited as the recording engineer there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Idler Wheel...: fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple
• Title derives from a poem written by Apple, as with her second album When the Pawn...
• Released June 19, 2012 by Epic Records; the UK release came one day earlier, on June 18
• Debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, her highest US debut, with 72,000 copies sold in its first week

Background

• Recording followed the delays and controversy around her previous album, Extraordinary Machine (2005)
• Apple began making new material in secret, including from her label, Epic Records
• Apple said the sessions probably began in 2008 or 2009
• She produced the album with her touring drummer, Charley Drayton, instead of long-time collaborator Jon Brion
• Epic learned an album existed when Apple presented it to them in early 2012
• The album was first planned for 2011; the release waited until the label had a new president in 2012
• Apple announced a small tour in early 2012, her first performances outside Los Angeles in over five years

Recording

• Credits list Stanley Recordings in Los Feliz and NBB Studio in New York City as recording locations
• John Would and Eddison Sainsbury are credited as recording engineers at these studios
• Dave Way mixed the album
• Howie Weinberg and Dan Gerbarg mastered the album

Cover

• Artwork credited to Fiona Apple; art direction and design credited to Eric Roinestad

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart on September 13, 1977, in New York City.
• Daughter of singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart; raised between New York and Los Angeles.
• Began writing songs at age eight; influenced by Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

Career

• Debut album Tidal (1996) won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance for "Criminal".
• Second album When the Pawn... (1999) was produced by Jon Brion and received critical acclaim.
• Third album Extraordinary Machine (2005) was remade after Apple's dissatisfaction with the first production.
• The Idler Wheel... (2012) became her most successful album on the Billboard 200, peaking at number three.
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020) won Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance.

Recognition

• All five studio albums reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200.
• Three of her albums appear on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score 89 from 35 reviews, indicating universal acclaim
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine: five stars out of five, praising the magnetic vocals
• BBC Music's James Skinner: praised the hopelessly romantic album and called it her sparsest work to date
• musicOMH's Blair Kelly: album both roaring with rage and swooning with romance
• American Songwriter's Jim Beviglia: four stars out of five, praising its stark and raw songs
• Robert Christgau: A-, calling it damn catchy and mood music
• Entertainment Weekly's Melissa Maerz: A, calling it highly confessional and creative and temperamental
• Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal: nine out of ten, calling it the most distilled Fiona Apple album yet
• Consequence of Sound: four-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it one of the most daring pop records in recent history
• Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot: three-and-a-half stars out of four, more stripped down and turbulent than before
• Spin's Jessica Hopper: eight out of ten, citing her total command of the anarchy
• The A.V. Club's Genevieve Koski: A, praising its frank and lovely detail
• Billboard's Jillian Mapes: devoid of much musical flourishing but absolutely worth the seven-year wait
• PopMatters' Enio Chiola: six out of ten, criticizing its difficulty and her tendency to scream
• Rolling Stone: three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling the album rawboned emotionally

Reappraisal

• The Guardian included it on its 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list in 2019
• Pitchfork ranked it fifth on its 200 Best Albums of the 2010s list
• Rolling Stone placed it at number 213 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020

Records

• Nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 55th Grammy Awards
• Debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 copies in its first week
• Named best album of 2012 by Time, Stereogum, Spinner, and NPR Music's Fresh Air
• Ranked number 2 on Consequence of Sound and Entertainment Weekly year-end lists
• Ranked number 3 on USA Today and Pitchfork year-end lists

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Hot Knife video was directed by Apple's ex-boyfriend Paul Thomas Anderson, but shooting conflicts with his film The Master delayed its release until July 2013
• The album's release day, 19 June 2012, was also the day her North American tour began in Ithaca, New York
• On 18 June 2012 she made her first TV appearance since 2006 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
• Apple debuted three new songs at two South by Southwest performances before the album came out
• The Every Single Night video premiered on the Sundance Channel on June 10, and the full album streamed on NPR the same day
• Hot Knife was never released as a single

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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