The Untold Story of Extraordinary Machine

[Carl]

I recently spoke with Brian Kehew, who played a key role in the creation of Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine album.

The album got bogged down after nearly two years of fits and starts trying to record it. An unfinished version was leaked on the Internet, and for a while that appeared to be all we would hear of it.

This is where Brian comes into the story. A man of protean musical talents and great deal of respect for the artist, he convinced Fiona to start fresh and record the tracks at Brian's studio.

In a month, they had their recordings. It was done the way many great projects are: with a small group of focused people and no outside meddling (the record company wasn't told - they had frozen the budget anyway).

In the end, the album was brilliant - named best of the year by both Time and Entertainment Weekly. Brian was listed as co-producer, but for the most part, left out of the story. Showing great forbearance, he waited until now to tell his side of the story, as the timing is finally right.

Brian also supplied some photos that show Fiona during these finally fruitful sessions. They show an artist doing what she truly loves - making her art.

Please have a look:

The Extraordinary Machine Story