Free Fiona!

Maybe I'm behind the times, but I'm just now hearing about this: http://www.freefiona.com.

Apparently, Fiona Apple recorded an album, titled Extraordinary Machine, back in 2003, but Sony neglected to release it, citing its lack of "commercial appeal." And frankly, I can't blame them: Tidal sold by the truckload, but by the time When the Pawn Hits the Ring and Does the Thing and You Don't Seriously Think I Remember the Whole Title, Do You? hit stores, Fiona was seen as a flake by the general music-buying public, thanks largely to her disastrous MTV Award acceptance speech. (You remember: "This world...this world is bullshit!") And even though When the Pawn... was a bloody brilliant record, that hilarious title was a jump-the-shark moment if I ever saw one. So she faded away, despite making fantastic music.

The irony, of course, is that there are handfuls of vocal-and-piano chicks clogging up the airwaves these days -- most notably Alicia Keys and...uh...that other one I can't remember. Fiona's music blows all of them away, and she'd be huge if marketed correctly.

But I digress.

The point is that a rather large number of Fiona fans are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. They apparently staged a big protest in front of Sony offices in January, and have managed to get a great deal of national exposure (I read about it on Rolling Stone's website). And the story has picked up in the last few weeks, because somehow the songs -- which Sony has kept in a warehouse for almost two years -- have leaked, and DJs across the country are playing them, much to the record company's chagrin.

And if they're leaked to the radio, then you know they're leaked to the internet, too, and I'm in the middle of trying to acquire as many of the songs as I can. So far, I've managed partials of "Extraordinary Machine," "A Better Version of Me," and a complete-but-low-quality copy of "Waltz." The search continues to limp along, thanks to the difficulty in finding the songs combined with my dial-up modem. (Anyone who can point me in the direction of better versions of these or any tracks will be my bestest friend in the whole wide world.)

(And in case Sony should happen to stumble upon this...um, the last paragraph was all...a joke. Yeah. That's it. I would never download illegal music. Last time I did that, I was cornered by police and killed in a shootout. Wouldn't want that to happen again. Heh heh.)

Oh, and the songs are great. Release the damn album, you cheap bastards! FREE FIONA! FREE FIONA! ATTICA! ATTICA!