June 11, 2010

LOOK: THE "IDIOTEQUE" SINGLE FROM MY RADIOHEAD COVERS RECORD IS OUT!

here we go, yo….i am officially announcing the existence and realse of much-anticipated NEW RADIOHEAD UKULELE record.
while you read this, you should listen to the first single, “IDIOTEQUE”:

the album will be released for real in it’s full awesomeness on JULY 20th, but for now, THE SINGLE IS UP, and (at least according to twitter and reddit) people like what they’re hearing.
(BTW: please vote that up if you’ve got a reddit account)

the record is called, of course,

AMANDA PALMER PERFORMS THE POPULAR HITS OF RADIOHEAD ON HER MAGICAL UKULELE.

and here it is in it’s full splendor and glory…
photo by @artDESI
design by @bethofalltrades
songs by @radiohead
all covered on ukulele by yours truly, AFP.

(and if you think it was fun getting my hair to look like that….well, duh, it WAS. rollers! desi, my hairdresser who also did the make-up AND took the photos, is a master!):
also, i lied a little…the songs are all on ukulele, but there’s other stuff added on top on some songs. there’s bits of piano and toy piano on several of the tracks…and we have an absolutely take-your-breath-away recording of “exit music (for a film)” that was done at the sydney opera house on the who killed amanda palmer tour way back when. @zoecello and @lyndonchester play on it (lyndon wrote the string arrangement), and it’s sublime…i couldn’t leave it off. here we are recording it (video stills thanks to shoottheplayer, who are the REASON we have this recording, thanks guys!):

zoë keating with her magical cello…
and here’s lyndon chester that day (looking all martin gore-y…)

the tracklist will be as follows:
1. fake plastic trees
2. high and dry
3. no surprises
4. idioteque
5. creep (hungover at soundcheck in berlin)
6. exit music (for a film)

AND
a special digital only bonus track:
7. creep (live in prague)

to pre-emptively answer some questions……
* the album will be available on bandcamp for a minimum donation of 84¢…some stuff i’d like you to know about that 84¢:
– 54¢ of it is going directly back into radiohead’s pockets (the cost of selling my covers of their songs)
– the remaining 30¢ will be going to paypal to cover the transaction fee
– should people (like YOU) choose to donate MORE than that, it’ll come directly to me – no label, no nothing
– i really would love for people to see this release and love it but maybe hopefully learn something from it about how artists get paid in this type of situation

the rest of the songs (except for “creep”, which i’ll get to in a second) were recorded while i was in australia earlier in the year, with the incredible mick wordley (ben folds turned me onto him. he was great)…here i am with him, listening to some rough board mixes:
photo by milton wordley, mick’s brother!

*”idioteque” was mixed by my ex, michael mcquilken, who is a fantastic engineer and whose love of radiohead is true and deep. he made such incredible beauty out of what we recorded, he just NAILED it. (he makes his own music and you can see/hear an increidble project he did on vimeo here)

* “creep” was recorded in the studio with mick but it ended up not feeling like it was the right way to put that particular cover out there…so i decided that a huge live version would be better, and since i was on tour with evelyn evelyn i arranged for some engineers to bring their stuff and try to capture it. we ended up getting two VERY different takes on it that i like very much. the official version on the record, believe it or not, was done at SOUNDCHECK in berlin in preparation for the real recording. i was HUNG OVER. but it just worked perfectly to be singing that song, while hungover, with neil writing in his little notebook backstage and me feeling awfully guilty that i’d ruined our day…not to mention the thin applause of the four germans on the tech crew who became my audience for this now-historic performance of ultimate loser-dom.
you’ll love it. it made me cry when i heard it. the other recording i ended up loving and using for the digital bonus was live (this time with an audience of more than four) in prague.

* there WILL be physical product, but…
– it will be limited to 1,000 copies on special fancy vinyl. that’s right, mum, no CDS.
– some of the vinyl will be for sale individually, and some will come with special packages (including things like a phonecall/skype performance from me on a one of a kind ukulele i art’d up, using the songs on the record as inspiration)
– ALL of these things will be available at the end of july…(the press release said the 17th, but it’s looking like the 20th is more likely)

* we are going to do a LUAU webcast at partyontheinternet.com in honor of the release – music, mai-tais, contests, and all sorts of other craziness
– please follow @AFPwire on twitter and sign up for my e-mail list so that you know when we announce more details

* you can get your first taste of this whole thing now, NOW, NOW – the first single, “idioteque”, is up (with a minimum donation of 40¢ (9¢ going to radiohead and the rest to paypal)…get it HERE and please share with your friends via twitter, facebook, myspace, IM, sky-writing, or whatever you can.

here is the cover for the single, lookin’ all swanky and swanko‘d (click to buy):
* yes the album (and single) will be available on itunes and amazonmp3 and all that stuff, but with a big delay — please purchase stuff from me directly at http://music.amandapalmer.net (or through bandcamp) whenever possible — it’s great to be able to get music out on my own everywhere but also not be charged a shit-ton to do it…by using bandcamp as my backend, people are able to get music ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, in almost ANY FORMAT (quality/filetype), and know i’m seeing the most money from it. since being dropped, MY SITE is ALWAYS the best way to know the money’s going to me directly.

…………………..

and now?

I NEED YOUR HELP. REALLY I DO.

i have no label, no promotional companies, no posters in the subways of new york and london, no fancy-ass marketers helping me promote this betch. i have YOU GUYS.

please spread the word, tell people with your mouth, post to forums and boards, spread the link for the single around and otherwise scrawl in the bathrooms of the world that this album is coming.

on friday the 18th (the night before the final EE show), we’ll pick 5 people at random who buy the “idioteque” single between then and now, and either give them a download code for the whole radiohead album (when it’s released) OR a download code for the “who killed amanda palmer (alternate tracks)” (winners choice)
we’ll do the same for 5 people who tweet-promo on twitter…using the hashtag #UKULELEhead and the link http://bit.ly/AFPidio, tell your friends about the single/project
but wait…….
we’ll also pick ONE person (randomly, from either twitter or “idioteque” purchases) who’s guaranteed a copy of the limited edition vinyl, signed and personalized by me

so…….
maybe i’ll see you at the final two evelyn evelyn NYC shows, or the shows in DC, philly, and boston…tickets are left for all of them, but going fast…get yours HERE if you haven’t.

i’ll leave you with a couple more pictures from recording this bad-boy (with more blogs and photos and all sorts of other craziness surely to come):

mick and i listening to mixes…milton wordley