Amanda Palmer performs the popular hits of Radiohead on her magical ukele

Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukelele by Amanda Palmer (8ft. Records) Limited Release, 2010.

Summary

Just as the title suggests this album sees Amanda Palmer (formerly of the Dresden Dolls and currently known for her Kickstarter campaigns and relationship to library lover Neil Gaiman) playing Radiohead songs on her ukelele.  The album was a limited release and came on red vinyl.  

Critical Evaluation

The album seems mostly like a cheeky joke: recreating songs from the artiest band to hit the top 40 in 15 years on a simple four-string instrument.  But the stripped down presentation of these Radiohead songs helps make them Palmer's.  A particular highlight is the song "Idioteque."  The original song is heavily electronic, featuring samples.  Palmer reduces the song to three layers -- piano for the song's prominent musical hook, ukelele to mimic the tape noise and percussion, and her evocative voice: a clear declaration in place of Thom Yorke's muttered original.  She transforms Creep into a slowburn; she imbues the song with the feeling many of her songs have -- a sense of being restorative confessionals.

Reader’s Annotation

One woman, one ukelele, and a handful of songs written by the most revered art rock band of the last 30 years add up to a strange mix of mournful joyousness.

Information about the author

From the website Allmusic.com: 

Before she was the lead singer, pianist, lyricist, and composer for the "Brechtian punk cabaret" duo the Dresden Dolls, Amanda Palmer was a Wesleyan University graduate who had been involved in theater for a number of years. After college, she founded the Shadowbox Collective, a group that performed plays as well as street theater. (Palmer herself was a busker who performed as a living statue.) In 2000 she met drummer Brian Viglione; though Palmer could not read music, she formed the Dresden Dolls a year later and became the main musical force behind the group. She also continued to explore other creative avenues, and in 2006 released The Dresden Dolls Companion, a book that featured original art, a history of the band and its first album, and a partial autobiography by Palmer. At the end of that year, the Dresden Dolls performed the Palmer-penned musical The Onion Cellar with the American Repertory Theatre. In 2008 she released the solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer, which featured Ben Folds as both a producer and a performer. After paying tribute to Radiohead on the 2010 EP Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele, in early 2011 Palmer released Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under, an album filled with references to Australia and New Zealand and written while on tour there. 2012 saw Palmer working towards the release of Theater Is Evil, her first studio album since breaking ties with major labels following Who Killed Amanda Palmer. The album, which featured collaborations with a group of musicians dubbed The Grand Theft Orchestra, was funded by fans through a campaign on the pledge-based fundraising site Kickstarter. The project's original goal of $100,000 was exceeded tenfold, with over a million dollars in pledges being collected. (Fulton, 2013).

Genre

Music: Alternative/Ukelele
 

Curriculum Ties

The album could be used to inspire students to play ukelele.  Palmer typically plays piano, but over the course of 7 songs shows quite a range of sounds that can be coaxed from the Hawaiian instrument.  Palmer is also an inspiring female figure in general because she blazes her own trail and is extremely savvy.

Booktalking Ideas

1) The cover is great fun.

2) The album is really for fans of Amanda Palmer, but because it's a cover album it could be used to expose Radiohead fans to her music.

3) Discussing her use of the Internet to make a living might be an interesting in.

Reading Level/Interest Age

8th grade and up

Challenge Issues

Strong language. 

I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the work I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

Amanda Palmer is a force on the Internet.  She's essentially the poster-child for earning a living through music without the aid of a record label.  Also, her 2008 album Who Killed Amanda Palmer was a masterpiece.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips

Fulton, K. (2013). Amanda Palmer: Biography. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/amanda-palmer-mn0000089870/overview/main#discography