You may know her from the cabaret-punk duo the Dresden Dolls. You may know her from conjoined-twin circus pair Evelyn Evelyn. You may know her solo work. Or you may not know her at all. But you should. Amanda Palmer creates offbeat art via music, film, theater, and her hilarious Twitter page (which this past weekend featured a lengthy discussion on the best slang term for breasts). Whatever she does, it’s bound to be interesting.
Good thing too, because otherwise the idea of another Radiohead covers EP would be forehead slap-inducing. But Palmer and her trusted ukulele may just pull it off. The album is titled Amanda Palmer Plays the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele, which seems a bit tongue-in-cheek. How can the “popular hits” not include “Karma Police”? Generally though the tracklist contains the band’s more well-known songs. Listen to the first single below.
The album features “Idioteque,” “Creep,” “No Surprises,” “High and Dry,” “Fake Plastic Trees.” Plus there’s a bonus track: “Exit Music (for a Film)” performed with a piano and string quartet at the Sydney Opera House. Presumably this gets relegated to a bonus because it is ukulele-less.
“I’m really proud of the way this record wound up sounding,” Palmer said in a press release. “It’s actually a lot more emotional than I expected. Radiohead songs almost play themselves because the songwriting is so genius, and the ukulele is perfect for laying that genius bare. I tried to strip the songs down as far as possible without destroying them.”
Palmer just dropped first single “Idioteque.” Stream it below then buy it at Bandcamp. It costs 40¢ because, as she explains, 9¢ goes to Radiohead and rest is Paypal transaction fees. This means Palmer doesn’t make a penny if you pay 40¢, so go impress the ladies with your big pockets and shell out 50¢ (or more). Women and children first.
Amanda Palmer Plays the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele drops July 17 on Bandcamp. Find more Amanda Palmer at her website or Twitter.
