AFP and the Dresden Dolls

[karohemd]

Everyone who doesn't get my fascination with Amanda Palmer and her music should read this article by Neil Gaiman. He puts it more eloquently than I ever could (duh, being a fab writer and all) and I guess knowing the person rather than the persona of AFP helps (although I don't think she's hiding much).

Comments

[oedipamaas49.livejournal.com]

wow. That's quite some article.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

It's obviously biased but judging by the reactions on twitter, he managed to put into words what most fans feel.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Nice piece! Sadly I am one of those hated people who prefers the DDs to her solo stuff :-)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Nothing to hate. It's completely different. When she plays DD stuff on her own, there's simply something missing.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, I was referring jokingly to what Gaiman says in that article: "she tells me how irritated she is with people who tell her that they like the Dresden Dolls better than her solo performances".

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

I was convinced by her awesomeness largely on the strength of that webcast you linked to where she took Tristan (that young music student) back to her house and played duets with him.

Elements of Neil Gaiman's article hint at the same attitude - open camera policy and letting fans up on the stage to sing backing vocals. This is cool. I approve.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

The EP is coming out this month (http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/tristan-allen-ep-preview), financed via Kickstarter within a weekend.
The way she interacts with her fans (and vise versa) is quite unique. I actually hope she doesn't get much bigger because then keeping this up is going to get difficult.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

It's unique now, but wait 20 years and all the cool kids will be doing it!

[laumiere.livejournal.com]

For me she's in the same camp as Beth Ditto, some talent but so unbelieveably up herself that anything she has done is eclipsed by the EGO. Mind you, Neil Gaiman is rapidly going that way too.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Fair enough but I don't think you can survive in show business without some measure of ego and compared to egomaniacs like Bono she's perfectly down to earth.
She occasionally slips up and does things that make me roll my eyes (who doesn't) but then she does things like invite a fan into her home so he can show her his music and who turns out to be some piano wizkid she's so impressed by that she helps him record an EP. It all balances out.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Great article. I am aware (of course) of the DDs, but I suspect I will not love them until I am baying in the audience. Amanda's entire force comes from the directness of her communication, and eg watching a video on Sky Arts is interesting but too remote.

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Note to self: never read the comments on articles like that.

There are some bile-filled, sorry excuses for human beings in the World, and so many of them hang out on Internet message boards it's incredible. Still, it keeps them off the streets I suppose.

I've never listened to AFP to be honest, but the article does make me wonder what it is that I'm missing.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I very rarely read comments exactly for that reason.

You have to see her live to get what the article is about. It's her presence, the way she includes her audience in everything she's doing (see fractalgeek's comment above).