#40: Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under

Makin' Whoopee (Donaldson/Kahn)
Australia (Palmer)
Vegemite (The Black Death) (Palmer)
Map Of Tasmania (feat. The Young Punx) (Palmer)
In My Mind (Palmer)
Bad Wine And Lemon Cake (with The Jane Austen Argument) (Dickins)
New Zealand (Palmer)
On An Unknown Beach (Bryce)
We're Happy Little Vegemites (Thompson)
Doctor Oz (Palmer)
A Formidable Marinade (with Mikaelangelo) (Mikaelangelo)
The Ship Song (Cave)

Amanda Palmer - vocals, piano, ukulele
Guthrie Govan - ukulele on 'Map Of Tasmania'
Hal Ritson and Michele Balduzzi - keyboards and programming on 'Map Of Tasmania'
Brian Viglione - percussion on 'In My Mind'
Tom Dickins - vocals on 'Bad Wine And Lemon Cake'
Jen Kingwell - piano on 'Bad Wine And Lemon Cake'
The Audience - vocals on 'We're Happy Little Vegemites'
Mikaelangelo - vocals and accordion on 'A Formidable Marinade'
Lance Horne - five instruments on 'A Formidable Marinade'
Produced by Amanda Palmer and Mick Wordley, except 'Map Of Tasmania' produced by Amanda Palmer, Hal Ritson and Michele Balduzzi

Label: 8ft Records

Another Amanda Palmer album, this really proves that this is a woman who is both making the most of her freedom, and her ability to market herself directly to her fanbase.

Made up of a combination of live recordings from a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, as well as brand studio tracks, 'Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under' is a heartfelt tribute to the continent that has embraced her most fully. Six tracks are originals, including a baffling dance track about the decoration of her pubic hair', named 'Map Of Tasmania' (look one up, and think about it). This one track I didn't like at all when I first heard it, but has really grown on me as a fun tune. Other more serious works include the bittersweet 'In My Mind', and the comedic 'Vegemite (The Black Death)' show the many different sides of Amanda Palmer, all of them just as effective. There are also four covers on the album including an amazingly beautiful version of 'The Ship Song' by Nick Cave which Cave himself has said is the best version of the song he's ever heard.

The remaining two tracks are performances of songs by Amanda's bandmates on the tour much of the album was recorded on - Mikaelangelo and The Jane Austen Argument. Of the two, The Jane Austen Argument's 'Bad Wine And Lemon Cake' is a track that shows the duo as more than worthy of Amanda's most soul-baring and emotional side. Mikaelangelo's track - 'A Formidable Marinade' is a strange song that reminds me very much of Dracula: The Musical from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Amanda is currently touring whilst working on her first "serious" solo album since 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer', but whilst we're waiting for that, this is more than a worthwhile listen. It's really less novelty than the theme of the record would have you believe.

Listen And/Or Download Here: http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/amanda-palmer-goes-down-under