Amanda Palmer has become increasingly ubiquitous since the break-up of the Dresden Dolls. She has always excelled at both grabbing attention and engendering a sense of closeness with her fans, and she’s turned these skills not only into an artform but a viable career strategy. In an age when traditional industry models are gasping desperately for air, Palmer’s game-changing Kickstarter campaign in support of new album Theatre is Evil raised over a million dollars and a great many eyebrows, ornate or otherwise. Supporters stood to gain much more than just a CD – the more they pledged, the closer they got to Palmer, the biggest spenders being personally rewarded with house parties, makeovers and portraiture.
She’s an artist who inspires unbelievable devotion from her acolytes. This is partly due to her interactive theatricality and the singular closeness she encourages – for example, by constantly engaging her fans on Twitter, crowd-sourcing lyrics, playing ad hoc ‘ninja’ gigs in public spaces – but her biggest strength is her funny, vicious, verbally agile and emotionally ragged songwriting, equal parts Brecht and Bowie, Bolan and Bukowski. Grassroots attitude with Vaudeville style and glitter bombs.
Here, Palmer talks us through her 13 favourite albums – or at least, those that have had the biggest impact on her as an artist. Her choices tend towards the lyrical, the vivid, the dramatic and the British. Don’t expect much new stuff though: ‘I clearly haven’t listened to any music since the early ’90s.’ Click the image below to begin the countdown.
