People We Like: Amanda Palmer

Special Belated Birthday Edition

I’ve been planning to do this for some time and I definitely realize that this is getting close to being two months late. However, I still think this piece is valid. I adore Amanda Palmer. I love her music and read her blog and Twitter avidly. I think she is an amazing and amazingly talented person. She first won hearts as half of the groundbreaking (self described) Brechtian Punk Cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls. Then in 2008, Ms. Palmer released a solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer. I was Blown. Away. Amanda brought over her individual style from The Dresden Dolls, but made something new and different. Who Killed Amanda Palmer is a masterpiece. Driven by piano and Palmer’s unique vocals, the record is extremely powerful and I find myself listening over and over again.

In addition to the album, a book is being released on July 7th of photographs of Amanda Palmer “dead” with accompanying short stories by Neil Gaiman. From what we’ve seen of this book, it looks phenomenal. I’ve already pre-ordered mine (and you can pre-order yours here). There is also an amazing collection of videos available.

As we know from Amanda’s incredibly candid blog, the record label encouraged her not to release the album and gave her no support. In fact, they even objected to Amanda’s stomach appearing in her Leeds United video because it was “too fat”. Her fans rebelled and sent hundreds of pictures of their bellies to the record label. The movement, termed “Rebellyon” moved into it’s own website, which displays the photos and encourages healthy body images.

As I mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of Amanda’s Twitter. She is my favorite celebrity Twitter to read. Not only is her Twitter used for the usual stuff (sharing her day to day life with fans, mentioning blog entries, etc…), but it is also used to give away tickets and to announce special get-togethers/shows. I have also seen Ms. Palmer answer questions and on a very special evening, included auctioning off items. On May 15th, Amanda began the Loser of Friday Night On Their Computers (LOFNOTC), a virtual hang out of people on Twitter. The LOFNOTC now has an official slogan (“DON’T STAND UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT, STAY IN FOR WHAT’S WRONG”) and t-shirt.

Essentially, I could keep going for some time with things that I love about Amanda Palmer, but I’ll get to the point. This year, for her birthday, Amanda Palmer made this request:

please take this moment in time and think about one person, any person, who you think might like my music and my art. someone who doesn’t know it. someone who does not have amanda fucking palmer in their life and might like her there. this does not have to be a peer. it could be a child, a mother, an ex, an uncle, an befriended enemy, a co-worker, a long-lost friend, a teacher, a whatever. ANYONE.

picture them in your mind. picture if their life might possibly be made better if you brought some afp into it.

So, what I would like to do is (hopefully) introduce you to Amanda Palmer with this entry. In addition, I would like to buy two lucky comments (who I will select at random) a copy of Who Killed Amanda Palmer. To enter, simply comment to this entry with your e-mail address. To get you started, here is the video for my favorite track, Ampersand:

“Who Killed Amanda Palmer” Video Series – Part 3: Ampersand from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.