Fiona Apple returns from a six-year musical hiatus with ‘Extraordinary Machine,’ the new album that is far from extraordinary. In fact, it’s a sour apple. Dueling producers, a leak of the first version and its eventual shelving by Apple are just a few of the problems prior to its anti-climactic release. Longtime collaborator/producer Jon Brion was ditched in favor of Mike Elizondo, one of Dr. Dre’s henchmen. Even instruments like the marxophone, chamberlain and mellotron fail to rescue the discordant and confusing melodies. This entire album is Apple’s way of flipping the bird to the agendas of record labels and their incessant drive to make everything marketable. The words,”Now I can taste your agenda while you’re spittin curd,” probably refer to all of the crap that usurps the creative process. Her attempt to make a progressive statement with this album simply didn’t work. It is a complete disaster.