Before she was the lead singer, pianist, lyricist, and composer for the "Brechtian punk cabaret" duo the Dresden Dolls, Amanda Palmer was a Wesleyan University graduate who had been involved in theater for a number of years. After college, she founded the Shadowbox Collective, a group that performed plays as well as street theater. (Palmer herself was a busker who performed as a living statue.) In 2000 she met drummer Brian Viglione; though Palmer could not read music, she formed the Dresden Dolls a year later and became the main musical force behind the group. She also continued to explore other creative avenues, and in 2006 released -The Dresden Dolls Companion, a book that featured original art, a history of the band and its first album, and a partial autobiography by Palmer. At the end of that year, the Dresden Dolls performed the Palmer-penned musical The Onion Cellar with the American Repertory Theatre. In 2008 she released the solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer, which featured Ben Folds as both a producer and a performer. ~ Katherine Fulton, All Music Guide
01 Astronaut: a short history of nearly nothing - 4:37 02 Runs in the family - 2:58 03 Ampersand - 5:58 04 Leeds united - 4:55 05 Blake says - 4:42 06 Strength through music - 3:28 07 Guitar hero - 4:50 08 Have to drive - 5:49 09 What's the use of wond'rin? - 2:49 10 Oasis - 2:56 11 The point of it all - 5:34 12 Another year: a short history of almost something - 6:02