Audio Mixers: Walter Fishbacher; Kurt Uenala.

Recording information: Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Lofish Productions, New York, NY.

Photographer: Amy T. Zielinski.

Arrangers: Cyndi Lauper; Nellie McKay; Sammy Merendino.

Originally scheduled for release in October 2005, Nellie McKay's follow-up to her lauded debut, GET AWAY FROM ME, remained in limbo for months due to a dispute with Columbia Records over the album's long track listing. Finally, in the fall of the following year, PRETTY LITTLE HEAD was issued as a two-disc set by SpinART with its 23 songs all accounted for, proving that the tenacious pop performer had no qualms about bucking major-label support. This fiery, uncompromising attitude is apparent throughout the record, whether the proudly quirky singer/pianist is pondering her existence (the boisterous "Real Life") or decrying the mistreatment of lab animals (the outraged "Columbia Is Bleeding," apparently about the university, not the record company). Given its considerable running time, PRETTY LITTLE HEAD has room for McKay's many shifts in both style and mood, with two impressive duets--"Beecharmer," featuring her THREEPENNY OPERA co-star Cyndi Lauper, and "We Had It Right," with fellow jazz/pop renegade K.D. Lang--proving to be the icing on this unusual two-layer cake.