The Fiery Furnaces

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Fiery Furnaces

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Origin = New York City, USA
Genre = Indie rock Indie pop Psychedelic pop Experimental rock
Years_active = 2000–present
Label = Rough Trade Records Fat Possum Records Thrill Jockey
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com Official site]
Current_members = Matthew Friedberger Eleanor Friedberger
Past_members =

The Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2000. [http://www.thefieryfurnaces.net/index.php?biography "The Fiery Furnaces |Biography"] . thefieryfurnaces.net. Retrieved on July 12, 2007.] The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The brother and sister are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.

Band biography

They signed with the Rough Trade music label in 2002, and recorded their debut album, "Gallowsbird's Bark", the same year. Released in 2003, it was often compared in the press to The White Stripes [http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/music/2003/11/03/gallowsbirds_bark.shtml BBC Review of Gallowsbird's Bark (dated March 11 2003). Retrieved on 8/22/2008] ] due to the garage blues elements of the band’s sound and the fact that the members are siblings (although, unlike The White Stripes, the Fiery Furnaces are actual and not pretend siblings [http://www.gloriousnoise.com/?pg=white_stripes_divorced.php "White Stripes Divorce Certificate"] . Glorious Noise, 2002. Retrieved July 12, 2007.] ).

Matthew is primarily responsible for the band's songwriting and studio instrumentation, while Eleanor handles the majority of the vocal duties. Drummer Andy Knowles and bassist Toshi Yano both joined the band for live performances in time for their 2004 tour. Beginning with a performance at the April 2004 All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Camber Sands, England, the band's live performances took the form of hour-long, continuous sets of music featuring snippets from most of their recorded songs. Many times, several songs were melded together to create a conglomerate song that encompassed material from previously released songs, this producing similarly complicated set lists for the band to follow. [http://homepage.mac.com/mr.gilbert/.Pictures/furnaces_setlist.jpg"Fiery Furnaces Setlist (dated September 18th, 2004)"] . http://homepage.mac.com/mr.gilbert. Retrieved on 12 July, 2007.]

The Fiery Furnaces released their second album, "Blueberry Boat", in the summer of 2004. It is also often interpreted as a multi-layered concept album. "Quay Cur," the ten minute lead track on Blueberry Boat, switches from dirty, gurgling organ to slide-guitar-fueled ditties, pulsing electronic beats to abstract lullaby within a few minutes, highlighting the Fiery Furnaces' variety in songwriting. Some critics, however, interpreted this type of material as evidence that the album is unfocused. The epic nature of the majority of the songs made them unsuitable for radio play so the band prepared "Single Again," a take on a traditional folk song as a substitute.

This single, along with their previously released ones, was mostly only made available to the UK audience, so in January 2005 the band released a 41-minute compilation disc named "EP" (this confusingly being a designation commonly reserved for shorter discs). "EP" featured two new songs, all of the band’s singles and b-sides (with the exception of an alternate version of "We Got Back The Plague" found on the "Tropical Ice-Land" single), and was for this reason a contrast to the epic and, according to some, inaccessible nature of "Blueberry Boat".

Their following album, "Rehearsing My Choir" (released in October 2005), saw the band return to an experimental sound once again. A concept album featuring the Friedbergers' grandmother, Olga Sarantos, narrating stories about her life, "Rehearsing My Choir" was met with widely differing opinions from both the press and the band's fans, being branded "difficult" even by those who rated it highly. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MIW060512052122&sql=10:1zdqoayarijm~T1 "AllMusic Guide Review, retrieved on 22 August 2008"] ] Sarantos previously worked as choir director at a Greek Orthodox church, and her croaked reminiscences form the backbone to this peculiar, piecemeal storybook of an album.Pattison, Lewis. [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000BCHJLK "Amazon.co.uk: Rehearsing My Choir Review"] . Amazon.com. Retrieved on 12 July, 2007.] Jason Loewenstein of Sebadoh and Bob D'Amico took over band duties for the supporting tour, replacing Toshi Yano and Andy Knowles.

The band released their fifth LP, entitled "Bitter Tea", in April 2006. In interviews they stated that the album was influenced by the sound of synthpop group Devo, and Eleanor Friedberger stated the album was "definitely the poppiest thing we've done." [http://www.stompandstammer.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=470 "Stomp and Stammer - Bitter Tea review, retrieved on 22 August 2008"] ]

Matthew Friedberger released "Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School" in August 2006, two separate albums which were packaged as a double album. According to a press release, "Winter Women" is "intended to be a summer record, full of memorable, catchy, and un-ironic pop songs," while "Holy Ghost Language School" is like "Faust, the Residents, or the most 'out' moments of Brian Eno's solo records." [http://forcefieldpr.com/site/2006/04/ "Matt Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces readies solo debut, by Force Field PR, retrieved on 22 August 2008"] ] Eleanor appeared on neither album and Matthew did not tour in support of his solo releases.

The band did a short tour in October and November 2006, supported by San Francisco experimental rock band, Deerhoof. This tour saw Matthew on keyboard, Eleanor on vocals, Jason Loewenstein on wah-wah pedaled guitar, Bob D'Amico on drums and the addition of Michael Goodman on percussion. The songs had a tropical/salsa feel to them, and most of the tracks from "Bitter Tea" were played as one long song, lasting 30 minutes—a medley format the band previously used while promoting "Blueberry Boat". [http://torontoist.com/2006/10/tall_poppy_inte_41.php "Tall Poppy Interview: The Fiery Furnaces] . "The Torontoist", October 31, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2007.]

In June 2007, it was announced in The Chicago Reader that the band had signed with Chicago label Thrill Jockey and their album "Widow City" was later released on October 9, 2007. Unlike their two previous efforts, this album lacks a central concept and has a 70s album rock feel. The band toured in support of the album throughout the later months of 2007 and early 2008.

A live compilation album, "Remember", was released on August 16, 2008.

Discography

*"Gallowsbird's Bark" (2003)
*"Blueberry Boat" (2004)
*"EP" (2005)
*"Rehearsing My Choir" (2005)
*"Bitter Tea" (2006)
*"Widow City" (2007)
*"Remember" (2008)

References

External links

* [http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com Official site]
* [http://www.thefieryfurnaces.net/ The Fiery Furnaces.net |Fansite]
* [http://www.fieryfurnacesforum.com/forum/ Official forum]
* [http://www.blueberryboat.com/wiki/Fiery_Furnaces_Wiki Fiery Furnaces Wiki site]
* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=5200 NewMusicBox matter: David T. Little's analysis of The Fiery Furnaces' album "Rehearsing My Choir"]
* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=5169 NewMusicBox cover: Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, July 16, 2007 (includes video)]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5515829 NPR article and downloadable broadcast]