TS: The Arcade Fire vs. The Fiery Furnaces

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If I had to listen to one I'm not sure I could.

Unfairly quoting.

I'd do it, but I'm tired of talking about both and tired of reading about both.

-- sleep (enemy.airshi...), January 8th, 2005.

They're both reverberations in the death knell. Good night, to the, rock and roll, era.........................................................................................................................

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 07:05 (twenty years ago)

I heard the former for the first time last night, and was decidedly not inspired, encouraged nor enthused. Have yet to hear the latter, but hopes are not high.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 8 January 2005 07:09 (twenty years ago)

I would caution you about the latter since the sister singer's vocals irritate the living fuck out of me, FWIW. I might even go so far as to say that The Blueberry Boat is THE WORST hypescam of the year. There should be lists about those--emperor's new clothes--it'd be #1.

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 07:14 (twenty years ago)

I've heard both these bands and I was not impressed by either of them. I think if I was forced to choose at gunpoint, I'd probably say the Furnaces. But since fate is kind and I'm not forced that way, who cares?

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:38 (twenty years ago)

I like the Furnaces more since I saw them live, but I'm still not all that impressed.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:40 (twenty years ago)

furnaces easy

― j blount (papa la bas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:41 (twenty years ago)

Fiery Furnaces! Yes.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:47 (twenty years ago)

I heard a Furnaces track, "Don't Dance Her Down," and now I'm pissed because I can't un-hear it. gaaaaaaaaaaah. It might be somebody else's cup of tea, but dear lord, I hated everything about it and I hated it a lot.

― daria g (daria g), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:51 (twenty years ago)

Furnaces first album! yes! indie rock carnival!

― kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 8 January 2005 09:15 (twenty years ago)

furnaces by a mile

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Saturday, 8 January 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

both are very appealing but not very comparable

― Rizz (Rizz), Saturday, 8 January 2005 10:46 (twenty years ago)

Fiery Furnaces debut is wonderful, an indie rock carnival indeed.
Not quite sure about the new one. When they tone down the sub-Wakeman keyboards and bring on the chunky scrappy Townsend meets Royal Trux guitar and Harry Smith Anthology of Folk Song references it's bloody great (Christ Michaels) But the prog carnival/sea shanty stuff sets my teeth on edge (Quay Cur). But I haven't felt up to listening to it right through yet, so we'll see...
Saw them live twice last year and the difference 6 months made. Second time round was an absolute blast, with all the songs rolling into one another. Super fun, and my friend, a Libertines fan, hated it. So they've gotta be doing something right. (that said, another friend likes both)

― stew, Saturday, 8 January 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)

The Arcade Fire by a huge margin.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

The Fiery Furnaces. They are the best band of this decade, no contest.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

I don't like either, but a friend is in AF, so them.

― Vic Funk, Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:40 (twenty years ago)

Quay Cur is easily my favourite song from Blueberry Boat, now.

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

i haven't heard a single song by either, and i have zero interest this changing.

im so sick of the hype

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

how anyone can stand her voice, i cannot comprehend.

both bands are over hyped shit.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

Never heard FF, but since most claim the AC is better, I won't be trying to find any of their music. FF makes me think of dolphins trying to make folk rock.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

i mean AF of course.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

FF makes me think of dolphins trying to make folk rock.

considering you haven't heard them, that is a great appropriation. she sounds like a fucking dolphin.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

or a seal.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

Teh argh!

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

the arcade fire. simple as that.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

Eleanor's voice is a little low for a dolphin, don't you think?

Eleanor = best female vocalist in rock music today. Sorry, Cutty. You're just wrong about this!

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:42 (twenty years ago)

Dude get a grip. Eleanor sounds like a kindergarten teacher copping Sarah from Velocity Girl.

Best female vocalists in rock music today.

Bjork, Edith Frost, Jennifer Herrema, Joanna Newsom, Beth Gibbons, Isobel Sollenberger, Corin Tucker, Chan Marshall, Laetitia Sadier...

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)

Joannna Newsom! Yikes!

I've got to give you credit for leaning heavy on the girls with the quirky, super distinctive voices, though.

Are any of those vocalists aside from Tucker and Herrema really in a ROCK BAND, though?

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

matthew, you are their number one fanboy, you opinion means nothing.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

matthew "flux fiery furnaces fanboy" perpetua

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I am. But my taste in general is a lot better than yours.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)

Ah, I shouldn't have said that. That was mean.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)

Matthew, I would say that Bardo Pond is a rock band, yes. And Stereolab too. Do you really prefer Eleanor Friedberger's vocals to Edith Frost's? Edith sings like an angel. Eleanor sings like she's asking wordy questions all the time. And I don't consider Eleanor remotely approaching Bjork's ability. I think you'd have to look hard for anyone who does.

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

your taste is so good, you made a website about it to tell the world! congrats, you ponce.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

and so FUCKING WRONG!

you have horrible taste !!!!

― ddb (ddb), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

I already feel very ill-disposed towards the Arcade Fire so I guess the Fiery Furnaces win by default. But honestly, this debate feels sub-Pitchforkian at best. (Also because I'm beginning to shift from having favorite bands to having favorite albums when it comes to newer groups.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

Eleanor is so dead in the eyes I am surprised there is not a hand stuck up her ass making her sing.

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

Ooooooooooooooooooooh. The gauntlet: thrown down!

People said the same things you're saying about the Fiery Furnaces about Pink Floyd's "Animals." It's just prog epic obsessive rock opera all over again. "Thick As A Brick" is pretty cool, but it's not the best album of all time just because it's complicated.

Plus, FF are not, by any definition that any normal person would understand, a "rock" band. They don't "rock." How about PJ Harvey?

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

BOTH BANDS SUCK BALLS.

INDY ROCK IS DEAD, LET GO OF ONE DREAM.

― ddb (ddb), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

i love when you type "indy"

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

Raiders of the Lost 8-Track

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

Yeah Ned, I agree--it's bound to be an annoying debate since it's not based on any similarities / differences between the bands, but just on the fact that both of them are hyped. It was spawned by the 'Arcade Fire on NPR' thread.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

Eleanor = the female equivalent of Stephen Malkmus. She's a tomboy, she's not about being angelic and hyper feminine, and she's not about aggression or overemoting like most non-femme female vocalists. She's in a very narrow niche normally occupied by male vocalists, and that's a lot to do with why I love her voice. The "kindergarten teacher" thing is actually a very good thing about her voice.

I understand that her voice has a limited appeal, but I think that has a lot to do with the expectations that a lot of people have for female rock vocalists.

I'd say that Stereolab was once a rock band, and now they are something else.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

i don't have special expectations for female rock vocalists specifically, but i do have expectations for anyone i listen to sing.

they should have a RANGE, be able to sing NOTES, and have a nice VOICE.

she has none of the above.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

I couldn't disagree more. I don't have any "expectations" about female rock vocalists, except that they have interesting voices. elanor does not. I think the girl who sings "Acoustic Guitar" on 69 Love Songs, for example, has a better voice. So does, like, k.d. lang. (It's not like she's a terrible singer--it's the hyperbole! the hyperbole!

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

post-pitchforkian

Mrjosh, The Blueberry Boat is a prog rock album only to people who don't listen to prog rock. It sounds nothing like Animals. "Dogs" flows and develops over the course of its 20 odd minutes. The songs of Bluebery Boat are herky jerky collages with little thematic cohesion.(And it sounds nothing like The Who, either.) Listen to Renaissance, Mellow Candle, or Fairport Convention if you need female vocals with your progness.

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

I'm kinda baffled as to why the majority of Gallowsbird's Bark and songs like "Chris Michaels," "Straight Street," "My Dog Was Lost," etc would not be considered rock music. Weird. I mean, it's not fucking AC/DC, but all of the Furnaces songs are pretty firmly within the rock tradition.

Cutty, mrjosh, there is certainly a difference between being a good singer and being a good vocalist, particularly in rock music. You're erring on the side of good singing, and that's fine, but limiting.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

Plus, whenever I hear FF's *Tropical Ice Land* I think of Unrest's *Cherry Cherry* and I hate associating a good band with the shit that is FF.

x post - Eleanor not the female equivalent to Malkmus. That is kind of far reaching.

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

You're right, it's not prog, just music with multiple sections and parts. It's no more prog than the second side of Abbey Road or some Guided By Voices records.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

who cares, true, but don't you think the 'oooh! experimental! mind-expanding! plays with our expectations of what we expect from pop music!' rhetoric people use to describe blueberry boat is essentially the same as what people you to describe prog? it's certainly the way a friend of mine talks when he tries to get me to listen to 'minstrel in the gallery.'

it's as though music ought to be good for you or something--or as though it's main job is to impress those of us who've heard too much music. to me 'blueberry boat' is the 'brief interviews with hideous men' of the indie rock world.

matthew, I understand the distinction you're making, but I guess I judge 'good vocalist' ability on whether the vocals affect me, regardless of how pretty they are, or whatever; and by that standard i find eleanor's singing about as effecting as chris martin's.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:17 (twenty years ago)

you = use, it's = its, good lord.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

they should have a RANGE, be able to sing NOTES, and have a nice VOICE.

ugh, hell no. opposite of the above and you have my favourite singer

― Rizz (Rizz), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

How is comparing Eleanor to Malkmus far reaching? They have pretty similar styles, roughly the same strengths and weaknesses, and seem to turn people on or off for mostly the same reasons. Is it far reaching because of their difference in gender?

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

The Minstrel in the Gallery is a much better album than The Blueberry Boat. And it's NOT good for you! It'll clear parties out.

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

fiery furnaces are pretty much straight-up art-rock, in the same kind of way that pj harvey or, say, wilco, are straight-up art-rock. it's rock made by art-school kids. which i'd say of gbv, too.

first fiery furnaces record is grebt. i'm not sold yet on the second, though i'm not dismissing it yet either. i haven't yet been able to wrap my head around it.

arcade fire record is so tasteful it's unlistenable.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

ugh, hell no. opposite of the above and you have my favourite singer

jamie from xiu xiu?

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

I have no problem with Eleanor's voice and actually like it. But their stage presence is cringeworthy (maybe people like that) and all of their songs seem about 10 days from being actually good. I saw them at the old Luxx 2 summers ago and thought they could be great if they actually learned how to edit and finish a song. When the album came out and the raving began I thought perhaps that they had. BUT NO. They still point towards sucking and their songs are awkward as they are.

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

Malkmus had/has a fluidity and grace in song structure/lyrics/and presence that I don't see anywhere in Eleanor. Perhaps they share similar phrasing and talky talky singing, but would you compare her to Mark E. Smith or even Fred Schneider from the B-52s?

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

Simon, what do you find cringe-inducing about their stage presence?

Fair enough, re: Malkmus, but I definitely hear that fluidity and grace in the Furnaces, it's a huge part of why I like them. In a lot of ways, I think that my attraction largely comes from hearing a lot of Pavement in them.

Yeah, I kinda get a Mark E Smith thing from her, a little bit. Enough so that she covered a Fall song and it sounded pretty natural.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)

jamie from xiu xiu?

among others, what i mean is that i dont value all the things you said when there is no REAL emotion. Is your favourite singer Christina Aguilera?

― Rizz (Rizz), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

i just find them very uncomfortable and awkward on stage. Part of that may have to do with Eleanor looking like a poor man's Patti Smith (even sporting the hair) but lacking any kind of dynamic. Her dead eyes just really bother me. And that the songs are kind all so close to being actually good.

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:39 (twenty years ago)

Is your favourite singer Christina Aguilera?

What's wrong with Xtina's voice?

I'm not sure what annoys me more: people who write off vocalists who aren't technically gifted singers, or people who distrust people who are technically gifted singers.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

it's not that she isn't technically gifted.. her VOICE SUCKS. it's is deep and breathy and totally repulsive.

i love xiu xiu by the way.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

Wow, I didn't know there was a Fiery Furnaces backlash. I really have no idea what anyone could find offensive about Eleanor's voice as opposed to...uh... say, Joanna Newsom... Bjork? What? Oh yeah, because they're girls it means they are comparable! Duh.

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)

i love xiu xiu by the way.

That explains a lot.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

people who distrust people who are technically gifted singers.

Though I'm not fond of singing with a partial origin point in Mariah Carey's ululations -- I'm sure Dan will correct me on this, though -- I don't distrust her at all on that front but some moments aside I sure wish she had better material (Linda Perry, ARGH).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

All the post-list hype and discussion about these bands is making me illogically grow tired of both of them. And from the looks of things on this thread, I'm not the only one.

It took me a few listens to get into AF, and I've been through "Blueberry Boat" a few times and I'm not getting it AT ALL, so AF win.

We'll have to revive this thread in six months or so, when nobody is talking about these bands anymore.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

Ned, I know what you mean. Or maybe I don't but I like melisma in the form of MC (and Liz Fraser but I guess that was more glossolalia/coming from the womb). Xtina has a good voice but her material is at times horrendous. Perfect for the shower like Anastethicka.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:09 (twenty years ago)

I didn't know FF were getting hyped at all, anywhere, and keep getting baffled by all this "so tired of the hype" moaning. The AF seem to be all over the shop, mind.

The internet is bad for you.

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:11 (twenty years ago)

Wow, a thread where we fight fire with fire. Or the fiery.

/Okay, I'll go.

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

Ian Moraine gets it!

"Wow, I didn't know there was a Fiery Furnaces backlash. I really have no idea what anyone could find offensive about Eleanor's voice as opposed to...uh... say, Joanna Newsom... Bjork? What? Oh yeah, because they're girls it means they are comparable! Duh."

Eleanor's voice is annoying, not offensive. Joanna's would be annoying too if there wasn't (seeming) substance to what she sang unlike the pseudo-L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E bilge the Furnaces front too often on Blueberry Boat. "Quay Cur" is not a funny pun, let alone a conceit sufficient to build a ten minute song around. The backlash comes, at least from this end, from having wasted ten buck on that trash. The comparison about the female vocals stems from someone's unbelievable claim that Eleanor is THE BEST female vocalist.

Just thought I'd clear things up for you there.

― who cares, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)

Ian Moraine gets it!

Who, that punk? Why, I wouldn't trust him with a ten-foot pole! Oh wait, he's extremely cool and a friend of mine, never mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

"Quay Cur" is not a funny pun, let alone a conceit sufficient to build a ten minute song around.

That is an insanely facile dismissal of the song's lyrical content!

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:28 (twenty years ago)

The comparison about the female vocals stems from someone's unbelievable claim that Eleanor is THE BEST female vocalist.

ahh, the voice of reason.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

There was a qualifier: best female vocalist in a contemporary rock band.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

oh stop. eleanor is not going to have sex with you.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

(horrible images of perpetua masturbating to quay cur)

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

Oh fuck you, Cutty.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:37 (twenty years ago)

Ah, I shouldn't have said that. That was mean.

-- Matthew "Flux" Perpetua (mperpetu...), January 8th, 2005.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

Seriously, fuck you.

― Matthew "Flux" Perpetua, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:39 (twenty years ago)

*sigh* If we could leave off with this nonsense, I'm not fond of the idea of having to moderate the thread actively.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:43 (twenty years ago)

I'd love to hear the Fiery Furnaces if they were forced to deal with a heavy handed producer. I can't imagine any set of circumstances with the capacity to make TAF interesting.

Actually the comparison of the two is a good one: eccentric, unfocused band with flat-affect vocalist vs. traditional, predictable band with an overly emotive vocalist. Or something like that.

― dlp9001, Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:46 (twenty years ago)

I think we have to let my mum decide this one. She likes the Fiery Furnaces, and she likes Joanna Newsom, but she thinks the Arcade Fire are just boring.

And I didn't need anything to be cleared up for me, thanks. I thought everything was pretty clear (ie, NOT female vocalists, but female rock vocalists), but I guess not.

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)

I'd like to ask the people who are frustrated by Eleanor's vocals this, though.

Kim Gordon or Eleanor Friedberger?

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 18:53 (twenty years ago)

I agree with Perpetua on everything he's said. Eleanor's voice is impossibly cute, especially within the context of the music, which she's just perfect for.

The Fiery Furnaces are an adventurous band with storytelling tendencies and you have to approach them with the mindset of a little kid. Criticizing them for the most part is like criticizing children's lit just cuz you're an adult. wtf??

The Arcade Fire has way less potential, creativity and originality that they can do good with in the future than the Furnaces, so it's no contest.

― bill neil (inabillity), Saturday, 8 January 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

also I should add that as a fan of children's literature, I am definitely biased in a good way.

I'd love to hear the Fiery Furnaces if they were forced to deal with a heavy handed producer.

yes!! my thoughts as well.

― bill neil (inabillity), Saturday, 8 January 2005 19:40 (twenty years ago)

The Fiery Furnaces and Jim Steinman = Vision Thing 2006

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 January 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)

xx-post: so, hang on, the FFs make music for children? er, ok! i mean, i don't criticise children's literature, but then nor do i read it.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 8 January 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

The Fiery Furnaces making music for children:

http://www.pancakemountain.com/fieryf.html

― Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Saturday, 8 January 2005 20:48 (twenty years ago)

http://www.pancakemountain.com/images/index_19-over.gif

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 8 January 2005 20:51 (twenty years ago)

haha whaaaat

i mean it makes total sense but... still funny :)

― sleep (sleep), Saturday, 8 January 2005 20:58 (twenty years ago)

what in the fuck is that show

― W i l l (common_person), Saturday, 8 January 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

"Mouse House"! That shit rocks. Now I wish I lived in DC so I could watch that show.

Oh, and FF over AF by a mile.

― o. nate (onate), Saturday, 8 January 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

there's also an interview where eleanor kisses a puppet sheep that then makes fun of her for kissing it

― W i l l (common_person), Saturday, 8 January 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

Fiery Furnaces.

AF sounds like interpol-lite to me and i havent been impressed by them on record or live. FF jumps all over the reference map and fucks shit up in performance. i wouldnt say they're the best band of this decade but they are certainly up there.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 8 January 2005 21:50 (twenty years ago)

And they have a song called "Mouse House Moose House" with ACCOMPANYING DANCE. Oh yes.

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 8 January 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)

Anyone doubters who want to give the Furnaces another chance should check out the new EP (which is actually a 10 song/40 minute album) -- it's essentially their "pop" album, mostly three/four minute melodically consistent songs with very few instances of schizoid Blueberry Boat time changes. Less Wakeman, more Wings.

― stuber, Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)

I'm sure it's been noted before, but it's interesting to me that in the indie world, an "over-hyped" band sells twenty-five thousand records.

Also, in any logical context, the Fiery Furnaces beat out Arcade Fire. AF is Coldplay with dance beats and silly lyrics. "You can't raise a baby on motor oil." Good to know.

-Max

― Max, Sunday, 9 January 2005 01:34 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I'm surprised it took people that long to get it. Or maybe no-one wanted to comment. Possibly.

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Sunday, 9 January 2005 02:00 (twenty years ago)

Maybe they were just stirred up.

― who cares, Sunday, 9 January 2005 02:02 (twenty years ago)

Listening to Blueberry Boat makes me wonder what they could do with a huge budget. Not that you always need one, and the album sounds fine, but they seem like a group that would know how to use the money. I wonder if everyone who hates Blueberry Boat hates the musical theeyaytur. a.k.a. Broadway. Maria sez it reminds her of cabaret music. Not the musical. The venue. The style. I don't know if I hear that exactly, but I think it would make a swell background for some sort of dance piece. And lotsa people hate dance even more then they hate Broadway. I still wonder if I would like the album as much if a dude sang the whole thing. I guess it would depend on the dude. I do like her voice a lot. It fits perfectly. When the dude DOES sing on the album is when I wonder if I would have played it as much if he had sung the whole thing. I realize it is a weird hypothetical. I'm just more suspicious of indie dudes with brianwilson dreams of grandeur. But I'm a sucker for women singing intersesting lyrics in interesting ways, and it's rare to hear a woman (nowadays) singing tricky and interesting art-rock. Isn't that interesting! And I DO like the music a lot. And like I said elsewhere, the fact that the music skirts wilsonia but never reminds me of it (and never reminds me of the wilsonian tribute stuff that i truly can't stand)is a big plus.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 9 January 2005 02:03 (twenty years ago)

OMG! I'm Totally Going To See A Brother/Sister Duo Tonight! I Forgot. Not The Fiery Furnaces Though.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 9 January 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)

It's no more prog than the second side of Abbey Road

"plagiarism" aside, fiery furnaces.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Sunday, 9 January 2005 02:17 (twenty years ago)

i like the fiery furnaces though i've only heard about five songs. i don't think she deserves the insult of being compared unfavorably to sarah shannon, she's a big star, i know. arcade fire i've not ever heard but they're canadian right so they probably are not very good.

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 9 January 2005 05:18 (twenty years ago)

OMG! I'm Totally Going To See A Brother/Sister Duo Tonight! I Forgot. Not The Fiery Furnaces Though.

????
http://www.bradthegame.com/martha-wainwright/images/martha-rufus.JPG

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 9 January 2005 05:22 (twenty years ago)

Oh my goddess, Gene Loves Jezebel returned from the dead.

Maybe they were just stirred up.

Precisely.

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Sunday, 9 January 2005 05:28 (twenty years ago)

No, they were called ponies in the surf. they were wee. and hard to hear over the beer taps.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 9 January 2005 05:55 (twenty years ago)

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFUS

― SCOTT BUCKLEY, Sunday, 9 January 2005 07:47 (twenty years ago)

I agree with those who say that Eleanor has a great voice. Perhaps this is just a hetero-guy perspective, but she's got that tough-yet-vulnerable thing, like a Patti Smith or Chrissie Hynde, but she doesn't go as over the top with it like, say, Karen O, who swaggers a bit too much.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 10 January 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

Eleanor = the female equivalent of Stephen Malkmus

Even though Malkmus' vocals are supposedly kinda detached (especially pre-Brighten The Corners) and rarely overemoting, I always felt a certain warmth that I don't think Eleanor possesses. That's the extra mile that keeps her from being "The Very Best Female Vocalist Today" in my book.

Of course, I only heard (and like!) "Blueberry Boat" so maybe I'm misinformed.

― alex in montreal, Monday, 10 January 2005 21:19 (twenty years ago)

Arcade Fire. I like the hits. Haven't given the FFs much time though so maybe I shouldn't pick.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 10 January 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

I couldn't give two shits about the FFs at Siren though.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 10 January 2005 21:33 (twenty years ago)

I didn't see them at Siren, but when I saw them at Northsix last year, they blasted through a pretty amazing set including lots of medleys that were thoroughly reconceived from the album versions.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 10 January 2005 21:45 (twenty years ago)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6800643/site/newsweek/

― tripping billies, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 02:54 (twenty years ago)

"When Daddy comes home you always start a fight," Butler sings on one track, "so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights." Bizarre? Sure. But the band hammers out such airtight pop that you love, not loathe, its eccentricities. "We were just writing a lot of songs with a strong sense of place, trying to build streetlights and houses for the characters to see at night," says Butler. They ended up starting a fire.

Ew.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 07:25 (twenty years ago)

They ended up starting a fire.

Aha! Billy Joel really wasn't lying about that arson stuff!

xpost

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

xpost?

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

This thread is very silly. I haven't heard much from The Arcade Fire but what I did hear wasn't very noteworthy. I did like Blueberry Boat, though.

― Leon the Fatboy (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 11 January 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

Blueberry Boat is much more palatable on second listen. The slight tension of things sounding a bit proggy and wrong has passed and all the tunes and cool riffs leap out. What ho!

― stew, Tuesday, 11 January 2005 19:37 (twenty years ago)

he'lirious. so they're like the grateful dead now.

"Okay, I'm done being a nice guy about this: If you don't like Blueberry Boat, I don't like you. It's no longer a matter of taste, other than the fact that I have good taste, whereas you, Fiery Furnaces-hater, do not. Don't have time to take in the full sweeping grandeur of Blueberry Boat's 80 minutes? I have no respect for your calendar priorities. To those who find their multiple-movement symphonies and keyboard-fetish arrangements overcooked, I feel only loathing, utter disdain, and approximately one tablespoon of pity! And for the few of you that cannot handle the frenetic uber-medley that is a Fiery Furnaces live set, I want to make provocative documentary films about your inept and offensive taste and take them on the festival circuit."

― hateful, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

Wow - where'd you find that?

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

The lead review today in Pitchfork. I'm sure he's just joking, but it sort of reads like a Dave Matthews review. "You just don't get the Daveness, you fag."

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/fiery-furnaces/ep.shtml

― hateful, Wednesday, 12 January 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Gotta admit, that lede is pretty kickass. There's really no decent retort.

― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Saturday, 12 February 2005 02:00 (twenty years ago)

I saw the Arcade Fire on Conan and they were truly awful. Heard one song by FF and that was enough for me to declare this one sorry ass draw.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Saturday, 12 February 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

The Fiery Furnaces by 100 miles

― Logan (the_three_G_s), Saturday, 12 February 2005 06:43 (twenty years ago)

I bought the Arcade Fire's CD and have listened to it several times. I remember listening to it and enjoying it because it had some solid hooks, but damned if I can remember much else. I won't sell this CD anytime soon I guess, but rest assured, one day I will.

The Fiery Furnaces just stick in my head in a good way. An amazing group. Blueberry Boat gets better on after repeated listens.

― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Saturday, 12 February 2005 06:52 (twenty years ago)

yikes. seeing people like mr flux blog declare fiery furnaces the best band of the decade is not only disparaging, but depressing. they are no more than a glorified jam band. and the arcade fire are better, but still not worth the attention. ugh....sad state of ILM affairs when this is all peeps talk about

― zach faver, Saturday, 12 February 2005 08:16 (twenty years ago)

The Fiery Furnaces are simply more INTERESTING to listen to than the Arcade Fire. At a base level, that's the key. I guess. I dunno. Neither of these bands exactly boxes my clown.

― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Saturday, 12 February 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

her voice kills me. wish people here continued the interesting threads....instead of rehasing the same old bands

― zach faver, Saturday, 12 February 2005 08:43 (twenty years ago)

seeing people like mr flux blog declare fiery furnaces the best band of the decade is not only disparaging, but depressing

who is it disparaging?

(also, Fiery Furnaces by several lengths)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Saturday, 12 February 2005 10:47 (twenty years ago)

Arcade Fire, no contest; they made compelling music with subject matter and arranging ideas that would normally repel me.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 12 February 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

They're both very boring. Very, very fucking boring. Insufferable, almost.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:18 (twenty years ago)

OK, I've given them enough time. I do like FF, I just enjoy AF a lot more.

― sleep (sleep), Saturday, 12 February 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

I keep coming back to that quote by Billy Corgan, which is somehow so wrong and right at once:

"People don't fall in love to Pavement, people don't get up in the morning before they go to school and put on Big Black. They put on Smashing Pumpkins or Hole or Nirvana, because these bands actually mean something to them."

― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

He meant well, I think. But his reference points are crap.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

yeah, but some people *do* fall in love to pavement. doesn't seem like anything in corgan's quote is anything but totally subjective opinion. his premise is correct in that each individual listens to both the kind of music that they could fall in love to and the kind of music that they really couldn't. actually, if it's love the music won't ultimately matter, but - it's rather presumptuous to assume what music "really matters" to people.

― aridextra, Wednesday, 6 April 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

I meant it was wrong because yes, some people do fall in love to Pavement (and the Fiery Furnaces) and right because he does delineate the two strands in indie rock very well. I'm just happily in the other camp to him. Actually, I don't have much interest in Big Black, so maybe he got that bit wrong, or there are three distinct strands. Oh well, it all seemed clear at the time. I don't even know if he likes the Arcade Fire, but I just guessed he'd appreciate their overblownness.

― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 18:33 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...

Hey, Fire Fans - JtN interviews The Arcade Fire in Chicago - only in UNCUT - out now!

― the firefox, Thursday, 3 November 2005 14:50 (nineteen years ago)

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