The Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir
 

I've been reading that the Fiery Furnaces have been making a record with their 83 year old grandmother. Of course, being a HUGE fan of Blueberry Boat I was stoked to hear that they were getting even more strange. I read today in a local newspaper that you could download a song from Insound, so I wondered if the whole record had leaked. It did, and it is beyond bizarre. I am not even though my first listen but it is the Fiery Furnace album that I think we all might have expected. They are pushing musical limits, although I don't have any clue if what they are doing is really music. I love it though, especially some of the word play between the girl and the grandmother. Some of it grooves too...which is a plus.

Thoughts?
W

I listened to it all the way through last night... don't think I can form an opinion yet. Definitely wasn't amazed off the bat, but maybe a few more listens will bring appreciation.

Definitely the times when Eleanor (real singer, not the grandmother) is on the vocals are enjoyable. Can't say I care for the old lady's voice, but it is more about the stories she is telling. So maybe I'll get over the voice after some more listens and will just try to soak the stories in.

Wow, these two posts certainly have me intrigued about where this album is going. While I knew about the record I didn't know it was going in a more unique direction but I'm glad to hear that. Man, I'm all jazzed to hear it but alas I can't find the leak. Let the waiting commence.

Well if it is anything like Blueberry Boat then it will be both odd and oddly compelling. I just couldn't quit listening to that one after I first heard it.

I own plenty of music far more weird than Blueberry Boat, so I'm game for as wacky as they want to get.

Well, I can say that after a number of listens this is some pretty good stuff.

Slavin' Away is by far my favorite right now. The musical directions that are taken towards the end of the song made me crack up, but then almost brought me to tears.

I know there are other bands doing things that are more strange, but I think the Fiery Furnaces have really allowed ME the opportunity to understand how the absense of any sort of song structure can bring about the better understanding of a song. I see the same thing in many of my other favorite bands, although I see now that those bands have never really had the balls to go all out.

I love the fact that I don't even think I have started to understand the record. And I heard they were making two discs at the same time, is this true? And will it be like Blueberry Boat and the EP. One artsy, one almost more mainstream? Sounds like Linklater. W

yeah, i'm totally into Blueberry Boat. Haven't heard any of their other stuff..I agree, not near as weird as some stuff I listen to (deerhoof comes to mind). Some of their stuff reminds me of a better, noisier version of White Stripes...when does this one come out?

First up is Rehearsing My Choir (the one with the grandma), due October 25.
Following that, tentatively scheduled for release in early 2006, will be Bitter Tea.

If you like Blueberry Boat, definitely grab the EP.

EP is really really good, definitely anyone who knows Fiery Furnaces should definitely check it out.

I haven't listened to Rehearsing My Choir enough times yet to give a substantiated opinion on it, but I haven't grown to tolerate Grandma's vocals yet. It does seem like an album that will eventually grow on me though.

About finding the album, you can probably do a search for it at "A site dedicated to daily music downloads, usually the newest releases and hard to find material." Hopefully you can figure out where to find the album based on that.