The Official Tunesday Spin Cycle

[Slosh]

You're so gay. Why doncha stick another load of blueberries up your fiery furnace

Oh yeah? Well you're blah blah this this that now sh'up!

I was just busying balls. Does that sound gay?

Yeah, this is by far the best album I've heard all year and it is difficult to imagine anything else coming along to take away its top-dog place, but I've got my fingers crossed anyhow. It's amazing how many other bands they remind me of. At times I hear Prince, The Who, The BeAtles, SFA, Grandaddy, Spoon, etc, etc. . . yet they still have
a sound distinctly their own. The only facet keeping me from facetiously recommending it to everyone I know is its quirkiness might be too much for some. Me, I like quirky.

By the by, I had the chance to spin the Heartbreaker SACD and I'm pleased to report it sounds every bit as good as the LP (less the surface noise, of course). Makes me wish all decently recorded albums were SACDs.

NP: Clinic - Winchester Cathedral (it does sound just like it was recorded during the Walking With Thee sessions but that's fine by me)

[Slosh]

Saturday
The Shins, McLusky, The Darkness, Ash, The Hives, Super Furry Animals, Modest Mouse

Wow! Don't mind me, that's just drool

[Davey]

Yeah, this is by far the best album I've heard all year and it is difficult to imagine anything else coming along to take away its top-dog place, but.......its quirkiness might be too much for some. Me, I like quirky.

Yeah, I agree. Too bad that so many are writing it off as unlistenable. I can listen to it over and over and love the feeling of not knowing what's coming next even after so many listens. And as previously threatened promised, here's the next Fiery Furnaces review for your pleasure, this one from the good folks at http://erasingclouds.com......

The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat
reviewed by erin hucke

Blueberry Boat, the epic sophomore album by brother/sister duo The Fiery Furnaces, opens with the cold, squishy beats of "Quay Cur." But midway through, the song changes into a shakin' guitar-based segment that recalls the general style of their raw and endearing debut, the critically-lauded Gallowsbird's Bark. But that familiar sound is fleeting; there's been a surprising and favorable progression in the band's musicmaking.

Other than the distinct shift in instrumentation, the most obvious change in the overall sound of the band is in the vocals. Where Gallowsbird's Bark primarily featured sister Eleanor Friedberger's singing, Blueberry Boat has her evenly splitting vocal duties with brother Matthew Friedberger, many times trading verses within a single song and sometimes layering their voices for increased dimension.

The erratic structure of Blueberry Boat mimics the band's energetic style of playing live: flip flopping from one song to another, sometimes without even finishing the whole song, returning later to repeat a couple of the segments and finish what was left unfinished - all without stops, pauses, song introductions or banter. My initial reaction to Blueberry Boat, like the performance, left me completely dumbfounded and captivated.

Blueberry Boat disorients with its weirdo electronic noises, optimistic gumdroppy happy notes and even danceable beats (really!). But a underlying base of piano, guitar and drums brings it all together. The album sails through 13 disparate (but seamless), confusing (but pleasing) tracks. Though with so many abrupt changes in genre and tempo, it's difficult to know when a song officially ends and another begins. The transitions between pieces aren't even really transitions, but entities themselves. It's a 76-minute collection of miniature songs strung together medley-style, slowing any attempts to become intimately familiar with this album tremendously.

It's in the indefinite "I've listened to this album ten times already and I still don't know what song comes next" phase that the Friedbergers' clever and colorful lyrics float to the surface piece by piece. Like the band's debut, much of the lyrical content is recalled in first person, where they turn small and ordinary stories into some of the most intriguing accounts. See the tension-rich conversation between brothers in "Chief Inspector Blancheflower":

"Michael is there something that you need to say to me?
Well I don't know how to tell you.
You can tell me anything that you want 'cept 'I started seeing Jenny.'
I started seeing Jenny.
My Jenny?
And he looked down at the floor.
You know damn well she ain't your Jenny no more."

They revel in the tiniest of details and spout vibrantly worded (and many times funny) rhymes.

"At dawn, I had a scotch / And made them switch off the porn / Cause there's nothing that's dirty / About the ocean in the morn." ("Blueberry Boat")

This is art rock without pretentiousness; The Fiery Furnaces are not afraid to be silly - and not simply silly to project a sense of indie-flavored irony, but really flat-out dopey silly.

"My baby's got a stick stuck out her beak / My baby takes a drink out of the leak / My baby's got a blue-green sweater / And a nest down by the creek / Plume bloom bloom blaby bloom / Cheep cheep beep bee-bee beep" ("Chris Michaels")

Though definitely not for the masses (even many open-minded listeners may be turned off by the album's complexity), the Friedberger siblings' unparalleled imagination makes Blueberry Boat one of the most challenging and innovative albums in recent memory.

[Dusty Chalk]

Bunch of stuff y'all've never heard of:

Desar, Kgink, Chronic Genius, Matthew Parmenter, Null Object, Portal, Zenen, Biastfear, Anathema Device, Sarah Azzara, Inner, Shimmer3, Dreamscape Unlimited, Critikill. Critikill is a standout -- rappy femme vox, industrial synthesizers, ambient guitar, just a bizarre mixture of elements, yet it works.

I a happy boy.

[DarrenH]

Bunch of stuff y'all've never heard of:

Desar, Kgink, Chronic Genius, Matthew Parmenter, Null Object, Portal, Zenen, Biastfear, Anathema Device, Sarah Azzara, Inner, Shimmer3, Dreamscape Unlimited, Critikill. Critikill is a standout -- rappy femme vox, industrial synthesizers, ambient guitar, just a bizarre mixture of elements, yet it works.

I a happy boy.

Most indubitability!

[Swish]

I found the new one from Richmond Fontaine filed under 'F' after almost giving up. Easy mistake unless you know the band. It's called Post To Wire and is incredibly good. I think Uncut magazine gave it 5 stars and so did the http://www.americana-uk.com/html/april_2004.html site in their April review section (I'll post the review below). Classic alt-country of the highest caliber. Been enjoying it a lot. If you like this kind of stuff, don't miss it.

You probably don't recall my mentioning it back in June when I ordered that new release from The Standard (you "challenged" someone to buy it, and I took the bait) which is titled Wire Post to Wire at the same time I ordered the Richmond Fontaine cd titled Post to Wire, both from DeepDiscountCD.com. When they send an e-mail to confirm an order, they only show the cd title and not the name of the artist, so I thought I ordered the same one twice since the titles were near the same, something I didn't realize because I didn't order them on the same day. Anyone, I really don't care much for The Standard's cd, but I think the Richmond Fontaine cd is very good. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but 4 or 4.5 would be no problem.

Swish

[Davey]

You probably don't recall my mentioning it back in June when I ordered that new release from The Standard (you "challenged" someone to buy it, and I took the bait) which is titled Wire Post to Wire at the same time I ordered the Richmond Fontaine cd titled Post to Wire, both from DeepDiscountCD.com. When they send an e-mail to confirm an order, they only show the cd title and not the name of the artist, so I thought I ordered the same one twice since the titles were near the same, something I didn't realize because I didn't order them on the same day. Anyone, I really don't care much for The Standard's cd, but I think the Richmond Fontaine cd is very good. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but 4 or 4.5 would be no problem.

Swish

Hehehe, you know we don't read your posts, Swish Baby!

You need to make yourself a little more obnoxious like me and then people will remember more. Those British reviewers do tend to get carried away at times. Uncut gives way too many 5 star reviews. Too much hype, but they do love that alt-country Americana stuff, especially if it's from our west coast. Really enjoying it myself. Lots of Replacements vibe in their songs. The Old Canes and the Court & Spark CDs that I talked about have gotten lots of spins too. Might even like both of them more than the RF.

Thanks for the reminder and sorry about that Standard CD. It sure sounded like it had the makings of a winner. Better your bucks than mine, eh? You work so much you probably don't get a chance to spend most of em!

[Swish]

Hehehe, you know we don't read your posts, Swish Baby!

You need to make yourself a little more obnoxious like me and then people will remember more. Those British reviewers do tend to get carried away at times. Uncut gives way too many 5 star reviews. Too much hype, but they do love that alt-country Americana stuff, especially if it's from our west coast. Really enjoying it myself. Lots of Replacements vibe in their songs. The Old Canes and the Court & Spark CDs that I talked about have gotten lots of spins too. Might even like both of them more than the RF.

Thanks for the reminder and sorry about that Standard CD. It sure sounded like it had the makings of a winner. Better your bucks than mine, eh? You work so much you probably don't get a chance to spend most of em!

that I listed Post to Wire among my YTD favorites in July in this thread; Let's do a "Favorites of 2004 So Far" thread!.

As for my disappointment with The Standard, I've spent so much money on ceedees, some of them a true waste, that one more won't hurt me. In fact, I just ordered that Fiery Furnaces that you Three Amigos keep yapping about. According to you guys it can't miss, and I would have to admit that you haven't streered me wrong very often. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Sung Tongs cd by Animal Collective. I ordered it from DeepDiscountcd and it took like forever to arrive. In fact, they told me it was shipped but after waiting nearly 3 weeks, I notified them of the problem and they sent me another right away. I got in within a few days, and about a week later, you guessed it, the original shipment arrived. Did I send it back? No sir! I gave it to a friend who, like me, thinks it's pretty weird.

As for being busy, words can't describe it. My daughter is getting married on October, we had all kinds of upgrades being done to our house, finishing most in time for the bridal shower that took place here with about 40 women (lots and lots of relatives and friends), my job had been crazy busy this summer, and with golf, racquetball, guitars, social events and so forth, I just don't have a life. But seriously, it's been tough keeping track of the goings-on at Rave Recordings and I almost feel like an outsider. I do check in nearly every day, but just for a brief visit and to check on anything that really catches my eye.

Anyway, I better get me arse in gear. I have plenty to do today and then off to a birthday party for a sister-in-law. The fun never stops.

Swish

[Davey]

In fact, I just ordered that Fiery Furnaces that you Three Amigos keep yapping about. According to you guys it can't miss, and I would have to admit that you haven't streered me wrong very often.

Uh oh, the Fiery Furnaces might be kinda close to the edge for you. Just remember, I never recommended it specifically for you (unless, of course, it turns out you love it). I only recommended it to audiobill. Blame the other Two Amigos if it misfires! And remember, Sloshy said it's kinda gay sounding. But come to think of it, he's also the one that used to call himself Ms. Nomer

I've been playing that Old Canes an awful lot lately. Really like it. I see they have a nice review up at AMG now too. Cool. Destined to be one of my yearly favorites, for sure.