how could anyone but the corniest indie fuxors pretend that jumbled indulgent BB shite (except for the title track..i thought that was "neat") is in any way greater than GB??
whatever dude
― mitt fleekwood (get bent), Friday, 9 January 2015 22:01 (nine years ago) link
no kidding
― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Friday, 9 January 2015 22:01 (nine years ago) link
they're both great records! they're just really really different.
― mitt fleekwood (get bent), Friday, 9 January 2015 22:03 (nine years ago) link
They are the most fun indie band from the 00s imho. Maybe of all time.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Tuesday, 11 July 2017 06:18 (six years ago) link
well obviously
― imago, Tuesday, 11 July 2017 09:31 (six years ago) link
i have trouble perceiving these guys as 'fun'. bit of a mess, but fun?
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Tuesday, 11 July 2017 09:48 (six years ago) link
Wacky glasses fun.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 11 July 2017 10:16 (six years ago) link
An excitable dog with a bowel problem fun
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Tuesday, 11 July 2017 11:27 (six years ago) link
you both suck
― imago, Tuesday, 11 July 2017 11:57 (six years ago) link
i was thinking about signing up to do this artist poll. not sure if there would be enough interest?
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 12 July 2017 01:01 (six years ago) link
I'd vote in it, do it
― The Harsh Tutelage of Michael McDonald (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 12 July 2017 01:39 (six years ago) link
that's the problem. you and i and maybe a couple more. i think if i wanted to go down this type of path i would rather do of Montreal instead, as my love is much stronger.
― Winter Is Coming (Bee OK), Thursday, 13 July 2017 02:41 (six years ago) link
why i chose to add Suede instead of Super Furry Animals. similar circumstances/adding the ILM element.
― Winter Is Coming (Bee OK), Thursday, 13 July 2017 02:44 (six years ago) link
/
even when i do things on purpose, i still fuck it up.
― Winter Is Coming (Bee OK), Thursday, 13 July 2017 02:58 (six years ago) link
Maybe a mixed genre poll? Don't know how to call it yho... Quirky, slightly Psychedelic pop from the 00s onwards? I don't know how to classify it. Of Montreal, Flaming Lips and Fiery Furnaces seem compatible.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Thursday, 13 July 2017 18:11 (six years ago) link
great idea, can't wait until you do it :-)
― Winter Is Coming (Bee OK), Thursday, 13 July 2017 23:40 (six years ago) link
Amen, selfLove several, but Rehearsing My Choir is rock of ages, in more ways than one. Granny Olga in Heaven, you rule!
― dow, Friday, January 9, 2015 9:11 AM
― dow, Friday, 14 July 2017 01:42 (six years ago) link
Olga really delivers her stories, with editing and rocking settings by Matthew.
― dow, Friday, 14 July 2017 01:48 (six years ago) link
Since “ranking” is all the rage ’round here:
1. Widow City (Side 2)2. Rehearsing My Choir3. I’m Going Away4. Bitter Tea (Side 1)5. Blueberry Boat6. Gallowsbird’s Bark7. Widow City (Side 1)8. EP9. Bitter Tea (Side 2)
Not counted: Take Me Round Again; Remember [but it’s great!]
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 02:19 (five years ago) link
(Also, having now bothered to look up how the vinyl actually breaks down — please sub “LP1” / “LP2,” or just “First Half” / “Second Half,” for “Side 1” / “Side 2” in both cases.)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 02:36 (five years ago) link
Also, to give you an idea of the grading curve here — I’d rate “Gallowsbird’s Bark” an 8/10
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 02:46 (five years ago) link
haha, I like that
EP is good
― niels, Monday, 27 August 2018 07:16 (five years ago) link
Is I'm Going Away that good? I was too scared to ever hear it. Blueberry Boat is still my favourite album of this millennium
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 07:59 (five years ago) link
Happy to see Rehearsing My Choir get its rightful due. Blueberry Boat has become one of my fave records, period.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 27 August 2018 08:18 (five years ago) link
I've been listening to I'm Going Away. It's...alright. Even In The Rain (where I'm up to) is lovely. I can't remotely see how anyone could prefer it to any of the previous four albums (and EP) but it isn't bad music.
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 08:42 (five years ago) link
Lost At Sea is good too
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 08:56 (five years ago) link
Yeah, the album ends strong I guess but it's not quite there for me. Still! Hell of a run they had
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 09:06 (five years ago) link
I’m Going Away is a great album, with some of their best playing (and it’s the one I’ll still throw on the most often)Stylistically, it revisits the tight, bluesy rock of Gallowsbird and the “empty musical theatre rehearsal room” aesthetic of (some of) Blueberry Boat... making for a nice closure. (Also — the sarcastic guitar solo in “Even in the Rain” always makes me laugh, and is a perfect expression of Matt’s “personality”; for better or worse.)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 13:47 (five years ago) link
Gawker style:
1. Widow City2. Blueberry Boat3. Gallowsbird's Bark4. EP5. I'm Going Away6. getting hit by a bus7. Rehearsing My Choir8. Bitter Tea
― evol j, Monday, 27 August 2018 14:11 (five years ago) link
That must be some bus, lol
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 14:23 (five years ago) link
Poor lovely Bitter Tea
Don't sleep on the Mr Fried Burger album fyi, fans of TFF's weirder stuff
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 15:52 (five years ago) link
Here https://mfriedberger.bandcamp.com/releases
It's second to BB in my ranking tbh
― imago, Monday, 27 August 2018 15:55 (five years ago) link
Bitter Tea sounded terrific at the time, and still does. The only “problem” is some of the songwriting in the 2nd half...
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 16:41 (five years ago) link
(and that damn whistle)
(The 2nd half does have "Police Sweater Blood Vow," tho -- one of their best)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 17:56 (five years ago) link
First Rehearsing My Choir show from 2005 at the 40 Watt in Athens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-2etKWgW20
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 27 August 2018 19:21 (five years ago) link
and also the first FF Show with Jason on bass and Bob on drums
!
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 27 August 2018 19:28 (five years ago) link
Something interesting to me about this band (if I may pontificate) is how they always seemed to be bubbling just under the surface of “mainstream” success, even by the standards of 2000s indie rock. They were on a string of cool but slightly odd labels (instead of the Matador/Merge/Sub Pop axis)... I don’t think they ever performed on TV, in the U.S. at least (though please send me a YouTube link ASAP if I’m wrong!), in a era when bands at their level were regularly appearing on late-night shows (though maybe not as commonly as today; e.g., look at someone like Parquet Courts).The Furnaces did press and got some attention (and toured a lot, of course); but it felt like somehow they were always just below the threshold of “top-flight” indie rock notice, in a time of Animal Collectives, Arcade Fires, and Wolf Parades. I don’t think they played many festivals, maybe that hurt them?Of course, some people may feel they got just the right amount of attention (or even too much!) — but for me, they were the band of the decade, and I was always wishing they had a little more exposure.
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 30 August 2018 03:55 (five years ago) link
I guess I would put them at the level of someone like Unrest in the ‘90s.
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 30 August 2018 04:05 (five years ago) link
I did my part to raise awareness, btw. These are two examples of T-shirts I owned and wore until they became unwearable:https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6e/f6/d9/6ef6d9e51bbaca6b63723878763e1555--t-shirt-tee.jpghttps://i.pinimg.com/736x/d9/43/67/d94367597d3788d5f3722b9e5f3f6282--navy-t-shirts-candelabra.jpg
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 30 August 2018 04:14 (five years ago) link
chris dahlen at pitchfork was basically their link to the outside world. at least they had one
― imago, Thursday, 30 August 2018 07:51 (five years ago) link
i mean i also recall them getting features in uk newspapers and what have you but most publications saw them as an amusing curio to distract us in between arcade fire albums
and let's see who's still remembered in fifty years eh
― imago, Thursday, 30 August 2018 07:53 (five years ago) link
I will concede their albums could be pretty weird, and required a deeper initial engagement than just “hey this sounds cool”.
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 30 August 2018 13:37 (five years ago) link
and not helped by the fact that live, they likely alienated many of the 'casual' fans by not sticking to the 'script' of their records.
― nerve_pylon, Thursday, 30 August 2018 16:42 (five years ago) link
Yes, for sure (which was something I loved!)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 30 August 2018 18:09 (five years ago) link
Something I just now realized is that I've listened to the Furnaces 30-40x more over the years than Beefheart or Soft Machine.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 31 August 2018 20:12 (five years ago) link
Just came across this nice (duo) performance, from the waning days of their run:https://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/detail-2423(I think they played at Largo that visit to L.A.; it’s the only time I missed them...)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Saturday, 1 September 2018 02:20 (five years ago) link
oh word? pic.twitter.com/gtGyxLhJqI— Davin Kolderup (@dkolderup) February 18, 2020
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 18 February 2020 03:23 (four years ago) link
They have a new (or newly active) Instagram acct, too...
― You have seen the heavy groups (morrisp), Tuesday, 18 February 2020 03:55 (four years ago) link
The Dallas Morning News article at this post has a great Matt F. quote:“If there was a pit orchestra at Chuck E. Cheese, that’s what we’d like to sound like.”
― You have seen the heavy groups (morrisp), Tuesday, 18 February 2020 04:23 (four years ago) link