RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Well, crap. I wrote this up but then just realized it never posted to my 
site because I put the wrong date on it in the database. Here's what I 
wrote, anyway:

Fiery Furnaces
Cat's Cradle
Monday, August 17

I'll freely admit that, after some initial interest, I kinda stopped 
paying attention to the Fiery Furnaces. I can pinpoint the exact moment, 
in fact: I was standing on the right-hand side of the Cradle, and they 
were about 45 minutes into their infamous "one long 90-minute medley of 
snippets of our songs" set during the Gallowsbird's Bark tour. Drove me 
nuts, and though I listened to Blueberry Boat a few times when it came 
out, somehow the thrill was gone. (and the very premise of Rehearsing My 
Choir was too much for me . . .)

A few weeks ago, their new one, "I'm Going Away," leaked, so I 
downloaded it out of a combination of idle curiosity and illicit 
21st-century thrill.

Imagine my surprise when I started listening to it & discovered that 
it's absolutely fantastic. The best comparison I've come up with, over 
the past few weeks of heavy listening, is "if a young Chrissie Hynde had 
fallen in with the Eno-era Roxy Music." In other words, it rocks, 
structurally, but there are still plenty of bizarro instrumental blurts 
& bleeps.

Of course, as we've learned the hard way, that's no predictor of the 
live show. I did get a clue via email from Thrill Jockey: "This time 
around Matt is only playing guitar so all of the keyboard parts on the 
new record will disappear and be replaced by arrangements for the guitar 
making for a rough and more "rock" live experience. Jason Loewenstein 
(of Sebadoh) and Robert D'Amico will hold down the rhythm section on 
this tour again."