The new Fiery Furnaces CD Widow City is due for general release on October 9. Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn offered it for sale exclusively on Saturday night, and the Fiery Furnaces were there to celebrate and performed a 35-minute live set featuring 9 of the Widow City songs.
The band is rehearsing for their upcoming tour, and the new material has already taken a life of its own. In particular, the 3-song medley of Duplexes>Husband>Ex-Guru was tight and focused, with “Ex-Guru” having already morphed into a power-pop number.
The experienced readers of this site have had the opportunity to witness the evolution of my interest in the Fiery Furnaces, from a curiosity to rabid fan. In June, when Morrissey canceled, I took advantage of an open night and recorded (here) a band I had only experienced through an Of Montreal cover of one Fiery Furnaces song. Thereafter, thoroughly impressed with the band, I bought Bitter Tea, recorded them again in August (here), and have not looked back.
Last night I had the pleasure of chatting with Matt after the performance. He was pleasant, showed appreciation for my recordings and my site, and thanked me for coming to the shows. When an artist of this talent proves to be modest and appreciative, it becomes truly a pleasure to thank and support them at my site.
The recording offered for download below was captured from 10 feet in front of the PA, and is crystal clear. Although the crowd was packed into the small cafe in the rear of Sound Fix, it was a group of true fans who were respectful of the performance. There’s no chatter on this recording, only support. Enjoy!
Download the complete show in FLAC [HERE].
Fiery Furnaces
2007-10-06
Sound Fix Records
Brooklyn, NY USA
Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Dead Center
Approximately 10 feet from PA
DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2007-10-07
Setlist:
[Total Time 33:46]
01 The Philadelphia Grand Jury
02 Navy Nurse
03 My Egyptian Grammar
04 Evergreen
05 Duplexes of the Dead
06 More Automatic Husband
07 Ex-Guru
08 Japanese Slippers
09 Restorative Beer
10 Right by Conquest
As with all artists featured at this site, if you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT The Fiery Furnaces, visit their site, and purchase Widow City:
This sounds great! I’ll be seeing them this week, so it’s nice to get a bit of a sneak peak, if you will.
I’ve just issued a mail begging the links to this download. I am also a recent convert to the furnaces – some time between summer and autumn (fall) last year.
Started with a blog recommendation from another NYC based band Arizona on myspace. Then I gave it a listen, and ended up with a copy of the Bitter Tea cd. The first track blew me away at the time, and is still great for all I’ve not listened to it in a while. I’m not saying it’s an easly listen, but it’s rich, and introspective, and obtuse (ok… downright bizzare in places). I sparked my interest though.
So I googled them and ended up turning up a swathe of live downloads from the last few years. It was listening to the live arrangements that really got me hooked on them. it’s that constant simmering evolution of the songs that I like. Each time they start a run they seem to find a way to shoehorn the lyrics of the old material into entirely unrelated (though often serendipitous) music.
Again, they’re a good match for the site – they’ve obviously been savvy with the concept of offering free concert downloads in order to promote the studio albums (It sold me the rest of thair back catalogue anyway – and a 2cd japanese edition of Gallowsbirds Bark, that only had half the tracks from E.P. on it as it happened).
It’s good for them, and good for the site.
Looking forward to the new recording in Apr08.