Fiery Furnaces, the / Blueberry Boat
Album: Blueberry Boat   Collection:General
Artist:Fiery Furnaces, the   Added:Jul 2004
Label:Rough Trade  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2004-08-30 Pull Date: 2004-10-31
Week Ending: Oct 31 Oct 24 Oct 17 Oct 10 Oct 3 Sep 26 Sep 19 Sep 12
Airplays: 2 3 5 5 5 3 5 4

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 04, 2015: A Visit From Drum (All My Friends Are Animals)
My Dog Was Lost but Now He'd
4. Apr 30, 2015: A Visit From Drum
Chris Michaels
2. Nov 20, 2015: A Visit From Drum
Blueberry Boat
5. Feb 06, 2015: A Visit From Drum
Quay Car
3. May 21, 2015: A Visit From Drum
Quay Car
6. Oct 03, 2014: A Visit From Drum
Blueberry Boat

Album Review
Mor
Reviewed 2004-08-21
Great stuff! Quirky electro-prog-indie-rock. That’s 70s prog rock (I am mostly reminded of Genesis, but The Who is referenced as well) reinvented in a bizarre new 2004 twist; and there is more! Brother and sister duo currently from Brooklyn (Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger). Very theatrical, both contribute vox (Eleanor appears slightly more) – Matthew’s voice even reminds me of the young Peter Gabriel, very soft and understated. Tracks are composed of few different parts, often completely different. Very dominant piano keyboard but the instrumentation is heavily electronic. The rhyming and vocal delivery are very unique; the lyrics often somewhat silly, sometimes clever, which adds to the sweetness and charm. Certainly original, this is one of my best-of-2004!
Tracks: all good (although I would have left a few out, the album is just too long), but start with 1, 3, 5, 8, 11.

1. [10:25] * Bald opener clocking at 10+ mins. Transitions that makes you think of the young Peter Gabriel. Relentless slow electronic beat, lazy vox come in, prog synths, Matthew comes in, rocky/blues riffs, soft ballad… and more.*
2. [5:00] Alternating between a rocking guitar and a bouncy-cabaret piano. Cool stuff.*
3. [9:09] * Proggish riff, mid/slow tempo; then a Beck-ish transition into an electro-rocker, a piano bit, and back to the opening theme.*
4. [7:53] Guitar/piano/drum indie rock start – you know this will take a turn – 2 mins in a completely different song takes over; still rocky, and then psychedelic bit, and then more proggy almost to the end.
5. [4:39] * Mid tempo rock with psych-blues guitar touches, drums do the elephant stomp.*
6. [3:29] Shorter quirky tune about a lost dog (prime example for the silliness). Mid/fast tempo.
7. [8:14] Synth intro -> pop tune with kick-ass guitar solo -> male vox enter with dramatic P.G.-like shift -> female vox back with weird noises and simple guitar ->...
8. [8:58] * Clap-style beat, male spoken vox, synths, and dramatic piano. Watch the LeVelS! Turns upbeat piano pop, then a dialog/duet, then long piano/guitar solo. *
9. [3:21] New take on the “rain in Spain”. Cool. Shorter but still with many parts. Mid/slow tempo.
10. [4:52] Male vox; Syd Barret in electronica and noise, then piano with female vox. Slow tempo.
11. [3:05] * Duet, sweet weird pop, strange beat, mid/slow tempo, delicious. * [last 10 secs quiet intro to next track].
12. [2:13] Slow, female vox, repeated piano theme.
13. [4:51] Screwed-up pop. Mid/slow tempo, slow synth solo ends it all.

Track Listing
1. Quay Car   7. Mason City
2. Straight Street   8. Chief Inspector Blancheflowe
3. Blueberry Boat   9. Spaniolated
4. Chris Michaels   10. 1917
5. Paw Paw Tree   11. Birdie Brain
6. My Dog Was Lost but Now He'd   12. Turning Round
  13. Wolf Notes