The Fiery Furnaces are pleased to announce that the First Annual Moonless Monday Song-Writing competition has begun–with the lyrics.

Entries must be no shorter than twenty-five words and no longer than one thousand. Each lyric must include a synonym, of sorts, for “Cabaret” (for instance, “small-stage club”), “Seven” (for instance, “twenty-five minus eighteen”), and “Devils” (for instance, “under satanic oppression individual”). You may enter up to five times. Please send your entries to: moonlessmonday@hotmail.com

Two sets of lyrics will be declared the winner(s)!

These lyrics will then be combined–and set to the combination of the two winners of the Moonless Monday Tune competition-part-of-the-competition (which has not yet begun).

The Champion amalgamated number will be recorded (perhaps) by Fiery Furnaces’ percussionist and famous Song-Poem collector Michael Goodman and sung by Fiery Furnaces singer Eleanor Friedberger.

The winners will receive “Cabaret of the Seven Devils” t-shirts! And other prizes to be determined!

The Fiery Furnaces are proud to announce that we now have an Official Flight Instructor: Ms. Vanessa Walsh of Santa Rosa, CA. Ms. Walsh flies a Zodiac 601 XL and can often be seen in the skies between San Rafael and Santa Barbara. If you take more than two lessons with Ms. Walsh in the future, you are thereby entitled to a free Fiery Furnaces t-shirt (of the band’s choosing).

[Note to other pilots: the band sees nothing wrong with having more than one Official Flight Instructor. Please write to the P.O. Box if appropriate.]

Blueberry Boat Book (now on sale at Fiery Furnaces’ shows) illustrator Mike Reddy has a secret website on which he posts his doodles and paint blots. See, for instance, pictures from his old children’s book (with words by Fiery Furnace Matt Friedberger) Imp Elfabetical Ogre. Mike is very busy with many projects (including Fiery Furnaces related ones), so please do not attempt to hire him to do things.

Just kidding! But (seriously) why aren’t bookstores across the country stocked heavily with picture books that (various) high powered publishing executives have commissioned from Mike Reddy? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

http://www.mikereddy.com/impelf/

The Fiery Furnaces’ sixth album, Widow City, comes out in North America on Tuesday, October 9th, on Thrill Jockey Records. Buy it here. It comes out in Europe on Monday, October 15th, also on Thrill Jockey Records. It comes out in Australia on October 6th. It comes out in Japan on October 10th.

Someone in some street said to someone standing to the side that it was the band’s best album yet. You should therefore order quickly. It is available on compact disc and “double gatefold vinyl”.

The Fiery Furnaces will be playing shows in North America from October 9th to November 3rd. They will be playing concerts in Europe from November 6th to the 30th.

Someone else on some other street said to the same person mentioned above that the band never sounded better. It features Robert D’Amico sitting and playing a drum kit, Jason Loewenstein standing and playing his bass guitar, Eleanor Friedberger standing around singing, and Matthew Friedberger lounging there, playing four or five keyboards. You should therefore order your tickets quickly.

The Fiery Furnaces have a new web site, which you are looking at now. It is called Automatic Husband and is the band’s virtual companion. It will be updated very often and will feature content obviously and not-necessarily-obviously related to the band. You should therefore navigate to it regularly.

The Fiery Furnaces have a new pamphlet or book nearly ready. It is a version of their album Blueberry Boat and features the lyrics, much improved and translated into many ‘languages’. More importantly, it has, instead of the ‘music’, illustrations by Mike Reddy.
A biography of Mike Reddy is forthcoming for this site. The band will be selling a version of the book at shows starting on the 9th of October. It will be available for purchase via the internet very soon after. Details (also) forthcoming.

What turns banal, supposed statements of fact into bold hypotheses of chance? What steals away platitude, and, slipping in its place the hard-to-ponder, delivers us the possibility of wisdom from on-high, and on the cheap? What, by the seemingly systematic application of distraction and inattention, as opposed to the Old Adversary, Effort, makes probable a paradisiacal parody of progress? The almost un-erring improvement of so-called misquoting–that’s what.

Forgive me this modest example:

For a piece on the Fiery Furnaces in New York’s The Village Voice, Matt Friedberger said, in admiration of walking and denigration of riding, something like this: “I think the bicycle—the rhythm of bike riding as opposed to stepping—is antithetical to the spirit of English prose, or of verse, rhythm.”

The sentence has the merit of being inelegantly expressed. But surely the credit for that goes to inexperience in improvisation. (In other words, the dull company one finds oneself in.) Otherwise, though true, the sentence is boring and of no interest to anyone. (Yes, the sky is sometimes blue!)

But–thank Whomever–The Village Voice improved the statement into the following: “I think the bicycle—the rhythm of bike riding as opposed to stepping—is antithetical to the spirit of English, prose, or of course, rhythm.” Some speculation concerning the overall Spirit of Rhythm? My mind races (on foot, presumably) in (happy, distracted) pursuit of what that might mean!

So you see, Improvement. Welcome so-called misquoting in your private life, and look for it, ask for it–come to expect it–as a reader.

By the way: The titles to the Fiery Furnaces albums have often been misquoted. This has allowed them to to go about as if in disguise. Though usually only for a day or two.
The “Bark” in Gallowsbirds’ Bark was often turned into a “Park”. Blueberry Boat got to try on being an expensive and traditionally stylish yacht of a record called Burberry Boat. Bitter Tea got to spend time in a shady forest as Bitter Tree. EP was often thought to be an ep. (Though who could mistake Rehearsing My Choir? But, we were told, there was supposedly a lot of mistaking of Rehearsing My Choir.) Widow City has already often been allowed to look out at the world as Window City.

And, now, on Friday, the New York Times renamed this latest Fiery Furnaces’ album Widow’s Peak. That was very astute of them. Both Matthew Friedberger and Eleanor Friedberger have widow’s peaks.

The United States has long since given up its position of Rock Music Leadership. So it seems! So where is an American band to look for guidance? Join The FF as they look elsewhere and such and such for Teachers, for instance:

Who isn’t a fan of the New York Times’ Vows page? Who doesn’t love the corresponding short films? But couples get married in other countries as well. “Nigeria’s leading tabloid”, The Sun, has an especially well-written section, called “Romance”. Compare the way happiness is depicted, so to speak, in the New York Times’ recent story, “Maddy Simpson and Steven Garbarino” with the following story from The Sun:
(As always, The Fiery Furnaces imply no conclusions)

HE PROPOSED TO ME 5 TIMES
By NGOZI UWUJARE
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Mr. Samson Oyewole recently walked his bride, Supol Olufunke Okerinde, to the altar. The wedding which took place at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, Okuku, Osun State, was a dream come true for the couple, as the bride was regally dressed in her ceremonial uniform and the groom was also looking smashingly handsome in his suit. The excited bride and groom spoke to Daily Sun after the wedding.

Husband speaks:
How we met
We met about 12 years ago. Then she was schooling at the College of Education, Ilesa. I got close to her through the intervention of my friends who made the possible arrangement to link us together. She accepted my hands of friendship but later we lost contact and couldn’t get in touch with each other for several months. As fate would have it, we met again mysteriously, and thereafter, we became so serious about the relationship and here we are today.

Likes
I love everything about her. The way she interacts with people encourages me. She means so much to me. Another great attribute of hers is that she is a sincere person.

Dislikes
There’s nothing like that. I like every bit of her. Every step she takes makes my heart to melt. I’m really in love with her and I pray that the love would get stronger every day. I have never had the cause to dislike her at all.

Wife speaks:
Attraction
He is the bone of my bone and the flesh of my flesh; I love him dearly. He is kind hearted and caring to a fault. Moreover, he is a rare gem when it comes to obedience and gentility as a man.

Favorite food
He loves to eat rice and dodo. After eating his meals, he doesn’t forget to thank and praise me.

Parental consent
My parents were so happy to see him the day he visited our home. They called us and prayed for us and also gave us words of encouragement. At a point, they advised that we should fast and pray so that there would be no obstacles in the union. They also told us not to allow a third party in our union. Prayers, they said, should be our weapons of warfare in our matrimonial home.

Proposal
He proposed to me five times. When I didn’t really budge, he went ahead to get me a love card with romantic wordings. It was then that I realized that he meant real business and I accepted him as my one and only.

When it comes to music criticism, or any form of consumer advocacy, one is not so much concerned with the writer’s views; or, indeed, with any “information” the writer might be attempting to impart. No: one is concerned, exclusively, with the writer’s style. The following piece is particularly stylish:

View the article in Chinese:

Orchestraabsolutely may not forget which regarding the Nirvana this rock and roll history in, we can leaves after them continue to pay attention to and their related department’s all, now, the people which struggles together with Kurt Cobain all also in continuation . Some person very energetically, but some people on very disappointing…

Courtney Love:

She and Yoko Ono (the Ono ocean) is in the history the famous widow, and two people also all are the stars. Under only compares, the Courtney Love oral traditions obviously must sub- be much worse than the ocean. Before also no matter she in offers amnesty by Cobain works as the striptease mother’s matter, has depended on her thick mouth and takes drugs and so on the negative news, had decided she inevitably is the person which fully suffered the censure. Although so, her Hole orchestra actually still was the Grunge orchestra which in the rock and roll history absolutely cannot neglect. However, after enters 2000, Courtney Love has dismissed the orchestra, changes individual development. In 2002 has published individual special edition “American Sweetheart”, rehad indicated by individual posture own as before exuberant creation energy and she the manner which does not compromise as before to this society. This special edition if before compares in the Hole orchestra’s work, many mature and was steady, further has verified the Courtney Love Punk empress status. In lyrics creation, then appears has the thought, has the connotation and the instigation. [Read more →]