Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)

New one is nice, and yeah, I agree, she's really good at the 70s singer songwriter thing without making it seem conspicuous or retro. New one isn't immediately grabbing me quite like the previous two, but I've still been playing it a lot.

New album has really grown on me in the last couple days. It was all blurring together for a while there. But I have the album in a playlist of new stuff and I played it on shuffle: every time a Friedberger song came up I was blown away by how smart it was. Her songwriting is so sophisticated and effortless at the same time.

Saw her in Glasgow a couple of days ago. I just think she is one of the geniuses. Wild songwriting. Last tour she had a band, this time on a stool and acoustic guitar. That would usually bore me. But she's great. I loved it. Bumped into some friends after and couldn't speak.

listened to the album in the office yesterday, not sure what it is she does with these simple songs that make them stand out and work so well, but.. well, it sounds great!

Haha, maybe this is just me Hearing Things, but in quick succession:
-- play the first minute or so of the 1993 album entitled New Wave;
-- play the first minute or so of this 2016 album entitled New View.

Just getting around to this album, it's good! Feel like she's kind of under the radar these days, deserves more attention.

"Cathy With the Curly Hair" definitely is on my 2016 mix.

has a nice 60s Dylan vibe too, guitar playing is great, one of the albums I've enjoyed most this year

new album is really solid, not a duff song. i actively disliked the fiery furnaces but solo friedberger is such a great songwriter. and i agree this would have fit perfectly into the 60s/70s but on the other hand like all great music it is timeless.

sorry to be direct but fiery furnace = shit, eleanor solo = great is pretty much the most boring opinion ever

not sure I get what u mean?

I have the Fiery Furnaces EP and I like it and hear a lot of Eleanor's songwriting in it, but the sound is harsh on the ears, slightly aggressive, it's very artsy and creative - which is nice and cool, and was perhaps kinda trending in the 00s.

Her solo stuff though is really really good singer/songwriter material, well played, good vibey, especially this new one finds her with a great band, perhaps her strongest material...

so... it's a boring opinion because it's obvious? (I would never call FF shit though, it's just v different)

it's a boring opinion because it follows an extremely dull & hackneyed mythos of young tearaway artist 'maturing' and making some classic 'golden-age' aor 'singer-songwriter' pop-rock with all its 'timeless' qualities and radio-ready concessions to The Art Of Song

now i have nothing against e friedberger and her music as it is nowadays (it's never moved me really, but i will give this new one a go) but positioning the fiery furnaces (who were completely unlike anyone else ever, for better or worse, imo better) as a failed, 'artsy' experiment and her solo material as a good-vibey breakthrough is musical conservatism of the most irritating order

nobody fucks with matthew friedberger's new stuff, which is such a shame, because it's just as fearless and bizarre as ever

it's a boring opinion because it follows an extremely dull & hackneyed mythos of young tearaway artist 'maturing' and making some classic 'golden-age' aor 'singer-songwriter' pop-rock with all its 'timeless' qualities and radio-ready concessions to The Art Of Song

you sound like a lot of fun

coincidentally, i've just given up on the new e friedberger after 3 songs. the only decent one was basically knocking on heaven's door redux. ta-ra! you'll find me on Fiery Furnaces sans sis: Matthew Friedberger's Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School

I feel you, imago, if not quite as vociferously. Keep meaning to give this new Eleanor solo LP a try and haven't gotten around to it.

I've liked a couple of the solo songs but, you know, it's a lot like spending time with releases by Unicorns solo members and thinking "hey, this is nice enough, but you know what would slay? IF SO GOT BACK TOGETHER AND MADE MUSIC THAT WAY INSTEAD."

I would be more into Eleanor's solo stuff if it was all more like this song, which I unreservedly adore even now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74-iyAoMa6Y

I like her 2016 record a lot.

The aesthetics of transgression are just as stale imo imago, but hey, I LOVE MUSIC and some of that music is singer/songwriter/aor and if that makes me a boring conservative so be it

Also Staring at the sun is a good song but wtf those YouTube comments are dreadful

Both FF and Eleanor solo are things I should, on paper, like more than I do - both in the same wheelhouse as (different) things I like but have never quite clicked. I haven't heard this new one yet though so maybe that'll change things.

it's a boring opinion because it follows an extremely dull & hackneyed mythos of young tearaway artist 'maturing' and making some classic 'golden-age' aor 'singer-songwriter' pop-rock with all its 'timeless' qualities and radio-ready concessions to The Art Of Song

i don't care if my opinion is boring or not. i love the music i love, that's all. i don't know if friedberger has matured or not, i do not care really. but the fiery furnaces mini-operas really annoyed me and her new songs do not. i am aware of the fact that i have a rather predictable taste but it does not bother me at all.

one thing is for sure. i definitely do not care about people who only like or dislike stuff not to appear boring. as that is silly.

niels and alex--I think you're letting concept-crazed, overly ambitious latter-day Fiery Furnaces keep you from enjoying some very cool records. If you like Eleanor's solo stuff, I highly recommend the Fiery Furnaces singles collection (released, iirc, as EP), as well as their first album, Gallowsbird's Bark. Not as lush as Eleanor's solo albums, maybe, but just as poppy / clever / great. I love everything up to and including Widow City; I like the subsequent albums fine (except Rehearsing My Choir, which I couldn't get into), but sort of tuned out when it seemed like the albums were getting more bloated and conspicuously strange (as opposed to legitimately, accidentally strange, if that makes sense).

Widow City came after all three of Blueberry Boat, Rehearsing My Choir and Bitter Tea. Blueberry Boat was their second album. If anything they mellowed. FYI.

OK now I'm thinking I should give the singles collection a go - I do like the band in smaller doses.

I seldom sit down and listen to Blueberry Boat anymore but my admiration for it has not dimmed

I've got the ep, like it just fine

But I like her new solo record even more bcz omg I'm so boring

there should be a shorthand for when people enter a thread of musical appreciation and discussion to inform everyone that the artist being discussed actually sucks

(I realize that's not exactly what happened here and no hard feelings)

The aesthetics of transgression are just as stale imo

― niels, Tuesday, September 20, 2016 1:52 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fwiw I agree with this 100% and if anything it is this narrative that is tired in 2016

Also, did not realize my chronology was so way off! Could have sworn Widow City was earlier. I guess Widow City was a sort of "return to form," then?

I actually love the beginning of Blueberry Boat, and bits and pieces here and there, but in general everything she's ever done always makes me think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YdMj8ocvns

this record seems overlooked in eoy lists

going with "A Long Walk" in my trax poll, since it's probably the most Friedbergesque on the record but "Never Is A Long Time" is p devastating too, also "Open Season" is v v nice

Yeah it's a great album. "All Known Things" is the one that sticks with me.

i was thinking the same thing re: New View missing on all these lists. also, fun fact: when I saw Chris Cohen last weekend his keyboard player was the guy from Eleanor Friedberger's band. excellent in both!

I liked this album too but I guess it came out pretty early in the year because it feels like a 2015 record to me

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91OaAzEQZWL._SX522_.jpg

Eleanor Friedberger has announced her new album, which is titled Rebound and will be out May 4 via Frenchkiss. It was inspired by a post-Election Day 2018 extended trip to Greece to explore family heritage. The title of the album, specifically, comes from a late-night goth club in Athens, as she explains:

After a month in Athens I asked my friend, the Greek musician Σtella, “What’s one thing I have to do before I leave?” After some long and careful consideration she smiled and said, you have to go to Rebound. It’s a time warp; kind of an 80s goth disco where everyone does the chicken dance; you’ll love it… but it’s only open on Saturdays after 3:00 AM.” Rebound proved to be a revelation in terms of finding the sound and energy for my fourth album. The club was very dark and despite the no smoking signs, like everywhere in Athens, it was very smoky. The ‘chicken dance’ Stella mentioned was a solitary one. I copied the slouchy strut, moving back and forth in line, swinging my arms in time to the music that at first sounded like Joy Division or maybe The Cure, but never revealed itself– one could only assume it to be knock-off by an unknown Baltic band. It was alienating and exhilarating.

Nice!

I really like this!

def more synthy/drum machine but it still feels like her stuff, it doesn't feel like as much of a left turn as i expected based on the description/copy

it's almost like..i dunno, comparing a 70s singer songwriter album to an album they released in 82

Not that fussed about the new song but still excited for this. The last record was a bit mellow - didn't really get me like the previous two - but A Long Walk is an amazing track.

she has the dopest album covers

That's true.

always curious to hear what she has to say, like the sound of this, very clean

she's a singular singer

i like the sound of this
https://youtu.be/wmjcSz8aV1Y

Yeah it’s a good one. (Does she live in L.A. now?)

nice, she is very consistent

look forward to seeing her play on friday!

(Does she live in L.A. now?)

As far as I know she lives upstate New York but just . This interview made me sad: she had to move out of Brooklyn cause she couldn't afford it any more

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/19/eleanor-friedberger-new-view

"but just" was going to end with something about her working in LA

There is something sad about her position (though she makes great records). She's amazingly talented, and has real star potential, but the Fiery Furnaces just fucked it up. I've seen her last three shows in Glasgow - all great - but there were not much more than 50 people at any of them. She seems out of place, too big for the rooms, but that's where she is. I tell people that I've seen her and they haven't even heard of her.

Why do you blame the FFs? Just curious.

I wonder how her sales and show attendance compare to what the FFs were doing at their peak.

The article makes it seem as the age of streaming for free is the reason musicians are broke nowadays but I don’t really see her or the Fiery Furnaces even getting a chance in the pre-internet age.

Also they are a hard band to sell tbh and yet their weirdness was their selling point. I still love her but her solo career is very lowkey compared to what they did as a band. They were a very niche band and people still following her is even more niche.

I was a gonzo Furnaces fan -- never missed an L.A. show (including multiple nights of the same visit), obsessed over the albums, etc. Moments of those shows are burned in my memory. I still look back with a kind of awe that they even existed; they were such a singular band.

But even I have sort of lost track of Eleanor. Hoping to pick up the thread with this new one.

She opened for Luna at the Moroccan Lounge in LA, and said she'll be back as headliner in May. Nice venue to see her in.