Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)

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.

Yes, Furnaces were a fantastic live band, always interesting with a wide range of energy/sounds. And for niche, they were filling pretty large rooms at their peak (First Ave's Main Room here, though not sold out).

Solo Eleanor is very reliable as well, though some friends have balked at solo sets, too low-key (not for me). Last time through, I didn't feel the band was up to her, but as the set went on, she managed to mess with them a bit and they rose to her game.

thanks, nick (didn't realize Luna were still out there!)

They re-grouped, may still be on that tour.

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.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, April 4, 2018 6:25 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dunno about FF but I think one of the things that has changed is that labels know they won't make money on physical releases, which means less money offered for advances, tour support, etc. I'd be willing to bet FF were doing better financially than Eleanor is now, despite the fact that her music is a lot more accessible

i wanted to see that Luna show with her opening up here in Los Angeles. was so temped to go but i already saw Beck/Spoon and going to MGMT, a couple of Giants/Angel games and trying to get to the Arctic Monkeys show too. my budget is stretched for entertainment at the moment. oh yeah, of Montreal and Modest Mouse are also possibilities.

Those of us here in L.A. should meet up at Amoeba, and wander around mumbling declaratory sentences to each other, or something...

haha, i'm in

morrisp, did you post under a different name before or are you brand new to ILM?

I used to post here ages ago (early 2000s), and recently returned (God knows why or how long I’ll last).

lol, this is a good place most of the time. i came on around 2006 or so, i think my first post had to do with Moose. anyways, 12 years now? i'm fucking old school now.

this place is so intimidating, it's hard to get new people.

i think it took me six months before my first post because of that. i used to post on the old CMJ board called Obner. glad i found a new home here on ILM way back when.

Well, nice to meet you! The vibe is pretty much as I remember it... maybe a little less intense and friendlier (though more “Polls”... so many Polls!)

haha, i have done:

ILM Ballot Polls for 2014 and beyond -- order, timing, "I would have voted if I'd known about it," etc

New Order
Steely Dan
The Boo Radleys
Spoon
Bauhaus
Oasis (lol)
Talking Heads
Joy Division

gave up on and took over by others:

Blondie
Smashing Pumpkins (currently going as you can see)

Damn. Just checked when she's playing next in London and it was last night at the (tiny) Moth Club: a venue I love.

Sucks to be a shit fan.

Hello morrisp!

Hahaha I think i ended up in this hellhole 10 years ago because my mp3blog was being roasted in here and I got curious. Posters were not nice then and they still are not but for better or worse it still is the best forum I’ve bumped into to discuss music.

Also site mods/analysts can doublecheck this fact but I’m fairly sure polls were abused 10 years ago between 2007/2008. I swear back then 7 out of 10 daily active threads were polls.

I also did like 20 polls those years, sorry.