Dear Eleanor and Matt,

Included, please find the pictures I have made of my Fiery Furnaces bag during my trip to Paris.
Of course, your concert at La Boule Noire was the best part of my trip, but I also enjoyed walking through Paris.
Going there on my own, which wasn’t a usual step to take for me, was a great experience. I’d like to thank you, Eleanor, for inspiring me to do that.

Enjoy the rest of your tour!

Jonathan was kind enough to share his story with us at our show in Madison, WI.  Please share your stories in person at our next show or write to:  thefieryfurnacesemail@gmail.com or PO Box 220513 Brooklyn, NY 11222

Have you been looking for Widow City on vinyl?  Well, look no more!  Come out to one of our shows this week and buy a very limited edition copy of Widow City.  Who said spray painting indoors was a health hazard?  I feel great!

New Year’s Eve in Chicago.  What an occasion.  And the night before New Year’s Eve in Chicago.  What a pre-occasion.

Two shows (with our best-band-friends Cryptacize), celebrating the old, inaugurating the new, in the capital of the American Dream– Chicago.

Go to Schubas on the 30th and Lincoln Hall on the 31st.  Raise a toast to your alderman and buy a drink for your aunt, guy.

Fly on in; visit that fabulous legendary lost land– Chicago. If you are a native English speaker, adopt an unvoiced terminal /s/, adjust many of your vowel sounds, and say hello.  If you are not a native English speaker, talk however you like.

A party like none other,
TFF

The Fiery Furnaces begin their season of holiday cheer this weekend in New York, We play a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, followed by one at the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday. So why not have a real festivus-for-the-rest-of-us? Gather all of your holiday friends together–and come sing along with the Fiery Furnaces!

For instance, if your name is William and you live with your boyfriend by the airport in Atlanta, why not fly on up with a few friends? Or perhaps your name is Daniel and you live in a small town in Switzerland–why not make a weekend of it? Head stateside. New York City and all its holiday glories–which include two Fiery Furnaces’ shows–await you.

But maybe you happen live somewhere in the Tri-State area. It could be that you already have a regularly scheduled holiday party to attend. Well don’t let that stop you–leave that party early! Then come on over to the Fiery Furnaces’ party. We start playing at 11:00, both nights.

There might even be mistletoe at the front of the stage. You might get to kiss Eleanor, or Bob–or Jason’s pet pig, Emmett. Remember, he loves clementines!

Take Me Round Again:  The Friedbergers cover the Friedbergers.

The Fiery Furnaces have been reworking, rearranging, and rewriting their songs live since they first started touring in 2003.  They have taken this practice one step further on their new record, Take Me Round Again.  Recorded separately this past July in Michigan and New York, Matt and Eleanor each recorded 6 songs that originally appeared on I’m Going Away.  All that remains the same are the words.

Eleanor: “I’ve gotten into the habit of rewriting songs Matt has written, just as a way of practicing and singing at home.  Originally, I had wanted to record a folk-style record called Eleanor Friedberger sings the songs of the Fiery Furnaces.  I thought it would make a nice greatest hits record, but reworking I’m Going Away before it even came out seemed a lot more exciting.”

Matthew:  “After asking people to send us their re-write of I’m Going Away before having heard it, I thought we owed it to them to make an actual alternate version of the record.  And not just leave all the new arranging for live shows.”

You can buy the record at FINA or iTunes.

We left our hearts and our Traynor amp at the Red Room last night…  a wonderful show in Vancouver.  Shawn, thank you for the beautiful flowers!

We read this piece in Time Out this morning, and can hardly believe our eyes:  Ray Davies’ response to hearing Charmaine Champagne:

This is fascinating. It sounds like the music I was writing with the Kinks when we first started. I’d like to record with people like this. They’re the sort of band that you look to come on tour with you—it’s so fresh and energized.

The Fiery Furnaces star siblings, just like the Kinks. Do you have any advice for them?
Leave all your quarrels at home. Although inevitably, it’s going to come through in the music.

You famously quarreled with your brother, Dave. Do you regret forming the group with him?
Oh, no. I wanted to do well and let him do well. The best bands are like families—it’s always been that way.

I write you to inform you about the catastrophical situation in France.

What were the surprise when I went to my lycee yesterday : they changed the ex-name of the lycee on Friedbergers school, so here, reign a crazy enthusiasm !

Yesterday, again, manifestants brandished signs where were writen : “Friedbergers presidents, No more Eiffel Tower but Furnace Tower. Don’t go away !” Sincerely, they exagerrate !

Don’t worry, if it’s still very difficult to find Fiery Furnace’s albums in france, it’s because now, childrens learn your songs at school and of course, they know it all so, they don’t have to buy your CDs. I ask myself if this parative don’t break the laws and if it’s legal… ?