Blast furnace(s)

Imagine for a second that so-called 'cool' indie bands had their own version of Heat magazine. For a start it would be called Chaud or Sweat, and it would focus on the personal lives of these real artists, ones that write their own songs. If such a thing were to exist then Eleanor Friedberger from The Fiery Furnaces would be most famous for stepping out with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. Imagine the shots of them reading Bukowski in an uptown cafe or stumbling out of a beautifully dishevelled hotel.

Luckily, such a thing doesn't exist and we're not even sure they're still together, but who cares because it's all about the MUSIC. Unfortunately, The Fiery Furnaces have a habit of making music that needs to be endured rather than enjoyed. One of their albums was sung by their grandmother, another was a live album that stretched to over fifty songs. Their latest opus, I'm Going Away, has, you know, some tunes and stuff, which is nice. Not to be left behind on the pretentious front though, the band have since decided to re-record the album twice, with Eleanor making a version and brother Matthew making another.

This is a very good video for a song called 'Charmaine Champagne':



The album is very much a return to form. Expect to see Eleanor puking outside The Ivy very soon.