Okay, so, yes, we’re usually pretty funny and clever (viz.: wry, dry, droll, ironic, sardonic, satirical, smart, sharp, thesauric, encyclopedic, and downright dictionarical) here at Tiny Mix Tapes. That’s just what keeps us in business (aside from all of these here flashy ad banners), as well as part of what keeps those heaps of awards, requests, and fan mail rolling into our office at the steady clip of... of... well, a clipper ship or something, I guess -- I don’t know. But truth is, folks, that we’re not such oddball innovators and brainy geniuses after all. Nope. The truth is that all of our content, with all of its left turns and good ideas, is really brainstormed in private by Matt and Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces! Sad but true. They come up with wacky story ideas, and we just write ’em up. But I mean, you gotta give us a break, here. You can hardly blame us for using them. No one is as clever as these two are! If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the latest whacky scheme they’ve posted on their MySpace page this week.
First, on Monday, the band posted a MySpace blog post titled "DESCRIBE THE NEW FIERY FURNACES' ALBUM--WITHOUT HAVING HEARD IT!" asking, "Wouldn't it be interesting to see how Fiery Furnaces' fans would describe the new Fiery Furnaces' album--without having heard it?" The precocious siblings then prompted fans to email them at thefieryfurnacesemail@gmail.com with their thoughts and descriptions of what THEY (they = the fans; stay with me here) think that the new Furnaces record, I'm Going Away (due July 21 on Thrill Jockey) sounds like, based on nothing more than the title, tracklist, and said fans’ own rabid opinions about that the “new sound” of the Matt and Eleanor should be. They dubbed these almost-certainly fanatical musings "Deaf Descriptions."
Then, on Tuesday, another MySpace blog done-got-dropped, thickening the plot like so much AP flour and okra and explaining (and/or confounding) that The Fiery Furnaces intend to record "a ‘complete’ fan-made, word-only, entirely-unrelated, alternate version of I'm Going Away" based solely (solely means ‘entirely,’ now kids) on these “Deaf Descriptions.” This democratically-spirited monstrosity, which is, mind you, totally and completely SEPARATE from the actual I'm Going Away record, despite the fact that it’s 100% based on it, "could be called Exclusively-Acolyte, Altered-Otherwise, Hypo-Audio, I'm Going Away,” and will (and here’s the big finish, now)... also be released July 21 on Thrill Jockey!
So, that’s not one, but two different “versions” of I’m Going Away that are now being promised by the band, and they want you to email them at their plain ol’ Gmail account with your thoughts on what you think the new Fiery Furnaces album is going to sound like ASAP (cuz the freakin’ thing is DUE in like two months!). Thus, you (viz.: yourself, not me, not them, not some producer or tourmate or roadie, not Billy Corgan) will, in the process, be writing an EVEN NEWER Fiery Furnaces album that will, I guess, be released on the same day as the “old” one... which is also new???
See. I told you them siblings was clever buggers. We’d all just be whistling “Dixie” and tossing puke-hats around Golden Corral parking lots if t’weren’t for them. Dig?
Tourdates:
06.10.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
06.11.09 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
08.06.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
08.07.09 - Cincinnati, OH - Fountain Square
08.08.09 - Washington, DC - The Black Cat
