Remember [VINYL] [Limited Edition]

I've loved the Fiery Furnaces throughout the years, and always found something to enjoy in their weird, wonky brand of pop music. Yes, even in the relatively lackluster "Rehearsing My Choir."

So it's a bit of a thrill for me to hear their first live album, the rather obliquely titled "Remember." While it suffers from some production problems -- the sound gets a bit tinny and distant at times -- the Fiery Furnaces burn through a string of their past songs with fiery energy and plenty of musical skill. If you didn't hear the audience applaud, you could sometimes forget that this is live.

There's a wild wonky intro made up of furious drumming, audience cheering and blobs of Flaming-Lips-style synth. Then the Furnaces trickle into the twisty art-rockiness of "Blueberry Boat," a story about valiantly defending the cargo of your blueberry boat ("It's sad and it's cold at the bottom of the sea/but at least I got my blueberries with me").

Then they segue into a string of other songs, usually from the "Bitter Tea" and "Blueberry Boat" albums, but with some songs included from pretty much all of their past work. Most of the songs on the first disc are sped up as if the Furnaces were trying to cram as many songs into their set as possible.

For example, "Single Again" and "I'm in No Mood" are played with rushed wild exuberance, with Eleanor Friedberger sending out a steady stream of breathless lyrics over her brother's rippling keyboard. But not all of them are sped-up -- they do slower melodies for the warbly "Japanese Slippers," the tootly "Whistle Rhapsody," the prog-synthpop of "Wicker Whatnots," and a very lo-fi version of the lovely B-side "Evergreen."

The second disc starts with the fuzzy "Chris Michaels," a more traditional kind of rocker... right before launching into a couple of their odder songs. Fortunately they don't seem quite as rushed in this disc, as if the Friedbergers realized that they didn't have to be quite so fast. Instead the sibings seem to have relaxed into a rock'n'roll groove that meshes nicely with their odd sound.

And they do a pretty good job offering some live twists on their studio work -- "My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found" is given a punky new edge, followed by the cascading riffs and synth of "Spaniolated" and the staccato and schizophrenic "Tropical Ice-land." And there's some stuff from their latest album as well -- the bombastic "Philadelphia Grand Jury" is reworked into a relatively sedate, mellow piano-guitar pop song.

"Remember" is actually an amalgam of many, many shows that the Fiery Furnaces have played over the past few years. And from the sound of the yowls and cheering, it seems like the crowds love them live -- there's a lot of passion and weird, complex music in this live album, and the Furnaces succeed in playing their songs in a recognizable manner while adding some new twists.

Matthew Friedberger plays a dizzying array of organ, keyboard, piano and assorted other instruments, but I doubt he can play them all at once in live performances. But whoever is lending them a hand, they do a great job -- woven expanses of synth and keyboard, some wild rock riffs, chirping guitars and drums, which can twist and spiral without any prior warning.

I'm not sure how Eleanor Friedberger can belt out these rapid-paced, complex songs for such a long time, and indeed she sounds a bit hoarse in a couple of the songs. But she pulls off their kooky, strange songs even when she's singing them ultra fast ("I'm in no mood to comb my hair/There'sachillintheair!"). And occasionally she pauses to thank the audience.

What's the problem? Well, in three years of touring you'd expect a bit of microphone malfunction, and there are moments -- such as the middle of "Evergreen" -- where the sound fades out and gets tinny. Fortunately this problem usually fixes itself in a minute or two.

The Fiery Furnaces have always seemed like the kind of band who produces really awesome live shows. And "Remember" shows off that apparently they do, not including a few technical errors.

Eleanor Friedberger is better than P.J. Harvey. Brilliant, irresistible, exciting music. Masterpiece! Incredible works of Robert D'Amico on drums and Jason Loewenstein on bass. Matthew Friedberger is my favourite composer and player. My recomendation.

What a fun album. The warning on the back says not to listen all at once, but I'm not sure I agree...you can handle at least one of the two discs at a time. I think it's very fun and I applaud the Furnaces for being different and not being sellouts!!!