Sunday, August 2, 2009

From Dwight Schrute's Sheet Music: Fiery Furnaces release "Silent" album

It seems like every other Fiery Furnaces album is based on some wacky idea possibly conceived while drunk: "Let's get grandma to sing on our album!" or "Let's cover the album we just put out-- twice!" And now there's a new one: "Let's just put out sheet music then get fans to play said sheet music at shows!"

Such is the concept for an upcoming Fiery Furnaces "release" called Silent Record, according to a post on their website. "Since bands can no longer sell audio, FF decline to provide it," it says.

Could this be the new business model the music industry is desperate for?! Can actual mortals play any of Matt Friedberger's compositions?! What would John Cage do?! Etc.

"Because file-sharing, or downloading, or whatever, has notoriously, or supposedly, made the production of the conventional 'with-audio' record obsolete, the Fiery Furnaces will release a Silent Record," goes the characteristically verbose post. Read the rest below:

The Fiery Furnaces' next album will consist of instruction, conventional music notation, graphic music notation, reports and illustrations of previous hypothetical performances, reports and illustrations of hypothetical performances previous to the formation of their hypotheses, guidelines for the fabrication of semi-automatic machine rock, memoranda to the nonexistent Central Committee of the Fiery-Furnaces-in-Exile concerning the non-creation of situations, Relevant to Progressive Rock Division, conceptual constellations on a so-to-speak black cloth firmament, and other items that have nothing to do with the price of eggs, or milk, or whatever the proverbial expression ceased to be.

In other words, a Silent Record. You will note that there have been countless Anticipatory Plagiarisms of this endeavor. For instance, more than a millennium of sheet music. We hope to have learned from their numerous mistakes.

Upon release of the record, the band will organize a series of Fan-Band concerts, in which groups of perfectly ordinary Fiery Furnaces' fans will perform, interpret, contradict, ignore, and so on, the compositions that make up Silent Record. Write to thefieryfurnacesemail@gmail.com to nominate your post office break room, truck stop parking lot, municipal arts center, local tavern, or what-its-name to host one of these 'happenings'. By 'happenings' I mean, what will be in the future, perfectly normal rock shows. And propose yourself for Fan Band participation.

No experience necessary.

(Swiped from Pitchfork.com)

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