Playing in Mexico. Nothing else need be said. La vida es sueño. Meaning what that sounds like in English.
Three shows, March 11-13, in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.
Love,
TFF

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 Schuba's 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

On Saturday, the Senate will vote whether or not debate can begin on the health care reform legislation released two days ago.

What a bill; for all its difficulties, it represents a tremendous step forward.

Please call your senators and tell them that you desperately want debate on this bill to move forward.

For instance, if you are Illinois resident, give Roland Burris a call at 202-224-2854.

Mitch Stewart puts it best: "Just tell whomever answers the phone where you live and that you support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- and want the Senate to begin discussing it right away."

Music websites: please ask your readers to call their senators! [Yes, I mean you, A. at Pitchfork. Yes you can! What a force for good...]

Other bands, especially popular ones: please ask you fans to call your senators!

People with lots of friends on mypace: please ask your friends to call their senators!

A great way to meet new pen pals is to be quoted on a blog.

The group has seven new friends who have written in, expressing their brand new support.
 
Kris Ricat writes that "your're...a band...that people will actually remember and care about 10, 20, 50 years from now"

Joel Fletcher writes, "Matthew Friedberger is...quite frankly way more talented" and "Honestly, what a giant"!

John Bothum writes, "You're incredible!"

Dan A writes, "a genuinely "creative" musician.... The Fiery Furnaces are a prime example of this type of act."

p s writes, "If you wont say something to someone's face, you shouldn't say it period." Though, between you and me p s,  that might not be true in all cases. And, "Blueberry Boat...is better."

Dean Webb from Madison, Wisconsin writes, "Nice rant about Radiohead"!. He then offers his record-spinning services to us, by signing off as "DJ Webb." Thanks!

And finally, Paul Leavoy writes, "Do you need help writing press releases?" (This email was very short. There wasn't anything in it with which to fashion a quote that reads as some sort of compliment to the band.) I guess the answer to that must be, Yes and No.

On the other hand, Slim Moon writes, and I apologize, Slim, for quoting a private email, "hey man i have no idea how many ways this radiohead thing might have been twisted and not represent your words or feelings, but anyways.  if you really are criticizing them as bullshit artists, bravo.  i completely concur, and i think it's great when artists like you have the courage to speak their convictions about aesthetic concerns."

Of course, Slim could retort, correctly, that what he wrote was, "you really are...bullshit artists."

Like most creative musicians, Matt Friedberger is not a fan of Radiohead and their various chartbusters. 

Of course, Matt and all of The Fiery Furnaces family have the greatest respect for all Tommies, living or dead. So much so that lots of The Fiery Furnaces work is, because of the pun, dedicated to imitating the Who's "Tommy". 

Now, back in the fall of 1996 or whenever that interview was conducted, the interviewer asked what Matt thought of a Radiohead song celebrating a WWI veteran. 

Of course, Matt never 'misread' any song title, as has been reported. Though he is not very proficient at it, he can actually read. Matt naturally thought it would be interesting to pretend that they wrote a song about the celebrated American composer with a similar sounding name, hence his joking in the interview about Radiohead composing a song with something like 48 notes to an octave.  It was easy and amusing to imagine Radiohead's attempt to colonize that relatively arcane bit of our musical lifeworld.  No doubt that would be very successful. 

Matt has not heard the Radiohead song about Harry Patch, as opposed to his imaginary one about Harry Partch, but if he did, he is sure he wouldn't like it.  No doubt Radiohead and their fans can ignore his opinion of this matter and the band can continue with their triumphant artistic interventions. 

Matt would have much preferred to insult Beck but he is too afraid of Scientologists.

Good old Europe. It's better than ever. They've got it all here.

In fact, if you don't live here, why not fly over immediately and see a Fiery Furnaces' show? We're playing quite a few these next few weeks.

If you don't mind, I'd like to tell you a story. As it happens, we are in the UK at present. Our new friend, Goz, who is driving around with us, was feeling quite sick. So much so that he needed to go to the hospital. To the emergency room. We were all quite worried. The professionals at triage apologized to him right away: "There's going to be a little bit of a wait, I'm afraid." More bad news.

But how long did Goz have to wait? 15 minutes. And how much did Goz have to pay for a trip to the emergency room, 28 tablets of Phenoxymethylpenicillin, 32 tablets of Paracetamol, and 24 tablets of Ibuprofen? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He's feeling much better.

Of course, we miss the USA. But yesterday, Matt and Eleanor met Michael Palin--and Jane Harrocks!

Talk to you soon,
TFF

FF encourages All Bands to turn All their shows this next month into Pro-Health Care Reform Rallies.

Perhaps even more importantly: FF encourages all those American music websites to ask all their favorite bands to turn their shows into Pro-Health Care Reform Rallies!

Why not make sure the world knows that all of us true grandmother-loving, pro-American, 'young people' haven't given up our political involvement?

They think that us 'young people' (so to speak...) don't care anymore, you know. That we have we have retreated to our caves, or communes, or moms' basements, or new condos in the 11222, or...whatevs.

Show them that it's not true! (And there's a good chance that you don't have health insurance to begin with.....)

Sure, we can disagree on the details. But Patriotic American Rock-n-Roll Fans--and bands----and Music Websites--must surely agree that our nation is in desperate need of health care reform.

We can't sit, or stand, or drive, idly by while the most outrageous lies get told in the most offensive manner.

Why not have some information at your merch table, letting people know how they can support health care reform? Why not put someone on your guest list who can talk to people about how they can support health care reform? Why not mention that sort of thing from the stage, in the midst of one of your charming in-between-song monologues?

Web-sites: why not ask all those bands to do that sort of thing? Right up until September 8th, when Congress comes back in session.

Why, just think of how much more fun for everyone it will be if an anti-reform mob, with all their swastika stickers and show-us-your-birth-certificate banners and joker make-up, come on down and picket the show? I mean, Rally!

What an easy way to expand your fan base!

Tell your managers and interns that you want to turn your show into a Pro-Health Care Reform Rally!

Websites: make them do it! (They do whatever you say, you know.)