Listening to this double album release by one half of the Fiery Furnaces, it strikes me how contradictory it is--everything about it, every angle I attack it from, presents paradoxes that don't quite square. If nothing else, Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School reveals that nothing about the Fiery Furnaces is ever as cut-and-dry as it seems.The first thing we need to get out of the way is why, exactly, Matt did these two solo albums. In press during the release, he mentions that his sister, Eleanor, was on vacation and the Furnaces had a "logjam" of records to release, and this was the quickest way to clear the chute, so to speak. However...it's one of those paradoxes of the release: both albums could have been done with the regular Furnaces crew, but at the same time, listening to these songs enough, it's hard for me to imagine how Eleanor would or could fit in.
The second thing we need to deal with are the statements that Holy Ghost Language School is the crazy, experimental album and Winter Women is the easy, sweet pop album. Let's start with Holy Ghost, shall we?? I read somewhere that Matt thinks of it as being analogous to the Residents or 'the most out moments from Brian Eno's solo albums', which makes me wonder if he's ever listened to that music. The truth is that Holy Ghost Language School will not be much of a struggle for anyone weaned on earlier Fiery Furnace releases. The only 'experimental' bits are that it focuses heavily on drum machines and keyboards and has spoken word bits that move the concept along, just as Rehearsing My Choir did. But unlike Rehearsing My Choir, they're used sparingly, and Holy Ghost uses just as many long, expository instrumental passages that sound like Matt's ego--and talent--being released into full flight. I get the feeling that people don't like Holy Ghost Language School for two reasons. The first is that they've talked themselves into thinking it's experimental and "noisy" and so won't give it another chance. As I said, the truth is quite different: it's nowhere near as experimental or difficult as it's made out to be. The second reason I think people don't like Holy Ghost is that they compare it too much to Winter Women rather than letting it stand on its own and appreciating it for its merits. It's no masterpiece, but Holy Ghost Language School isn't the tossed off thinkpiece that many would have you believe.
As for Winter Women, well, it is a poppier record. Songs like 'The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company Resignation Letter' and 'Ruth Vs. Rachel' are instantly catchy and accessible, largely due to inclusion of guitars, but even then, there's still too many odd keyboard flourishes and odd sound loops to truly qualify the album as true pop. Also, and this is crucial, Winter Women is simply too long for its own good. You'd think that the run times of both albums were switched: when I think of an easygoing, sunny summer pop album, I think of something between 30 to 45 minutes in length. But Winter Women goes on for more than an hour, while the more experimental Holy Ghost Language School is short--some might say mercifully so--at around 46 minutes. I fully admit to preferring and enjoying Winter Women more than Holy Ghost Language School, but they aim for entirely different things and, more often than not, succeed at them.
The last thing I want to say about this release is how much of a gift it is to fans who love Matt's voice. I tend to think that he lets Eleanor take lead vocals a bit too often--Widow City, on first listen, struck me as almost a Matt-less album--because I like his voice and style a lot. He's got a very solid, pretense-less, unaffected voice that always worked well in the context of the skewed music he makes because it contrasts so nicely with it, and always gives one a human element to latch unto. Particularly on Winter Women, Matt fans get the alone time they always wanted but might not have realized quite how much they did.
Even though I like both of these albums a lot, I can't bring myself to give them more than 3 stars. I don't particularly love them, and it's one of those releases where if you even know about it, you're probably already a fan or a hater, so anything I say or do won't sway you. What we're left with is a pop album that isn't completely a pop album, and an experimental album that isn't really an experimental album. Those who love the Furnaces will have more to chew on, while haters will have more ammo to fight with. Even Matt seems to see the situation humorously, in an interview with Pitchfork, where he goes into why he decided to release a double solo album. I'll leave you with this quote:
"There's no fun in having a solo record. You know, it's a very boring story: a guy from a non-popular band to have an even less popular solo record. That's not very interesting. But at least with two records, that seems like such a waste of people's time as to be more amusing."
No comments:
Post a Comment