Pitchfork

Much like fellow members of their musical flock, election fever has gripped the Fiery Furnaces. Their position on those matters is fairly cut and dry: "This Tour supports the senator-from-Illinois, not the senator from Illinois," they write on their website in a post about their forthcoming "Roll the Dice/Leap of Faith" tour, "meaning, of course, that it supports the senator representing Illinois, not the senator born in Illinois." But just because you've already made your selection doesn't mean you can't revel in the process.

And so, our Furnaces have announced an "On-Line Non-Binding Caucus to Determine the Fiery Furnaces' Next Album". The setup is fairly simple: on their website, the Furnaces have proposed eight album titles with accompanying descriptions and split them into red and blue candidates. Will you choose Sweetheart and Co., with found material as lyrics and "Gershwin imitations as the tunes and changes"? Or maybe Catamite Corner, a disc jam-packed with tracks "like 'Kashmir', but faster, with real strings, and different sorts of lyrics"? The discs, as you can imagine, all sound weird and difficult on the page-- and somehow, it's not impossible to imagine the Furnaces pulling off each and every one.

So, uh, how do we vote? The Furnaces urge us to "go stand over in the corner of the Internet next to the album of your choice" and, if so moved, "stomp your feet and chant your candidate's name." We're guessing that means you may have an impact on the name of the next Fiery Furnaces LP (which, barring a massive write-in effort, apparently won't be called Back to Begamo after all) by weighing in on the comments section of the post. As the Furnaces urge, "Voice of the People-ize!"

As with the general election, we'll let that spot of weirdness hash itself out while we busy ourselves reminding you about Fiery Furnaces tour dates.

Furnaces:

01-17 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
01-18 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
01-19 Portland, ME - Space Gallery
01-21 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
01-22 Buffalo, NY - The Tralf
01-23 State College, PA - Lulu's
01-24 Columbus, OH - The Basement Nightclub
01-25 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
01-26 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
01-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
01-29 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle *
01-30 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
01-31 New Orleans, LA - The Republic *
02-01 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre *
02-02 Houston, TX - The Proletariat
02-04 Memphis, TN - Hi Tone
02-05 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's
02-06 Nashville, TN - Exit/In
02-07 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
02-08 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern
02-09 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light

* with Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck