Fiery Furnaces - Remember

Live albums are usually fairly straightforward arrangements. Greatest hits played in an order that makes sense with a bit of screaming in between to show just how many people really really really love the band, you’d not usually even bother if not already a fan. They only get interesting one in a while, and encouragingly, Fiery Furnaces’ live shows are anything but down the line.

For those not in the know, the Friedberger siblings rarely do the same thing twice. What may be your favourite song on record is most likely to be unrecognisable when performed live, and by the time the next tour comes around it’ll have changed again. All this means that ‘Remember’, a collection of live recordings taken from 2005 to 2007, is somewhat of a lucky dip.

Over three years’ worth of material there’s more than a touch of motion sickness to be enjoyed. Studio quality material sits hard up against that which sounds like it’s come from a dodgy bootleg, sometimes within the same song. There’s none of that crowd nonsense mentioned earlier, either; almost entirely removed for the record.

What this means is that ‘Remember’ is less a live album, and more an interesting sonic experiment. In truth, to listen to it’s a bit of a mess; too all over the place to sit comfortably, but lacking any character or euphoria to compare to the band’s still popular live shows. Better waiting for the gigs, then.