Mid-Week Music Test #1

2008-06-05T11:29:00.011+08:00

#1: Selena Salang x Widow City

For our inagural edition of Mid-Week Music Test, we got Selena Salang from Ang Bandang Shirley to sample Widow City, the latest release by The Fiery Furnaces.

photos by Jamila Nedjadi, mangled by Paolo

Selena wasn't familiar with the genre-defying siblings, prior to our quasi-ambush review. To give her a little context, she also listened to parts of Gallowsbird's Bark (2002). After giving both records a thorough listen on Claire's trusty Creative Zen player, the insightful singer offered her gut responses to the eclectic duo's most recent opus.

* She likened Widow City to "an opera about a story like Beetlejuice". She qualified her her impression: "Medyo may horror elements dahil sa sounds... Pero ang quirky."

* Selena really dug the multi-layered quality of the album. The disjointed song-writing kept her absorbed the whole time. "They really keep you on your toes. The first song ("The Philadelphia Grand Jury") was like two seperate songs that they cut up and connected at these weird points."

She particularly loved the complex synth arrangements: "When you take them on their own, by themselves, they're actually pretty melodic. But when you put them all together, it sounds so..." (Cue affected shivering noises.)

* For all the Friedbergers' premeditated weirdness, Selena was just as engaged by their more conventional, radio-friendly songs. "I forgot which track that was; it was somwehwere in the middle. It was more the regular verse-chorus-verse thing, but it sounded good also. I liked it."

Eventually, the album comes to an end, and the headphones come off. Would this newbie pay a return visit to Widow City?

"I would probably listen to this over and over again, and each time get something different. It's like a gift that has several wrappers. And on each wrapper there's something funny, like a comic strip. Matutuwa ka na with that. Pero next time when you open it, there's something else."

The Fiery Furnaces
Widow City
2007
Thrill Jockey

The Fiery Furnaces @ Last.FM
The Fiery Furnaces @ MySpace
The Fiery Furnaces @ Wikipedia

Selena shares vocal duties for Ang Bandang Shirley (ABS). They are perhaps best known for composing "Sa Madaling Salita", the love theme from critical darling Endo. ABS are now in the process of releasing a full-length album under Terno Recordings. Sample their charming, down-to-earth indie rock at Last.FM

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Mid-Week Music Test #1