Put My Head Down, Crumple My Paper

Wu-Tang Clan “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit/Shame On A Nigga (live in San Bernardino, July 17, 2004) – This is a selection from the new Wu-Tang Clan live album which was recorded at a rare one-off show featuring all nine members of the Clan (plus Cappadonna) in California over the summer. It’s exactly what I always suspected a Wu show would be like – shambolic but energetic, intense but fun. The setlist is absolutely brilliant – the majority of Enter The 36 Chambers is included, mostly played at the start of the show, with well-selected highlights from the three other Wu albums, plus classic material from the various solo records. They waste little time on stage, jumping from song to song and skipping verses in order to pack in as many songs as humanly possible within 70 minutes. The structure of the show seems to inadvertantly reveal the hierarchy of the Clan – the more successful members of the Clan (Method Man, Ghostface, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard) dominate the Wu-Tang group cuts and get the spotlight on their own hits, whereas poor U-God only pops up now and again and isn’t allowed to perform any of his solo material. Even Wu part-timer Cappadonna gets his own solo tune! (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

The Mogs “Kelly Blame (Ph 606 version)” – The disco beat, breathy French vocals, and acid keyboards are all fine and good, but the mantra-like repetition of the words “I’m in love” is what sells this song. As the words repeat, they become almost entirely abstract, and the vocals approximate the sound of a siren, in both senses of the word. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

The Fiery Furnaces @ Bowery Ballroom NYC 9/25/2004

Wolf Notes (first half of song, rock version)/Leaky Crystal (alternating lines from Leaky Tunnel and Crystal Clear)/Worry Worry (a verse and chorus)/Blueberry Boat (two verses)/Worry Worry (verse and chorus)/Hurry Worry (2nd half of Smelling Cigarettes)/ Smelling Cigarettes (first half)/My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found/Wolf Notes (reprise of first half)/Two Fat Feet (verse and chorus)/Straight Street (a few verses and chorus)/Two Fat Feet (verse and chorus)/Oregon (part of Mason City, “take the Oregon Short Line to Salt Lake”)/Name Game/Chief Inspector Blancheflower (all three sections without outro, ‘Typewriter’ section played as punk song with Eleanor on vocals, Matt sings ‘Jenny’ section with keyboards)/Quay Cur (played dramatically after “you know damn well she ain’t your Jenny no more”, only first two verses and chorus)/Tropical Iceland (full song, keyboard heavy arrangement)/Up In The North (verse leading up to chorus, when she sings “and it went like this,” it shifts to next song)/Nabs (part of Mason City, “geeched that gazoon’s gow” etc)/South Is Only A Home (keyboard-centric ‘disco’ version)/Blueberry Boat (keyboards, verses and “you ain’t never getting the cargo of my blueberry boat”)/Bow Wow (verse and chorus, slow, keyboards)/Birdie Brain/Inca Rag/Asthma Attack (power trio version)/Don’t Dance Her Down (verse, chorus)/Oregon reprise/Chris Michaels (first line only)/Evergreen (starts on guitar, Matt shifts to keyboard for second verse)/Chris Michaels (“Chinese Bird” section – “Tony,” “I’m the little bird…”)/Mason City (first few verses)/Spaniolated (power trio version)/Chris Michaels (“remember that girl…so so stup” —> “Chillum” section, the credit card section cut out/(Matt’s guitar gets screwed up, they pause for a bit til he gets a new one)/Chris Michaels (starts back up with “Chillum” section, when that ends it goes back to the first section, “later at lunch…”)/Wolf Notes (on keyboard, second half of song, showtuney)/Quay Cur (Inuit section, keyboards, played like a stadium anthem)/Quay Cur (final section main theme, chorus)/Wolf Notes (first half over Quay Cur music, ending on “play me a tune!”) // encore: I Broke My Mind/Single Again/I’m Gonna Run

Though it is not always necessary to include a setlist with a live review, this is certainly a case in which seeing a detailed run-down of what the band played is fairly essential in getting an idea of what this show was like. The structure of the set was even stranger than on previous FF tours. Rather than simply playing alternate arrangements and medleys of the songs as they had before, the new set chops up the songs and recombines them. In some cases, this modular approach yields bizarre results, such as the Frankenstein’s monster mash-up of “Leaky Tunnel” and “Crystal Clear,” but for the most part the tinkering appears to be in the interest of steamlining the set and eliminating inertia from the show altogether. It’s almost as though the set was designed for an audience with ADD, skipping from “good part” to “good part,” leaving out every “boring” step in between. I half-expect Eleanor Friedberger to sadistically pout “bored now” as every song section ends, evil Willow Rosenberg-style.

This was my fourth time seeing the Fiery Furnaces live since the end of 2003, and it was by far the best show that I’ve seen them play. They are much tighter now as a band, so when they play their nonstop medley set, the transitions are nearly seamless and the performance is cleaner and more fluid. Though it was thrilling when it seemed as though they were making up their set as they went along, the more premeditated approach serves them well, allowing themselves to appear more confident and deliberate.