As half of NYC’s brother/sister double act Fiery Furnaces, Matthew Friedberger is one of the most prolific, conceptual, hard-working and downright infuriating musicians active today. His solo double-album from 2006 (originally released on 859 Recordings) is something of a summary of his career as a whole: a whirling, fuzzy mix of hooks that disappear too quickly, squelching keyboard dissonance and over-wordy streams of consciousness.
When it works best – possibly, you imagine, at the point that Friedberger begins to get itchy feet (ie, during the tunes) – it’s damn sweet. Up The River, Her Chinese Typewriter and, in particular, Ruth Vs Rachel have a Jonathan Richman-like simplicity that never veers too far off the rails.
But by the time you get to HGSL, you’re back in the non-linear chaos that even Fiery Furnaces themselves have slowly moved away from (check this year’s I’m Going Away). It’s a baffling listen and frankly annoying at points. More frustrating is that it follows on from some of Friedberger’s most satisfying work to date.
