Okay, one more time with feeling (very very ecstatic feeling) plus other shit

They're pretty good.

For those who missed the utterly radical two nights at Cafe Du Nord, trust me, you really blew it. Total suckers, you all. Highlights included pretty much everything, but if you're a cheater like me (and a self-loathing one at that) the stuff of Rehearsing My Choir, specifically "Slavin' Away", "Guns Under the Counter" and the "The Wayfaring Grandaughter" were especially exceptional. I think I've shocked a couple random bystanders by rudely approaching them and shouting "Guns under the counter! Guns under the counter" the way Eleanor did. Eh, I guess you had to be there.

Once again, I find myself at the proverbial desk in the bloffice (blog office? fuck it, whatever) while the man keeps piling up the stacks in the "to do" bin. I'm surrounded by towers of work waiting to be attended to. With today's release of Metric's Live It Out, Broken Social Scene's S/T, Franz Ferdinand's (CD release) You Can Have So Much Better and Ladytron's Witching Hour, among others, I really have my work cut out for me. I haven't yet gotten to Wolf Parade's masterful Apologies to Queen Mary either. I plain suck.

Well before I set sail on the sea of blah blah blah over the next few enteries, let me quickly mention that I'm adoring Laura Veirs' Year of Meteors (Nonesuch). I wanted to give it a thumbs up before it potentially got inadvertantly trampled by the onslaught of the heavy hitters. Musically somewhere between Beth Orton and Cat Power, and melody-wise falling smackdab in the middle of Colin Meloy and Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlin, Veirs is poised for some goddamn recognition. You might accuse me of just looking at pictures (check the cover) but her voice has sense of naive, nerdiness that really endears you to her quaint songs. From the comtemplative folky "Through the Glow" to the razor-sharp rock of "Black Gold Blues" and the poppy sing-along of "Cool Water" to the eletronically percussive "Secret Someones", Veirs' styles runs the gamut, yet is held together by her warmness and sincerity. She can be slightly MOR and tries her hardest to get lost in the pack of the lady singer-songwriters, but with intense, all-out dedication to Year of Meteors, you will undoubtedly be rewarded.

You can smell the boiled cabbage on the bullets. Sorry. Don't mind me, it'll all make sense soon. Unless you don't plan to get Rehearsing My Choir, then you will never get it. Let me tell you, it ain't no fun goin' through life never gettin' it.

Rehearsing My Choir will be released October 25 on Rough Trade. Laura Veirs is headlining Bottom of the Hill 11/16/05.

The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com
Laura Veirs: http://lauraveirs.com