Pitchfork

Photo by Amy Giunta

We could come up with some clever lede or pun involving a Fiery Furnaces song title or something, but we're just going to walk you through this one. As Matthew Friedberger disclosed in a recent chat with Billboard.com, the Fiery Furnaces are planning a ballet. The ballet has a rock'n'roll theme and incorporates dance based on American Sign Language. Also, it involves something Matthew calls "American event social gestures."

Huh? "The 'we're number one' finger and the heavy metal horn-sign," Matthew elaborated to Billboard, "and, most importantly, the hand-dancing in Indonesian and Pakistani (religious-minded) pop music videos." Ah, of course. Hand-dancing. Right.

No word yet whether this thing will ever see the light of day, nor whether Granny gets to wear a tutu, but indie rock ballets do seem to be in vogue these days. So the zeitgeist is on their side, at least.

Although Widow City, the Furnaces' latest, doesn't drop until October 9 (on Thrill Jockey), it seems the duo already has another record written. It's called Back to Begamo and, said Matthew, contains sister/fellow Furnace Eleanor Friedberger's "selection of her favorite 'arias' of mine." Well sure, if you're already doing ballet, why not opera too?

In the midst of all this grandiosity, the Furnaces have also stretched their previously reported North American tour into November. Catch the dates just ahead.

Stop, drop, and roll:

10-09 Newport, KY - Southgate House
10-10 Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
10-11 Madison, WI - The Annex
10-12 Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club
10-15 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
10-16 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
10-17 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
10-19 Berkeley, CA - UC Berkeley (early show)
10-19 San Francisco, CA - Independent
10-20 Big Sur, CA - Fernwood Resort
10-21 San Diego, CA - Casbah
10-22 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
10-26 Austin, TX - Emo's
10-27 Austin, TX - Emo's
10-29 St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
10-30 Champaign, IL - Highdive
10-31 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
11-02 Millvale, PA - Mr. Small's Theater
11-03 New York, NY - Hiro Ballroom
11-11 London, England - KOKO (Thrill Jockey anniversary)