Flutterbox in the Post-Season!

Once again, the Fbox teams advance to the post-season. Neill CARDINAL Furio will have to find some way to root, root, root for his namesake team at a time when the city of St. Louis has come to exemplify all that is wrong with America. Janine roots for the Tigers, carrying the torch for her father, who never visited Detroit, but became a Tiger fan when his beloved Giants moved to San Francisco in 1957 – it simply was not possible for him to become a Yankee fan, you understand. Why the Tigers? Hank Greenberg. Detroit, we should point out, has long been the poster child for what's wrong with America, though it has the potential to become a new and better kind of American city. Good luck to us both, and all.

Marking the birthday of the Black Dahlia

Ah, facebook. You tell me things I don't know what to do about. Today is apparently the birthday of the most unfortunate Black Dahlia. Neill wrote, and I sang, an extraordinary song about her, Black Dahlia Blues. It was one of the most difficult singing assignments I've ever received, and I made him sing every note with me, like a shadow. It's very, very dark. And beautiful. Like the Black Dahlia.

Reunion nigh!

A Flutterbox reunion is imminent, commencing August 4 when we meet to attend a screening of 20,000 Days On Earth as a guest of the artist.

First verse is an obvious keeper. Second verse leads to another keeper....

Rules To Live By

Flutterbox regrets contributing to the overuse of the word Nazi, but loves Peanuts beyond words.

The Real Thing

Somewhere in Denmark last night, Neill was cutting vinyl on a deadline and using, I quote, "John Lennon's actual genuine 100 percent authenticated Twittenhurst EMT140 plate reverb!!!!" That's four exclamation points from a grammarian. I hope one day he will use it on us. The band is called Eggs Laid by Tigers. They sing Dylan songs – Dylan Thomas, that is. Have a listen. The first record was very engaging; I was especially impressed with the dark humor they elicited with their settings ; Dylan's no Ogden Nash, neither one.

Poster by Inky Falconetti

Keep Calm and Flutter On!

Fear not: The return of Fbox is still nigh. The long delay has been for good reason – Neill has been in Denmark working on a dream assignment, writing lyrics for a theater production entitled Mozart Undone: A Theatre Concert. The show was a huge success in Copenhagen and Oslo and is soon to play at the Barbican in London, Feb 25 - March 1, 2014. Tickets available here and a very enticing slideshow here. When Mozart Undone played in Oslo, the company received a further commission to do for Ludwig what they did for Wolfgang. TEATERKONSERT BEETHOVEN is currently playing at the Rogaland Teater in Stavanger, Norway; this is a production still. Better still is this Google Translation of a rave review of Neill's work: "and even more of the beautiful word-drown from Cardinaling Furio, who can make you gooseskin to laughter tears with-out why." Only Beckett could have said it better. I hope to see both shows in New York someday. Could Mozart and Beethoven match the seemingly endless appeal of Jersey Boys? Let's dare to hope so.

The Flutter Third

At a recent milestone birthday party (belated), a cousin's camera captured this harmonic convergence of birthday gal and Neill with Susan Kassapian, more properly K-Sap. K-Sap lives next door to Janine and she loves to sing, sing while washing dishes, sing in the shower, folding laundry, in the sunshine, anytime. K-Sap also has a perfect memory for melody and enviable pitch. We think of her as the flutter third. One day she will surprise us all with a sudden descant. The girl can't help it! If you're wondering, it was a carrot cake from Greenberg's bakery on Madison. Mad good. Like the party.

Save Buster's ball field!

People who auditioned to work with/for the great Buster Keaton were asked only two questions: "Can you act?" and "Can you play baseball?" A "yes" answer to either question got you the job. When Buster was shooting on location and in need of an idea, what did he do? He called a ballgame. Everyone put down their props and cameras and picked up their bats and gloves. A game ensued until an idea came around, as it always, always did, and pretty soon. Today, we learned that Muskegon, Michigan is poised to bulldoze the baseball field where the Keatons used to play during summers, while resting up from their ceaseless vaudeville tours. Damfinos! We must do our best to keep this field of dreams intact! Sign the petition here!!

There is a fLUTTER in your fUTURE

And the fUTURE is NOW, under tonight's fROST moon. From the fBOX Archive of the Inexcusably Unreleased, streaming here at soundcloud, fULLY aerodynamic renditions of fBOX favorites, Whoops Wrong Daisy, Safety Last Spin Around The Moon; a Hal Willner rough mix of Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, Tony Scherr's appropriately rough mix of Neill's exquisitely terrifying Black Dahlia Blues; plus a gorgeous rehearsal take, when it's right, it's right, from the couch to the Zoom on the floor, Neill's heart-bending arrangement of The fUGS' Morning Morning/Ah! Sunflower Weary Of Song (lyrics William Blake), something we did in a concert to benefit the late poetic genius of living, Tuli Kupferberg. "Jawdroppingly gorgeous," The Wire, the UK Wire, called it. We apologize for the delay. We meant to make it worth the wait.

Lovers of the printed word – Pledge!

Isn't it appropriate that this graphic is impossible to read?

New Flutter In The Zeitgeist!

Every once in a while we search the word "flutterbox." Tonight's search led to this description of a homemade instrument by the Scottish experimental musician and composer Daniel Padden in a collaboration with the instrument maker Sarah Kenchington. Their record is called The Bellow Switch, and it's on the Shadazz label.

Specifically,

"The Flutterbox is a large, kalimba-like musical box with a spinning drum that creates rhythmic loops – simple, repetitive figures that form the backbone to the music collected here."

Picture please! We'd like to see and hear it. To begin the hunt, here's Daniel's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/danielpadden.

Looking for "effective amazement texts?" Call for Cardinal Furio!

I, Janine, have not heard a note of this music, but I can't wait to and it won't be long now, since he's headed back to town. In recent days and weeks, Neill has been across the pond writing lyrics to melodies from the great Mozart, melodist supreme, all for a Danish "theatrical concert" now playing in Copenhagen. Talk about brave.

And not just brave, but really, REALLY good. Did Samuel Beckett ever want to write anything other than "effective amazement texts," as Neill's work is characterized in this review? I don't think so.

"For an authentic Danglish experience," Neill texts (the hand-held kind),

read all about it here!

It had to be done

The Mixpod player we had embedded on this site ceased to work some time ago. You may have noticed. We assumed our limited tech-savviness was to blame, but recently we discovered that OpenDrive has ceased to provide their streaming service to those who only signed up for the free account. The hunt is on for a new player.

To tide you over, this shot of the blanket of Spanish bluebells in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this spring........

A request for Strange Fruit

Out of all the delights and surprises that occurred things in the three performances we gave last weekend, our favorite was a request for Strange Fruit at The Delancey. We do believe that Flutterbox offers the second best reading of that bedeviled songpoem and wish that we had a recording of it to post here. But if you come to a gig, you have but to ask.

And because we did the Swinging Carnaby Street benefit for Howl! Help (which we hear was the best-attended event in the festival and raised beaucoup dollars), we now have a watchful, tender version of The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset to add to our sets. It's all about about a shut-in, wethinks.


Found this Waterloo Sunset on fotolog. A view a shut-in could love.

Janine Loves A Uniform

Recently, Janine was asked to participate in The Uniform Project, the completely satisfying result of an artist's challenge to herself to make a dress so perfect that it could be worn every day for a year, with the proceeds from its sale going to support alternative education in, first, India, currently, the Lower Ninth Ward. Ladies and men, it turns out it really is all about accessories, because the designer, Sheena Matheiken, photographed herself in the dress every day for a year looking genuinely incredible. Millions of hits to the website and a barrage of press helped her raise over $100,000 in the opening run.

Now the dress design has been tweaked and Sheena wanted to photograph other-looking women to dress up the dress with things from their own closets, to prove its versatility. Janine was only too happy to rise to the occasion, and though it was over 100 degrees in the studio, wore layered skirts and button down shirts, even a cumberbund and a hat, for the cause. The dress is for sale for $150; you could buy the pattern and make it, or have it made for, yourself.

Janine's getting one. Perhaps she'll wear it at every gig forevermore.

Waiting On A Friend

I took this picture of my friend Nick Cave – a huge Fbox fan – on Neill's stoop, for which he owes me FOREVER. Neill was in Denmark. He would want me to point out that 338 backwards spells "BEE."

Somehow, in all these years, I never mentioned to Neill that I appear in the Rolling Stones' video for "Waiting On A Friend." Can you spot me? I was a brunette then.

Ever seen this happen?

Last Sat night, Fbox was supposed to open for Harriet Tubman at the Tribeca Y. And because winged trickster Mercury was still in retrograde last week, everybody was confused about the time for the show. We all thought Fbox went on at 8 and HT at 9. Turned out that doors were at 8, and the bands at 9 and 10. Tubman couldn't play at 10 because their bass player, Melvin Gibbs, had to be in a cab at 10:15 to get to the airport to fly to Korea for a tour with Arto Lindsay. So it was quickly decided that Tubman would open for Flutterbox.

Now we ask you, have you ever seen the opening act follow the headliner AND get an encore? We haven't found anybody yet, but it happened on May 8 at the Tribeca Y.

And much love and thanks to Emily Rubin and her Loads Of Prose series for a fantastic gig at the Avenue A Laundromat in the East Village. Great fun. Hope you were there.

As If That's A Good Thing

Janine, wearing her collagist's hat, found this illustration for Magnavox televisions in a dated House Beautiful. It boasts that the company's newest black & white model has "no flutter"– AS IF THAT'S A GOOD THING.

Come out to the Ave A Laundromat in the East Village tonight and get your flutter on.