markmc@ncrcae.UUCP (Mark McCulley) (04/12/85)
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic --- The Beat / Columbia, SC / April 6
This four man band from Boston got an enthusiastic reception when they
played here last weekend. With three keyboard players and one guitar
player, they presented a rather different approach to performing live
music.
Accompanied at times by several rythmn machines, a washboard, and four
or five tom toms distributed among the keyboard players (Yamaha electric
grand, Memory Moog, Farfisa), the band performed covers of Theme from
Rocky and Bullwinkle and Stravinsky's Rites of Spring along with a lot
of original material.
Their sound was classically influenced, but quite experimental. My best
description would be a cross between old ELP and Shadowfax. The electric
grand was often played in a very percussive style and sometimes with the
hands directly on the strings. The guitar player had quite an unusual
style. Most of his playing was done with a slide bar on the neck; the
strings were almost never picked or strummed.
I don't know a lot about this band. I do know that two or three of the
members were previously in a band named Mission of Burma and they have
one album and an EP available.
BOTTOM LINE: These guys are good. They are highly reccommended if you
play or enjoy keyboards or just like to see some good musicians that love
what they are doing and have fun doing it.
Mark McCulley
...decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!markmc
===============================================================================nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (06/26/85)
["Remember, in the case of sonic attack, survival means every man for himself"] > From: tynor@gitpyr.UUCP (Steve Tynor) > Mixed in with recent postings dealing with Kate Bush, I've seen > several references to a band called Birdsongs of the Mesozoic > (questionable spelling it's been a while since I've studied my > geologic ages...). I've been searching for an album at the local > record shops, but have yet to come across someone who's even heard of > them. I can't even find them in Schwann... > Could someone post a review of this group, pointers to record > labels, dates of release? All I know about this group is that they've > been mentioned in the same breath with 'Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel', > so I'm assuming their music is similar... Birdsongs of the Mesozoic's music is nothing like that of Peter Gabriel or Kate Bush, other than that the music of all of these people is of the highest quality, so I can't guarantee that you'll like them just because you like Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. They are a fairly avant-garde (though not off the deep end) instrumental group, that consist of three keyboardists and a guitar player. Two of the members of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic were in the now defunct group "Mission of Burma", which was VERY famous in the Boston music scene (They did the song "That's When I Reach For My Revolver"). Birdsongs, though, sounds nothing like "Mission of Burma" either. They write most of their own stuff, but also do some very interesting interpretations of others' compostions. On their album "Magnetic Flip" they do "(excerpts from) The Rite of Spring", which is about seven minutes long and they do a version of the theme from the "Rocky and Bullwinkle". On one of their EPs (I don't have any of their EPs yet), they do a version of Brian Eno's "Sombre Reptiles". I saw them perform this live and it was wonderful. It's difficult for me to describe their music, but I think I can safely say that it all fits in well with "The Rite of Spring", the theme from "Rocky and Bullwinkle", and "Sombre Reptiles". On "Magnetic Flip", the instruments used are electric organ, tom-tom, piano, clarinet mouthpiece, lawn mower, maraca, nails, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, grand piano, electric baby grand piano, cymbols, wood drum, gong, copper sheet, snare drum, D-16, synthesizers and rhythm machines (so Marcel should beware). Hey, I bet I could even write reviews like they have in magazines! This is what my cute closing statement would be: Birdsongs of The Mesozoic is way ahead of its time! > (BTW, wouldn't it be neat if Peter and Kate would get together for a > tune or two? Sure sounded good on PG3, 'Games Without Frontiers') It would be great! By the way, Kate also sings on "No Self-Control"! They have done some other stuff together, but none of it is generally available. They did a duet of Roy Harper's simply wonderful song "Another Day". They even did a great video for this! Peter Gabriel was also a guest performer at one of Kate Bush's concerts, and they sang several songs together, including a cover of "Let It Be". This stuff in only available as bootleg material, though. > From: jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) >>>> [Me:] Listening right now to "Magnetic Flip" by Birdsongs of the >>>> Mesozoic. What a great album! >>> [Josh Marantz:] I don't have the album yet, but I saw them in >>> concert a while back. An excerpt from my review posted in this >>> newsgroup: > I have been trying to get this album for weeks, ever since I saw it mentioned > here. However, down at the record store, they have never heard of it, > and further more, it is not listed in the "Phonogram" record listings. > Is this just a long-standing joke that I have missed some how, like Kate > Bush's alleged use of a Fairlight? I don't know how well-known Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is outside of Boston, but their existence and the quality of their music is no joke! I have friends in Maryland who have heard of them, so they must be somewhat known elsewhere. You don't have to just take my word for it though -- there is an article on them in a recent issue of OPtion. The album "Magnetic Flip" (AHS-10018) is pressed by Ace of Hearts Records PO Box 579 Kenmore Station Boston, MA 02215 >> [Me] She (jcp) claimed that Kate Bush was trendy because she uses a >> Fairlight, or something like that (of course, she was using one >> before nearly anyone else, so there wasn't a trend yet). > If Kate Bush is the Goddess of all Music, and uses a Fairlight in such > awesome ways, how come she gets Geoff Downes to play all the difficult > stuff on the Fairlight for her? I mean, Geoff was using a Fairlight > back when Kate Bush was still out running over kangaroos with her car. Kate Bush may be the Goddess of all Music, but I never said that she is the Goddess of Fairlights -- she's far from that! Jarre and Peter Gabriel have both done much more interesting things with Fairlights. In fact, it was my claim, that Fairlight was far from the most prominent instrument on "The Dreaming". I think that piano is the most prominent instrument on "The Dreaming" (besides voice). On all of Kate Bush's albums she has been primarily a singer and pianist. Also, I never said that Kate Bush was the first person to play a Fairlight, I said that she was one of the first to use one. She uses a Fairlight in some of her music on "Never for Ever", though she does not play the Fairlight herself. This album was released in 1980, which is certainly long before Fairlights were a musical idiom. When did the Fairlight CMI first appear on the market? And another thing, Geoff Downes only contributes to ONE song on "The Dreaming": "Sat In Your Lap". He designed the trumpet section sound. It's not clear that he plays the Fairlight on this track, but if he did, it is probably because "Sat In Your Lap" was recorded as a single before any of the rest of the album was. Kate Bush did not buy her own Fairlight until recording had already begun on "The Dreaming", and if she didn't play the Fairlight on "Sat In Your Lap", it is most certainly because she didn't want to play an instrument she wasn't more familiar with. This is why she does not play the Synclavier that appears on "The Dreaming". Fairlight does not play an incredibly important part on "The Dreaming" because Kate Bush did not yet know how to program it herself very well. Hence, she used it mostly for presets and sampled sounds, and got Geoff Downes to help her design a sound. Apparently, The Fairlight has played a much more important part on her new album, because she has had her own Fairlight to play around with for a couple of years, but it's still not so clear how much Fairlight will be in the finished product, because she says that she uses it largely as a compositional tool. Often, parts she composes on a Fairlight, she has rearranged for accoustic instruments. For example, there is a string sextet that performs on her new album. Kate used her Fairlight to compose the music for the string sextet, so she would have a good idea of what it would sound like when actually played on string instruments. While on the topic of good music, I'd like to plug again Suzanne Vega's debut album "Suzanne Vega". It is nothing like any of the other music described here, but it is incredibly good. It's progressive folk music (or something like that). Actually, it sort of sounds like Windom Hill (only better!) with (great!) lyrics. "Who needs radar? We use scent" Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)
rs@mirror.UUCP (07/01/85)
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is a Boston-based band. You can get
their stuff from Modern Methods Records, in Boston.
The band was founded by two members of "Mission of Burma," a "noise"
Boston band that was idolized here, and achieved some fair among of
recognition outside of the area (i.e., their final concert was opening
for PiL in Manhattan).
Birdsongs is very electronic, lots of keyboards and electronic
instruments. It was original done as a hack by the two guys
for a "gang concert" night at a club about two years ago. At that
time, they just had keyboards and oscillators. They have apparently
since decided to make a real band out of it, and added percussion
and (occasionally) stringed instruments like guitars and basses.
They are really, really good. Doug Allen posted a review of one
of their concerts about a month ago (I think it was the only
net.music article he/she has posted that wasn't about Katey-poo
:-)
Sorry I can't be more specific, I haven't played their EP in several
months. (Husker Du's "Zen Arcade" has been very tenacious, throwing
down any other platter that attempts to mount the turntable for more
than one cut. Shriekback's "Nemesis," however, seems to show signs of
hanging out for a while.)
--
Rich $alz {mit-eddie, ihnp4!inmet, wjh12, cca, datacube} !mirror!rs
Mirror Systems 2067 Massachusetts Ave.
617-661-0777 Cambridge, MA, 02140nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (07/09/85)
["Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine."] A couple of corrections: > From think!mirror!rs Mon Jul 1 10:59:00 1985 > The band [Birdsongs of the Mesozoic] was founded by two members of > "Mission of Burma," a "noise" Boston band that was idolized here, and > achieved some fair among of recognition outside of the area (i.e., > their final concert was opening for PiL in Manhattan). Maybe Mission of Burma was "noise" band at one time, but they don't sound that way from the E.P. I have (I don't remember the name of the E.P. offhand, but it has the song "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" on it. It also came with a very unusual lyric sheet too. All the words for the songs are in alphabetical order, rather than in the order in which they occur in the songs -- this, of course, makes it rather unhelpful in figuring out the meaning of the songs....) They'd fall roughly into "post-punk" or something like that. They sound maybe a little tiny bit like R.E.M. or something like that. > They [Birdsongs of The Mesozoic] have apparently since decided to make > a real band out of it, and added percussion and (occasionally) > stringed instruments like guitars and basses. They don't add guitar "occasionally". At least in their current lineup, there is a full-time guitarist. The other three guys are keyboardists, but also play drums and other stuff. > They are really, really good. Doug Allen posted a review of one of > their concerts about a month ago (I think it was the only net.music > article he/she has posted that wasn't about Katey-poo :-) They are really good! But you can't be serious about me posting stuff only about Katey-poo... Oh, is that what the smiley face is for.... > (Husker Du's "Zen Arcade" has been very tenacious, throwing down any > other platter that attempts to mount the turntable for more than one > cut. Shriekback's "Nemesis," however, seems to show signs of hanging > out for a while.) Dunno about Husker's dues, but yeah, Shriekback is pretty good. "You dreamed of a big star He played a mean guitar He always ate at the Steak Bar" Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)