Birdsongs

In 2009, for the first time, all of the band's 3 recordings for Ace of Hearts (Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Magnetic Flip and Beat of the Mesozoic) were reissued in their entirety and in the order in which they were originally heard when they were first issued. In the the words of Erik Lindgren, the remastering done here, "sonically makes the 'Sonic... Geology' package irrelevant." The package comes with a 20 page booklet of notes and photos and there is a huge wealth of totally cool CDRom material - 175 photos, art files, set-lists, dioramas, letters, documents and more. Additionally, there are two studio tracks and seven live tracks, none of which have ever been heard before, for over 45' of bonus material. If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is Thank You, that would suffice. So yeah, thank you. Because who could resist the stately and surprisingly plump pieces on this comprehensive Ace of Hearts anthology with superadded bonus outtakes and live tracks? Only a person with a heart of stone. From the 1983 self-titled EP, opener Sound Valentine and Orange Ocean are the stand-outs. Proceeding to 1984s Magnetic Flip we venture into more rugged territory; for some of us, the majestic opening track, Shiny Golden Snakes, and the tumultuous Terry Rileys House must surely have been turbulent highlights from that lost year of dread, with International Tours and Bridge Underwater their psychopomp antitheses.The 1986 release Beat of the Mesozoic features more of the bands playful yet consistently stirring and ambitious classical pieces, notably the opener Lost in the B-Zone, the luminescent Waterwheel, and the elegaic Scenes From a.... The seven live tracks, retroactively titled Between the Fires, reveal a band ably positioned to perform live some of their most rigorous and intellectually challenging compositions, notably Carbon 14 and the astonishing, otherworldly climax to Lqabblil Insanya.Read More