right for The Iridium Controversy
, 2003.
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
is a musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980.
The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost entirely instrumental, and incorporates many different musical elements; critic Rick Anderson writes, "Very few bands have ever managed to straddle the worlds of modern classical music and rock as successfully as this one did." In his liner notes for their Beat of the Mesozoic
EP, Boston rock critic Eric Van dubbed them "the world's hardest-rocking chamber music quartet." Another memorable description came from Jim Sullivan of the Boston Globe
: "classical-punk-jazz-car-wreck music."
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BIRDSONGS OF THE MESOZOIC TICKETS
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Band history
Origins
Birdsongs owes its origins to the 1978 breakup of the Boston
post-punk band
Moving Parts, which included
Erik Lindgren (vocals, keyboards) and
Roger Miller (vocals, guitar). Miller went on to form the seminal
post-punk group
Mission of Burma (1979-1983; 2002-present), while Lindgren concentrated on
production work in his home
recording studio.
While the Parts' breakup had been civil, Lindgren felt the need for an act of overt reconciliation, and in late 1980, he offered free studio time to his former bandmate should Miller have any non-Burma material he wanted to record. Miller had just written his first solo
piano pieces in years, and jumped at the offer. Lindgren volunteered to provide some keyboard
overdubs. Given that musical differences had led to the breakup of their earlier band, both musicians were surprised at the effectiveness of the collaboration. Burma
tape loop artist
Martin Swope was then enlisted for further overdub work on
electric guitar.
The recording project might have ended there had not Boston's Modern Method record label approached Miller and asked for a Burma track for a
compilation album. Miller instead offered "Pulse Piece" from the sessions, naming the makeshift group "Birdsongs of the Mesozoic," a reference to a
Birdsongs of America
album that Swope had sampled during the sessions and to then-new theories about the
dinosaur ancestry of birds (Miller having been a
dinosaur aficionado as a young child). The
Mesozoic era covered the period of roughly 65 million years ago to 248 million years ago, and is sometimes called the "age of dinosaurs. The band created a
Pterosaur silhouette as a logo, which they still use as of 2007, in a slightly modified version.
Birdsongs established and performs live
Nothing further might have come from the project had not Modern Method also asked Miller if Birdsongs could perform at the album's 1981 record release party. For this performance, a lineup was assembled consisting of Miller on
piano, Lindgren on
synthesizer, Swope on
guitar, and Rick Scott on
electric organ, with all members doubling on
percussion instruments. (Miller and Scott had both previously lived in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had been bandmates in the short-lived Red Ants in that city.)
While there had been no intention to play more than the one gig, audience response was so strong that further shows were booked. The ensemble became a significant side project for Miller and Swope, and recorded a six-song eponymous EP (virtually the entire repertoire at the time) for Burma's label Ace of Hearts. Birdsongs opened for Burma at least once, and Burma's drummer
Peter Prescott contributed to Birdsongs recordings and performances.
When Miller's
tinnitus worsened in 1982, the existence of Birdsongs as a quieter alternative was a significant factor in Miller's decision to end Mission of Burma in 1983. In fact, he stopped writing Burma material and began writing more aggressive material for Birdsongs, such as "Shiny Golden Snakes" (which became the lead track of their first full-length
album,
Magnetic Flip.
) After Burma's breakup, Birdsongs became democratized, and Swope, Scott, and especially Lindgren began composing original material.
They did occasional
cover songs, which demonstrated the breadth of their influences: An adaptation of
Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring
, the theme songs to two animated television shows (
Rocky & Bullwinkle
and
The Simpsons
) and two different versions of
Brian Eno's "Sombre Reptiles".
After Miller and Swope leave
In 1987 Miller left the group he founded to concentrate on his Maximum Electric Piano project, which he had recently begun as a
side project to Birdsongs. Miller was replaced by another Ann Arbor expatriate, saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Adams of Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet (who had shared many memorable bills with Birdsongs). With Adams onboard, Birdsongs music had a new jazz element to their sound. Within six months, however, Adams was offered a position in the
Rova Saxophone Quartet, and was replaced by saxophonist/flautist/keyboardist
Ken Field. This lineup recorded two albums for
Cuneiform Records (the first featuring Adams as well).
Swope left in 1993 and was replaced by guitarist
Michael Bierylo. This lineup has remained stable to 2009, and has recorded several further albums for Cuneiform. The music of the current lineup has less
punk sound and more
modern classical and
jazz colorings than the original line-up, but their music is still very eclectic.
In 2006, Birdsongs released
Extreme Spirituals
, a collection of traditional American gospel songs and spirituals, with singer Oral Moses.
Discography
Albums
- Magnetic Flip
(Ace of Hearts, 1984)
- Soundtracks
(Arf Arf, 1987)
- Faultline
(Cuneiform, 1989)
- Pyroclastics
(Cuneiform, 1991)
- Dancing on A'A
(Cuneiform, 1995)
- Petrophonics
(Cuneiform, 2000)
- The Iridium Controversy
(Cuneiform, 2003)
- Extreme Spirituals
(Cuneiform, 2006)
EPs
- Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
(Ace of Hearts, 1983)
- Beat of the Mesozoic
(Ace of Hearts, 1986)