birdsnest

Album Review

Albums such as Birdsnest almost defy review, so many different styles does it encompass, and so different are many of the tracks from each other. In some contexts, that would be reason to shower praise, but such extreme eclecticism isn't a guarantee of extreme artistic merit. It wouldn't be quite accurate to say that the 21 tracks sound like the work of almost as many different artists, as Typewriter's mainstay, Mark Bandola (formerly of the Lucy Show), does provide some constant ingredients with his somber, slightly foggy British vocal style, writing all of the material as well. Still, it's hard to figure out where the record's coming from, flitting as it does between haunting ambient electronics and instrumental passages, rather poppy dark new wave rockers, and occasional echoes of British psychedelia and glam. "Hypnotized for Years," for instance, sounds very much like Donovan crossed with a dash of Syd Barrett, though it's wholly unlike either the track that precedes it (a bit of random noise and flutters called "Grey Green X-Ray") or the one that follows ("The Great Gates Open," with its dense, grating, buzzing riffs). There's also an easygoing straightforward pensive rocker ("Jump the Barrier"), more dreamy post-psych that sounds almost like a collision between the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd's most disturbing sound effects ("Quicksand"), lo-fi folk-blues busking, and stately meditative piano balladry with hints of vintage David Bowie and Paul McCartney. That's hardly all the territory the album covers, but it gives you an idea of both how wide-ranging it is, and how hard it is to make such a mixture flow comfortably together. This odd disc, perhaps intentionally, doesn't succeed at doing so, and certainly doesn't add up to a sum that's equal to or greater than its parts.