j o n b

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic are, in a word, unique. Their music is a unique blend of styles and textures that, in the end, sound unlike anything else. They straddle the lines between prog and "serious" music, without losing the fire and drive of rock. One of the things that makes the band stand out from the crowd is their lack of the traditional bass and drum rhythm section. To be sure, the use of auxilliary percusionists, loops, and drum programming gives their music plenty of rhythmic oomph, but the ability to shed those instruments allows them to explore other textures. Most tracks use synths and grand piano as a base, with intricate guitar, keyboard and reed work over top. The title track is a perfect example of this, as the driving piano and drum loops keep things moving while guitar and sax bound on top. "Ptoccata II", on the other hand, is more laid back and atmospheric. The various sources for the tracks adds to their diversity. "Birdhead" is a collaboration with percussionists Drumhead, with Erik Lindgren composing the song around the Drumhead track "Autobody." "Music Inspired by 1001 Real Apes" was a collaboration with David Greenberger, creator of The Duplex Planet, and was originally a 65-minute work. "One Hundred Cycles" began life as a piece written by Ken Field while he was composer-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming. Petrophonics is an amazing collection of intricate, intenense and nearly indescribable instrumental music. If you're generally not a fan of that kind of thing, don't let the band's unique lineup or presence on Cuneiform scare you away. This is not music that is abstract for the sake of being abstract. It's always well composed and arranged, which leads to it being memorable, even if it's not in a toe-tapping melodies-stick-in-your-head kind of way. Highly recomended. review by Jon Byrne — 2-17-03 —