Review by Jason MacNeil
Bird Show is the creation of Ben Vida, a musician who is not fearful of using whatever he can find to create interesting and intriguing sounds that can be put into quirky pop songs. "Field on Water" sounds like something Devendra Banhart might have attempted with the monotone harmonies and a series of chimes and handclaps. Singing about being unable to separate water from the waves, the track then moves into a slightly richer wall of sound, with a bass, guitar, and other effects sauntering in and out. Think of Violent Femmes or They Might Be Giants on sedatives and it would give you a clear understanding of what's going on here. "Pilz" takes you down a Middle Eastern-meets-psychedelic road with more sound samples interspersed throughout. Singing like he's off in the distance, Vida makes this a rather aquatic affair that seems perfect for some movie where the character is losing his mind. Perhaps the first rock-oriented song is the hypnotic "Seeds," which builds on its primitive, tribal percussion slowly but steadily. Add a bagpipe-like sound into the mix and it only gets stranger but catchier. Another highlight, despite the rather annoying guitar feedback to start, is "Beautiful Spring," which resembles Grandaddy if they were fascinated by musical triangles and wind instruments. One of the more thoughtful, moodier pieces has to be the title track, which comes off dreamy but dreary at the same time. Unfortunately it goes on far too long and dies a rather slow, agonizing death. One sleeper pick might be "On the Beach," which gives Vida's vocals more clout while the mid-tempo backbeat and keyboard drone serve as nice complements. It's an earthy, folksy, roots-oriented type of track that's one of the album's highlights. Another solid effort is the coda "Sleepers Keep Sleeping," which is based around a simple, campfire-like arrangement that is soft but strong, resulting in the lyrics taking on a mantra or chanting rhythm.
Bird Show
Lightning Ghost
[Kranky; 2006]
Rating: 5.6
I suspect that Bird Show-- Town & Country co-conspirator Ben Vida's one-man army of lo-fi buzz-and-drone experiments-- is probably best experienced live. In that setting, other musicians often join Vida, and the songs grow and evolve in real time, lurching with an improvisational air that breathes life into the music. Lightning Ghost, the second Bird Show disc, lacks any sign of that natural excitement, despite the fact that it was largely written on stage over the past year. While there are moments that are quiet and pretty, with layered chant-like vocals working to induce a trance, at other times it's downright irritating, with splashes of computerized noise, static, and squealing feedback. The disc rides the line between minimalist post-rock and noise and, as a result, doesn't really succeed at either.
Lightning Ghost starts strong with "Field on Water", which features layers of various instruments-- bells, handclaps, and guitar among them-- that writhe through a cyclical rhythm behind Vida's humming vocals. The track is subtle and understated, building ambience through delicate instrumentation. But that feeling doesn't last. Elsewhere, "Pilz" lacks rhythm, instead utilizing a seemingly random combination of chimes, single drum hits, and guitar squawks. Vida's voice here is tuneless, moving up and down in un-harmonized layers. "Seeds" is even noisier, but it at least sees a return to the hypnotic repetition of the first track. When Vida locks into a groove, it can be mesmerizing. But too often he breaks his own spell.
You've heard records like this before-- a lot of potential nestled in a few songs, but far too many missteps. True solo projects, those created and executed by only one person, can sometimes contain such a singular vision that it becomes hard to understand what the artist was thinking. That might be Lightning Ghost's biggest problem. It's a frustrating Dr. Jekyll way too eager to turn into Mr. Hyde. And unfortunately, the good here isn't unique or interesting enough to outweigh the bad.
-Cory D. Byrom, May 24, 2006
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